Online Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies
Online Course Schedule for Spring 2025

Real World Research Methods

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Cybersecurity Risk Management

This course will discuss Cybersecurity Risk Management.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Ethical Decision-Making in Bus

This course uses literature and film as case studies to explore the challenges and complexities of making ethical and moral decisions in our work and professional lives. The use of literature, non-fiction, and film allows students to examine the nature of moral dilemmas and moral decision-making in real-life situations that are most often ambiguous, involve trade-offs and sacrifices, and are influenced by a multitude of internal and external factors. The class will be open and interactive, including discussion, debate, student presentations, and student sharing of their own personal work experiences that they feel relate to the materials and issues raised. The particular literary works and films used in this course have been chosen so that they have clear application to the kinds of moral conflicts that arise in work settings such as personal values vs. institutional or enterprise values, loyalty vs. misplaced loyalty, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, the morality of money, the morality of “selling,” women’s roles and sexual harassment, pressure to conform, and moral courage.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Global Competitive Intel

Course Description: In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to gather, analyze, and act upon competitive intelligence (CI) is crucial for maintaining a strategic edge. The "Global Competitive Intelligence" course is designed to equip students with the foundational knowledge, ethical considerations, research methodologies, analytical skills, and communication strategies necessary to conduct successful competitive intelligence. This course delves into the art and science of transforming information into actionable intelligence, enabling organizations to make informed strategic decisions.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Global Supply Chain Management

This course will discuss Global Supply Chain Managem

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

International Organizations

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Introduction to Criminology

In this course, we will explore key areas of study within criminology including the nature and extent of crime, theories of criminal behavior, the social and economic roots of crime, and the effectiveness of various approaches to preventing and controlling crime. You will be introduced to the psychology of crime as well as the anomie, social control, social conflict, social disorganization, and routine activity theories. We will also examine contemporary issues related to hate, racism, Violent Extremism, mass violence, and cybercrime from the theoretical lens of criminology. Throughout the semester, you will have the opportunity to discuss the application of core criminology concepts to current social affairs.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Introduction to Marketing

This course will cover those activities for creating and communicating the message of an organization regarding the goods or services it wishes to offer to customers, clients or members, and will include the concepts of advertising and selling. The course will consider both theoretical and practical aspects of how businesses engage in marketing efforts. Required course for Entrepreneurship and Organizational Leadership concentrations.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Introduction to Sociology

Description: Sociology is the systematic study of human social behavior. Sociologists examine not only how social structures shape our daily interactions but also how society constructs social categories and social meanings. The purpose of this course is to offer an overview of the major concepts, theories, and methodologies of sociology, and enable you to think sociologically. Thinking sociologically allows us to make observations and offer insights about the social world that extend far beyond either common sense or explanations that rely on individual quirks and personalities, to develop an awareness of the connection between personal experience and the larger society. Throughout this course you will be introduced to “the sociological imagination” and be encouraged to develop this critical capacity to understand how the social world around you works. Note: This course satisfies a natural science or social science core area

Note: This course satisfies a social science or natural sciences core area requirement

Masks of Rome

This course explores concepts of identity through major literary works of Ancient Rome. Students will read Roman literature in translation—including historical, epic, rhetorical, theatrical, satirical, and poetic texts—to gain an understanding of Roman cultural identity and its influence on contemporary representations of identity. Students will also read secondary scholarship to support their interpretation and evaluation of ancient Roman literature. As a writing-focused course, students will be responsible for regular written reflections on class material, analyses of assigned texts, and a final research paper on a Roman text not assigned for the course. Note: This course satisfies a humanities elective or humanities concentration requirement. This course satisfies a humanities or culture core area requirement.

Note: This course satisfies a humanities concentration elective or a humanities concentration required course. This course satisfies a humanities or culture core area requirement. It cannot satisfy more than one of these requirements.

Math as Philosophy

Here is a stunning fact: the world can be understood mathematically. This fact underlies our success in science, computers, and even our private every-day reasoning processes. But how is this so? Why is mathematical thinking so astonishingly useful to help us understand the world around us? In this course, we examine the conceptual foundations of mathematics. No prior mathematical knowledge is required for this course. This is not a course about doing calculations. It is about abstract structures, and how we use such structure in our thinking. Throughout the course, we will ask the following questions. How do we organize things into collections, and networks? Does "+" (adding) mean what you think it means? Are there numbers that can't be enumerated (even by God), and if so, how do we even know about such spooky numbers? How do computers work, and how could it possibly all boil down to just ones and zeros? Are there math problems that can't be solved (even with an infinitely powerful computer)? And how do we even know how to figure out the answer to that? Finally, how do computer simulated neural networks "learn," and how much is it like human learning?

Multimedia Design for Comms

This course focuses on digital multimedia design for communication(s). We begin with establishing a common understanding of terms and standards used in multimedia communication(s). We address the theory and practice of how technology is accepted and then focus on how different communication formats and digital tools influence meaning-making. The course uses a learning by doing approach. This means that throughout the semester you will be creating various artifacts that you will then curate and showcase as a final course project. The online environment is designed to provide the guidance that you will need to have a successful final project. This guidance comes in the form of mini lectures, demonstrations, discussion, peer and instructor feedback

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

Sex and Society

This course provides an introduction to the vibrant and interdisciplinary field of sexuality studies, and investigates the ways in which sex and sexuality are shaped by society, and the ways in which they are connected to power and inequality in our world. We will begin the course by exploring some key theories and concepts within the field, and situate them alongside the history of LGBTQ activism in the United States and elsewhere. We will then consider how these concepts can be applied to a variety of contemporary issues such as sexual identity and the state, same-sex marriage, representations of sexuality in popular culture and the media, transnational sexualities and sexual identities, and consumerism. Throughout the course, we will examine how sexuality intersects with other social categories such as gender, race, class, nationality, age and ability/disability.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

The Human Condition

What makes us human? How much of this is a part of our “nature” (e.g., biological hardware, chemistry, and physiological changes) and how much of it is due to how we are nurtured (our socialization, cultures, and social interactions)? This course explores some of the most central aspects of the human condition and asks, “What makes us tick?” The class explores competing paradigms derived from a combination of studies and research from biology, medicine, psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, archaeology, and historical observation. The structure of the course is inspired by the concept of a “hierarchy of needs”—beginning with essential “lower order” aspects of the human condition moving up toward the problems and issues that are more often the focus of life once the essentials of life have been obtained. The course challenges the notion that 21st century human beings are all that different from those that existed in 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 years ago. It also seeks to understand how human behavior can vary so much across cultures now. Reading material for the course also includes a combination of original source excerpts from the world’s religious and legal texts, and philosophers and scientists such as John Locke, René Descartes, B.F. Skinner, John Watson, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, Sun Tzu, Niccolò Machiavelli, Edward O. Wilson. Lecture and the course readings are supplemented with suggested journal articles including current research as well as multimedia excerpts on each week’s topics.

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform

The Role of U.S. in the World

Note: *Only for BLS students using the Coursera platform