Lawrence Tech - Humanities - Social Sciences Course Descriptions

SSC2303 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Co-requisite: MCS0054 or equivalent. Survey of macroeconomics and microeconomics, with emphasis on fundamental tools of economic analysis and policy. Introduction of supply and demand, national income determination, theory of the firm, and market structure. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC2313 PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS
Co-requisite: MCS0054 or equivalent. Introduction to macroeconomics, including measurement of aggregate economic variables, determination of national income, Keynesian model, monetary and banking policy; international economics. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC2323 PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS
Co-requisite: MCS0054 or equivalent. Introduction to microeconomics, including utility theory, elasticity, theory of the firm, market structure, market failure, and regulatory policy. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC2413 FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Prerequisite: COM1075 or co-requisite: COM1103. Aspects of philosophy, political theory, science, art and religion, from ancient Egypt to 1789, as they have contributed to the formation of the American experience. Readings include selections from Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and other important thinkers. The student’s ability to reflect critically upon the major ideas, values, institutions, events and personalities that have helped to shape the contemporary United States is emphasized. Seeks to foster an attitude of critical engagement and to develop students' writing and oral skills through papers and class participation. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC2423 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Prerequisite: SSC2413. A continuation of the study of philosophy, political theory, science, art and religion begun in Foundations of the American Experience. Discusses the framing of the United States Constitution in the late 18th century, and examines the works of important American thinkers and the important social documents of the 19th and 20th centuries. Both primary texts and selected readings in issues of contemporary importance are read. Develops students’ writing and verbal skills through written assignments and class presentations. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3133 HISTORY OF EUROPE TO 1500
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The development of European civilization from the Greeks to the Renaissance; analysis of the principal forces of change at work during this period. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3143 HISTORY OF EUROPE SINCE 1500
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The emergence of modern Europe in its principal political, economic social, cultural and intellectual aspects. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3153 AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1877
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The principal political, economic, social, and cultural factors which shaped colonial America and led to the American Revolution; the Constitution, westward expansion, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3163 AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1877
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The United States since the end of Reconstruction. The Progressive Era, World War I, the Great Depression, Word War II, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the Cold War and Viet Nam, and the information age. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3173 AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The American political tradition and the men and women who made it. Readings on selected issues in American political history. Among topics included are: 18th-century republicanism, the origins of the Republican and Democratic parties, the history of political party systems, and the rise of the social welfare state in the 20th century. Selected issues in international relations, civil rights, and women’s contributions to the polity. Written assignments and classroom presentations required. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3183 AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Major currents in American intellectual history. Students read selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, John Dewey and other thinkers in exploration of major paradigms in American intellectual history from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Among the philosophical issues examined are the Enlightenment and its critics, American transcendentalism, and American pragmatism. Written assignments and classroom presentations. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3253 GOLDEN AGE OF GREECE
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The Greek Golden Age of the 5th century, B.C., emphasizing the philosophy, drama, architecture and sculpture, and daily life of Athens, viewed with the general historical and social conditions of the period. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3273 CONCEPTS OF HUMAN NATURE
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The way in which man or human nature has been defined through the ages from the early Greek philosophers to modern interpretations. Special emphasis on modern psychological, philosophical, and religious theory. Implications of such concepts for contemporary life. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3283 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. A survey from prehistoric time to the present, with emphasis on Michigan in national and international contexts. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit.

SSC3313 HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The history and development of scientific thought with special emphasis on the rational and irrational bases of the scientific endeavor. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3343 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS
Prerequisites: MCS1224 and either SSC2303 or SSC2323. Analysis of price and output determination, demand and cost theory, intertemporal decision-making, welfare economics, market structure and antitrust policy. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3353 ANTHROPOLOGY
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Introduction to theory and methodology in social science and the role of culture in shaping human society; examination of cross-cultural diversity in belief systems, traditions, and material culture; and consideration of ethical problems in applied anthropology. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3383 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
Prerequisite: SSC2303 or SSC2313. International trade and finance. Gains from trade, barriers to trade, customs unions, technology transfer; currency exchange rates, international capital flows; balance of trade and balance of payments. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3413 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. An introductory examination of the key aspects of the African-American experience in the United States, including: an historical survey of major trends, issues, and forces, a study of the contemporary status of African-Americans; and a view of how they order their lives and define their futures through cultural, social, and political institutions and expressions. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3433 JAPANESE HISTORY AND CULTURE
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. A survey of the development of the Japanese people from historical and geographic analysis with emphasis on the social, political, economic, and educational life of Japan. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3513 INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS
Prerequisite: SSC2303 or faculty approval. A survey of the applied microeconomics of market structures, with particular reference to economies of scale, barriers to entry, market failure, antitrust, and regulation. Emphasis on industrial, retail, and nonfinancial service sectors. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3523 MONEY AND BANKING
Prerequisite: SSC2303 or faculty approval. Monetary systems; in-depth analysis of the banking system in the United States with particular emphasis on expansion of money supply; assets and liability management and implications for investors and consumers. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3713 TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY
Prerequisites: SSC2423, and SSC2413. Fundamental concepts and categories in metaphysics, philosophy of mind or epistemology; the different systems of thought of representative philosophers. Note: May be repeated for credit when topics vary. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3723 ETHICS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Various ethical systems; how ethical philosophy resolves conflicts rationally when automatic responses and implicit rules of action collide with contrary responses and rules. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC3733 AESTHETICS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. The origins and nature of aesthetic theory; bases of critical judgments in literature, drama, sculpture, architecture and music. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4133 PROBLEMS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Study of a significant problem area in international relations (e.g., NATO, the special relationship, terrorism), chosen each time of offering for its particular timeliness and relevance. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4143 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Our constitutional rights, including rights of the accused, freedom of speech and press, and freedom of religion. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4513 SEMINAR IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Prerequisite: Permission of department chair. Intensive study of a topic determined by the instructor. Assigned readings and class discussion culminating in a major paper written under the instructor’s guidance. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4643 WORLD RELIGIONS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2413, or permission of instructor. A study of the major religions of the world: Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4713 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE EXPLORATION
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. A philosophical investigation of the nature and value of space exploration. Standard arguments for and against exploration, the connection between science and technology, the serendipity of science, and the distinction between fundamental and applied science. Conceptual issues in comparative planetology, space biology, and space physics and astronomy. Philosophical aspects of faster-than-light travel, human vs. machine exploration, space colonies, the likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence, and the connection between space technology and war. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4723 ENLIGHTENMENT AND REVOLUTION
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Study of the 18th-century Enlightenment and the revolutions that followed in America and France. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4733 TOPICS IN THE HISTORY AND PROBLEMS OF TECHNOLOGY
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Investigation of the place and technology in society. Topics vary by semester, but may include the history of technology from ancient to modern times, the development of technology in America and the tension in Western thought between technology and philosophy. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4743 WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. An investigation of the linkages in political, social, economic, and cultural history at the core of these two events. Cross-national emphases and materials are utilized. Looking at the wars as culminations of profound problems, and germinators of succeeding problems as well. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4753 THE REFORMATIONS
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. Study of the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, focusing on primary texts. Topics include the crisis of the Papacy, the Renaissance-Humanist critique of the Church, the failure of Conciliarism, the splintering of Protestantism and the Catholic revival. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4763 ORIGINS OF MODERN BRITAIN
Prerequisites: SSC2413 and SSC2423. An introduction to the political, social, economic, cultural, and religious history of England in modern times. Emphasis on chronology, how events and ideas unfolded, in each of the five major categories of history. The panorama of seven centuries of intense excitement and change. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4903 SENIOR THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Prerequisite: Permission of department chair. Supervised writing of an essay that demonstrates depth and breadth of understanding of an issue in philosophy, history, economics or some other social science. Students will give a public presentation of their Senior Thesis. Lect. 3 hrs. 3 hours credit

SSC4991-3 DIRECTED STUDY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Prerequisite: Permission of department chair. Study of a special topic under the direction of a member of the department. 1-3 hours credit

SSC5991-3 DIRECTED STUDY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Prerequisite: Permission of department chair. Study under direction of a member of the department on a special topic, for one to three credits as arranged and authorized by department chair. 1-3 hours credit