PACC Course Descriptions

AR101 Art Appreciation - 3 credits
Art appreciation is intended for non-majors who want a better understanding of the role of visual art in our culture. A combination of lectures, slides, films, and discussion will be used to enable students to appreciate works of art. Topics include a study of the elements of art and the principles of design, two-dimensional and three-dimensional media, and an overview of the history of Western art.

B105 Environmental Biology - 3 credits
The human position in the biological world and responsibility for living in reasonable harmony with the environs is the focus of this course. Beginning with an overview of major ecological principles governing all ecosystems, consideration is then given to such problems as population expansion, natural resources, pollution, conservation, and environmental health. The class meets for two lecture sessions and one two-hour laboratory investigation or field trip each week.

B110/111 Botany & Zoology I / Laboratory - 4 credits
Emphasis is placed upon photosynthesis and respiration, and physiological processes including nutrition, gas exchange, transportation, and regulation of body fluids. It is an investigation of the structure and function of both plants and animals and intended as an introductory overview. Three lecture/discussion periods are held weekly. Concurrent registration in B111 is required.

These laboratory studies complement the concepts presented in B110. Investigations include physiological and molecular relationships and interactions that are the basis for the course. The lab meets for one three-hour session each week. Concurrent registration in B110 is required.

B200/201 Human Biology/ Laboratory - 3 credits
This course is designed for the student with little science in their background. Basic human biological principles are investigated, with emphasis on nutrition, cancer, immunity, reproduction, and heredity. Special consideration is given to current advances in medicine and associated bio-social issues. Two lectures are held each week and a two-hour laboratory session (201) must be taken concurrently.

The laboratory sessions are designed to reinforce concepts presented in B200. Emphasis is given to study on the digestive, immune, excretory, circulatory, and reproductive systems. This lab, taken concurrently with B200, meets two hours once a week.

AC222 Accounting Concepts - 3 credits
This course provides an introduction to accounting with an emphasis on interpretation and use of accounting information for effective business decision-making. The course employs an “information user/managerial approach” rather than an “information preparer approach.” Students are introduced to the accounting system, financial statement analysis, and quantitative managerial accounting techniques. Prerequisite: mathematics competency.

C131/133 General Chemistry I / Lab - 4 credits
This course is a survey of the fundamental principles upon which the study of chemistry is based. Stoichiometry, atomic structure, molecular structure, chemical bonding, behavior of gases, kinetic molecular theory, properties of solutions, chemical reactivity, and thermochemistry are included. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: M115 or equivalent and concurrent with C133.

The lab (three hours per week) is taken concurrently with C131.

E120 English Composition - 3 credits
This course emphasizes the process of writing, from the generation of ideas to the editing of the final text. This course studies strategies to improve the organization, development, and style of essay writing. It also stresses helping students achieve competence in grammar, punctuation, usage, and mechanics and includes a review of MLA citation and documentation format in concert with writing a shorter research paper. Prerequisite: E105 or placement.

E175 Introduction to Literature - 3 credits
In this course, students will gain exposure to works of fiction, poetry, and drama and will acquire experience in critical reading and interpretation of literature. Students will not only read but also actively engage with literary texts, in the process becoming familiar with literary conventions and discourse. Readings may explore a particular theme (e.g., The Heroic, The Quest, The Individual and Community, Coming of Age); themes and reading selections will vary by instructor.

E195 Topics in American Literature - 3 credits
This course offers an in-depth look at the growth of American Literature (novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and non-fiction) and how that literature reflects the social, economic, religious, and political views of the period during which it was written. Emphasis will also be placed on critical research and analytical writing.

E199 Topics in World Literature - 3 credits
This course offers an in-depth examination of world-recognized texts (novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and non-fiction) from notable world authors. Emphasis will be placed on the close reading of the texts and critical thinking, as well as significant research and analytical writing.

E200 Topics in British Literature - 3 credits
This course traces the development of literature of the British Isles from the Anglo-Saxon times to the 20th century. It includes the examination, discussion, and critical analysis, including the historical background, of representative selections from each of the major literary periods.

H112 Global History since 1500 - 3 credits
This course is an introduction to global history since 1500. It focuses on the development of the major societies of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia and also on the interactions between these societies, including trade, colonization, biological exchange, migration, the spread of technology, world war, and genocide. The course is also an introduction to the discipline of history and to the skills of critical reading, critical analysis, and effective communication.

H113 U.S. History to 1865 - 3 credits
This course offers an introductory survey of the multi-cultural history of the United States from the earliest human settlement around 13,000 B.C. to the end of the Civil War in 1865. It introduces students to the diversity of peoples that came to inhabit North America, such as Native Americans, early colonizers from a variety of European nations, slaves from Africa, and the various waves of immigrants that enriched the American population prior to the Civil War. It introduces students to the various historical periods historians recognize, such as the pre-Columbian era, the Colonial period, the era of the American Revolution, the Early Republic, antebellum America, and the era of sectional conflict and the Civil War. The course also introduces students to many of the people, voices, ideas, beliefs, events, and larger historical developments that shaped American history. And it emphasizes the tension that has existed throughout American history between, on the one hand, the forces that work to create a single, unified country out of this multiplicity of cultures, and, on the other hand, the forces that threaten to undermine and tear apart the great republican experiment that is the United States.

H114 U.S. History Since 1865 - 3 credits
This course is the second half of the American history survey from the Civil War through the early 21st century. Lectures, readings, and class activities will supply both a broad pattern of change over time as well as specific analyses of significant events and people. In class discussions and writing analysis students will be encouraged to think critically about the history of the United States in terms of nationhood and peoples' experiences.

COMM101 Public Speaking - 3 credits
This course prepares students to make effective, informative, and persuasive presentations incorporating audiovisual enhancements, and to utilize active listening techniques. The responsibilities of both the speaker and the listener are stressed. Practical experience in preparation, delivery/participation, and evaluation are provided.

COMM201 Reporting I - 3 credits
Principles and practice in journalistic writing and related skills and theory, including style and conventions of journalistic writing, news judgment criteria, techniques for interviewing, and ethical dimensions. Extensive writing in and out of class. Prerequisites: E120 and keyboard fluency.

M145 Finite Mathematics - 3 credits
This course provides an introduction to noncalculus mathematical modeling methods prevalent in business. Topics include: matrix methods, systems of linear equations and inequalities, linear programming by the geometric method and by the simplex method, and the mathematics of finance. Prerequisite: mathematics competency satisfied.

M151 Calculus I - 4 credits
The course provides an introduction to the differential and integral calculus. Topics include: the concepts of function, limit, continuity, derivatives, definite and indefinite integrals, and an introduction to transcendental functions. Credit will not be granted for this course and M148 and M149. Prerequisites: departmental placement or courses equivalent to college algebra and college trigonometry.

M152 Calculus II - 4 credits
This course is a continuation of M151. Some of the topics of M151 are revisited at a higher mathematical level. Topics include: limits, differentiation, applications of the definite integral, inverse trigonometric functions, techniques of integration, improper integrals, indeterminate forms, numerical methods for integration and approximation, curves in the plane given parametrically, and vectors in 2-space and 3-space. Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C in M151 or placement.

M251 Calculus III - 4 credits
This course continues the development of Calculus from M151 and M152. Topics include: sequences and series, conic sections, and differentiation and integration of functions of several variables. Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C in M152.

ST132 Reasoning with Statistics - 3 credits
This course is designed to develop student facility in the use of statistical methods and the understanding of statistical concepts. The course will take a practical approach based on statistical examples taken from everyday life. Topics include: descriptive and inferential statistics, an intuitive introduction to probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, chi-square tests, regression, and correlation. Appropriate technology will be used to perform the calculations for many applications, and correspondingly an emphasis will be placed on interpreting the results of statistical procedures. Credit will not be granted for this course and any of the following: BU215, B392 or ST232. Prerequisite: mathematics competency satisfied.

SP101 Beginning Conversational Spanish I - 4 credits
Through the use of proficiency-based methodologies and multimedia this course helps students get acquainted with Hispanic cultures, discover similarities and differences between the target culture and their own, develop basic communication skills necessary to function in a Spanish- speaking country, and acquire basic grammatical structures and vocabulary. Enrollment is limited to students who have not previously studied Spanish or who place into the course after taking the placement test.

SP102 Beginning Conversational Spanish II - 4 credits
A continuation of SP101. Prerequisite: SP101/141 or equivalent. This PACC course is ONLY offered through special approval.

SP201 Intermediate Conversational Spanish I - 4 credits
This course uses an intensified conversational approach to build vocabulary, to review grammar, and to introduce the student to selected readings dealing with Hispanic literature, culture, and civilization. Prerequisite: SP102 or equivalent. This PACC course is ONLY offered through special approval.

SP202 Intermediate Conversational Spanish II - 4 credits
A continuation of SP201. Prerequisite: SP201/241 or equivalent. This PACC course is ONLY offered through special approval.

P155 Foundations of Physics - 3 credits
This course is intended for elementary education majors as well as other non-science majors. It examines the conceptual frameworks that underlie physics, including mechanics, properties of matter, heat, sound, electricity and magnetism, and light. Two 50-minutes classes and one 2-hour lab per week. Prerequisite: high school algebra.

P180/181 College Physics/Lab - 4 credits
A survey of fundamental topics in physics, using the mathematical tools of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. This survey includes kinematics, vectors, Newton's laws, momentum, energy, oscillations and waves, and thermodynamics. Prerequisite: high school algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Co-requisite: P181 College Physics Laboratory

P201/202 Introductory Physics I / Lab - 4 credits
This is the introductory physics course for all students wishing to enter the scientific professions. The course covers the fundamental principles: mechanics, thermodynamics, radioactivity, and sound. Three hours of lecture per week, along with P202 Physics I laboratory. Concurrent registration in M151 is required.

One three-hour laboratory is held each week covering topics studied in the lectures.

PS102 American National Government - 3 credits
A basic course on the nature and purpose of our U.S. political system; includes the Constitution, institutions, processes, and persons that combine to form our federal government. The student is exposed to a variety of approaches to political study.

PY111 General Psychology - 3 credits
General Psychology provides an overview of the methods, fundamental principles, and major perspectives which define the discipline of psychology. Topics include: Intrapersonal and/or interpersonal psychological processes involved in the biological basis of behavior, sleeping and dreaming, conditioning and learning, cognition, lifespan human development, abnormal psychology, and psychological treatment. Classical and contemporary research and perspectives including the biological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives are explored. Students are actively involved through application, interactive exercises, simulations, and projects.

S110 Sociological Imagination - 3 credits
The nature and foundations of society and the individual, the main forces that strengthen and weaken social groups, and the conditions that transform social life will be examined in this course.

TA160 Theatre Appreciation - 3 credits
An introductory study of the drama and theatre of the past and present, the course is designed for the student who has no previous background in theatre. The course is directed toward a greater appreciation and understanding of the theatre in our culture.

TH114 Religions of the Book - 3 credits
The Christian Bible inspires faith for billions of persons worldwide and is a best-seller every year. In this course the Bible is studied as an example of the world's Scriptures. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn between both the content and the use of Scripture in Jewish, Christia, and Muslim denominations. Attention is also given to some of the uses of Scripture in Eastern worldviews, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

TH260 Foundations in Catholic Theology - 3 credits
This course is an introduction to Catholic theology that explores fundamental doctrines, e.g., the Triune of God, the creation of the cosmos and humanity, sin, grace, salvation, sanctification, and sacramental imagination. Students will attend to the development of these creedal doctrines, building on their biblical understanding of how these doctrines frame the human experience through a coherent system of thought, which addresses the challenges that modernity and post-modernity pose to the Christian world view. Students who have taken TH209 should not take this course. Prerequisite: TH112, TH113, TH114, or TH115.