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Liberal Studies

University College

http://www.montana.edu/lsdegree/

All students are required to choose one of two program options, either the Quaternity (option I), which offers the more traditional broad-based liberal arts education, or a cross-disciplinary cluster of thematically related courses (option II), which currently includes the Environmental Studies and the Global and Multicultural Studies options. Courses that are used to satisfy one degree requirement cannot be used to satisfy another. Students must complete a minimum of 45 credits in the program after declaring themselves to be Liberal Studies majors.

Students who have successfully completed the first two years of any MSU-Bozeman degree with a minimum of 60 credits (all degree requirements and completion of the university core) will be able to construct a program of study for completion of the Quaternity option, in consultation with the Program Director and the Liberal Studies Program Committee, requiring no more than 60 additional credits.

For details about the Liberal Studies degree, contact the Office of the Provost by calling 406-994-4371, sending e-mail to liberalstudies@montana.edu or checking the liberal studies web site at www.montana.edu/lsdegree.

Liberal Studies Seminars
All students in Liberal Studies, regardless of option, will take a series of integrative seminars (LS 101 and LS 301). These seminars are designed to provide a sense of academic community, improved critical thinking and communication skills, and a better understanding of the factual knowledge and theoretical foundations of the disciplines encompassed by the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

Integrative Studies Requirement
Students are required to take 4 courses (minimum of 12 credits) in addition to the university's Core curriculum, one course each in arts, humanities, natural science, and social sciences.

Foreign Language Requirement
Students in the Quaternity option are to complete the first two courses in a foreign language (8 credits) or to demonstrate equivalent competency. Students in the Global and Multicultural option are to complete the first three courses in a foreign language (11 credits) or to demonstrate equivalent competency.

Capstone Experience
All students in the major take a common 4-credit capstone course in their final year. Students work together in small groups to design solutions to contemporary public policy issues (e.g., overpopulation). Each small-group project results in a scholarly product (typically a paper or presentation) that serves as a tangible and measurable indication of the extent to which students have mastered the critical thinking, reading, writing, and oral communication skills that are the principal learning objectives of the program.


ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES OPTION

This option is designed for students interested in developing a broad understanding of environmental issues from scientific and public policy perspectives. In addition to some common foundations courses, students select 21 credits each from approved lists of science and public policy courses. Proposed substitutions must be submitted in writing to the Program Director.

Freshman YearFS
LS 1013
ENGL 121*3
BIOL 1014
ESCI 1124
STAT 2163
GEOG 2013
University Core 3
Electives25
1515
Sophomore YearFS
LS 3011
Integrative Studies 6 6
Natural Science Electives** 6
Public Policy Electives*** 3
University Core32
Electives3
1515
Junior YearFS
LS 3011
PHIL 3403
Natural Science Electives** 3 6
Public Policy Electives*** 3 6
University Core3
Electives23
1515
Senior YearFS
LS 3011
LS 4014
Natural Science Electives** 6 3
Public Policy Electives*** 6 3
Electives25
1515

A minimum of 42 credits must be in courses numbered 300 and above. In addition to LS 401, at least 9 credits must be in courses numbered 400 and above.

* Students have the option to take ENGL 121 in the spring semester and 3 additional university core electives in the fall semester.

**Natural science electives to be selected from: AGEC 315, Follow the Grain; ARNR 101, Natural Resource Conservation; ARNR 102, Principles of Rangeland Management Lab; ARNR 125, Nature of Yellowstone; ARNR 240, Natural Resource Ecology; ARNR 345, Riparian Ecology & Management; ARNR 353, Grazing Ecology & Management; ARNR 354, Fire Ecology & Management; ARNR 438, Wildlife Habitat Ecology; BCHM 122, Organic & Biological Principles; BIOL 103, Environmental Science & Society; BIOL 106, Insects & Human Society; BIOL 251, Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology; BIOL 303, Principles of Ecology; BIOL 405, Behavioral & Evolutionary Ecology; BIOL 407, Alpine Ecology; BIOL 421, Yellowstone Wildlife Ecology; BIOL 424, Freshwater Ecology; BIOL 439, Stream Ecology; BIOL 447, Conservation Ecology; CHEM 101, Applying Chemistry to Society or CHEM 121, Introductory General Chemistry or CHEM 131/141, General Chemistry I; CHEM 132/142, General Chemistry II; ESCI 111, Physical Geology; ESCI 211, Yellowstone: Scientific Lab; ESCI 307, Principles of Geomorphology; ESCI 432, Surface Water Resources; ESCI 440, Ground-Water Resources; F&WL 301, Principles of Fish & Wildlife Management; GEOG 302, Biogeography; GEOG 303, Weather & Climate; GEOG 430, Mountain Geography; GEOL 102, Environmental Geology; GEOL 210, Historical Geology; LRES 110, Land Resources & Environmental Sciences; LRES 201, Soil Resources; LRES 244, Introduction to Water Resources; LRES 344, Water Quality; LRES 351, Nutrient Cycling; LRES 355, Soil & Environmental Chemistry; LRES 426, Remote Sensing; LRES 444, Watershed Hydrology; LRES 453, Soil & Environmental Physics; LRES 454, Landscape Pedology; LRES 460, Soil Remediation; LRES 461, Restoration Ecology; MBEH 210, Principles of Environmental Health Science; PSPP 102, Plant Science, Resources & the Environment; PSPP 105, Miracle Growing-Intro to Horticulture; PSPP 424, Ecology of Fungi; UNIV 125, Microbes & the Environment.

***Public policy electives to be selected from: AGEC 210, Economics of Agricultural Business; AGEC 337, Agricultural Law; AOT 425, Water Management; ARNR 456, Conflict Resolution in Natural Resource Management; BREN 330, Water Resources Law; ECON 101, Economic Way of Thinking; ECON 132, Economics & the Environment; ECON 317, Economic Development; ECON 332, Economics of Natural Resources; ENGL 414, Literature of Place; GEOG 105, World Regional Geography; GEOG 211, Geographic Information Science & Cartography; GEOG 330, Geographical Planning; GEOG 331, Urban Geography; GEOG 332, Economic Geography; GEOG 425, Tourism Planning; HIST 464, History of Yellowstone; HIST 466, United States Environmental History; HIST 469, World Environmental History; LRES 421, Holistic Thought & Management; MGMT 406, Negotiation & Dispute Resolution; MGMT 473, Modern Management of Western Resources; POLS 206, The Government of the United States; POLS 208, State & Local Government & Politics; POLS 306, The Legislative Process; POLS 350, Natural Resource Policy; POLS 351, Public Policy Analysis; POLS 352, Comparative Public Policy; POLS 355, Principles of Public Administration; POLS 415, Montana Local Politics & Policy; POLS 421, Politics of Food & Hunger; POLS 454, Environmental Politics; RELS 223, Nature & Culture; SOC 308, Population & Society; SOC 328, Environmental Sociology; SOC 352, Society & Consumption. Up to 12 credits required in a minor or in a second degree program may be applied toward the Natural Science and Public Policy electives.

 



GLOBAL AND MULTICULTURAL STUDIES OPTION

In addition to selecting 27 credits from an approved list of global/multicultural courses spanning a wide range of disciplines, students in this option select a specific area studies focus in which they take 12 additional credits to provide deeper understanding of that region or field of study. In addition, students are required to achieve competence, at an intermediate level, in a foreign language appropriate to their field of area studies. Students in this option are encouraged to study abroad in a region appropriate to their field of area studies. Credits earned abroad may, with the approval of the Program Director, be substituted for global/multicultural or area studies courses as appropriate.

Freshman YearFS
LS 1013
ENGL 121*3
Modern Language 4 4
University Core36
Electives25
1515
Sophomore YearFS
LS 1021
Modern Language3
Integrative Studies 6 6
University Core36
Electives32
1515
Junior YearFS
LS 3011
Global & Multicultural Electives** 6 9
Area Studies Electives*** 6 3
Electives23
1515
Senior YearFS
LS 3011
LS 4014
Global & Multicultural Electives** 6 6
Area Studies Electives***3
Electives55
1515

A minimum of 42 credits must be in courses numbered 300 and above. In addition to LS 401, at least 9 credits must be in courses numbered 400 and above.

* Students have the option to take ENGL 121 in the spring semester and 3 additional university core electives in the fall semester.

**Global and multicultural electives to be selected from: ANTH 101, Anthropology & the Human Experience; ANTH 204, Culture & Society; ANTH 326, Language & Culture; ANTH 405, Myth, Magic & Religion; ARCH 221, World Architecture: Modern-Contemporary; ARCH 322, World Architecture: Ancient; ARCH 323, World Architecture: Medieval-Baroque; ART 407, Islamic Art & Architecture; ECON 314, International Economics; ECON 317, Economic Development; EDCI 240, Introduction to Multicultural Education; EDEL 307, Teaching the Multicultural Child; EDSD 363, Multicultural Education; ENGL 210, Mythologies; ENGL 214, Regional Literature; ENGL 308, Multicultural Literature; ENGL 440, World Literature; ENGL 441, Studies in Emergent Literature; GEOG 105, World Regional Geography; GEOG 201, Human Geography; GEOG 315, Cultural Geography; HDPE 410, International Perspective of History & Philosophy in Health, Sport & Physical Education; HHD 205, Dance as Cultural Expression; HIST 160, World History; HIST 355, History of the Middle East in the 20th Century; HIST 412, Race & Class in America; HIST 469, World Environmental History; MGMT 245, Cultural Dimensions of International Business; MGMT 464, International Management; MKTG 242, Introduction to Global Markets; MKTG 441, International Marketing; MUS 312, World Music; PHIL 105, Problems of Good & Evil; PHIL 208, Philosophy & Culture; PHIL 362, Philosophy & Race; PHIL 368, Language & the World; POLS 241, Introduction to International Relations; POLS 340, International Relations Theory; POLS 402, International Law; POLS 421, Politics of Food & Hunger; POLS 441, International Human Rights; POLS 443, International Political Economy; POLS 444, Globalization & Politics; RELS 105, Introduction to the Study of Religion; RELS 110, Religion, Conflict & Politics; RELS 335, Isms-The Religious Background of Social & Political Categories; RELS 402, The Natural, The Unnatural & the Supernatural; RELS 410, Psyche & the Sacred; SOC 325, Sociology of Race & Ethnicity; SOC 335, Law and Inequality; SOC 339, Crime and Inequality; SOC 352, Society & Consumption; SOC 365, Sociology of Globalization.

 

With consent of the program director, courses from the Area Studies categories below, excluding Europe, may be applied as Global and Multicultural Electives.

***Area studies electives to be selected from courses on one of the following areas.

Asia: ANTH 252, Contemporary Japan; ANTH 336, Contemporary Pacific Societies; ANTH 347, Sex, Gender & Sexuality in Japan; ANTH 353, Popular Culture In/Out of Japan; ART 302, Survey of Asian Art; GEOG 436, East Asia in the Global System; HIST 109, Modern Asia; HIST 115, History of Japan; HIST 371, Age of the Shoguns; HIST 372, Japan's Long 19th Century, HIST 374, Modern China; HIST 375, Modern India, Pakistan & Bangladesh; HIST 409, Japanese Women's History; HIST 430, Science and Medicine in China; HIST 433, Creatures: Art and Biology from Early Modernity to Now; HIST 458, Cabinets of Curiosity: Travels of Exotica in the Early Modern World;  HIST 465, Science, Technology & Environment in Japan; HIST 467, Gender in Asia; MLJ 301, Japanese Culture & Civilization; MLJ 306, Japanese Portrayals of World War II; MLJ 315, Introduction to Japanese Literature; MLJ 320, Classical Japanese Literature; MLJ 321, Modern Japanese Literature; MLF 341, Women in Japanese Literature & Culture; MLJ 361, Text & Cinema; MLJ 371, Japanese Film & Anime; PHIL 220, Philosophies of Asia; RELS 202, Asian Religions-Hinduism & Buddhism; RELS 203, Asian Religions: From Taoism to Zen.

Europe: ART 203, Renaissance through Modern Art; ENGL 216, Survey of British Literature; ENGL 217, Survey of British Literature II; ENGL 340, Old/Middle English; ENGL 341, Studies in British Literature: 16th/17th Centuries; ENGL 342, Studies in British Literature: Restoration/18th Century; ENGL 343, Studies in British Literature: 19th Century; ENGL 432, Shakespeare; HIST 105, Origins of Western Civilization; HIST 107, Western Civilization, 1600-present; HIST 316, History of Russia to 1917; HIST 325,19th Century Europe; HIST 326, 20th Century Europe; HIST 333, Early Britain: Prehistory to 1714; HIST 334, Modern Britain; HIST 361, History of Modern France; HIST 362, Modern Germany; HIST 369, The World at War: WWI; HIST 460, European Intellectual History; MLF 306, From Reflection to Revolution; MLG 301, German Culture & Civilization; MLG 303, Issues in German Cinema; MLG 360, The Faust Myth; MUS 210, Masterworks in Music; PHIL 305, History of Western Philosophy: Ancient & Medieval; PHIL 306, History of Western Philosophy: Modern; PHIL 390, Reason & Revolution; POLS 321, Classical Political Thought.

Latin America: HIST 110, Latin American History; HIST/RELS 201 Religion in Latin America; HIST 305, Mexico; HIST 407, Colonial Latin America; HIST 410, Latin American Social History; HIST 413, Race in Latin America; HIST 425, Gender, Sexuality & Social Change in Latin American History; MLS 302, Latin American Culture & Civilization; MLS 321, Contemporary Latin American Literature; MLS 330, Travel in Latin American Literature & Film; MLS 365, Hispanic Poetry; MLS 420, Culture & Revolution; SOC 368, Immigration & Inequality: Latinos in the US. 

Native American Studies: ANTH 310, Native North America; ART 316, Indigenous Ceramics; HIST 447, History of the North American Indian; NAS 100, Introduction to Native American Studies; NAS 201, American Indians in Montana; NAS 220, American Indian Art; NAS 240, NAS Theories & Methods; NAS 242, American Indians in Contemporary Society; NAS 315, Native American Indians & the Cinema; NAS 320, American Indian Religions; NAS 325, Native Peoples of the Americas; NAS 330, American Indian Policy & Law; NAS 340, American Indian Literature; NAS 405, Gender Issues in Native American Studies; NAS 415, Native Food Systems; NAS 425, Pan-Indianism in American Society; NAS 430, American Indian Education.

Women's Studies: ANTH 347, Sex, Gender & Sexuality in Japan; ART 421, Women Artists; ENGL 330 Women & Literature; HDHL 240, Human Sexuality; HIST 403, Gender in the U.S. & Canadian West; HIST 408, Gender in America; HIST 409, Japanese Women's History; HIST 419, Family, Gender & Law in Ancient Greece & Rome; HIST 425, Gender & Sexuality in Latin America; HIST 448, Gender & Technology; HIST 467, Gender in Asia; HUM 204, Gender & Sexuality; MLJ 341, Women in Japanese Literature & Culture; NAS 405, Gender Issues in Native American Studies; PHIL 363, Philosophy & Feminism; PSY 201, Contemporary Issues in Human Sexuality; PSY 392, Psychology of Women; RELS 321, Gender & Religion; SOC 326, Sociology of Gender; WS 201, Introduction to Feminist Theories & Methodologies; WS 301, Integrative Seminar in Women's Studies.

Up to 12 credits required in a minor or in a second degree program may be applied toward the Global & Multicultural and Area Studies electives.


QUATERNITY OPTION

The Quaternity option is a student-centered option that aims at exploring four different but interconnected concepts of knowledge-thinking, feeling, intuition, and sensation-which are derived from the complex interaction of mythos (story, fable, imagination) and logos (truth, fact, reality). Students in the Quaternity are expected to approach and to interrogate all of their courses through this epistemological lens, and to demonstrate that they have done so through writing assignments in the Liberal Studies seminars and other course assignments.

In addition to the integrative seminars, university core, and liberal studies requirements described above, students in the Quaternity require a foreign language (8 cr.) and an additional 4 courses (12 cr.) in each area of the quaternity - arts, humanities, natural science or mathematics, and social sciences.

Freshman YearFS
LS 1013
ENGL 121*3
Modern Language 4 4
University Core36
Electives25
1515
Sophomore YearFS
LS 301 1
Integrative Studies 6 3
Quaternity Electives 6
University Core63
Electives32
1515
Junior YearFS
LS 301 1
Integrative Studies 3
Quaternity Electives**912
Electives32
1515
Senior YearFS
LS 3011
LS 4014
Quaternity Elective** 12 9
Electives22
1515

* Students have the option to take ENGL 121 in the spring semester and 3 additional university core electives in the fall semester.

** A minimum of 42 credits must be in courses numbered 300 and above. In addition to LS 401, at least 9 credits must be in courses numbered 400 and above. Up to 6 credits required in a minor or in a second degree program may be applied toward the 12 credit elective requirement in arts, humanities, natural science or mathematics, or social sciences.


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