Fourteen academic departments have declared changes for the 1997-98 Catalog Supplement, which are described below. A link to the complete information for each department, found in A World of Possibilites: The St. Olaf College 1996-97 Academic Catalog, is provided directly underneath each department name.
Reservation of the Right to Modify
The provisions of A World of Possibilities: The St. Olaf College 1996-97 Academic Catalog and of this supplement for 1997-98 are to be considered directive in character and not as an irrevocable contract between the student and the college. The college reserves the right to make changes that seem necessary or desirable, including course and program cancellations.
124: Foundation Photography
This introduction to photography provides majors and non-majors with a strong foundation in the fundamentals of visual art and black and white photography as a medium for artistic expression. Students learn cameral operation, black and white film processing, printing and print presentation and are introduced to the aesthetics and history of photography and the role of photography in modern culture. Students must provide their own 35 mm camera with manual settings. Lab fee.
264: Later Medieval Art
The Romanesque period saw a dramatic change in world view engineered by Church leaders. They supported it with an extensive program of visual propaganda that changed the way churches were built and reliquaries were made, and re-introduced monumental sculpture. Doing so, they created problems that were only solved in the Gothic period. Discover the truth about the vault, how it works and what it means, and what this period says to us.
267: Italian Architecture from the Renaissance to the Rococo
Architecture addresses space: what it can mean, how it is represented or manipulated, how it dissolves walls and ceilings, or makes them bulge. Architecture is about peoples' relationship with the Divine, how they live or think they ought to live, the sense they make of life. Italy's love affair with Classical architecture produced tremendously exciting buildings.
Prerequisite: World Architecture (261) or Renaissance to Modern Art (151) is recommended.
275: Topics in Art History
This seminar-style course provides students acquainted with art and opportunity to develop skills in art historical methodology while investigating specific topics in some depth. The subject matter covered will vary but will focus on a broad theme such as portraiture, women and art, art and religion, and the like. Consistent among the different offerings will be careful work on art historical writings, discussion, and methods of inquiry.
348: Photography II
This advanced photography course combines a theoretical and historical investigation of photography with hands-on projects. Taught simultaneously with Art 248 (Photography), this course emphasizes student-initiated projects that can include medium and large format photography, digital photography, and historic processes. The book format, installations and other experimental forms of presentation, and other media can be explored. Lab fee. Prerequisite: Art 248
251: Dancing in the Big Band Era
Understand the dance phenomenon of the Big Band Era as a major facet of American popular culture, due in part to the advent of radio and the impact of sound in movies. Examine the influence on dancing of changing gender roles, the diffusion of black music and dance, and denominational proscriptions. Interpret these connections within the larger urban social and economic context of the twenties, thirties and forties.
232: Environmental Policy and Regulation
This class analyzes environmental regulation in the United States with respect to its historical evolution, its ability to achieve environmental targets, its efficiency or cost-effectiveness, its distributional impact on jobs, people and industries across the country, and its international ramifications. Class meetings include open discussions with individuals from agencies charged with developing and enforcing environmental regulation, as well as individuals who have engaged in activities subject to environmental regulation.
393: Economic Justice
Economics includes a rich ethical tradition. Four major paradigms of normative ethics underlie much of the history of economic thought, as well as current public policy questons: Utilitarian, Liberal (including both Libertarian and Welfare State Liberalism), Marxist, and Christian. This course will examine these ethical frameworks in addressing contemporary issues. Student evaluation will be based on written assignments, oral communication (participation, presentations, and/or debates), and exams.
132: Reading for Life
This course will help students gain the skills to make reading a source of life-long satisfaction. Six to eight works of fiction and non-fiction will be chosen from among books like these: Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Annie Dillard's An American Childhood, Louise Erdrich's Tracks, John McPhee's The Control of Nature, Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. Class periods will, like the best of book clubs, offer opportunity for a lively exchange of views, intellectual stimulation, and reflections on life. Students will write book reviews, background pieces, and reflective essays. Offered during Interim.
212: The Immigrant Experience in American Fiction
Viewing the United States as a nation of immigrants, this course will examine the wide range of literary reactions to and interpretations of the United States. Noting the 19th-century "exclusionary laws," the course will survey literature by early writers and observers (Cooper, de Tocqueville), and then focus on such 20th-century practitioners as Cather, Bulosan, Hurston, Malamud, Muk-herjee, Okada, Rolvaag, Wong, Yzierska. It will also look at the Native American reactions to the waves of immigrants.
238: Historical Approaches to Literature: Romanticism
This course examines works in their cultural and historical contexts and focuses on a theme that transcends the traditional chronological and geographic boundaries of courses taking an historical approach to literature.
283: Studies in Prose: Major American Novels
This course offers a close look at major novels of the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Novels will be selected from the following: Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Melville's Moby Dick, Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Wharton's Ethan Frome, Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Caldwell's Tobacco Road, Miller's Tropic of Cancer, Cather's O Pioneers!, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
290: Authors in English: Mind Over Manners: Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Henry James
This course will provide an in-depth exploration of three novelists whose work spans the 19th century. We will read two or three novels by each (texts might include Austen's Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, Emma; Eliot's Mill on the Floss, Middle-march, Daniel Deronda; James's Daisy Miller, Portrait of a Lady, What Maisie Knew). Our goals: to trace the continuity and development of themes within each writer, to explore issues of literary influence, to follow the formal evolution of the novel genre from the late 18th-century world of Austen to the early 20th-century world of James. Our themes are as old as the book of Genesis: how does knowledge change us? how free are we to choose the shape of our life's story?
360: Literary Criticism & Theory
This course is concerned with defining, classifying, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and understanding literature. The course includes both practical criticism (the discussion of particular works and writers) and theoretical criticism (the discussion of principles and criteria appropriate to literature generally). The course introduces students to a broad range of types of critical theories, while it provides a historical framework, from Plato to the present, for understanding their development.
Requirements for the German Graduation Major
Eight courses: seven taught in German above 232 plus one interdisciplinary course; this course must have at least 50% German content and may be taken in the German Department, in other St. Olaf departments, or abroad. For this course, the German Department strongly recommends History 225 (Modern Germany) with the German FLAC component or one of the two HWC courses taught in English in the German Department: German 246 (Age of Goethe) or German 468 (Kafka's Europe). The seven courses taught in German are to include German 251 (Writing German) plus one other 250-level course; German 265 (Modern German History, 1789-present) plus one other 260-level course; and at least three 300-level courses.
Requirements for the German Teaching Major
Students planning to teach German should have advanced oral proficiency and a solid understanding of Germany's history. Nine courses are required for a German teaching major: seven courses taught in German above 232 plus History 225 (Modern Germany) and Education 353 (Teaching of Modern Languages). Tne seven courses in German are to include German 250 (Speaking German), German 251 (Writing German), German 265 (Modern German History, 1789-present), one additional 260-level course, and at least three 300-level courses.
Requirements for the German Teaching Minor
Six courses: four courses taught in German above 232 plus History 225 (Modern Germany) and Education 353 (Teaching of Modern Languages). The four German courses are to include German 250 (Speaking German) and German 251 (Writing German), German 265 (Modern German History, 1789-present) and one additional 260- or 300-level course.
Study Abroad
In addition to the intensive, six-week language course (German 252), students may receive credit toward the German major for course work taken at a German university: up to three courses (for two semesters abroad) or two courses (for one semester abroad). Students who do not study abroad during the regular term are encouraged to spend a January Interim in Germany participating in an Internship (German 294 or 394). Students who do not study abroad may count an Internship, an Independent Study (German 298) or Independent Research (German 398) toward the German major requirements.
Course Changes
The German Department has added a course, German 250 (see below). German 247 has been renumbered and is now German 147: Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Fables. Ten courses have been renamed, as follows: German 251: Writing German; German 265: Modern German History, 1789-Present; German 266: German for Economics; German 267: The Art of Translation; German 340: Seminar in German Studies; German 350: Seminar in German Literature; German 360: The German Novella; German 370: German Drama; German 375: The German Short Story; and German 385: German Lyric Poetry. German 294: Internship is a four-week internship in Germany with German 251 as a prerequisite. German 394: Internship is a four-week internship in Germany with one Level II German course as a prerequisite.
250: Speaking German
This course provides an on-campus immersion experience for German majors or for non-majors interested in improving their oral language proficiency. Students explore social interactions among Germans as seen in television and film, focusing on the areas of family, education, and the workplace. Emphasis on communicative competence and the assessment of oral language proficiency. Through participation in a sequence of activities, students improve their effectiveness as oral communicators. Offered during Interim. Taught in German.
Prerequisites: German 232 or equivalent.
The course Interdisciplinary 310 is now Great Conversation 310: Ethical Issues and Normative Perspectives - The Great Conversation Continued.
The course Intercultural 333 is now Hispanic Studies 333: The United States and the People of Latin America. Two courses have been added: Hispanic Studies 298: Independent Study and Hispanic Studies 398: Independent Research.
The course Interdisciplinary 310 is now named Great Conversation 310: Ethical Issues and Normative Perspectives - The Great Conversation Continued.
280: Genocide and Ethical Reasoning
The nature, causes, and consequences of a human phenomenon new in the twentieth century: the deliberate extermination of whole peoples. Careful historical analysis of three genocides: of Armenians in Turkey, Jews in Nazi Germany, and Muslims in Bosnia. Particular attention to the ethical and theological problems posed by genocide. How does morality make a claim on us? Are there universal moral norms? Can we believe in God after genocide?
300: The Spirit of Science
This course develops an understanding of moral reasoning while considering the relationships among science, theology, and ethics. Religious and scientific approaches to understanding are compared, emphasizing value-laden issues. Topics include Evolution, Creation, Cosmology, Teleology, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Causality, and Quantum Mechanics. A survey of normative perspectives will focus on how we ought to approach doing science.
Prerequisites: Biology 233, Chemistry 248, or Physics 244, AND satisfactory completion of the Christian theology requirement.
212: Statistics for the Sciences
A first course in statistical methods. Addresses issues for proposing/designing an experiment, as well as exploratory and inferential techniques for analyzing and modeling scientific data. Topics chosen from probability models, exploratory graphics, descriptive techniques, statistical designs, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, Bayesian inference, simple/multiple regression, contingency table/goodness-of-fit analysis, logistic regression, methods for censored data.
Prerequisites: Math 120 or 122 and one laboratory science course.
Admission and Progression
Men and women who meet the college admission requirements are admitted directly into the nursing major. Enrollment in the program is limited and admission is competitive. Therefore, early consultation with the department chair, preferably in the first year, is recommended. Students are assigned nursing faculty as academic advisors. (See the index of A World of Possibilities: The St. Olaf College 1996-97 Academic Catalog for general admission requirements.)
Recognizing the cooperative relationship that exists between St. Olaf College and Gustavus Adolphus College as participants in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Nursing Consortium (MINC), neither college will accept transfer students who have taken the pre-nursing or nursing curriculum from the other institution in the consortium.
In order to begin the nursing courses, students must meet the following criterion: successful completition of prerequisite courses (C- or above).
Prerequisites must be taken for a letter grade. Only one prerequisite course may be below C- and this course (or an alternate course approved by the nursing department chair) may be repeated once. A minimum grade of C must be achieved in the repeated or substituted course.
If two or more prerequisite courses are below C-, the student may not continue in the major.
An overall G.P.A. of 2.70 must be achieved in order to begin nursing courses in the junior year.
A cumulative G.P.A. of 2.3 must be achieved in the nursing courses in order to graduate.
In addition to the college health requirements, nursing students must also provide documentation of the following: immunization to Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and Rubella, negative Mantoux or Tine (TB) test or negative chest x-ray after August 1 of both the junior and senior year in the major.
Continuous certification in CPR (Basic Life Support, Level C for health providers) must be maintained throughout the major according to American Heart Association or American Red Cross guidelines.
In order to be qualified to provide direct patient services, students must undergo an annual criminal background study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
New Option Added to Prerequisites
The Nursing Department has added Sociology 128 to the list of prerequisites. Majors must now choose one course from among: Sociology 121: Introduction to Sociology, Sociology 128: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, and Sociology 260: Marriage and the Family.
Accreditation and Approval
Information regarding the national accreditation status of the program can be obtained from the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), 350 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014, (212) 989-9393, and the state approval of the program is available from the Minnesota Board of Nursing, 2829 University Ave., Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55414, (612) 617-2270.
Courses
Nursing courses are upper division (junior and senior years). Six courses (ten course value) taught by nursing faculty of the two colleges in the nursing consortium progress from nonacute to acute nursing, from simple to complex situations, and include the individual, the family, and the community as clients. Nursing electives are offered during the Interim.
Each nursing course provides the student with 56 class periods, or the equivalent, of instruction. One class period equals 55 minutes at St. Olaf. Two hours classroom laboratory or three hours clinical laboratory is the equivalent of one class period.
Clinical experiences are provided in each semester of the nursing major in a variety of rural and metropolitan settings. Transportation is provided by the college for all clinical experiences except home health care and public health nursing.
227: Media and Politics
An examination of the relationship between mass media, public opinion, and political behavior. Analyzes patterns in the content of media messages, suggests possible explanations for media content, and traces the effects of media on social values, public opinion, political participation, political institutions, and public policy.
263: Chinese Politics
What is "socialism with Chinese characteristics"? How did Deng Xiaoping reform the political system created by Mao Zedong? Will China become a democracy anytime soon? These are some of the questions to be answered as we examine changes in ideology, the communist regime, state-society relations, and political economy since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
Prerequisite: Political Science 112 or permission of the instructor
349: Distributive Justice
What distribution of wealth and the rewards from work and the possession of productive property is just? Are we all entitled to economic support simply because we are members of society, or should we accept impoverishment as the just consequence of failure in the market? The course introduces students to Christian and non-Christian ethical traditions from Europe and America which are devoted to answering these and related questions.
272: The Pentateuch
Close readings of the first five books of the Bible with attention to literary forms, historical context, and theological insights. Discussion would focus upon the usefulness of archaeology and comparative ancient Near Eastern materials, questions concerning the Documentary Hypothesis, the value and limits of recent narrative approaches to the Bible, an attempt to understand the relationship between the narrative framework and the legal and cultic sections of the Pentateuch, and finally a chance to test the validity of certain modern approaches to Biblical theology.
Prerequisites: Religion 121
293: Virtue
A study of Greek, Christian and modern understandings of virtue, based on classic texts and recent literary works. We explore the nature and forms of virtue, conflicts between virtues, the social context of virtue, the depiction of virtues in narrative, religious and theological understandings, and the strengths and weaknesses of an ethics based on virtue.
295: Religious Pluralism and the Nature of Community
The nature and boundaries of communities, as well as the quality of relationships within communities, are determined by theology as well as by social, political and ethnic factors. Examines the ways in which the world's religions, particularly Christianity, have interpreted each other's significance and truth claims and considers the ethical implications of these different responses.
344: Feminist Perspectives and Christian Ethics
How might the Christian ethical systems which have dominated western culture look different if women's experiences and perspectives had been more centrally included? This course will focus on the continuities and contrasts between traditional Jewish and Christian ethics and the feminist and womanist ethical challenges to them which have emerged over the last quarter century.
399: Senior Seminar
An integrative seminar required of all religion majorsÑtopic announced by instructor. The seminar focuses on the pursuit of research, the explanation of research to fellow students, and the exploration of connections among diverse approaches to the topic. Each student will write a substantial essay addressing the topic from the perspective of his or her primary interests. Open to senior and second-semester junior religion majors and to others by permission.
Spring 1998: Theological Ethics in Post-Modern Culture.
