Pre-Environmental Science and Forestry

The purpose of Writing Studies is to equip students with rhetorical reading and writing skills necessary for college, the workplace, and beyond. Focusing on the negotiations between authors, texts, and media, students reflect on their own writing practices in context of course readings and independent research. Emphasis is on using instructor and peer feedback to develop effective writing habits, including pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, and documenting sources.

This course introduces students to the important role of general education as a means of expanding knowledge areas, enhancing personal growth, and promoting civic engagement. Students investigate their own values and consider the extent to which values shape behavior and ethical decisions. The student examines the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identities and analyze the role that complex networks of social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity. Through a collection of readings, discussion, personal reflection, writing, and research, students will learn skills to think critically about their social world, broaden their awareness and understanding of cultural and social diversity, and apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to past, current, or future social justice action. As a result, students will develop a greater awareness of, and sensitivity about, social and cultural issues on both a local and global level.

The major emphasis of this course is on the scientific study of the behavioral and mental processes of human beings. Both the biological structure of the human organism and the effect of the environment upon behavior are studied. The major areas of psychological study, including research methods, sensation, and perception, learning theories, and cognitive processes are surveyed.