Though it’s only one week into spring, for many Case Western Reserve University students, it’s time to look ahead to fall, as course registration for degree-seeking graduate students in many programs begins today (March 28) and for undergraduates opens Monday, April 4.
To prepare for the next academic year, The Daily has compiled a list of some classes students may not have considered when preparing their fall schedules.
These course suggestions—some of which were submitted by departments or schools—reflect a wide range of topics, categorized by these subject areas:
- Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
- Business, Law and Politics
- Health and Wellness
- Science and Tech
Looking for other ideas to develop your schedule? Visit the Student Information System (SIS) for additional course listings.
Ready to schedule? Log in to SIS.
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
ANTH 329/429: Anthropological Perspectives of Migration and Health
This course provides an overview of anthropological perspectives on transnational migration and health. It will focus particularly on health and healthcare issues concerning refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, including:
- the physical and mental health consequences of forced migration;
- refugee trauma;
- the intersection of healthcare and immigration policies;
- immigration; and
- healthcare access and utilization.
Readings and coursework will consider the sociocultural, political, and economic factors that contribute to migrant health disparities, and discussions will address issues of medical pluralism among transnational migrants and critically examine the concept of cultural competence in clinical settings.
Instructor: Bridget Haas, visiting assistant professor in the anthropology department
ANTH 360/460, WGST 360: Global Politics of Reproduction
This course offers an anthropological examination of reproductive politics around the world. It explores historical, cultural, socioeconomic, political, and technological factors contributing to reproductive activities. After introducing the anthropological approaches to the study of reproduction, the course will delve into the ways to regulate reproduction in historical and contemporary times, various factors contributing to fertility change, state intervention in reproduction, and assisted reproductive technologies.
Instructor: Lihong Shi, associate professor of anthropology
SASS 315: Adoption Practice and Policy
This course covers the concepts, knowledge, skills, and policies associated with contemporary adoption practice. The practice method reflects a constellation perspective, meaning that adoption is examined from the viewpoints of birth families, adoptees, and adoptive families. Exemplars and case studies are presented for illustration purposes. Consideration of constellation members’ needs at different life cycle stages are presented. Ethical issues and dilemmas related to adoption are emphasized throughout the course in each content area. Course content is covered via lectures and classroom discussions, as well as appropriate guest speakers. Students are expected to participate fully through field trips and classroom discussions.
Limitations or Prerequisites: Undergraduate course.
Instructor: Julia Ellifritt (SAS ’91)
SASS 504: Theories of Human Development and Human Diversity
This generalist course examines theories and research on human development and human diversity. The course explores theories and research on biological, social, cultural, and spiritual development over the lifespan, as well as how oppression and privilege manifest at the individual, institutional. and social/cultural levels and how oppression impacts the life opportunities of members of minority and disenfranchised groups. The course stresses interactions between an individual and their environment.
Limitations or Prerequisites: Graduate-level course offered in the on-ground, intensive weekend and online formats.
Instructor: Mandel School faculty members Elizabeth Bach, Marjorie Edguer and Dana Prince each teach this course
Business, Law and Politics
ECON 355: The Origins of the Modern Economy
This course tells the story of how all the prosperity we see around us, particularly relative to our recent ancestors, became possible to create. This course in economic history investigates the process by which the modern industrial economy, with its high and growing standard of living, came into being. It traces the development of important pre-modern economic institutions, such as agriculture, states, markets, and long-distance trade. The industrial revolution, the fulcrum that launched the modern economy, is then explored in detail, including its origins and uneven spread around the world.
Limitations or Prerequisites: ECON 102
Instructor: David Clingingsmith, associate professor of economics
LAWS 5760: The Wire and the War on Drugs
Many currently criticize the American criminal justice system for being too severe and, in particular, having an unfairly harsh impact on African Americans. These complaints typically focus on the war on drugs and the way the American criminal justice system has prosecuted and punished drug offenses for the past several decades. This course uses the HBO series The Wire as a lens for understanding and evaluating the war on drugs. Students will examine: current drug offenses, the policy debate about legalization and decriminalization of drugs, conspiracy law, approaches to sentencing, the law of electronic surveillance, the fourth amendment, interrogation, the use of informants, the use of computerized statistical data to manage police departments, prisoner reentry programs and the influence of the media on criminal justice policy.
Instructor: Kevin McMunigal, professor of law
Health and Wellness
NURS 415: Introduction to Childbirth
This course will provide an overview of the process of physiologic labor and birth and methods to facilitate normal processes and minimize interventions. Anatomical and physiologic factors of labor and birth will be explored in detail. The psychologic, social, and cultural influences on labor will be examined. Preparation for childbirth by the woman and her family will be explored. The influences of family and health care providers during the labor and birth process will be analyzed. No prereqs. Open to any graduate student or senior undergraduate with permission of instructor
Limitations or Prerequisites: Open to any graduate student or senior undergraduate with permission of instructor
Instructor: Rachel Kay, clinical assistant professor
BETH 316/416: Death, Dying and Modern Medicine
This course involves students volunteering with hospice (COVID-permitting), completing advance directives, planning their own funerals and writing their ethical wills, etc.
Limitations or Prerequisites: Open to both undergraduate minors and MA students in Bioethics and Medical Humanities.
Instructor: Erin Gentry Lamb, the Carl A. Asseff, MD, MBA, JD, Designated Professor in Medical Humanities
Science and Technology
CSDS 101: The Digital Revolution: Computer and Data Science for All
The course exposes non-computer and data scientists and new computer and data scientists to the history and current state of our digital world. Advancements in computer and data science pervade so much of society, and we are all familiar with the explosion in application areas, but we don’t really know much about how this stuff actually works. This course surveys how these advances are built, the ethical implications, possibilities for the future and more. Topics include computer hardware, the internet, machine learning, deep fakes, data mining, and blockchain applications like bitcoin and NFTs. In weekly labs, these topics are further explored through applications that introduce the Python programming language. The theme that ties all these together is how our world can be digitized and manipulated by computers.
Limitations or Prerequisites: Open to anyone who has not yet taken a 300-level or above computer science/data science class and is comfortable with high school algebra.
Instructor: Harold Connamacher, the Robert J. Herbold Professor of Transformative Teaching