Experience Scotland Courses
Participants in the program enroll in a minimum of 15 credits offered in a module format. In this format, courses are taught one at a time in three-week blocks. You'll enroll in only one course per module. Click on the course title for a full course description, pre-determined course equivalencies at partner campuses and textbook requirements. The required Scotland: Society and Globalization course runs through the entirety of the semester.
Fall 2024 Courses
Required
Faculty: Gerry Mooney, emeriti faculty, Open University (Scotland)
Course description: Scotland: Society & Globalization is a wide-ranging course that explores different aspects of contemporary Scottish society. Locating Scotland in its historical and global contexts, the course focuses on many of the key social, economic, cultural and political issues that face Scotland today. It considers many of the ways that globalization can be said to be impacting on Scottish economy and society and takes a multi- and inter- disciplinary approach. The course draws on sociology, social policy, social history and human geography. The course emphasizes the importance & usefulness of comparative and transnational comparisons for the understanding of developments in a particular national context. Comparisons between different aspects of Scottish and US societies will occupy centre stage; students will be required to reflect on points of similarity & convergence between US & Scottish/UK society.
Required textbook(s): Textbook provided in Scotland; no purchase required
Course equivalents:
- Lake Superior State University: POLI 377, 3 cr.
- Murray State University: SOC 465: Globalization; HIS 390: Special Topics
- Normandale Community College: HIST Elective, 3 cr. (5, 8)
- PLNU: POL 3091 (for Political Science and International Studies majors), or HIS 4015 (for History majors), 3 cr.
- UW-Oshkosh: SS Elective 008U (SS)
- UW-River Falls: WIS 305 | Scotland: Society & Globalization, 3 cr. (GP)
- UW-Superior: SOCI 201 | Social Problems in Global Perspectives, 3 cr. (Social Inquiry)
- UW-Whitewater: LSINDP 999 | L&S Interdisciplinary Elective, 3 cr. (GI)
Module One
Faculty: Ruth Fairchild, retired faculty, Ridgewater College
Course description: An introduction to communication among peoples from different cultures. This course explores the relationship between culture and communication, gaining an intellectual framework to understand cultural patterns, verbal and nonverbal codes in intercultural interpersonal relationships. Attention is given to skills for and obstacles to competent intercultural communication.
Required textbook(s): Materials provided on site; no textbook required.
Course equivalents:
- Murray State University: COM 340, Intercultural Communication
- Normandale Community College: COMM 1131, 3 cr., MnTC 7 & 8
- Ridgewater College: CMST 2270, Intercultural Communication, 3 cr.
- UW-River Falls: COMS 213, Intercultural Communication, 3 cr. (ACD)
- UW-Superior: COMM 167, 3 cr.
Faculty: Geoffrey Scheurman, UW-River Falls
Course description: This is an introductory course in political theory and ideology. Major concepts in political theory will be explored such as justice, equality, liberty, and political power and authority. Students will be introduced to major ideologies that have influenced and continue to influence politics in America and the rest of the world. These ideologies include civic republicanism, classic liberalism, conservatism, socialism, Marxism and Green political thought.
Required textbook(s): TBD
Course equivalents:
Module Two
Faculty: Ruth Fairchild, retired faculty, Ridgewater College
Course description: The study of the short story as a literary form and its development from its beginnings in oral traditions to its conscious formulation in the 19th century and its continued metamorphosis in the 20th century. Primary emphasis is placed on reading, discussing, interpreting, and writing about short stories. This section will focus on stories of Scotland, but also include some from England, Ireland, and Wales.
Required textbook(s): Materials provided onsite; no textbook required.
Course equivalents:
Faculty: Mike Dorrell, Point Loma Nazarene University
Course description: An examination of current topics in global health as they impact society. The course addresses the topics of genetics, mutations and cancer, as well as how major pathogens (bacteria and viruses) threaten global health. Associated with the portion on pathogens will be lessons on the basic immune response to a pathogen, how vaccines work, and chal lenges to fighting pathogens on a global level. The course approach emphasizes critical thinking, active learning, social relevancy, and building connections between case studies and general concepts of biology.
Required textbook(s): Materials provided onsite; no textbook required.
Course equivalents:
Faculty: Gerry Mooney, emeriti faculty, Open University (Scotland)
Course description: Explores a number of different themes which will be of interest to students - and which will tie in with other aims of widening the opportunities for external engagement for many of the students including: Exploring Scottish Cultural Traditions, Heritage: Exploring the 'Scottish Brand', Exporting Scotland, and Sport & Society in Modern Scotland. Just as there are multiple America's, dependent upon the traditions, beliefs, expectations, and cultures that developed in each area, multiple Scotland's exist. By understanding the heritage/culture of Scotland, students will be able to see how society is structured today as well as see the reason for debates about the direction Scotland will head in the future.
Required textbook(s): Textbook provided in Scotland; no purchase required.
Course equivalents:
- Lake Superior State University: SDGE, Cultural Diversity General Education, 3 cr.
- Murray State University: HIS 390, Special Topics-Scotland, 3 cr.
- Normandale Community College: SSCI ELECT, 3 cr., MnTC 5
- PLNU: POL 3091 for Political Science and International Studies majors or HIS 4015 for History majors
- UW-Oshkosh: SS Elective 008U (SS), 3 cr.
- UW-River Falls: WIS 310, Scotland: Heritage & Culture, 3 cr.
- UW-Superior: ANTH 289, Anthropology Elective, 3 cr. meeting general education requirement: World Languages, Cultures, Philosophy
- UW-Whitewater: ANTHRPL 999, Anthropology Elective, 3 cr.
Module Three
Faculty: Mike Dorrell, Point Loma Nazarene University
Course description: An analysis of mechanisms of early development of invertebrates and vertebrates. Includes a study of the cellular, molecular, and genetic factors that influence cell differentiation and the determination of the body plan, as well as a study of the morphogenesis of a few selected organ systems. The implications of development on our understanding of the mechanisms of evolution (evo-devo) are thoroughly discussed, including the overriding concepts of how small genetic changes that alter gene expression early in development, can lead to tolerable phenotypic changes. The concepts of duplication, co-option, and several other Evo-Devo concepts will also be discussed.
Required textbook(s): Recommended text: ISBN = 978-0197574591, "Developmental Biology" by Barresi and Gilbert, 13th edition
Course equivalents:
Faculty: Charles Rader, UW-River Falls
Course description: This interdisciplinary course examines global issues that demonstrate deepening interdependence and globalization of today's world. Various topics, such as human rights, global terrorism, international trade, and global poverty will be discussed.
Required textbook(s): Introduction to International and Global Studies, 3rd edition by Shawn C. Smallman and Kimberley Brown. Text is available in e-text (Kindle format) and paperback formats. Either format is acceptable for course purposes.
Course equivalents:
Module Three
Faculty: Ogden Rogers, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Course description: What is Law? What are Human Rights? What are the ways that these values get expressed in the world and what are the legal processes that support, or fail, the modern human rights regime? This course will take a primary documents approach to the exploration of Human Rights, and the instruments nations have created to enumerate these rights. We will explore the purposes and mechanisms of Law, and several of the major documents that constitute International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. The course will use Case Study, simulation, and lecture as methods to explore how human rights act in the world.
Required textbook(s): Materials provided onsite; no textbook required.
Course equivalents:
- Murray State University: POL 449, Human Rights or LST 480, Topical Seminars in Legal Studies
- Normandale Community College: GLST ELECT, 3 cr., MnTC 5 & 9
- UW-River Falls: SOWK 389, International Human Rights Law, 3 cr., SB and EC w/ GEUR exception
- UW-Superior: SOW 498 or LSTU 499, 3 cr.
Faculty: Mike Dorrell, Point Loma Nazarene University
Course description: This upper division course builds upon the basis of the scientific method that students are exposed to as freshmen. It focuses on teaching students how to develop biological questions, search databases to obtain background information, design scientific experiments, and analyze data. The course will focus more specifically on how research data is obtained, how experimental knowledge and data are dispersed amongst the scientific community, and how these data are used as a base for correlating new data and upon which new experimentation is based.
Required textbook(s): Materials provided onsite; no textbook required.
Course equivalents:
