Search Results
Your search for courses · during 2025-26 · tagged with ACE Applied · returned 72 results
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AMST 215 Trains of Thought: Contemplating Local Commuter and Passenger Rail 6 credits
Meeting with mass-transit professionals, urban planners, and community organizers to discuss contemporary rail policy, students in this seminar will search local archives and develop public-facing informational materials about the Dan Patch Corridor, which passes through Northfield. This rail line was identified by MnDOT in 1998 as the most feasible southbound commuter-rail route for the Twin Cities. From 2002 until 2023, however, the state legislature prohibited it from further transportation studies. Meanwhile, grassroots rail advocates proposed reestablishing long-distance passenger service from Minneapolis to Kansas City. What are the arguments for and against reviving rail services? What does the community think?
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARCN 112 Archaeology of Native North America 6 credits
When did humans first migrate to North America? How long have people lived in Minnesota? This course will examine the material culture of Indigenous peoples throughout the North American continent above Mexico, from c. 20,000 years ago to present. Cultural groups include the Inuit, Iroquois, ancient Puebloans, Cahokia, Great Plains villages, and Pacific Northwest (Kumash) peoples. We will study Indigenous oral histories, genetic data, linguistics, material remains, and ethnohistorical accounts to examine migration, trade, and contact, with an emphasis on decolonization and Indigenous archaeologies.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARCN 246 Archaeological Methods & Lab 6 credits
As a field that is truly interdisciplinary, archaeology uses a wide range of methods to study the past. This course provides a hands-on introduction to the entire archaeological process through classroom, field, and laboratory components. Students will participate in background research concerning local places of historical or archaeological interest; landscape surveying and mapping in GIS; excavation; the recording, analysis, and interpretation of artifacts; and the publication of results. This course involves real archaeological fieldwork, and students will have an opportunity to contribute to the history of the local community while learning archaeological methods applicable all over the world.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
Sophomore priority
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ARTH 260 Planning Utopia: Ideal Cities in Theory and Practice 6 credits
This course will survey the history of ideal plans for the built urban environment. Particular attention will be given to examples from about 1850 to the present. Projects chosen by students will greatly influence the course content, but subjects likely to receive sustained attention include: Renaissance ideal cities, conceptions of public and private space, civic rituals, the industrial city, Baron Haussmann’s renovations of Paris, suburbanization, the Garden City movement, zoning legislation, Le Corbusier’s Ville Contemporaine, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City, New Urbanism and urban renewal, and planned capitals such as Brasília, Canberra, Chandigarh, and Washington, D.C.
- Spring 2026
- LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One Art History (ARTH) course with a grade of C- better.
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ARTH 341 Art and Democracy 6 credits
What does it mean to say that a work of art is “democratic?” For whom is art made? And who can lay claim to the title “artist?” These questions animate contemporary art production as artists grapple with the problems of broadening access to their works and making them more socially relevant. In this course we will consider the challenges involved in making art for a sometimes ill-defined “public.” Topics to be discussed include: activist performance art, feminism, public sculpture, the Culture Wars, queer visual culture, and the recent rise of social practice art.
Extra time
Not offered in 2025-26
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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Student has completed any two courses in ARTH with grades of C- or better.
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ARTS 230 Ceramics: Throwing 6 credits
This course is focused on the creative possibilities of the pottery wheel as a means to create utilitarian objects. Students are challenged to explore conceptual ideas while maintaining a dedication to function. An understanding of aesthetic values and technical skills are achieved through studio practice, readings, and demonstrations. Basic glaze and clay calculations, high fire and wood kiln firing techniques, and a significant civic engagement component, known as the Empty Bowls Project, are included in the course.
Seats held for Art and Art History majors.
- Spring 2026
- ARP, Arts Practice
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ARTS 130 or ARTS 236 with a grade of C- or better.
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ARTS 276 Design Fundamentals, Zines, and Artistic Publications 6 credits
This course will discuss principles of graphic design using a Risograph duplicator, a printing technology that operates similarly to both silkscreen printmaking and a copy machine. The Riso is used to create artwork, zines, and other artistic publications. We will examine creative possibilities for this technology, using both analog techniques and digital publishing software including Adobe Photoshop and Indesign to make printed imagery and narrative works like zines and artists books.
Not offered in 2025-26
- ARP, Arts Practice
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ARTS 110 or ARTS 113 or ARTS 114 with grade of C- or better or received a Carleton Studio Arts 110 Requisite Equivalency.
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ARTS 336 Advanced Throwing 6 credits
This course focuses on the creative possibilities of throwing on the potter's wheel as a means to create utilitarian and sculptural objects. Students are challenged to explore conceptual ideas at an advanced level. An understanding of aesthetic values and technical skills are achieved through studio practice, readings, and demonstrations. Basic glaze and clay calculations, various firing techniques, and a significant civic engagement component, known as the Empty Bowls Project, are included.
Seats held for Art and Art History majors.
Extra Time Required: Participation in the Empty Bowls Community Meal on a Friday in May.
- Spring 2026
- ARP, Arts Practice
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ARTS 230 OR ARTS 236 with a grade of C- or better.
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ASST 130 Globalization & Local Responses in India Program: Tourism and Development in India 3 credits
This course will examine concepts and practices regarding socio-economic development in India, with a special focus on the role of tourism as part of the process of globalization. We will study the scholarly writings and debates around the varied agendas and ideologies concerning development, and analyze the different approaches to economic growth that have historically been dominant in India. As part of our learning process, we will visit numerous sites wherein economic development is being undertaken, including urban and rural locales as well as tourist and pilgrimage sites. This course will include scholarly readings, instructor and guest lectures, and require student presentations of their work.
OCS India Program
Not offered in 2025-26
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Student has enrolled in the Carleton OCS India: Globalization and Local Responses program.
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BIOL 310 Immunology 6 credits
This course will examine the role of the immune system in defense, allergic reactions, and autoimmunity. Topics to be covered include the structure and function of antibodies, cytokines, the role of the major histocompatibility complex in antigen presentation, cellular immunity, immunodeficiencies, and current techniques used to study immune responses.
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): BIOL 125 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 or better on the Biology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Biology IB exam AND BIOL 126 with a grade of C- or better AND either BIOL 240 or BIOL 280 with a grade of C- or better.
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BIOL 372 Seminar: Structural Biology 6 credits
The ability to visualize macromolecules at atomic detail has significantly advanced our understanding of macromolecular structure and function. This course will provide an overview of fundamental experimental methodologies underlying structure determination, followed by primary literature-based discussions in which students will present and critically discuss classic foundational papers as well as examples from the current literature that have advanced our understanding of macromolecule structure and function.
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): BIOL 125 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 or better on the Biology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Biology IB exam AND BIOL 126 with a grade of C- or better AND either BIOL 280 or BIOL 380 or BIOC 301 or CHEM 320 with a grade of C- or better.
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BIOL 378 Seminar: The Origin and Early Evolution of Life 6 credits
The Earth formed four and a half billion years ago. Evidence suggests that within 700 million years, life had gained a foothold on this planet. We will delve into the primary literature to explore fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of life: How did life arise from non-life on the dynamic young Earth? Where on Earth did life begin? Did life only arise once? What did the first living organisms look like? What was the nature of our last universal common ancestor? How did life alter the planet on which it arose? Could life originate elsewhere in the cosmos?
Waitlist only.
Not offered in 2025-26
- No Exploration QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): BIOL 125 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 or better on the Biology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Biology IB exam AND BIOL 126 with a grade of C- or better AND one 200 or 300 level BIOL course with a grade of C- or better.
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CAMS 270 Nonfiction 6 credits
This course addresses nonfiction media as both art form and historical practice by exploring the expressive, rhetorical, and political possibilities of nonfiction production. A focus on relationships between form and content and between makers, subjects, and viewers will inform our approach. Throughout the course we will pay special attention to the ethical concerns that arise from making media about others’ lives. We will engage with diverse modes of nonfiction production including essayistic, experimental, and participatory forms and create community videos in partnership with Carleton’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement and local organizations. The class culminates in the production of a significant independent nonfiction media project.
Extra Time
- Fall 2025
- ARP, Arts Practice IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): CAMS 111 with grade of C- or better.
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CGSC 100 Cognitive Development in Childhood 6 credits
This Argument and Inquiry seminar will focus on the cognitive changes experienced by children in the preschool and elementary school years, in such realms as perception, attention, memory, thinking, decision-making, knowledge representation, and the acquisition of academic skills. Weekly observation at local day care centers or elementary schools will be a required course component.
Held for new first year students
- Fall 2025
- AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1
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Student is a member of the First Year First Term class level cohort. Students are only allowed to register for one A&I course at a time. If a student wishes to change the A&I course they are enrolled in they must DROP the enrolled course and then ADD the new course. Please see our Workday guides Drop or 'Late' Drop a Course and Register or Waitlist for a Course Directly from the Course Listing for more information.
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CGSC 382 Cognitive Development in Children and Adolescents 6 credits
This seminar will focus on the cognitive changes experienced by children in the preschool, elementary, and middle school years, in such realms as perception, attention, memory, thinking, decision-making, knowledge representation, and the acquisition of academic skills. Weekly observation at local day care centers or schools will be a required course component. The seminar will be discussion-based and participants will take turns making presentations and leading discussions.
Not offered in 2025-26
- SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): CGSC 232 or PSYC 232 or PSYC 250 with grade of C- or better.
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CS 344 Human-Computer Interaction 6 credits
The field of human-computer interaction addresses two fundamental questions: how do people interact with technology, and how can technology enhance the human experience? In this course, we will explore technology through the lens of the end user: how can we design effective, aesthetically pleasing technology, particularly user interfaces, to satisfy user needs and improve the human condition? How do people react to technology and learn to use technology? What are the social, societal, health, and ethical implications of technology? The course will focus on design methodologies, techniques, and processes for developing, testing, and deploying user interfaces.
- Winter 2026
- FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): CS 200 or CS 201 with a grade of C- or better or received a Carleton Computer Science 201 or better Requisite Equivalency.
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CS 399 Senior Seminar 3 credits
As part of their senior capstone experience, majors will work together in small teams on faculty-specified topics to design and implement the first stage of a project. Required of all senior majors. Students are strongly encouraged to complete CS 252 and CS 257 before starting CS 399.
- Fall 2025
- No Exploration
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Student is a Computer Science major AND has Senior Priority.
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CS 400 Integrative Exercise 3 credits
Beginning with the prototypes developed in the Senior Seminar (CS 399), project teams will complete their project and present it to the department. Required of all senior majors. Each CS 400 is paired with a particular section of CS 399, and the prerequisite for CS 400 must be filled by satisfactory completion of that CS 399.
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration
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Student is a Computer Science major AND has Senior Priority.
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EDUC 225 Issues in Urban Education 6 credits
This course is an introduction to urban education in the United States. Course readings and discussion will focus on various perspectives in the field in order to understand the key issues and debates confronting urban schools. We will examine historical, political, economic, and socio-cultural frameworks for understanding urban schools, students and teachers. Through course readings, field visits and class discussions, we explore the following: (1) student, teacher and researcher perspectives on urban education, (2) the broader sociopolitical urban context of K-12 schooling in cities, (3) teaching and learning in urban settings and (4) ideas about re-imagining urban education.
Extra Time Required: For field trips and campus events.
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EDUC 234 Educational Psychology 6 credits
Human development and learning theories are studied in relation to the teaching-learning process and the sociocultural contexts of schools. Three hours outside of class per week are devoted to observing learning activities in public school elementary and secondary classrooms and working with students.
Extra Time Required: For classroom time in public schools
- Spring 2026
- SI, Social Inquiry
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EDUC 262 Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning in Diverse Classrooms 6 credits
This course focuses on the importance of integrating students’ cultural backgrounds in all aspects of learning. We will study various theoretical perspectives on culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedagogy and will explore several school sites that incorporate that perspective into their approach to teaching and learning. Students will design and teach culturally sustaining curriculum from their own disciplinary background in K-16 setting.
Not offered in 2025-26
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): EDUC 100 or EDUC 110 with a grade of C- or better.
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EDUC 338 Multicultural Education 6 credits
This course focuses on the respect for human diversity, especially as these relate to various racial, cultural and economic groups, and to women. It includes lectures and discussions intended to aid students in relating to a wide variety of persons, cultures, and life styles.
Extra Time Required: For field trips and campus events.
- Spring 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One 100 or 200 level Educational Studies (EDUC) course with grade of C- or better.
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EDUC 395 Senior Seminar 6 credits
This is a capstone seminar for educational studies minors. It focuses on a contemporary issue in American education with a different topic each year. Recent seminars have focused on the school to prison pipeline, youth activism, intellectual freedom in schools, and gender and sexuality in education. Senior seminars often incorporate off campus work with public school students and teachers.
Extra Time required.
- Spring 2026
- No Exploration
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Student is an Educational Studies minor.
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ENGL 255 The Poetics of Disability 6 credits
Scholar Michael Davidson has suggested that “perhaps the closest link between poetry and disability lies in a conundrum within the genre itself: poetry makes language visible by making language strange.” In this class we will read a wide range of poets who tackle ideas of normalcy and “ability” by centering disability consciousness and culture. We will engage with poetry’s capacity as a genre to destabilize our assumptions and generate new imaginaries. Alongside contemporary U.S. poetry, we will study contemporary theory in the field of disability studies in order to better understand the critical conversations around the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ENTS 215 Environmental Ethics 6 credits
This course is an introduction to the central ethical debates in environmental policy and practice, as well as some of the major traditions of environmental thought. It investigates such questions as whether we can have moral duties towards animals, ecosystems, or future generations; what is the ethical basis for wilderness preservation; and what is the relationship between environmentalism and social justice. The Academic Civic Engagement aspect of the course for Spring 2024 will involve beaver monitoring in the Arb and participation in planning the BeaverFest campus and community event in May.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ENTS 307 Wilderness Field Studies: Grand Canyon 6 credits
This course is the second half of a two-course sequence focused on the study of wilderness in American society and culture. The course will begin with an Off-Campus Studies program at Grand Canyon National Park, where we will learn about the natural and human history of the Grand Canyon region, examine contemporary issues facing the park, meet with officials from the National Park Service and other local experts, conduct research, and experience the park through hiking and camping. The course will culminate in spring term with the completion and presentation of a major research project.
HIST 306 required previous winter term, Extra Time
Not offered in 2025-26
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): HIST 306 with a grade of C- or better during the immediately preceding term.
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ENTS 395 Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies 6 credits
This Fall seminar will focus on the planning and design of ENTS senior comprehensive exercise projects. Students will prepare a final project proposal in collaboration with campus and/or community partners as applicable, including background research and literature review, detailed study design and methodology, and, if applicable, preliminary assessments and analyses for the project to be completed in Winter with a public presentation in Spring.
Recommended Preparation: Complete all required ENTS core courses.
- Fall 2025
- SI, Social Inquiry
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Programs of Study any in the selection list Environmental Studies Major And Student Cohorts any in the selection list SR10 Student Class Level, SR11 Student Class Level, SR12 Student Class Level, SR13 Student Class Level, SR14 Student Class Level
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ENTS 400 Integrative Exercise 6 credits
In this course, ENTS majors will work on a team project designing environmental interventions for a real-world setting.
Extra Time Required: Meetings with community members. Occasional site visits.
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration
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Student has completed the following course: ENTS 395 with grade of C- or better.
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GEOL 340 Hydrogeology: Groundwater & Lab 6 credits
The principles of groundwater flow through the subsurface, and the functioning of aquifers. Topics include the properties of porous media, hydraulic head gradients, contaminant transport, and fractured and karstified aquifers. Labs will include working with physical sandbox models and soil columns, as well as an outdoor pumping well test (weather permitting). We will simulate groundwater flow using simple numerical modeling, beginning with an introduction to Python coding, and develop an increasingly complex groundwater model over the course of the term.
Recommended Preparation: Either GEOL 210 (Geomorphology), or previous coding experience.
During registration, students will register for both the lecture and a corresponding lab section, which will appear on the student's academic transcript in a single entry.
- Spring 2026
- LS, Science with Lab QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): Two 200 level GEOL courses with grade of C- or better.
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HIST 114 Indigenous Histories, Time Immemorial to 1887 6 credits
Indigenous presence in North America pre-dates the United States by millennia and persists in spite of colonial attempts to eliminate Indigenous peoples. As Part I of the Indigenous Histories in the United States survey, we begin with Indigenous Knowledges of place, time, and identity since time immemorial. We then move through thousands of years of stories of diplomacy, captivity, colonialism, resistance, removal, and reconstitution. We conclude in the mid-1880s, a drastic period of change for lands, humans, and more-than-human relations. This course takes an ethnohistorical approach which centers Indigenous perspectives and draws on History, Indigenous Studies, and Anthropology.
Extra Time Required: If the ACE collaboration continues, students will travel to Hocokata Ti in Prior Lake, MN for a training and archives tour.
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HIST 116 Intro to Indigenous Histories, 1887-present 6 credits
Many Americans grow up with a fictionalized view of Indigenous people (sometimes also called Native Americans/American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians within the U.S. context). Understanding Indigenous peoples’ histories, presents, and possible futures requires moving beyond these stereotypes and listening to Indigenous perspectives. In this class, we will begin to learn about Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island and the Pacific through tribal histories, legislation, Supreme Court cases, and personal narratives. The course will focus on the period from 1887 to 2018 with major themes including (among others) agency, resistance, resilience, settler colonialism, discrimination, and structural racism.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 137 Early Medieval Worlds in Transformation 6 credits
In this course we will explore a variety of distinct but interconnected worlds that existed between ca.300 and ca.1050. We will interrogate primary sources, especially written and visual materials, as they bear witness to people forming and transforming political, social, religious, and cultural values, ideas and structures. We will work to understand how communities adapt to new conditions and challenges while maintaining links with and repurposing the lifeways, ideas, and material cultures of the past. We will watch as new and different groups and institutions come to power, and how the existing peoples and structures respond and change. Projects in this course will build capacity to interpret difficult primary documents, formulate research questions, and build arguments that combine rigor and humane sympathy.
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HIST 139 Foundations of Modern Europe 6 credits
Witch hunts, religious reforms, economic transformation, global expansion… all of these phenomena exemplify the dynamic centuries c. 1500-1750, known as the early modern period in Europe. This course surveys the history of Western Europe from the Renaissance and Reformation through the era of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. We compare the development of states and societies across Western Europe in the larger context of expanding global trade and exchange with the Americas, Africa, South Asia and Japan.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 154 Social Movements in Postwar Japan 6 credits
This course tackles an evolving meaning of democracy and sovereignty in postwar Japan shaped by the transformative power of its social movements. We will place the anti-nuclear movement and anti-base struggles of the 1950s, the protest movements against revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty of the 1960s, and environmentalist movements against the U.S. Cold War projects in Asia to see how they intersect with the worldwide “New Left” movements of the 1960s. Topics include student activism, labor unionism, Marxist movements, and gangsterism (yakuza). Students will engage with political art, photographs, manga, films, reportage, memoirs, autobiographies, interview records, novels, and detective stories.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 200 Historians for Hire 3 credits
Designed to give students experiences and skills in public history and history education, this three-credit course offers students a choice among projects connected to local organizations and some partners farther afield. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills connected to archiving, building online materials such as maps and websites, and learning historical methods like oral history interviews or exhibit design. Most projects involve close collaborations with local community organizations, allowing students to become more connected with organizations outside of Carleton.
Extra time
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 202 Oral History Research Methods: Theory, Ethics, and Practice 6 credits
This course introduces oral history methods in historical research. Students will examine power and authority, personal and collective memory, trust, representation, and community benefit in oral history projects. This iteration of the course will emphasize scholarship from Indigenous Studies and Indigenous scholars whose work employs oral histories. Students will deepen and apply their learning through an Academic Civic Engagement partnership with a local Indigenous organization; please note that this course requires some travel to Minneapolis, which will be organized by the professor. While prior coursework in history, Indigenous Studies, or American Studies would be useful, it is not mandatory.
Extra time, 1-2 field trips to the Twin Cities to conduct interviews
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 216 History Beyond the Walls 6 credits
This course will examine the world of history outside the walls of academia. Looking at secondary-school education, museums, and public policy, we will explore the ways in which both general and specialized publics learn and think about history. A central component of the course will be a civic engagement project.
Extra Time Required.
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HIST 231 Mapping the World Before Mercator 6 credits
This course will explore early maps primarily in medieval and early modern Europe. After an introduction to the rhetoric of maps and world cartography, we will examine the functions and forms of medieval European and Islamic maps and then look closely at the continuities and transformations in map-making during the period of European exploration. The focus of the course will be on understanding each map within its own cultural context and how maps can be used to answer historical questions. We will work closely with the maps in Gould Library Special Collections to expand campus awareness of the collection.
Extra time is required for a one-time map show in the library which we will schedule at the beginning of term.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 301 Indigenous Histories at Carleton 6 credits
Carleton’s new campus land acknowledgement affirms that this is Dakota land, but how did Carleton come to be here? What are the histories of Indigenous faculty, students, and staff at Carleton? In this course, students will investigate Indigenous histories on our campus by conducting original research about how Carleton acquired its landbase, its historic relationships to Dakota and Anishinaabeg people, histories of on-campus activism, the shifting demographics of Native students on campus, and the histories of Indigenous faculty and staff, among others. Students will situate these histories within the broader context of federal Indian policies and Indigenous resistance.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 338 Digital History, Public Heritage & Deep Mapping 6 credits
How do new methods of digital humanities and collaborative public history change our understanding of space and place? This hands-on research seminar will seek answers through a deep mapping of the long history of Northfield, Minnesota, before and after its most well-known era of the late nineteenth-century. Deep mapping is as much archaeology as it is cartography, plumbing the depths of a particular place to explore its diversity through time. Students will be introduced to major theories of space and place as well as their application through technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 3D modeling, and video game engines. We will mount a major research project working with the National Register of Historic Places, in collaboration with specialists in public history and community partners.
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IDSC 198 FOCUS Colloquium 2 credits
This colloquium is designed to give students participating in the Focusing on Cultivating Scientists program an opportunity to learn and use skills in scientific study, reasoning, and modeling. The topics of this project-based colloquium will vary each term, and allow students to develop competencies in areas relevant to multiple science disciplines.
- Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- No Exploration
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Student Cohorts any in the selection list FOCUS.02
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IDSC 258 Consensus or Contentious? Controversies in Science Then and Now 2 credits
Almost every global challenge confronting humankind requires some level of engagement with science and technology. However, finding solutions to our most pressing problems also requires an understanding of how science operates within its social, political, and cultural context. This course will explore the relationship between science and society by examining a series of controversies in science from both the past and the present. We will investigate topics such as biological and social concepts of race, the use of unethically obtained scientific results, the ethics of genomics research, legislation over vaccination mandates, “parachute” science, and climate change denial. Examining the role of science in society will help us understand issues related to the use of evidence, expertise, and the relationship between science and politics. By wrestling with current and historic scientific controversies, we will examine the ways in which scientific disagreements are often as much about values as they are about research methods.
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration
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IDSC 285 Ethics of Civic Engagement 3 credits
This course explores vexing ethical questions raised in academic civic engagement practice. With structured reflection on students’ varied civic engagement experiences and a group project aligned with the instructor’s work, students will consider questions arising from asymmetries of power, the relationships between scholarship and advocacy, scholarly and community knowledges, empathy with others and a student’s own moral commitments, and practices of civic engagement and community organizing. Offered biennially by rotating faculty, course themes will vary accordingly. The 2023 theme is Indigenous engagement in Minnesota.
Extra time with community partner, flexibly scheduled
Not offered in 2025-26
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IDSC 298 FOCUS Sophomore Colloquium 1 credits
This colloquium is designed for sophomore students participating in the Focusing on Cultivating Scientists program. It will provide an opportunity to participate in STEM-based projects on campus and in the community. The topics of this project-based colloquium will vary each term.
Open only to students who completed IDSC 198
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- No Exploration
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): IDSC 198 with a grade of C- or better during their first year.
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JAPN 206 Japanese in Cultural Context 6 credits
This course advances students’ proficiency in the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Japanese. The course also integrates elements of traditional Japanese civilization and modern Japanese society, emphasizing cultural understanding and situationally appropriate language use.
- Spring 2026
- No Exploration
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 205 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 206 on the Carleton Japanese Placement exam.
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MATH 349 Methods of Teaching Mathematics 6 credits
Methods of teaching mathematics in grades 7-12. Issues in contemporary mathematics education. Regular visits to school classrooms and teaching a class are required.
- Fall 2025
- No Exploration
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This course requires permission from the instructor.
To request permission, follow the instructions for requesting a prerequisite override.
Please note: the link will open in a new window. Once you have received permission from the instructor, you will be able to return to this page to register for the course.
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MUSC 244 Music Studies at the Border 6 credits
Where is music found? What can we learn about musical practices beyond the score and recording? This course introduces students to hands-on, ethnographic approaches to the study of music. We will consider the ethical, legal, interpersonal, and philosophical challenges of writing about the musical lives of others — and ourselves. Throughout the course, we will work together to design and carry out ethnographic research projects. Selected interested students will develop and carry out a project involving a significant on-site project through a significant on-site visit to the U.S./Mexico border during December. Previous coursework in music is helpful, but not required.
An optional, Carleton-funded site visit during the first week of December is planned to travel to the U.S./Mexico border. Students enrolled in MUSC 244 will indicate their interest in this visit by the Fall 2024 drop/add deadline; due to limited funding, only 12 students will be able to participate. Participants will be selected by random lottery among those who are interested. Students participating in the December travel are required to enroll in a 2-credit Winter 2025 MUSC 245 (Thursdays 10:45–11:50am, first five weeks).
Not offered in 2025-26
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PE 340 Sport and Globalization in London and Seville Program: Introductory Coaching Practicum 4 credits
Designed for students who may or may not have any previous playing or coaching experience, this course will cover introductory methods of coaching and teaching young athletes. Specifically, students will practice methods of teaching skills, structure, and strategies of team-oriented sports. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the coaching profession at different levels, developing coaching skills and creating a philosophy of coaching in a cross-cultural setting.
Requires participation in OCS Program: Sport and Globalization in London and Seville
- Winter 2026
- No Exploration
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Sport and Globalization in London and Seville program.
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PHIL 202 Philosophy Lab: Leading a Pre-Collegiate Philosophy Program 3 credits
In this course, Carleton students will collaborate with local high school students from the Area Learning Center (ALC) to develop and articulate views on philosophical issues of interest to Carleton students and students at the ALC. Our overarching objectives are to promote the joy of doing philosophy and to foster skills among Carleton and ALC students for having good philosophical conversations. These skills include, but are not limited to listening, empathy, intellectual humility, and flexibility.
Meets M/W only
- Spring 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): Two Philosophy (PHIL) courses with a grade of C- or better.
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PHYS 344 Classical and Quantum Optics 6 credits
A junior/senior level course in classical and quantum optics. Includes the phenomena of interference, diffraction and coherence and quantum optical applications, such as unique statistical states of light or the operation of a laser. Modern applications of these areas are studied through such topics as fiber optics telecommunication, optical data storage, or manipulation of atoms by light.
Not offered in 2025-26
- No Exploration QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): PHYS 235 AND MATH 134 or MATH 232 with a grade of C- or better or received a Carleton Math 232 or better Requisite Equivalency.
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POSC 274 Covid-19 and Globalization 6 credits
What are the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics and public policy? How do state responses to COVID-19 as well as historical cases such as the Black Death in Europe, the SARS outbreak in East Asia and Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa help us understand the scientific, political, and economic challenges of pandemics on countries and communities around the world? We will apply theories and concepts from IR, political economy, and natural sciences to explore these questions and consider what we can learn from those responses to address other global challenges like climate change.
Not offered in 2025-26
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PSYC 214 Neuropsychology of Aging 6 credits
With the aging population comes a variety of challenges, including those to cognitive health and decline. Neurodegenerative diseases create various forms of dementia and cause unique problems beyond those that are an outcome of healthy aging. This 200-level course consists of lectures and discussions explore the cognitive, behavioral, and molecular aspects of healthy aging and neurodegenerative disease processes in humans. Cognitive topics include working memory, long term memory, attention, familiarity and recollection, emotion, and social factors that interact with aging. The physiological and cognitive outcomes of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and various types of dementia are compared with the physiology and cognitive decline evident in healthy aging. Students will read primary articles on these topics, and propose a project based on course discussion and interactions with people at senior centers and convalescent centers in Northfield.
It is recommended that students enroll concurrently in PSYC 215. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both PSYC 214 and 215 to earn the LS requirement.
Recommend Preparation: PSYC 110.
This course is not open to students who have received credit for PSYC 367.
- Fall 2025
- WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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Not open to students who have previously taken PSYC 367.
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PSYC 215 Neuropsychology of Aging Lab Practicum 2 credits
This lab practicum allows students registered in either Psychology 214 Neuropsychology of Aging or Sociology/Anthropology 252 Growing Up in an Aging Society to gain experience in studies of aging and physiological measures used in testing cognition. The practicum provides hand-on work; in the lab students learn to collect electrodermal activity (EDA) and electroencephalograms, EEG, on themselves and peers so that there is a deeper understanding of the data collected in published works in aging cohorts. Moreover, there are planned weekly field trips by which students will be able to join in games and social time with elderly clients at the local convalescent centers. Students will express ideas for research or programs for elderly clients by constructing an infographic based on their experiences and readings from class, and there is a public viewing of these infographics.
It is recommended that students enroll concurrently in PSYC 214. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both PSYC 214 and 215 to earn the LS requirement.
This course is not open to students who have received credit for PSYC 368.
- Fall 2025
- LS, Science with Lab
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Student has completed or is in the process of completing any of the following course(s): PSYC 214 or SOAN 252 with grade of C- or better. Not open to students who have taken PSYC 368.
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PSYC 260 Health Psychology 6 credits
This course will examine how psychological principles can be employed to promote and maintain health, prevent and treat illness, and encourage adherence to disease treatment regimens. Within a biopsychosocial framework, we will analyze behavioral patterns and public policies that influence risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic pain, substance abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases, among other conditions. Additionally, students in groups will critically examine the effects of local policies on health outcomes and propose policy changes supported by theory and research. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both Psychology 260 and 261 to satisfy the LS requirement.
- Fall 2025
- LS, Science with Lab QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): PSYC 110 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 4 or better on the Psychology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Psychology IB exam.
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RELG 130 Native American Religions 6 credits
This course explores the history and contemporary practice of Native American religious traditions, especially as they have developed amid colonization and resistance. While surveying a broad variety of ways that Native American traditions imagine land, community, and the sacred, the course focuses on the local traditions of the Ojibwe and Lakota communities. Materials include traditional beliefs and practices, the history of missions, intertribal new religious movements, and contemporary issues of treaty rights, religious freedom, and the revitalization of language and culture.
Sophomore Priority
Not offered in 2025-26
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RELG 243 Native American Religious Freedom 6 credits
This course explores historical and legal contexts in which Native Americans have practiced their religions in the United States. Making reference to the cultural background of Native traditions, and the history of First Amendment law, the course explores landmark court cases in Sacred Lands, Peyotism, free exercise in prisons, and sacralized traditional practices (whaling, fishing, hunting) and critically examines the conceptual framework of “religion” as it has been applied to the practice of Native American traditions. Service projects will integrate academic learning and student involvement in matters of particular concern to contemporary native communities.
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RELG 282 Samurai: Ethics of Death and Loyalty 6 credits
This course explores the history of samurai since the emergence of warrior class in medieval times, to the modern developments of samurai ethics as the icon of Japanese national identity. Focusing on its connection with Japanese religion and culture, we will investigate the origins of the purported samurai ideals of loyalty, honor, self-sacrifice, and death. In addition to regular class sessions, there will be a weekly kyudo (Japanese archery) practice on Wednesday evening (7-9 pm), which will enable students to study samurai history in context through gaining first-hand experience in the ritualized practice of kyudo.
Extra Time for weekly kyudo (Japanese archery) practice on Wednesday evening (7-9 pm)
Not offered in 2025-26
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RELG 289 Global Religions in Minnesota 6 credits
Somali Muslims in Rice County? Hindus in Maple Grove? Hmong shamans in St. Paul hospitals? Sun Dances in Pipestone? In light of globalization, the religious landscape of Minnesota, like America more broadly, has become more visibly diverse. Lake Wobegon stereotypes aside, Minnesota has always been characterized by some diversity but the realities of immigration, dispossession, dislocation, economics, and technology have made religious diversity more pressing in its implications for every arena of civic and cultural life. This course bridges theoretical knowledge with engaged field research focused on how Midwestern contexts shape global religious communities and how these communities challenge and transform Minnesota.
Not offered in 2025-26
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RUSS 335 Oral History of Russian-Speaking America 6 credits
Students will study the history of Russian-speaking immigration to America through readings and discussions of cultural texts which situate it at the intersection of history, memory, and life story narratives. They will listen to Russian-language oral histories and research archival materials that present personal life stories against the background of traumatic experiences of recent history: in the context of historical events and transformations, such as wars, revolutions, repressions, the Soviet era, and its collapse. We will also collaborate with a local community partner to record and preserve the oral history of Russian-speaking Minnesotans. Students will learn basic interviewing skills, and practice transcribing and translating oral texts. Taught in Russian.
Not offered in 2025-26
- IS, International Studies LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): RUSS 205 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Russian Placement exam.
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SOAN 125 Southeast Asian Migration and Diasporic Communities 6 credits
2025 is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Many Southeast Asian (SEAn) refugees resettled in the U.S. in the aftermath. First, we begin in Southeast Asia (SEA) to understand the social, political, and historical circumstances that have led to SEA migration. Then we will examine how SEAn have adapted to life in the U.S. and how those communities—many are here in Minnesota—are thriving today. We’ll work on a project in collaboration with SEAn organizations to commemorate the 50th anniversary and also travel to SEAn communities in the Twin Cities, dates TBD.
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SOAN 214 Neighborhoods and Cities: Inequalities and Identities 6 credits
Inequalities and identities are well understood yet too often disconnected from the context of space and place. In this class, we discuss the ways that neighborhoods and cities are sites of inequality as well as identity. Neighborhoods are linked to the amount of wealth we hold; the schools we attend; the goods, services, and resources we have access to; and who our neighbors are. Neighborhoods are also spaces where identities and community are created, claimed, and contested. They can also be sites of conflict as they change through gentrification or other processes that often reflect inequalities of power, resources, and status. In this course, special attention will be paid to how race, gender and sexuality, and immigration shape inequalities and identity in neighborhoods and cities. This course will also include an academic civic engagement component, collaborating with local communities in Minnesota. The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above.
Not offered in 2025-26
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SOAN 240 Methods of Social Research 6 credits
When sociologists and anthropologists conduct their research, how do they know which method to choose? What assumptions guide their decision? What challenges might they encounter? What are their ethical obligations? In this course, we'll explore a diverse range of methods, from in-depth interviews to large-scale surveys and participant observation fieldwork. Students will also learn how to craft feasible research questions, select the right method, collect and analyze data, and communicate research methods effectively. This course is an essential foundation for SOAN majors, equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their comps experience.
- Spring 2026
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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First-year students are ineligible to enroll. Student must have completed one 200- or 300-level SOAN course, along with, (i) either SOAN 110 or SOAN 111 with a grade of C- or better, AND (ii) STAT 120 or STAT 250 with a grade of C- or better, or received a score of 4 or better on the Statistics AP exam.
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SOAN 262 Anthropology of Health and Illness 6 credits
An ethnographic approach to beliefs and practices regarding health and illness in numerous societies worldwide. This course examines patients, practitioners, and the social networks and contexts through which therapies are managed to better understand medical systems as well as the significance of the anthropological study of misfortune. Specific topics include the symbolism of models of illness, the ritual management of misfortune and of life crisis events, the political economy of health, therapy management, medical pluralism, and cross-cultural medical ethics. The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above.
Not offered in 2025-26
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SOAN 283 Immigration, Citizenship, and Belonging in the U.S. 6 credits
Immigration has been a defining feature of the United States that is tied to legal and cultural forms of citizenship, and more broadly, to questions of belonging. This course explores these three concepts through multiple aspects of immigration, including the migration experience, immigration policy, community, education, culture and others, for both immigrants and the children of immigrants. Special attention is given to how differences among immigrants–such as race, gender, class, national origin, and others–matter in all of these areas. These questions and issues are explored through academic readings, popular and public discourse, immigrant voices, and civic engagement in local communities.
The department strongly recommends that 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses number 200 or above.
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SPAN 204 Intermediate Spanish 6 credits
Through discussion of literary and cultural texts and films, as well as a review of grammar, this course aims to help students acquire greater skill and confidence in both oral and written expression. Taught three days a week in Spanish.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026
- LP Language Requirement No Exploration
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): SPAN 103 with grade of C- or better or received a score of 204 on the Carleton Spanish Emmersion Placement exam.
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SPAN 244 Spain Today: Recent Changes through Narrative and Film 6 credits
Since the death of Franco in 1975, Spain has undergone huge political, socio-economic, and cultural transformations. Changes in the traditional roles of women, the legalization of gay marriage, the decline of the Catholic church, the increase of immigrants, Catalan and Basque nationalisms, and the integration of Spain in the European Union, have all challenged the definition of a national identity. Through contemporary narrative and film, this course will examine some of these changes and how they contribute to the creation of what we call Spain today.
Not offered in 2025-26
- IS, International Studies LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): SPAN 204 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 4 or better on the Spanish Literature AP exam or received a score of 4 or better on the Spanish Language AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Spanish IB exam or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Spanish Placement exam.
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SPAN 246 Not by Blood: Family Beyond Kinship 6 credits
Motherhood is central in Latin-American literature of the twenty-first century. Beyond the tendency to represent motherhood as a paradise of love and snuggles, Latin-American writers have been proposing new reconfigurations of family. Families that are not bonded by blood. In this class we will study novels, poems, and short stories about these non-traditional families, for example, families that are led by trans-women, families that are formed between species (with plants or animals), among others. We will analyze what insights these fictional families can offer on topics such as race, reproductive rights, legalization of abortion, marriage equality, and new feminisms.
- Spring 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): SPAN 205 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 205 on the Carleton Spanish Emmersion Placement exam.
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SPAN 320 Death and Dying Under Capitalism: An Ecological and Humanistic Perspective 6 credits
Within the capitalist system, the concept of dying well (Ars moriendi) has progressively lost its collective sense and meaning, relegated instead to the realm of individual responsibility. Simultaneously, the notion of a dignified death has ceased to be an inalienable right for all individuals, becoming contingent upon inherited privileges and access to private resources. Death, transformed into a taboo, coexists with an apocalyptic culture and a state of eco-anxiety stemming from ecological crises and the looming extinction of numerous species, potentially including humans. Some of our guiding questions will be: What implications does dying under capitalist conditions entail? Can cultural representation do more than merely comply with, comment or oppose these scenarios? Our exploration will encompass a diverse array of texts, films, and workshops featuring various guest speakers.
- Spring 2026
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One SPAN course numbered 205 or higher excluding Independent Studies with a grade of C- or better.
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SPAN 345 Culture, Capitalism and the Commons 6 credits
Have you ever wondered if not capitalism, then what? In this course we will critically approach the historical background, the causes and, most importantly, the consequences of the civil and ecological crisis unleashed globally in 2008. Both in its origin and its consequences, this crisis went beyond the financial field, extending into the realms of politics, economics, culture, media and ecology. In light of this context, we will take a transdisciplinary approach to the study of capitalist culture and analyze the main changes that have developed from the cycle of social mobilizations surrounding the “indignados” movement or Spanish 15M in 2011. With a primary focus on Spain, we will concentrate on analyzing cultural artifacts that mark a paradigm shift from a capitalist culture towards the development of a culture of the commons that seeks to improve the living conditions of the social majority, defending both human rights and ecological justice.
Not offered in 2025-26
- HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One SPAN course numbered 205 or higher excluding Independent Studies with a grade of C- or better.
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STAT 285 Statistical Consulting 2 credits
Students will apply their statistical knowledge by analyzing data problems solicited from the Northfield community. Students will also learn basic consulting skills, including communication and ethics.
All interested students are encouraged to add to the waitlist and the instructor will reach out after registration. This course is repeatable, but if the instructor cannot admit every student on the waitlist, priority will be given first to Statistics majors who have not previously taken the course and then to other students who have not taken the course.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- FSR, Formal or Statistical Reasoning QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
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Student has completed the following course(s): STAT 230 with a grade of C- or better.
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THEA 227 Theatre for Social Change 6 credits
This class is an examination of significant artists who use theatre as a tool for envisioning and enacting social change. We will study the justice-making strategies of a variety of artists, including Augusto Boal, Cherríe Moraga, Anna Deavere Smith, among many other contemporary artists whose work continues to shape American society. We will also examine influential methods of using theatre for social change, including documentary theatre, Theatre of the Oppressed, theatre for young audiences, and theatre in prisons. The class will include a number of guest artist visits from people making work in the field. The final project will be an original theatrical creation that uses the strategies studied in class to address a contemporary social issue.
Extra Time
Not offered in 2025-26
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THEA 345 Devised Theater and Collective Creation 6 credits
A usual evening in the theater consists of seeing a text–the play–staged by a director and performed by actors. While this is certainly a collaborative endeavor, recent decades have seen a marked increase in “devised theater,” a mode intended to upset the traditional hierarchies of theatrical production. In practical terms, this means the abandonment of the extant text in favor of a performance “score”–sometimes textual, often physical–developed improvisationally in rehearsal by the performers. This course will explore the methods and approaches used to work in this collective and highly creative manner, and will culminate in a public performance. We will also discuss the history and cultural politics that inform devised practice.
Not offered in 2025-26
- ARP, Arts Practice
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): THEA 110 or DANC 150 or DANC 190 with a grade of C- or better.