All undergraduate courses offered by the university are listed. Not all of the courses listed are offered within a single academic year. A listing of the courses offered during a given semester is available online before preregistration each semester.
Note: This catalogue has been amended per a 2016 UNCW Faculty Senate decision to retroactively remove the Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster requirement from the University Studies program. Students who wish to complete a cluster may do so, however, completion of a cluster is no longer required. Course description references to Thematic Transdisciplinary Clusters apply to students who choose to complete a cluster.
Trial Courses
Academic departments may offer special trial courses during the fall and spring semesters on a one-time basis without adding them to their regular departmental offerings. A second trial offering, if additional data are essential, must be within two regular semesters of the first. Numbers designating these special courses are 292 and 492. Descriptive information on trial courses does not appear in the catalogue but is on file in the Office of the Registrar.
Sequenced Courses
A hyphen connecting courses (e.g., 201-202) indicates that the first course in the sequence must be satisfactorily completed prior to registration in the second course of the sequence. When course numbers are separated by a comma (e.g., 201, 202), the first course is not necessarily prerequisite to those following.
Online Courses
The university currently offers a variety of online courses, and two degree programs, the RN to B.S. option in nursing and Bachelor of Science in clinical research (CLR), are delivered totally online. Such courses are so designated in the Class Schedule and are open to both on- and off-campus students. Students interested in these programs should consult the online courses Web site http://www.uncw.edu/online.
Credits and Class Meetings
Unless specifically indicated at the end of the course description, the number of hours a class meets each week is the same as the credit hour value of the course. The semester hours credit for each course is indicated in parentheses immediately below the title of the course. For example, if three hours of credit may be earned, the credit is indicated as follows: (3). In variable credit courses, the minimum and maximum hours are shown as follows: (1-3).
Course Prefixes
The prefixes used to designate courses are abbreviations of the names of departments or fields of study within departments, as shown below:
Philosophy and Religion
PAR 202 - History of Western Philosophy II
Credits: 3 A survey of Western philosophical thought from the beginning of the modern era to the present. Emphasis on the rationalist and empiricist traditions. Readings from such philosophers as Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Kant and Russell. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 A survey of American philosophical thought from colonial times to the present. Readings from such American thinkers as Jonathan Edwards, the Federalist authors, Thoreau, James, Dewey and Quine. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches. Satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Living in Our Diverse Nation.
Credits: 3 A survey and evaluation of past and present theories of human nature; to include such topics as nature and culture, freedom and rationality, issues in gender identity, and theories of education and human development. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 An introduction to major themes in existential thought such as freedom, authenticity, death of God, the meaning of life. Primary source readings from existential authors, e.g., Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Marcel. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 Examination of the principles and problems in the application of ethical theory to medical research and practice. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 110 or permission of instructor. A study of classical first-order logic, i.e., propositional logic and predicate logic. Both the semantic method (truth-table method and model universe method) and the syntactic method (proof-theoretical method and the method of natural deduction) are featured. Additonal topics may be selected from meta-theory (completeness, soundness, etc.), the semantic tableaux approach, or the axiomatic approach. Satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Quantitative and Logical Reasoning.
Credits: 3 Introduction to philosophical issues in race and social justice. Topics include race and identity, discrimination, multiculturalism, affirmative action, anti-racism.
Credits: 3 Images, expectations, and experiences of women in the history of religions. Topics include the importance of gender to the study of religion, women’s real or perceived power (or lack of it) within the major classical traditions, and alternative women’s religious groups and ideas appearing since the 1970s. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches. Satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Living in Our Diverse Nation.
Credits: 3 Survey of the three major Abrahamic faiths; the origins, beliefs and practices of these “people of the Book;” history of their interactions and influence on Western culture. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.Satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Living in a Global Society. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Global Diversity. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Ancient Thought and Culture. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Judaism and the Jewish People.
Credits: 3 A survey of primitive religion as revealed both in archaeological research and remaining primitive customs; examination of classical faiths of Egypt, Mesopotamia and ancient Europe. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 A survey of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; historical aspects, basic insights, contemporary relevance. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches. Satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Living in a Global Society. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Global Diversity.
Credits: 3 Religions of Africa, including traditional and non-traditional religious systems, and their impact on African societies and Africanism in the Americas.
Credits: 3 Historical study of the Hebrew Scriptures and their cultural background; focus on the values, problems, and perceptions of the human condition reflected in these texts and archaeological data related to them. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 Historical survey of the canonical Christian literature; illustration of contemporary methods of text-criticism, literary-criticism, form-criticism, and redaction-criticism; focus on results of modern scholarship in appreciating the Gospels and their function in the early Christian community. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
PAR 238 - History of Christianity I: Early and Medieval
Credits: 3 Survey of the basic development of the Christian church from its foundation to the Protestant Reformation. Emphasis on major thinkers and pivotal events that determined the historical trends. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 Survey of the history of Christianity from the Reformation to the present. Accent on the contributions of the chief theologians and the particular problems raised by “modernity” since the 17th century. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Historical and Philosophical Approaches.
Credits: 3 Survey of religious thought and experience from colonial times to the present; representative Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish leaders; Native American and Black American traditions; religious reform and revivalism. Satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Living in Our Diverse Nation.
Credits: 3 Examines the relationships between philosophical inquiry and motion pictures, including how philosophical ideas have influenced film as well as the use of film as a medium for expressing and analyzing philosophical issues. Readings include great works of philosophy from ancient, modern, and contemporary times.
Prerequisite: PAR 101. Instruction in a variety of philosophical writing styles and strategies used to communicate philosophical concepts, including but not limited to: use of primary and secondary sources, style in scholarly essays; literary devices such as analogies and metaphors; argument and construction and refutation; methods of inquiry. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Information Literacy. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or PAR 125. Examination of the relation of religion to social and psychological forces, including feminist and post-modern approaches to religion, and issues related to globalization. Topics include addressing the academic study of religion as an enterprise occurring in specific moments of modern intellectual history, and examining ongoing conceptual developments in the field. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Information Literacy.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 201. An examination of Aristotle’s philosophy through selected texts, supplemented with contemporary criticisms. Aristotle’s criticisms of Plato; problems of interpretation.
Credits: 3 A survey of Islamic, Jewish and Christian philosophical thought in medieval times. Readings from such thinkers as Augustine, Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas.
Credits: 3 (PLS 310) Prerequisite: Junior standing and/or the consent of instructor. An introduction to the nature, concept and sources of law and the various schools of jurisprudence. Topics treated include: natural law; historical, analytical and sociological jurisprudence; idealism, utilitarianism and legal realism; equity, justice, precedent, custom and law, and the relation of law and morality.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101, PAR 115, or consent of instructor. An exploration of philosophical issues and concepts central to an understanding of social and political life; e.g., function and cause, justice, liberty, equality, societal facts and laws, utopias, reason and political argument, political obligation and the public interest.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101, PAR 115, or consent of instructor. An examination of ethical issues in the media, including print and broadcast journalism, advertising, public relations, and the entertainment media.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Investigation and exploration into both traditional and contemporary theories regarding the philosophy of art and its associated problems. Visual arts, such as painting, sculpture, film, etc., will be examined. Partially satisfies University Studies II: Approaches and Perspectives/Aesthetic, Interpretive, and Literary Perspectives.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 201-PAR 202. Fundamental issues in theory of knowledge: nature of knowledge; reasoning, judgment; truth, certainty and probability.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 201-PAR 202. Fundamental issues and positions concerning the nature of reality: theories of being, substance, causality.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Selected readings drawn from classical and/or contemporary sources bearing on problems of the self, such as the issue of personal identity and the concept of a person, the problem of the relation of mind and body and the question of the nature of consciousness.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or consent of instructor. Selected readings on the nature and types of religious experience, and on theories of personality and consciousness as they relate to religion. Examination of the writings of Freud, Jung, and others.
Credits: 3 The interplay between religion and literature through an exploration of the religious themes, images, and experiences expressed in contemporary and classical world literatures.
Credits: 3 Analysis and interpretation of a particular part of the Hebrew Scriptures. Topics will vary from one course offering to another. (The Torah; the Prophets; the Writings).
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Fundamental Issues in the nature and meaning of language: concepts of truth, meaning, reference, metaphor, interpretation, and speech acts.
Credits: 3 Analysis and interpretation of a particular part of the New Testament. Topics will vary from one course offering to another. (The Gospels; the Acts of the Apostles; the Johannine works; the Letters of Paul).
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 235 or PAR 236. Analysis of the major Jewish and Christian writings related to but excluded from the Bible, including histories, apocalypses, testaments, prayers, moral tales, and wisdom books.
Credits: 3 Acquire practical knowledge of Greek biblical uncial in papyrology. Examine, transcribe, and paleographically date important early Christian papyri.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 and PAR 103. Examination of the basic problems found in Western philosophy concerning religion, including efforts to prove the existence of God, the role of faith and reason, the problem of evil, immortality, religious experience, religious language, and religious pluralism.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 103 or consent of instructor. Survey of religious and philosophical debates on the nature, origin, and existence of evil and suffering. Examines definitions of and explanations for evil in Eastern, Western, and tribal religions; the problem of evil; and popular culture’s fascination with evil.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 103 or consent of instructor. Survey of beliefs, assumptions, and arguments of atheism and other varieties of unbelief. Examines major atheistic explanations for the phenomenon of religion, and atheism and unbelief within Eastern and Western religions.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or PAR 125 or consent of instructor. Examination of the connections between religion and popular texts, films and practices in modern Western society.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Fundamental issues in the philosophy of science; the nature of scientific method; modes of verification and the role of paradigms.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101. Examination of the main concepts of contemporary theories in the biological sciences from the perspective of the philosophy of science. Issues including reductionism, scientific realism, confirmation, explanation, and the nature of laws in the biological sciences will be addressed.
Exploration of the complex relationship between contemporary evolutionary explanations for human behavior and philosophical ethics. Evolutionary psychology, moral psychology, and traditional metaethics will be utilized.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or PAR 242. Examination of the religious traditions of native peoples of North America with a focus on beliefs, rituals, and contemporary developments.
Credits: 3 (HST 351) Prerequisite: PAR 242 or HST 105. Examination of the role and significance of religion in early American culture and society. Topics include contact between Native American and Euro-American religious traditions, Puritanism, First Great Awakening, religion in the revolutionary era, separation of church and state.
Credits: 3 (HST 345) Prerequisite: PAR 242 or HST 105 or consent of instructor. The influences and meanings of religion in antebellum American society. Topics include Second Great Awakening, expansion of Protestant and Catholic churches, communitarian movements, religious responses to slavery.
Credits: 3 (HST 359) Prerequisite: PAR 242 or HST 106 or consent of instructor. Religious thought and action concerning social change in modern America. Topics include urban revivalism, labor, civil rights, and peace movements. Emphasis on differing interpretations of scripture, church teachings, and religious identity.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or consent of instructor. Study of religion in the Old and New South. Topics include Native American religious traditions, religious practices of blacks and whites, evangelicalism and fundamentalism, church involvement in political and social issues.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Examination of philosophical issues found in the study of evolution: origins of the theory; impact on science; methodology of Darwinian and contemporary evolutionary studies; concepts of species, natural selection and adaptation and its mechanisms; application of evolutionary theory of human culture; and debates over creationism and sociobiology.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 103 or PAR 235, or consent of instructor. Study of Ancient Israel, its peoples and cultures through archaeological artifacts and analysis of ancient writings. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Judaism.
Credits: 3 A critical analysis of the role of religion in holocausts and genocides from antiquity to the present. Emphasis on the destruction of aboriginal and ethnic peoples, the Jewish holocaust, African genocide, and ethnic cleansing.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. Examination of a specific philosophical topic (such as aesthetics, reality, love, freedom, responsibility, morality, social class, race and gender) through film. Analysis of the topic under investigation will include reading primary sources in philosophy, lecture and discussion, and film screenings. May be repeated under different subtitles for up to 12 credit hours.
PAR 366 - Continental Philosophy: Early Jean-Paul Sartre
Credits: 3 An examination of Sartre’s early existential philosophy with a focus on the classical philosophical problems of personal identity, freewill/determination, negative existential statements, and the problem of other minds.
Credits: 3 Survey of philosophical views of political power in Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Berlin, Nietzsche and Foucault. Addresses a series of interrelated questions: What is political power? What legitimates it? Who has it? How does is function? What strategies and tactics most effectively subvert and/or resist it? Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Human Rights.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 232 or consent of instructor. Examination of the Buddhism of Tibet as seen in ethical and social thought, ritual and meditation practice, philosophy, and art.
Credits: 3 Survey of the essentials of Buddhism as seen in ethical and social thought, mediation practices, philosophies, rituals and art. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive.
Credits: 3 Examination of the religions of India as seen in ethical and social thought, ritual and mediation practice, philosophy, and art. Includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism
Credits: 3 Examination of the history, philosophies, practices, and institutions of Chinese religions through both primary texts and secondary scholarship. Focus mainly on the indigenous religions of China - Confucianism, Daoism, and ‘popular’ or ‘folk’ traditions. Course will make use of texts, films, online resources, and images. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive.
Credits: 3 Examination of Japanese religions and their roles in Japanese culture and society. Course will make use of texts, literature, film, anime, manga, and other media. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive.
Credits: 3 Introduction to religious beliefs, rituals and traditions of Judaism. Examination of its historical background and contemporary significance. Partially satisfies University Studies III: Thematic Transdisciplinary Cluster/Judaism and the Jewish People.
Credits: 3 Study of the religious life of black American communities with concentration on independent traditions, sects, and a sampling of major thinkers and issues.
Credits: 3 Religious diversity within the Caribbean, including established, non-traditional, and Afrocentric religious traditions, and their interaction with popular culture.
Credits: 3 PAR 101 or PAR 115 recommended, not required. Introduction to the philosophy of drama. Includes studies of aesthetics, philosophical interpretations of classic plays, and philosophical thought in drama. Readings to include Aristophanes, Aristotle, Beckett, Critchley, Langer, Shakespeare, and Sophocles; films of plays.
Credits: 3 PAR 101 or PAR 115 recommended, not required. Introduction to the philosophy of sports, to include studies of particular sports, philosophical discussions of the nature of sport, and of the ethics and aesthetics of sport. Includes readings from Paul Weiss, Randolph Feezell, and other contemporary philosophers; selections from films on various sports.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. An interdisciplinary investigation of various philosophical and religious questions. Themes for study: the problem of evil, the relations of faith and reason, symbolism and language, meaning of freedom, and concepts of determinism. Required of majors in junior or senior year; open to qualified non-majors. Satisfies University Studies VI: Common Requirements/Capstone Course. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Information Literacy. Satisfies University Studies V: Explorations Beyond the Classroom. Partially satisfies University Studies IV: Building Competencies/Writing Intensive.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 202. An examination of the thought and influence of Kant in his three great critiques, especially the first, the Critique of Pure Reason, as well as in his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 202. Primary source study of the various philosophers of the 20th century, representing the major schools or movements.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or PAR 115, or permission of instructor. An examination of rights theory and conceptions of human rights. Will explore the origins, meaning, nature and extent of human rights, including critical perspectives.
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PAR 101 or consent of instructor. An exploration of fundamental issues in the areas of free will and moral responsibility. Related topics include personhood, agency, action, causation, determinism, fatalism, praise and blame.
Credits: 1 - 3Prerequisite: Overall GPA of at least 2.00, junior or senior standing, and consent of instructor, department chair and dean. Involves investigation under faculty supervision beyond what is offered in existing courses. For further information, consult the Directed Individual Studies section in this catalogue.
Credits: 1 - 3Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and junior or senior status, and GPA of at least 3.00. A program of work and study conducted with an agency and/or setting that provides practical experience with observation and application of philosophical or religious concepts. A maximum of 3 credit hours may be counted toward major degree requirements and graduation. Faculty evaluation of all study and on-site activity will be in consultation with sponsoring agency.
Credits: 2 - 3Prerequisite: Eligibility for honors program and senior standing. Independent study for honors students. Satisfies University Studies V: Explorations Beyond the Classroom.
Credits: 0 - 2Prerequisite for online lecture/lab sections: Extension student status. Introduces students to the fundamental concepts and practical experiences associated with the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual components of wellness. Promotes behavioral changes to enhance well-being and lifelong maintenance of personal health and fitness. Lecture and physical activity/lab are required components. Satisfies University Studies I: Foundations/Lifetime Wellness. Prerequisite for online lab sections: Permission of instructor.
PED 103 - Physical Education Activity- Program of Outdoor Pursuits
Credits: 3 Prerequisite: PED 101 or equivalent. Study of and participation in the skills and knowledge of various outdoor recreational activities in a natural setting. Minimum of 10 one-hour lecture sessions and a minimum of 11 excursion days. Travel and subsistence costs for activities borne by the student. (Non-majors may repeat PED 103, in a different activity area, only once.)
Credits: 0 - 2Prerequisite: Proficiency in swimming skills and completion of a medical history form prior to first class. History, theory, and principles of scuba diving. Hyperbaric physiology equipment and development, use and maintenance; development of diving skills and diving safety. Meets all national certification requirements for confined water training for entry level scuba. Download medical history form and additional medical information: http://www.uncw.edu/hahs/chapman/HOMEPAGE.HTML/.
Credits: 1 Designed to teach one how to swim and to instruct the basic strokes including front crawl stroke, backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, elementary backstroke as well as survival swimming.
Credits: 1 Development of competency in basic swimming strokes of front crawl, backstroke, and sidestroke; development of water safety skills and techniques.
Credits: 1 Emphasis on developing competencies in basic swimming strokes of front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, elementary backstroke; turns; develop skill in lifesaving techniques, water safety and cardiovascular conditioning.
Credits: 1 Prerequisite: Possess current Red Cross Emergency Water Safety or Lifeguard Training Certificate. Designed to instruct students how to teach others the various skills and courses offered in the American Red Cross Swimming Programs.
Credits: 1 Study of and participation in basic tennis skills including serve, volley, and ground strokes. Emphasis on improving proficiency in techniques and mechanics. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 Study and participation in advanced tennis skills and knowledge of the various techniques and tactics, including application of mechanics and strategies. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 Cardiovascular fitness program which incorporates physiologically safe exercise movements to music. Intended to develop strength, flexibility, and improve cardiorespiratory efficiency. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 Instruction and participation in the basic skills, strategy and application of rules of soccer. Experiences will include indoor soccer, small-sided games, full-sided matches, video sessions and lecture session. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 A personal physical conditioning program including systems of fitness emphasizing circuit training, interval training, and calisthenics. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 Introduction to theory, navigation rules, equipment, and basic skills of canoeing and kayaking. Emphasis on safety and practice of canoeing and kayaking on coastal waters. Two hours each week.
Credits: 1 Introduction to theory, navigation rules, equipment, and basic skills of sailboarding. Emphasis on safety and practice of sailing skills. Two hours each week.