{"id":5499,"date":"2024-04-08T08:38:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T13:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/smithcenter\/?page_id=5499"},"modified":"2025-09-10T14:57:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T19:57:54","slug":"fall-2024","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/smithcenter\/welcome-to-ace\/courses\/fall-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Go back to COURSES Section<\/a><\/p>\n

January Term ace Courses<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0Spring Semester ace courses<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t

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Art\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

ART 282 Topic: Making Museums Matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructors:\u00a0 Christina Spiker<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This course offers an engaging exploration into the field of museum studies with a particular emphasis on social justice principles and practices. Museums serve as vital institutions in society, shaping narratives, preserving cultural heritage, and reflecting the values of communities. However, traditional museum practices have often perpetuated exclusionary narratives and overlooked marginalized voices. This course examines these issues critically and explores strategies for creating more inclusive and equitable museum spaces.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will work with the Flaten Art Museum on programming and\/or acquire art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Environmental Studies<\/strong><\/h2>\n

ENVST 237 Integration & Applications in Environmental Studies
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Instructor: Paul Jackson<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Solving complex environmental problems and generating creative work requires the integration and application of multiple ways of knowing. Team projects connected to community needs bring the department\u2019s three areas of emphasis into conversation within an experiential learning framework. The course attends to the nature of environmental inquiry and creativity, one\u2019s own perspectives and values, and how to use one\u2019s knowledge and skills to contribute in personal, civic and work related roles.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: In cooperation with a community partner teams of students will participate in a project fulfilling an identified local need, such as research, planning and execute a community event, inventorying and documenting various features of natural environments, etc.<\/p>\n

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ENVST 381 Environmental Storytelling<\/span>
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Instructor: Juliet Patterson<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Students study topics related to the environment. Topics vary from year to year at the discretion of the instructor. Recent topics offered include Ecosystem Research, Landscape Art, Imaging Environmentalism, and Landscape and Regional Change in the Arctic.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will write and share a public narrative of an environmental theme of their choosing. <\/span><\/p>\n

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ENVST 399 Environmental Studies Capstone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Kiara Jorgenson<\/a>, Jacob Grossman<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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A capstone seminar for seniors in the major, this course involves intensive study of special topics through reflective writing, student generated research projects, presentations, and a grant proposal. Topics relate to local or regional environmental issues of interest to the students, and it provides participants with opportunities to interact with alumni, government and regulatory agencies, and community groups. The work culminates in a grant proposal where students rely on the expertise gained from their environmental studies courses and work in other majors as applicable.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will work with organizations and businesses on developing narratives for future sustainability grant proposals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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First-Year Seminar<\/strong><\/h2>\n

FYS 120 Practicing Democracy<\/span>
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Instructor: Bridget Draxler<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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How can we learn to think more critically and communicate our ideas more effectively by developing our identities as writers? And in so doing, how can we develop our individual and civic identities as activists as well? Course texts and activities will theorize and question the extent to which social factors, such as race, class, gender, age, and ability, impact identity, and the ways in which those identities shape our perspectives, opinions, and actions. This section is writing intensive and focuses intentionally on the writing process. Projects emphasize expressing opinion, analyzing course texts, researching and analyzing how a movement or event presents itself, and responding to opinion. The final activity is to reflect, using words and images, on influences that inform your identity and the person you imagine becoming. We will talk about writing not just as a skill, but as a form of empowerment and agency.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will serve as Election Ambassadors to encourage peers to make a plan to vote. Students will also interview local candidates and collect information from public sources to share with the rest of the campus community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FYS 120 Race in 20th-Century Music<\/span>
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Instructor: David Carter<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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In this seminar, students will examine the numerous roles that issues of race played in 20th-century music. From minstrel shows through Motown to MTV and beyond, racial issues have influenced composition, performance, audience and distribution of music. Societal norms and governmental policies also have contributed in myriad ways, from economic and education to immigration policies. Students will learn a common vocabulary for music analysis and apply that vocabulary for studying a wide variety of styles, finding some familiar favorites and discovering new genres and go-to artists. In a collaborative environment, students will discuss readings, compile information on musical selections, and ultimately work together to create a community-based arts-related final project. Reflective writings and cultural mapping assignments of your environment are other components of the course. No previous musical experience needed, and curious listeners to all styles of music welcomed.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will participate as a class in the Service Saturday event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FYS 120 Imagining Democracies Globally<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This course emphasizes critical thinking, conversation, collaboration, and academic habits for the liberal arts. Students learn key skills like locating and evaluating academic sources, as well as reading, reflecting, and responding to texts. Students cultivate their own curiosity while also learning how to engage in community, better understanding their responsibilities to each other.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will work on co-generation deliberative dialogues with older adults in the local area.<\/p>\n

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FYS 120 Life on the Hill<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Kari Lee Dorer<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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TBD<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will participate as a class in the Service Saturday event.<\/p>\n

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History<\/strong><\/h2>\n

HIST 276 Gender, Race, and Policing in the US<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Jaden Janak<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This seminar examines the role of gender, race, and class in the development of policing and punishment in the United States. Students utilize primary and secondary sources such as film, music, art, and activist documents in their inquiry. By the end of the course, students should be able to construct historical arguments about the history of captivity in the United States and how communities can work together to change its impact.<\/p>\n

ACE Component: TBD<\/em><\/p>\n

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Kinesiology<\/strong><\/h2>\n

KINES 374 Biomechanics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Matt Neuger<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Students analyze mechanical principles in depth as they affect human motion. Topics include study of muscular and skeletal systems, skill analysis, and motion measurement techniques. Students attend lectures plus one three-hour laboratory per week.<\/p>\n

ACE Component:<\/em> Students will offer free gait analysis or functional fitness measurements to the greater St. Olaf community (faculty, staff, and students).<\/span><\/p>\n

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KINES 396 DUR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Jennifer Holbein<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to their research interests. Offered based on department decision.<\/p>\n

ACE Component:<\/em> Students will work with the community on fear of falling research.<\/p>\n

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KINES 375 Physiology\/Exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Jennifer Holbein<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Students study in-depth the physiology of exercise, covering cardiovascular and muscular adaptions to exercise and factors affecting performance, including body composition, environmental influences, training implications across gender and age, and the assessment of fitness. The course includes a laboratory component.<\/p>\n

ACE Component:<\/em> Students will offer free baseline measurements to the greater St. Olaf community (faculty, staff, and students). During the process, participants will receive not only the measurements, but information about the measurement testing and suggestions for how to improve their health based on their individual measurements.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Music<\/strong><\/h2>\n

MUSIC 347 Somali Music & Community Engagement<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Rehanna Kheshgi<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Students explore how Somali diaspora communities have made important visible and audible contributions to the cultural landscape of Minnesota, while studying and learning to perform the interconnected arts of Somali poetry, music, dance, and theater. Interactions with local Somali musicians and community leaders, a visit to the Somali mosque, and collaboratively working to discern and support the needs of a community partner organization that serves Somali families provides students with hands-on experience in community engagement.<\/p>\n

ACE component:<\/em> Students will volunteer at Surad Academy and coordinate a public music event. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Nursing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NURS 316 Public Health Nursing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Emily Carroll<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Public health nursing is informed by community needs and environmental factors focusing on health promotion and disease prevention. Through project management, students address the health needs of groups and communities utilizing group communication processes, teamwork, and collaboration. Students focus on utilizing community resources, identifying risk factors, and evaluating the impact on population health as related to current epidemiological trends.<\/p>\n

ACE component:<\/em> Students will complete four day-long population screening activities: hearing and vision screening for the three Northfield elementary schools as well as leading a BP screening event for Rice County employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Physics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PHYS 232 Analytical III<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Eric Hazlett<\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Physics 232, the third course in the three-semester calculus-based sequence, explores special relativity, waves and oscillations, and the quantum mechanics of light and matter. Students attend lectures and one 2.5-hour laboratory per week.<\/p>\n

ACE component:<\/em> Students will conduct STEM demo days with high school students visiting St. Olaf through the TRIO program.<\/p>\n

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Political Science<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PSCI 350<\/span> Immigration\/Citizenship<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor:Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak\u00a0<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Kim Carr<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This course investigates entry control policy, integration and citizenship policy, and the political activities of migrants in the wealthy democracies. Alternative arguments emphasizing the role of economic interests, sovereignty, national identity, and gender are introduced. Opportunities for academic civic engagement projects are included in the course.<\/p>\n

ACE Component: Students will be doing interviews and survey with alumni who are immigrants and exploring the college as “by and for” immigrants. <\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

PSCI 370 Seminar: Courageous Resistance to Injustice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Kristina Thalhammer<\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Individuals, communities, and organizations have found ways to address even the most egregious state abuses of human rights and other injustices. Using comparative analysis, this course considers cases and theories of nonviolent personal and political resistance and the factors that appear to contribute to people taking action and to successful responses. Students research and analyze cases of their choosing in light of the literature.<\/p>\n

ACE Component: Students work on social action projects that address an injustice with various community partners or for the general public good.<\/span><\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Psychology<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PSYCH 341 Infant Development<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Dana Gross<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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This seminar examines development from birth to age three. Topics include prenatal development, birth and the newborn, physical and motor development, caregiver relationships, infant mental health, cognition, and language development. Students explore questions such as: How long-lasting are the effects of early experiences? How do diverse cultural contexts influence early development? Course format is primarily discussion-based and includes community-based experiential learning projects. Offered annually. Also counts toward applied linguistics concentration.<\/p>\n

ACE Component: Students will work on projects to support Growing Up Healthy, a local youth and family serving organization that works on early childhood education with Latine and Somali families. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Social Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n

SWRK 254 Inclusive Practice Individuals and Families<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Kimberly Doran<\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Social work majors study the methods and skills of social work practice, particularly intercultural communication. They describe strengths and problems of diverse individuals and families; frame goals and plans for change utilizing the planned change process and the systems perspective; and use ethical decision-making, informed by the scientific method, grounded in the liberal arts, and concerned with social justice. Students demonstrate learning in recorded role playing and have an academic civic engagement experience.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: The story-partners project pairs students with an older community members at FiftyNorth<\/a>. Students meet with their partner 3+ times throughout the course of the semester for the specific purpose of encouraging their partners to tell stories about their lives. Students practice what they have learned through role-playing in class such as active listening and asking clarifying questions, which helps to build their one-on-one conversation and interviewing skills. The volunteer participants gain an enthusiastic listener, validation for their experiences, and the opportunity to reflect upon their lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Sociology\/Anthropology<\/strong><\/h2>\n

SOAN 371 Foundations of Social Science Research: Quantitative Methods<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Ryan Sheppard<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Students gain the skills necessary to conduct and critically evaluate quantitative research. Students learn the underlying theoretical assumptions and orientations of quantitative research, including research design, sampling techniques, strategies for data collection, and approaches to analysis. Students gain practice in data analysis by conducting are search project and using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), a standard in sociology.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will work on projects with an on campus office or department.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Writing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

WRIT 120 Being Good Ancestors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Ryan Eichberger<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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We live in a climate crisis: a time of vanishing species and deep anxieties. It’s natural to feel grief or hopelessness. Yet many experts now argue for climate solutions built on empathy, community, and hopefulness. This seminar invites you to read from the writers of this ‘climate renaissance.’ By discussing their texts, we’ll rethink our relationships with the more-than-human world while examining topics like feral species, indigenous knowledge, the American obsession with lawns, anti-environmental propaganda, and the search for a climate movement anthem. We’ll also explore St. Olaf’s native ecology and undertake local environmental stewardship. And, of course, we’ll strengthen our voices as citizens, crafting researched environmental writing and media for both scholarly and public audiences–all while dispelling myths that make both academic writing and climate solutions difficult. Together, we’ll find words to help ourselves live responsibly in community with each other and to be good ancestors to future generations.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will assist with the annual Watershed Wide CleanUP day of the Cannon River with Clean Water Partners. Students will also participate in citizen science wildlife counts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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WRIT 120 Environmental Humanities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Nissa Parmar<\/span><\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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Environmental Humanities is the name given to the effort to bring together the humanities (literature, art, history, philosophy, etc.) and the sciences to address contemporary environmental problems like climate change and mass extinction. This approach recognizes the physical, cultural, and social elements that contribute to complex definitions of environment and environmental problems. In this seminar, we will explore a variety of texts that engage the sciences and humanities to appreciate the essential role that storytelling, poetry, cinema, and other creative genres play in bringing diverse voices and multicultural perspectives to understanding and addressing environmental issues. Students will write in multiple forms and genres and develop a research paper based on a course theme of their interest.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will participate as a class in the Service Saturday event.<\/p>\n

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WRIT 120 The Places We Make<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructor: Sequoia Nagamatsu<\/p>\n

Read Description<\/span>

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In this seminar, we’ll explore the evolution and manifestations of how society has tried to control and shape our environment and the spaces we live in–from suburbs to the planning of major cities to what makes an area like Division Street in Northfield difficult to replicate. How has this obsession with placemaking (including our digital streets) impacted our conception of family, work, and community? How has the organization of our neighborhoods contributed to racism and socio-economic divides? Major assignments will include personal narratives and reflective journals, an op-ed, a creative project centering around town\/city planning, and a major research essay.<\/p>\n

ACE Component<\/em>: Students will participate as a class in the Service Saturday event.<\/p>\n

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