An introductory course in microeconomics focusing on individuals as consumers, producers, and resource owners operating in a market system. The supply and demand model is used to analyze how prices and output are determined in both the product and factor markets. Decision making in the firm is studied under different market structures.

An introduction to the macroeconomic concepts of employment, income, and output, with an emphasis on their measurement and determination. The impact of policy decisions on the business cycle is investigated.

This introductory writing course is designed to build writing skills and to increase students’ enjoyment of writing through extensive practice. The course focuses on teaching students to discover and develop idea they wish to communicate, and then on the numerous technical skills which are necessary to make communication effective and engaging. Students will develop their voice, their style, and their mechanics through multiple writing projects and trough a focus on revision. Readings will illustrate the styles and organizational patterns of effective student and professional writers.

We begin our reading of ancient literature by learning the way people lived 2000 years before
Christ and discovering that little has changed since then. Time-tested works like the epics of Homer and the Greek plays reinforce the fact that we can learn from these ancient texts to live our own lives more wisely. The advent of Christianity changed the way the West looked at life; but medieval literature, while serious in its mission to teach Christian views, is filled with fun and fantasy.  (We will read selected works from ancient times to the medieval ages.)

Not much is known about Gentle Will Shakespeare’s life, which is ironic in the sense that he defined, in many ways, what it means to be a human being. This class will take a peek into how the period of time known as The Renaissance created our ideas about human life today. We will focus on the dramas of Shakespeare, plays that shape what it means to be human, plays that continue to pose questions to us: Is feeling more important than thinking? What happens to a person who attains great power? Does knowledge keep us from doing? Should we be loyal at all costs? We will look at a few of the great movies that have been made from these plays. (We will read selected works from The Renaissance and the 17th century.)

Across the continents, themes like love, becoming an adult, and death are universal. Other topics are unique to just some countries and cultures. As globalization makes today’s world smaller and smaller, this course will look at contemporary world literature to explore the ideas that join us and those that still drive us apart. (We will read selected works from the 20th and 21st centuries.)

Thomas Jefferson’s beguiling phrase — “The Pursuit of Happiness” — is one of the founding ideas of American culture. But what did Jefferson mean? Through literature, music, and film, this class will consider the foundations of American thought — from the Indians and Puritans, through Jefferson and the Revolutionary War period, to the great flowering New England society in the Pre-Civil War era.

For a century and a half, American writers have been trying to understand and express what it means to live in the modern world. From Mark Twain to Ernest Hemingway to Toni Morrison, these authors examine love, sex, war, race, gender, conflict, and community in a country where life always seems racing to be faster, bigger, stronger and more complex.

This course will establish the fundamental principles of effective speaking, which will be practiced in informative and persuasive speeches. Students are responsible for written critiques of one another’s speeches.

This course considers the evolution of civilization from pre-historic beginnings to the 15th century through generalized development stages including the rise of agriculture, the evolution of major civilizations, and the establishment of commercial and cultural ties.

This course focuses on the five centuries after 1450 as technology, and military and political organizations resulted in the creation of international trade systems, power alliances, leading to the decline in western imperialism and reemergence of major Asiatic civilizations.

Designed for students with 3 years of high school mathematics, which includes 2 years of high school algebra or its equivalent.   Topics include real numbers, the number system, linear equations, inequalities, exponents, radicals, factoring, functions, slope, equations of straight lines, graphing, linear models, break-even analysis, market equilibrium, quadratics, applications of quadratic functions, graphing polynomials, and applications of functions to practical, ‘real life’ situations.
Prerequisite: MATH 090, its equivalent, or three years of high school mathematics.

A hands-on course designed to introduce the student to microcomputer application software, with an emphasis on Microsoft Office. Students will also learn about the Nichols Network, and the security and ethical implications of being connected to both the Nichols Network and the global internet.

Intensive practice in a variety of approaches to professional writing tasks: memoranda, correspondence, proposals, and both brief and longer reports.
Prerequisite: ENGL 105

An introduction to the environmental geologic forces and man’s interaction with them. Concentrates on environmental management that reduces geologic hazards and sustains natural resources. Topics include coastal erosion, groundwater management, river flooding, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, global warning, rock types, energy production, and global changes. Laboratory.