Summer Session Course Information

2025 Courses 

ACIP 380, The Business of Sport Seminar

Instructor Name: Dr. Robert Prior
Course Number and Name: ACIP 380, The Business of Sport 
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: Permission from ACIP
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-8pm EST plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week.
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course provides a comprehensive foundation of the economic, organizational, legal and political components of the business of sport. It will present the dilemmas faced by today’s sports business leaders and apply concepts to create an understanding of the financial drivers underlying sport business at the collegiate and professional levels.

Note: Students will participate in a required internship for 8-10 hours per week; 30% of the final grade for the course will be based on internship evaluations.  Students should apply to the AIP Program via this link https://www.holycross.edu/aip, in order to receive a permission code for the course. It is not necessary to have an internship lined up before you sign up for the program.      

BIOL 114, Evolution

Instructor Name: Prof. Karen Ober
Course Number and Name: BIOL 114, Evolution
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Natural Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: none
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 6-8pm EST plus 2 hours unscheduled asynchronous time
Brief Course Description/Notes: All living things are the direct result of evolutionary processes acting over the course of millions of years.  Natural selection, mutation, random genetic drift, and other forces act at all levels of biological organization (genes, individuals, populations, species, and ecosystems) to generate and maintain the dazzling biodiversity we see on our planet.   Understanding the basic tenets of evolution is essential to not only having an appreciation for the biological sciences, but for appreciating all life.  This course will cover topics such as:  the origin and diversity of life, human evolution, cultural evolution, sociobiology, sexual selection, altruism, Darwinian medicine and health related issues. 

BIOL 199, Introduction to Human Nutrition

Instructor Name: Alimatu Acheampong
Course Number and Name: BIOL 199, Introduction to Human Nutrition
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Natural Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Appropriate for students interested in allied health, health sciences, and public health. 
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 6-8pm EST
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course introduces students to the science and principles of nutrition, with emphasis on how nutrition influences health and wellbeing. Topics covered will include the function of nutrients in the body, the physiological processes involved in digestion and absorption, the role of nutrition throughout the human life cycle, and the relationship between food substances and diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and obesity.

CISS 150: Introduction to Global Health

Instructor Name: Love Odetola
Course Name and Course Number: CISS 150: Introduction to Global Health
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Cross-Cultural Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Health Studies Major Requirement 
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: N/A
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 5-7pm EST plus 2 hours unscheduled asynchronous time
Brief Course Description/Notes:
Poverty is a key driver of many preventable diseases, while national development often leads to improved health outcomes. Understanding the connection between health and development requires considering broader socio-political and economic factors. In the context of globalization and international development, a complex international health regime has emerged. This course explores the linkages between health and development within the international political economy of health. Key topics include global health concepts and architecture, the global burden of disease, health and development in nations, and the political-economic determinants of health. Using social, economic, and epidemiological perspectives, the course emphasizes public health and entrepreneurial approaches to addressing health challenges and driving improvements in resource-constrained and emerging nations.

ECON 149, Statistical Analysis

Instructor Name: Elizabeth Seidler
Course Number and Name: ECON 149, Statistical Analysis
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Mathematical Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: economics, psychology, sociology, statistics, and health professions
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: none
Meeting Times: Mondays and Wednesdays 5:30 -7:30pm EST plus 2 hours asynchronous
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course introduces probability and statistics. After covering the basic summary statistics, the course transitions into the construction and the rules of probability, such as the permutations and combinations, addition law, multiplication law, conditional probabilities, and Bayes's Theorem. This knowledge is necessary for the study of random variables, which is the focus of the remainder of the course. Within random variables, topics include discrete random variables, continuous random variables, probability distribution functions, cumulative probability distribution functions, expected values, variances, sampling, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and the Central Limit Theorem. The course concludes with an introduction of least squares estimation that focuses on interpretation of the estimates and goodness-of-fit.

ENGL 299, Disability & Literature

Instructor Name: Hayley Stefan
Course Number and Name: ENGL 299, Disability & Literature
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Literature, Cross-Cultural Studies*
*pending approval of Curriculum Committee
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: N/A, for self-designed/CIS majors/minors, please check with program director & advisor
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Monday and Thursday 6-8pm EST, as well as two asynchronous hours of class time
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course guides us in learning about disability & the field of Critical Disability Studies through the critical and creative works of disabled writers. We will examine how physical, mental, and emotional disability have been portrayed across U.S. literature and popular culture—historically, often without the input of disabled people themselves. At the same time, we will draw upon the critical writing of disabled writers to help us consider the benefits and damages of such representations of disabled people in the public imaginary, while simultaneously reflecting on our own roles as learners and creators in our own communities. Our course discussions and materials will situate these conversations within the development of disability rights in the U.S., including the 20th-century Disability Rights Movement, anti-psychiatry/Mad Pride, the autism rights movement, and Disability Justice. Students will practice attending to embodiment & health in literature and rhetoric with an intersectional awareness of access, emotion, and movement. 

HIST 122, Food, Power, and the Environment 

Instructor Name: Chris Staysniak 
Course Number and Name: HIST 122, Food, Power, and the Environment 
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Historical Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: History Major, Environmental Studies; Peace and Conflict Studies
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Monday and Thursday 8-10pm EST plus 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time
Brief Course Description/Notes: 
The story of the American food system Is fundamentally an environmental one.  Food production has evolved from a process that was bound by seasonal and regional limitations to a  highly industrialized and astoundingly productive system that defies time and space. This course will explore this transformation over time. Along the way we will consider the trade-offs and social and environmental costs of being able to eat whatever we might desire regardless of what time of the year from a food chain that largely exists out of sight and out of mind for consumers. Meal time will never be the same!

MATH 135, Calculus 1

Instructor Name: Tim McEldowney
Course Number and Name: MATH 135, Calculus 1
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Mathematical Sciences
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Majors: ECON, BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, NEUR, ACCT, and Health Professions
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: high school precalculus or equivalent
Meeting Times: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 4-6pm EST
Course Description/Notes: This is the standard version of Calculus at the College. Considers the calculus of real-valued functions of one variable for students who are planning further coursework in mathematics, a major in the social or physical sciences, or a premedical program. Emphasis is placed on a conceptual understanding of calculus, presenting material from symbolic, numerical, and graphical points of view. The concepts of limit, continuity, and derivative are developed and applied to algebraic, logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions. Applications of the derivative are explored.

MATH 136 Calculus 2 (1.25 credits)

Instructor Name: Kiara Sanchez
Course Number and Name: MATH 136 Calculus 2 (1.25 credits)
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Mathematical Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: CHEM, ECON, MATH, PHYS, STAT
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: MATH 135 Calculus 1 or equivalent
Meeting Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 6-8pm EST plus 2 hours of asynchronous time
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course considers the calculus of real-valued functions of one variable for students who are planning further course work in mathematics, a major in the social or physical sciences, or the premedical program. Emphasis is placed on a conceptual understanding of the calculus, presenting material from symbolic, numerical, and graphical points of view. Course content include the theory, evaluation, and
applications of integration, sequences and series including Taylor polynomials and series, and an introduction to ordinary differential equations. This course is the prerequisite for Mathematics 241.

PHIL 223, Trauma & the Troubled Mind: The Ethics of Trauma

Instructor Name: MaryCatherine McDonald 
Course Number and Name: PHIL 223, Trauma & the Troubled Mind: The Ethics of Trauma
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Philosophical Studies
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Philosophy major/minor, PCON concentration
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None 
Meeting Times: Tuesday & Thursday 6-8pm EST + two hours asynchronous material
Brief Course Description/Notes: After trauma, we can find traces of the past in the way we see the world, in our behavior as we relate to others, and even in our genes. But what, exactly, is trauma? And what does it mean to be traumatized? This course examines the very nature of trauma from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. While looking critically at the history of the study of trauma, we will turn our focus on the ethical dimensions of understanding and treating trauma. What can we - and what ought we - to do about trauma and our troubled minds? Students pursuing all majors are encouraged to take this course.

POLS 102, Intro to Comparative Politics

Instructor Name: Vickie Langohr
Course Number and Name: POLS 102, Intro to Comparative politics
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: one of four Intro classes required for the Political Science major
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 6-8pm plus two asynchronous hours
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course examines the political systems and key challenges facing the citizens of Argentina, China, India, Israel/Palestine, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. We will begin with a central question in comparative politics: do countries require particular attributes in order to maintain democracy? For example, many scholars have argued that a democratic political system requires a capitalist economy. If this is true, does capitalism also produce democracy?  If so, when should we expect China, which has long had a primarily capitalist economy, to democratize? We will then examine a) how citizens express anger at the status quo and seek change (including young women’s successful mobilization in the 2010s to legalize abortion in Argentina; protests in China including the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and more recent activism against COVID policies; and the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol); b) the conditions under which democracies respect the freedoms and safety of religious minorities (focusing on the U.S. and India); and c) the conditions under which Israelis and Palestinians have adopted violent or non-violent methods to achieve their goals.  

POLS 206, Public Policy

Instructor Name: Chris Murray
Course Number and Name: POLS 206, Public Policy
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Political Science Elective
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: POLS 100
Meeting Times: Monday and Thursday 6-8:30pm EST; plus 1 hour asynchronous work
Brief Course Description/Notes: Public policy is created as a result of the interaction of a number of political actors and institutions.  The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of these forces and how they shape decisions designed to solve pressing national problems.  We will look at how these actors and institutions perceive problems and how they arrive at their desired solutions.  As we will see, because of the different perspectives that these forces bring, public policy making is oftentimes a contentious, time-consuming, and compromise filled process—and often results in stalemate or failure.  After beginning with an overview of the public policy literature, we will proceed with sections devoted to five major policy making actors in the Washington environment: 1) Congress; 2) the President; 3) the Bureaucracy; 4) Interest Groups; and 5) the Courts.  As a result, it is hoped that students develop a comprehensive, yet nuanced, understanding of how policy is created in Washington and why our system produces the policy it does.

PSYC 221, Physiology and Behavior

Instructor Name: Ruth McLeod
Course Name and Course Number: PSYC 221, Physiology and Behavior
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Natural Science, Category A Core Course Requirement
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Psychology Biological Process requirement, Neuroscience Additional Neuroscience Course requirement, Biology Cognate Course requirement, Health Studies Natural Sciences and Statistics requirement
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: PSYC 100 or NEUR 110. Students without prerequisites should consult instructor.
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 6-8 PM EST, 2 Hours unscheduled asynchronous time
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course will cover physiological perspectives on the biological basis of behavior, rooted in a combination of concepts and experimental methods drawn from psychology, physiology, and the field of behavioral neuroscience. We will explore how behavioral neuroscience informs us about motivation, emotion, and cognition. As the nervous system plays a central role in the integration of behavior, the first part of the course will introduce the fundamentals of neuroscience, including basic functional neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry. The second part of the course will give an overview of genetic influences on the brain, neurodevelopment, and sexual differentiation, and begin to look at how vertebrates interact with the world, movement and sensation and perception. The third portion of the course will cover the neuroendocrine control of behaviors such as sleep and hunger.  This section will also cover more complex psychological phenomena like learning, memory, and responses to stressors. Finally, the fourth part of the course will address clinically defined states such as brain injury, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and developmental disorders, as well as altered states of consciousness (and intro to neuropsychopharmacology).

RELS 107, Islam

Instructor: Caner Dagli
Course Number and Name: RELS 107, Islam
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion
Programs: Africana Studies, Middle East Studies
Prerequisites: None
Meeting Times: Tuesday & Wednesday 6-8pm EST + 2 hours of asynchronous time
Brief Description: Examination of Islamic religious beliefs and practices from the origins of Islam to the present. Particular stress is placed on Islamic religious ideals, institutions and personalities. Central topics include: Islamic scripture and traditions, prophecy, law, rituals, theology and philosophy, sectarianism, mysticism, aesthetic ideals, art and architecture, pedagogy, and modern reinterpretations of the tradition.

RUSS 299, Russia Under Putin

Instructor Name: Diana Dukhanova
Course Number and Name: RUSS 299, Russia Under Putin
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Cross Cultural
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: STL major requirements
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Tuesday and THursday 5:15-7:15 pm EST + 2 async hours
Brief Course Description/Notes: This discussion-centered course will introduce students to Russian literature, arts, culture, and society under the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since 1999. We will explore the rise of Putin, who promised the Russian people stability and national prestige after the chaos of and deprivation of the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. We will examine the evolution of the current dictatorship through the eyes of Russia’s dissident writers, artists, filmmakers, and journalists, contrasting their creations with those of Putin’s cultural elite. We will pay close attention to the development and dissemination of the regime’s official ideology and its gradual capture of cultural institutions as well as the emergence of a new Russian dissident diaspora, which utilizes the arts to keep an alternative vision of a free Russia alive. Readings and other materials will include Russian literature, art, film, music, and journalism (in translation), as well some scholarly texts from Russian and Slavic Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History, and Political Science. This course has no prerequisites and is open to all students, including those with no previous background in Russian Studies. 

SOCL 263 Medical Sociology

Instructor: Renee Beard
Course Number and Name: SOCL 263 Medical Sociology
Common Area: Social Science
Programs: Sociology Major
Prerequisites: None
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 4-6pm EST plus 2 hours unscheduled asynchronous time
Brief Description: This class explores the Sociology of Health & Illness at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. We will examine questions like: How do individuals experience and narrate illness or disability? How do social interactions and roles shape perceptions and subjective accounts of various ailments? How do social structures, such as the medical, pharmaceutical and insurance industries, influence understandings of and approaches to health, illness, difference and disability? How is the climate shaping our health? How is housing a public health issue? Through engagement with the social determinants of health, the Immigrant Paradox, and the health-wealth gradient, this course asks students to interrogate our deeply held assumptions about health in America. Designated “sociology in action” time will be used to investigate current social issues, such as policing/the prison system, the Black Lives Matter or #MeToo movements, the Dobbs’ decision, organ transplantation, health care reform, and “designer babies.” The impact of mass media and the Covid-19 pandemic will also be examined to understand the social construction of health and illness, stigma, and disparities across social variables such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, nationality, and sexual orientation. Anyone interested in working in a medical field, studying health or health policy, or utilizing healthcare services will benefit from this course. This summer includes an exciting opportunity for the class to partner with CISS 150, Introduction to Global Health, for a “Global is Local” component covering international materials not typically possible in a traditional Medical Sociology course.

 

SOCL 299, Womxn of Color Feminism

Instructor Name: Inaash Islam
Course Name and Course Number: SOCL 299, Womxn of Color Feminism
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Social Science
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: Africana Studies; Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies; Latin American, Latinx & Caribbean Studies; International Studies
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: N/A
Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 6-8pm EST + 2 hours unscheduled asynchronous time per week
Brief Course Description/Notes: This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to feminist theories produced by womxn of color. In this course, we will decenter white Eurocentric feminisms and pay particular attention to the complex narratives, issues, oppressions, resilience, and movements for liberation undertaken by Black and African womxn, Chicana and Latina womxn, Indigenous womxn, East Asian and South Asian womxn, and Arab and Muslim womxn. We will be critically interrogating the diverse and interconnected struggles and identities of these populations across the social categories of race, class, gender, sexuality, immigration, religion, culture, and national origin.

SPAN 100, Elements of Spanish

Instructor Name: Elizabeth O'Connell-Inman
Course Number and Name: SPAN 100, Elements of Spanish
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Language
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: none
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: 0-2 years of previous high school Spanish or permission by instructor. If students have previous experience with the language, a placement score must be on record. Spanish Background Questionnaire required.
Meeting Times: Monday and Wednesday 6:30-8:30pm EST and 2 hours of unscheduled asynchronous time per week
Brief course description/Notes: Elements of Spanish begins a comprehensive presentation of the basic structures and vocabulary of Spanish fully integrated within a cultural framework. This is a communication–oriented course.  Activities are designed to practice all language skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing.  Class time will be devoted to oral communication as well as acquiring the learning techniques necessary to improve your language skills. This course counts as the equivalent of SPAN 101 and serves as a prerequisite for SPAN 102.

THEA 205, Speaking and Communication 

Instructor Name:  Meaghan Deiter
Course Number and Name: THEA 205, Speaking and Communication 
Common Area Requirement(s) fulfilled: Arts
Program(s) Requirement(s) fulfilled: ESIB has approved this course as an elective requirement
Prerequisite(s)/Permission of Instructor: None
Meeting Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:15-7:15 pm EST
Brief Course Description:  This course builds public speaking and communication skills. The goal of the class is to strengthen both formal, prepared public speaking delivery and impromptu speaking skills in order to build effective, confident communicators. Topics covered include creating clear intentions and objectives for moments of public speaking; connecting to others and listening actively in both casual and formal interactions; and cultivating strong, flexible vocal production. To develop these skills, interactive exercises inspired by theatre techniques serve as building blocks. Projects encompass delivering texts written by others, workshopping academic presentation techniques, presenting personal stories, and exploring Zoom interview techniques.