University Course Courses
Please note: The course descriptions displayed here are current as of Tuesday, February 9th 2010, but the official Course Catalog should be used for all official planning.
UNIC 101
Beginning Italian I
Students enrolled in this course will learn the basic skills of speaking and communicating, reading, and writing in the Italian language. Italian culture will be emphasized throughout the term. Audio-visual materials and computer-assisted programs will be available to students as part of the course. Units: 6.
UNIC 102
Beginning Italian II
Students enrolled in this course will continue learning the skills of speaking and communicating, reading, and writing in the Italian language. Italian culture will be emphasized. Compositions will aid students in further developing their skills in the Italian language. Audio-visual materials and computer-assisted programs will be available to students as part of the course. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: UNIC 101 or consent of instructor
UNIC 110
English as a Second Language – Freshman Studies I
A modified version of Freshman Studies 100 designed for CESA students with limited English proficiency. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 115
ESL: English for Academic Purposes I
This course will offer non-native speakers of English the opportunity to further develop key academic language skills including: writing and structuring academic essays, discussion strategies, listening and note-taking skills, reading and vocabulary development. Additional language concerns will be addressed as needed. Units: 3.
UNIC 116
ESL: English for Academic Purposes
A continuation of English for Academic Purposes I, this course gives non-native speakers of English additional experience developing written and oral academic language skills and understanding the conventions of American academic culture. Students will improve their ability to effectively express complex ideas in English with ease, accuracy and fluency. Units: 3.
UNIC 121
Beginning Arabic I
An introduction to Modern Standard Arabic. After students learn the alphabet and the sound system, they will get acquainted with the basic skills of speaking, understanding, reading and writing Modern Standard Arabic. The course includes a strong cultural component, with such items as films and music. Units: 6.
UNIC 122
Beginning Arabic II
A continuation of Beginning Arabic I. Students will continue working on the ability to perceive and produce the sounds out of which Arabic words are made, with further practice in the basic language skills. Particular emphasis will be placed on the cultural component. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: UNIC 121
UNIC 130
Public-Speaking Practicum
Emphasizes theory, skills, and practice of presentational speaking relative to a variety of forms of communication (particularly information and persuasion speaking) involving body, voice, and language. Units: 6.
UNIC 201
Intermediate Transitional Italian
Review of the basic skills of speaking and communicating, reading, and writing in the Italian language. Additional selected texts and compositions will reinforce previously learned material. Italian culture will be emphasized. Audio-visual and computer-assisted programs will be available to students as part of the course. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: UNIC 102 or consent of instructor
UNIC 203
British Crime Fiction
The course will offer a survey of the development of crime fiction in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the pre sent. Taught as a lecture/discussion class, it will also attempt to exploit the London setting to provide a physical context for some of the work under scrutiny. Students will be able to develop their analytical and writing skills, and should expect to achieve a good grasp of the characteristics of genre fiction; they should also be able to recognise the contribution that a study of these popular forms can make to developing a broader understanding of the values and concerns of the society within which they arise. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre. Sophomore standing
UNIC 206
English as a Second Language – English in the American University
An introduction to academic English at the university level designed for students with limited English proficiency. Students work to develop English proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing through the exploration of different academic disciplines. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 207
English as a Second Language – Speaking and Listening
This variable credit course focuses on developing speaking and listening skills in English. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 208
English as a Second Language – Advanced Communicative English
This course focuses on developing increased communicative competence in English as a second language. In addition, it introduces some of the components of communication and the conventions of discourse in English. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 209
English as a Second Language – Experiential Language Learning
Development of English language proficiency in a specialized field of study. Students design and complete projects based on intensive exploration of a specific English-speaking environment, such as a university course or a community volunteer site. S/U only. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 210
Prize Fiction
A comparative study of recent winners of the American Pulitzer and British Booker Prizes in fiction. Authors read may include Smiley, Ondaatje, Shaara, Trevor, Lively, Coetzee, and Proulx. Lecture and discussion. Units: 6.
UNIC 211
Introduction to American Society I
An introduction to life in America and to academic life at an American university for foreign-exchange students. Students will explore American values, attitudes, and patterns of behavior through formal study, structured observation and interviews of Americans, and through the analysis of their everyday living and studying at Lawrence. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 2.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 212
Introduction to American Society II
An introduction to life in America and to academic life at an American university for foreign-exchange students. Students will explore American values, attitudes, and patterns of behavior through formal study, structured observation and interviews of Americans, and through the analysis of their everyday living and studying at Lawrence. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 1.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 213
Introduction to American Society III
An introduction to life in America and to academic life at an American university for foreign-exchange students. Students will explore American values, attitudes, and patterns of behavior through formal study, structured observation and interviews of Americans, and through the analysis of their everyday living and studying at Lawrence. Enrollment limited to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program. Units: 1.
Prerequisite: Open only to students in the Waseda Visiting Student program
UNIC 220
The Ethical Lyricists
A study of contemporary life as represented in lyric poetry. Readings will include lyrics by Zbigniew Herbert, Philip Larkin, Adrienne Rich, and others. Lecture and discussion. Units: 6.
UNIC 221
Intermediate Arabic I
In this course, students will acquire new and more complex linguistic structures and be exposed to a wider range of written and oral texts, so that they may start speaking, reading and writing at a higher level. Selected newspaper articles and short stories will be introduced. The cultural component will be particularly emphasized. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: UNIC 122
UNIC 240
Modern Literature of Central Europe in Translation
Ethnic variations on the themes of love, death, and bureaucracy in the ruins of the Hapsburg Empire, including the bitter fate of small nations. Authors will include Roth, Andríc, Konrád, Borowski, Herbert, Kafka, Kundera, Wolf. Units: 6.
UNIC 260
British Life and Culture
This compulsory course utilizes visiting speakers, site visits, small group fieldwork and short research projects to introduce students to contemporary life in London and the United Kingdom. Site visits usually include the Museum of London, Imperial War Museum, London Mosque, and a football match. Speakers have included religious leaders representing several different traditions and a homeless couple, among others. The course is designed so that the majority of work takes place during the single class meeting, allowing students the possibility of pursuing up to three elective courses. Units: 3.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Center
UNIC 262
“The Fields Beneath”: Discovering London’s Histories
This interdisciplinary course aims to give students a thorough grounding in the chronology of London’s development from Roman settlement on the periphery of Empire to 21st-century “World City.” The use of contemporary literary and visual sources will serve both to develop students’ historical imagination and to enable them critically to examine the concepts involved in the discipline of history itself. Alongside this historical approach, a theoretical examination of specific themes and topics will be used to explore the nature of “the town as palimpsest,” a layered structure in which the past is never entirely obliterated by what succeeds it. Examples of such themes and topics might include, inter alia, religious observance, theatrical presentation, immigration, commerce, domestic life, and government. Offered at the London Centre. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre.
UNIC 264
London Internship
Students in the internship program participate in this seminar meeting once per week and building upon the field study, lectures, and discussions in the British Life and Culture course. Students are expected to maintain a journal with substantial entries each week that critically reflect on their experiences from intercultural, cross-cultural, social, ethical, organizational, and interpersonal perspectives. Students are also required to complete short reflective essays and a final internship essay interrogating their experiences in terms of the course readings, class discussions in the seminar and the British Life and Culture course, and the broader issue of how a liberal arts-informed perspective frames one’s experience in the workplace. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre.
UNIC 300
Internship: Journalism and the Liberal Arts
Intensive study, under the direction of a faculty member, of topics related to a student’s work on The Lawrentian and, in special cases, other local publications. The subject matter of a student’s submissions to the paper will be explored through readings and discussion. Expectations include regular submissions to The Lawrentian, outside reading, and a final project or paper. Units: 3.
UNIC 310
President's Seminar
Seminar offered in a special topic by the President. Units: 3.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and one faculty member recommendation
UNIC 317
Thinking about Harry Potter
An interdisciplinary course focusing upon Harry Potter as a literary and cultural phenomenon. Students with an already copious knowledge of J. K. Rowling's stories will further explore them in terms of their relationship to history, legend, and myth; their contested aesthetic merit and ethical values; and their broader social and political implications. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor
UNIC 390
Units: Variable.
UNIC 410
Senior Studies
This course will allow interested seniors to revisit Freshman Studies. The class will reconsider four works from Freshman Studies as well as two new works recommended by the students themselves. The aim is to see if questions raised in the first year of college still resonate in the weeks before graduation. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Senior standing
UNIC 591
Directed Study in UNIC
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: Variable.