(one unit to be taken in the first year)

Learning Objectives

As one of two foundational seminars in the Sound Connections curriculum, the Connections 100-level seminar welcomes students to the academic community at Puget Sound by integrating the introduction to the liberal arts with the development of skills for lifelong learning in diverse communities.

Through the introduction to the liberal arts, students:

  • Enrich their understanding of the course topic/theme/issue by exploring it from multiple disciplinary perspectives and developing appreciation for the distinct and complementary approaches inherent to different disciplines.
  • Develop an understanding of the Puget Sound liberal arts curriculum, including its structure and ethos.
  • Discover ways of identifying and pursuing academic interests.

To develop skills for lifelong learning in diverse communities, students:

  • Participate in collaborative learning and engagement that fosters community and cultivates a sense of belonging.
  • Develop skills for learning in and contributing to a diverse community that aspires to be equitable and inclusive.
  • Develop self-awareness regarding individually effective approaches to learning.

Guidelines

The course's substantive theme provides context for an introduction to the multidisciplinarity of a liberal arts education and for the meaningful practice of skills for lifelong learning in diverse communities.

To introduce students to the liberal arts, this course:

  1. Explores meaningful examples of disciplinary and multidisciplinary inquiry grounded in the substantive theme of the course. 
  2. Facilitates students’ exploration of their own Puget Sound curricular and co-curricular interests.
  3. Includes a student-directed collective project or similar collaboration that relates to the substantive theme of the course.

To develop skills for lifelong learning in diverse communities, this course:

  1. Integrates at least two activities supporting learning objectives 4-6 with the course theme.
  2. Incorporates collaborative assignments that foster connection and develop communication skills between and among students.
  3. Discusses self-care/wellness as a crucial element of an effective approach to learning.
  4. Includes activities that facilitate practice of academic success skills [such as fostering resilience, managing stress, forming effective study habits, or managing time and distractions]
  5. Integrates an iterative learning process in which students reflect on opportunities to try, redo, and reassess learning practices.

CONN 1xx courses may not fulfill major/minor/emphasis requirements, Divisional requirements, nor other core requirements.
 

CONN 100-Level Approved Courses

  • CONN 109 Doodling, Brainstorming & Calligraphy
  • CONN 110 Edible Identity: American Chinese Foodways
  • CONN 111 Fatal Consequences: Examining Women Who Kill
  • CONN 112 An All Encompassing Fun
  • CONN 113 All the Way Outside
  • CONN 116 Passport to Discovery: Study Abroad and Global Affairs
  • CONN 120 From Cascadia to Arrakis: Environment, Politics and Place in Dune
  • CONN 121 Ethics in Practice
  • CONN 122 Forward Motion: The Bicycle's Role in Social, Economic, and Political Change
  • CONN 123 Health and Exercise: From Science to Society
  • CONN 124 'The Beautiful Game': A Sociological Exploration
  • CONN 126 Born to Build Community
  • CONN 127 Steeped in Knowledge: Exploring the World of Tea Across Disciplines
  • CONN 128 Hacking Happiness: Exploring the Science of Well-Being
  • CONN 129 Solving Real World Problems with Engineering and Design
  • CONN 130 What's in the Water? Exploring Urban Creeks in Tacoma
  • CONN 133 The Undercommons: Navigating the Liberal Arts
  • CONN 134 Economics in Pop Culture
  • CONN 139 The Wizard of Oz
  • CONN 148 Medical Narratives
  • CONN 150 The Arts of Resistance
  • CONN 151 Art in the Everyday
  • CONN 154 Ghost Stories
  • CONN 156 Arts Activism and the Justice System
  • CONN 162 Mathematics and Democracy
  • CONN 166 Magic and the Supernatural: From Harry Potter to Astrology
  • CONN 168 The Dao of Chinese Architecture
  • CONN 169 "Take this Job and Shove it!": Sociology of Work through Music, Comedy, and Pop Culture
  • CONN 175 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott & Collective Negotiation
  • CONN 182 Data & Reality
  • CONN 195 The Liberal Arts, The Mystery of Consciousness, and The Future of Knowledge
  • CONN 196 Northwest Urbanism