Summer Special Classes

Stay for the summer!

Explore your interests or discover a new passion! Take advantage of these special summer courses.

First Session (6 Weeks, May 15 - June 22)

BIO 302 Ornithology: An intensive course investigating the behavior, physiology, evolution, taxonomy, and natural history of birds with an emphasis on species found in the Pacific Northwest. 

BIO 362 Ornithology Lab: Identification, taxonomy, and natural history of birds, emphasizing Pacific Northwest species. Field and lab work with two required weekend camping field trips, usually the two weekends after Memorial Day weekend: Fri-Sun to Malheur NWR and Fri-Sat to the Oregon Coast.

BUS 491/591 Supply Chain Theory and Design: Takes a comprehensive look at supply chain design and operations management. Develops skills in designing an international network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in order to effectively match supply with demand. Topics include inter- and intra-firm coordination, incentive design, logistics, network optimization and the role of information technology. (Prerequisite: BUS 355)

CORE 332X Chemistry of Food and Cooking: Explores the chemistry involved in the creation and cultures of food. Students will learn through lab activities such as kitchen spherification about chemistry in the appearance, taste and shape of food. Students will also use scientific thinking to engage in sous vide cooking and the making of cheese, bread and kimchi. A survey of the anthropology of fermentation offers a sense of how global consciousness informs the science of food.

ENV 370X Do or Do Not: Saving Planet A: Centers on understanding global climate change from science, policy, and social justice perspectives. Rather than approaching these as individual components of climate change, the course focuses on the relationships and dynamics between all three within a global social-ecological system. Emphasis is on current context, bridging the gap between the Global North and South, and the toolsets needed to create solutions.

HST 391 Stalin and Hitler: Epic clash of two giant totalitarian systems, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, both led by ruthless dictators.  Comparative biography of Stalin and Hitler. Their rises to power, their opposition during the Spanish Civil War, their infamous pact leading to the destruction of Poland, and their extremely bloody and brutal fight in Eastern Europe.

IHW 392 Navigating Uncertainty: Explores the skills required for achieving and sustaining well-being in an uncertain world. The course draws upon insights from the arts, humanities, psychology, and health sciences to define the challenges and opportunities presented by uncertainty. Following the course, students will be able to craft their own practice of leveraging uncertainty to gain vitality, clarity, and direction.

SPN 101 & SPN 102 Elementary Spanish (accelerated, three weeks each course): Fully immersive courses that teach foundational grammar and vocabulary in meaningful contexts and introduce the geography and cultures of the diverse Spanish-speaking world. Listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills are built through communicative activities and authentic materials. Students who complete this sequence learn about and value cultural perspectives other than their own.

THE 330 Environmental Justice: Addresses issues of climate crisis, water justice, environmental racism, human rights, earth solidarity, and earth rights, in a global/cosmic context, in the light of Catholic social teaching and the ecological ethics of Buddhism, Hinduism, and American Indians. Using the paradigm of vision, norm, and choice, the course addresses concrete issues of environmental justice as presented in selected case studies. (Prerequisite: THE 105 and THE 205)

Second Session (6 Weeks, June 26 - August 3)

BUS 491/591 Designing Innovative Brands: Introduces students to the value of designing tangible and intangible brand experience attributes that allow organizations to gain competitive advantage and long-term profitability. Covers theory and practical marketing, design and branding applications to assist students to develop and manage strong brands in the experience economy. (Prerequisite: Junior standing)

BUS 491/591 Special Topics in Consumer Behavior: Explores the lived experiences of socially and economically marginalized consumers, with the goal to develop inclusive research-based marketing strategies and tactics.  We'll investigate these consumers as active participants in an often-unwelcoming marketplace and examine how consumers deploy products and services to achieve agency. We will also examine business practices of companies serving these consumers in mutually beneficial ways. (Prerequisite: BUS 200; BUS 371 recommended)

CST 391 Media and Identity: Race, Nation, and Ethnicity: Drawing on Critical Media, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies scholarship, this course examines the political, historical, and contemporary relationship between media and identity. Students will critically interrogate the concepts of race, ethnicity, and nationhood and consider how these categories of identification have been constructed, contested, represented, and received in/through media at different times.

NRS/BUS 392 Burnout in the Workplace: Interdisciplinary Leadership and Communication Across Sectors: Increased burnout and moral distress at all levels demand communication knowledge and skills for effective and sustainable leadership in the US. Hands, head and heart are central to leadership in all workplaces. Interdisciplinary theory and practical skills (e.g. Crucial Conversations, Motivational Interviewing) will be combined. Students practice skills and cultivate Heart Leadership. Self-care in leadership and communication will be explored.

SPN 201 & SPN 202 Intermediate Spanish (accelerated, three weeks each course): Students increase listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills while advancing knowledge of vocabulary, geography, and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Foundational grammar concepts are solidified through multimedia content, communicative activities, and projects. Students learn to identify components of other cultural perspectives and value other worldviews. (Prerequisite: SPN 102 or completion of mandatory language placement exam)