Course Description
BIO 220 Principles of Molecular and Cellular Biology (3 credits)
This course is considered a foundational course for biology majors and students planning to take additional courses in biology. Students cover the following topics: basic biochemistry, cell structure and function, molecular biology, genetics, physiology, and development of plants and animals.
Co-requisite: CHE 205
BIO 220L Principles of Molecular and Cellular Biology (1 credit)
A laboratory course that accompanies the main course BIO 220. This Lab course trains students by providing experimental evidence to the main topics covered in BIO 220.
Co-requisite: BIO 220
BIO 225 Fundamentals of Organismal Biology (3 credits)
A course for biology majors and students who plan to take additional courses in biology. Students are introduced to the basic elements of plant and animal morphology and physiology, principles of evolution, organismal diversity and phylogeny, population biology, population genetics, ecology, and behavior.
Prerequisite: BIO 220, Co-requisite: BIO 225L
BIO 225L Fundamentals of Organismal Biology Laboratory (1 credit)
A laboratory course that complements the main course BIO 225 with experimental work.
Co-requisite: BIO 225
BIO 300 Introduction to Biostatistics (3 credits)
Statistical concepts related to biological problems. Topics include the scientific method, data representation, descriptive statistics, elementary probability distributions, estimation and hypothesis testing, emphasizing the analysis of variation.
Prerequisite: STA 220
BIO 320 Genetics (3 credits)
This course provides students with the foundations and principles of Genetics. Topics include: molecular genetics and genetic engineering; Mendelian genetics and mapping; control of gene expression; cyto-genetics; epigenetics and non-Mendelian genetics; and population and quantitative genetics. Numerous examples are taken from a wide variety of organisms, including viruses, bacteria, plants, fungi, insects, and humans.
Prerequisite: BIO 225, CHE 210
BIOL 345 Introduction to Neurobiology (3 credits)
A course designed to offer the basic principles of neurobiology. The course emphasizes the nature of communication among nerve cells and their targets. Topics covered include: the development, structure and function of nerve cells, chemistry of neurotransmission, processing and integration including the cellular and molecular basis of higher functions and neurological disorders.
Prerequisite: BIO 225
BIO 360 Fundamentals of Microbiology (3 credits)
A course on the fundamental principles of microbiology with emphasis on physical and chemical properties of the bacterial cell; microbial metabolism, cultivation, growth and death of bacteria; microbial genetics, pathogenesis and immunity, industrially important microorganisms.
Prerequisite: BIO 220, CHE 210, Co-requisite: BIO 360L
BIO 360L Fundamentals of Microbiology Laboratory (1 credit)
Laboratory exercises designed to complement BIO 360.
Co-requisite: BIO 360
BIO 370 History and Diversity of Organisms (3 credits)
Students in this course are introduced to an overview of the variety and ancestry of life on earth. Using representatives from prokaryotes, protists, plants, fungi, and animals, principles of phylogenetic reconstruction are illustrated and evolutionary trends in the life history features, functional morphology, and structural complexity of extant and extinct organisms are presented.
Prerequisite: BIO 225, Co-requisite: BIO 370L
BIO 370L History and Diversity of Organisms Laboratory (1 credit)
An integrated laboratory course to complement the requirements for experimental evidence to the topics discussed in BIO 370.
Co-requisite: BIO 370
BIO 380 Biochemistry (3 credits)
This course provides students with the essentials of the chemistry of the constituents of living organisms and the changes these constituents undergo (during life processes) in the human body and other living forms.
Prerequisite: BIO 220, CHE 240
BIO 400 Physiology of Organisms (3 credits)
Students in this course are provided with a comprehensive and integrative approach to the study of organisms with an emphasis on physiological, ecological, structural, and behavioral adaptations to differing environments. Numerous examples are critically studied and analyzed.
Prerequisite: BIO 225
BIO 410 Evolutionary Biology (3 credits)
A course designed to offer students an introduction to the patterns and processes of organic evolution. Topics covered include: history of evolutionary thought, molecular evolution, genetics and microevolution, selection and adaptation, and speciation and macroevolution. Students will review as well how scientists study and document change over time in natural populations, methods for testing hypotheses about events in evolutionary history, and how discovering evolutionary mechanisms at one level of organization can help further investigations.
Prerequisite: BIO 320, CHE 240
BIO 420 Cell Structure and Function (3 credits)
This course presents a survey of cell biology, with emphasis on correlating cell architecture with cell function. Topics covered include: general cell types, cell evolution, membranes, macromolecules, ultra-structure and function of organelles, motility, transport phenomena, and the cell life cycle.
Prerequisite: BIO 320, CHE 240
BIO 430 Biology of Development (3 credits)
Students in this course are provided with a general outlook to the developmental biology of animals. This course emphasizes the understanding how a single-celled fertilized egg develops into a complex multicellular organism by the processes of cell division, differentiation, growth, and morphogenesis. Lectures stress experimental approaches to investigating development, including classic embryology and modern molecular genetics.
Prerequisite: BIO 320
BIO 440 Principles of Ecology (3 credits)
Students are introduced to the principles underlying species population density changes, community structure and dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, and energy flow and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
Prerequisite: BIO 225, Co-requisite: BIO 440L
BIO 440L Field and Laboratory Methods in Ecology (1 credit)
This course complements BIO 440 with field trips and laboratory exercises that illustrate the basic concepts of ecology. Topics covered include methodologies for quantitative sampling of terrestrial and aquatic systems, design of field studies, computer simulation and digital data analysis techniques, and scientific writing.
Prerequisite: STA 230, Co-requisite: BIO 440
BIO 490 Special Topics in Biology (1-3 credits)
This course on special topics in biology is given as need arises. This course is integrative in nature and may follow different styles of class interactions including lectures, discussions, readings, laboratory, or fieldwork. Students may select sections according to their special needs.
Prerequisite: Consent of advisor
BIO 492 Seminar in Biology (1-3 credits0
Students are trained to prepare, design, and execute a full report about a topic of choice. Formal presentations of oral reports on selected topics from the recent research literature are common.
Prerequisite: Senior standing
BIO 497 Practical Training (3 credits)
Students in their junior year are required to work on part time or full time basis in order to experiment with and practice what they learned in class. A student presents a formal report by the end of this training period then he/she makes a public presentation exposing his/her experience.
Prerequisite: Junior standing and Consent of Advisor
BIO 499 Capstone Project (3 credits)
Students will utilize the blue prints prepared in the curriculum to deal with recent topics in Biology which are not encountered in regular course of study. It integrates and synthesizes concepts in Biology with applications. Topics include open-ended analysis of data, review of literature on current techniques and practice of Biology, development of Biology related communication skills and the use of statistical software tools in data analysis. Each student is required to learn and use a statistical technique beyond what is covered in the previous courses. Students are expected to introduce the method in a presentation and to prepare a comprehensive, professional report detailing the experimental, analytical, or statistical method and its application to a data set.
Prerequisite: Senior Standing
CHE 205 Inorganic Chemistry I (3 credits)
This course provides students with foundations of inorganic chemistry based on theoretical as well as practical working knowledge. Topics covered include: atomic structure, chemical bonding, properties of gases, liquids, and solids, acid-base chemistry, and chemical equilibria are emphasized.
Prerequisite: MAT 211, Co-requisite: ENG 201, CHE 205L
CHE 205L Inorganic Chemistry I Laboratory (1 credit)
This is the practical part of CHE 205. Students will develop skills and techniques to experimentally assess and quantify chemical relationships.
Co-requisite: CHE 205
CHE 210 Inorganic Chemistry II (3 credits)
This course complements what students have studies in CHE 205. Students are provided with an introduction to inorganic chemistry and qualitative and quantitative analysis. Topics covered include: electrochemistry, thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, and coordination chemistry. The class is accompanied with a laboratory course.
Prerequisite: CHE 205, Co-requisite: CHE 210L
CHE 210L Inorganic Chemistry II (1 credit)
This course is a continuation of CHEM 184 and provides an introduction to inorganic chemistry and qualitative and quantitative analysis. Electrochemistry, thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, and coordination chemistry are stressed. The class meets each week for three one-hour lectures, an optional tutorial period, and a five-hour laboratory.
Co-requisite: CHE 210
CHE 220 Organic Chemistry I (3 credits)
This course covers the fundamentals of the classification, identification and structural characterization of organic compounds. Topics include properties, preparation, and commercial significance of hydrocarbons, halogen derivatives, alcohols, ethers and selected polymers, mechanisms of organic reactions, and basic principles of organic stereochemistry.
Prerequisite: Co-requisite ENG 201 and CHE 220L
CHE 220L Organic Chemistry I Laboratory (1 credit)
The laboratory will include an introduction to laboratory methods in organic chemistry, including separation and methods of purification of organic compounds.
Prerequisite: Co-requisite ENG 201 and CHE 220
CHE 240 Organic Chemistry II (3 credits)
Students are familiarized with synthesis and reactivity of carbonyl compounds, organic acids and their derivatives, nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur derivatives, simple aromatic compounds. Also covered, survey of the chemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and peptides, and selected hetero-cycles, synthesis, stereochemistry, reaction intermediates and mechanisms of organic chemistry, and heterocyclic chemistry.
Prerequisite: CHE 220, Co-requisite CHE 240L
CHE 240L Organic Chemistry II Laboratory (1 credit)
The laboratory will include experiments related to the topics covered in CHE 240. This course will utilize micro-scale laboratory techniques in organic chemistry. Experiments include the preparation, purification, and analysis including multi-step sequences, of typical moderately complicated organic compounds. Students will use independent skills in synthesizing and characterizing organic compounds.
Prerequisite: Co-requisite CHE 220
PHY 210 Physics I (3 credits)
Introduction to mechanics. Topics covered include vectors, statics, uniform accelerated motion, energy, momentum, uniform circular motion, elasticity and simple harmonic motion. This course emphasizes the development of quantitative concepts and problem solving skills for students needing a broad background in physics as part of their preparation in other major programs.
Prerequisite: MAT 211 or Placement, ENG 201
PHY 220 Physics II (3 credits)
This course provides students with the principles and applications of electricity, magnetism, light, sound, atomic physics, and nuclear physics. Topics covered include: wave motion, sound, electric field, electric potential, direct current circuits, electrochemistry, the magnetic field, electromagnetic function, flux and electromotive force.
Prerequisite: PHY 210
STA 350 Statistical Analysis for Bioinformatics (3 credits)
This course provides the basics to use probabilistic models and statistical techniques in computational molecular biology. Probabilistic and/or statistical techniques will be presented for the understanding of pairwise and multiple sequence alignment methods, gene and protein classification methods, and phylogenetic tree construction.
Prerequisite: STA 220, Consent of advisor