Earth and Environmental Sciences - Freshmen

COURSE #: HUSS 1033

Course Description

The course explores the concepts of culture, tradition, and change in Central Asia. The focus is on factors that have produced the cultural complexities of contemporary Central Asia and how key life-cycle events and celebrations (marriage and death), the verbal arts, music, films, and dance embody and transmit the cultural memory and values of the region’s diverse peoples. The course helps students to explain how Central Asia’s cultures and cultural expressions present a diverse set of influences and values. The students delve into customs and practices that are subject to change and innovation.  Cultural expressions are the heritage of a complicated past, as well as valuable resources for nurturing innovation, understanding, and cooperation within contemporary societies. The students discuss the role of state and non-state cultural and art institutions and global organizations in safeguarding and revitalizing the cultural heritage of Central Asia.

Course Learning Outcomes

After completing the course, students will be able to:

• Explore values, customs, and social systems and practices of various cultures to interpret the diversity of Central Asian cultures.
• Analyze issues of identities and values of contemporary Central Asian culture to cultivate a critical approach to the study of cultural practices
• Produce proposals for cultural heritage projects.

Course Assessments and Grading

COURSE #: HUSS 1103

Course Description

This course explores the history of the modern Tajikistan. The course consists of two parts. The first part of the course concentrates on the events that led to the creation of Tajikistan as a Soviet national republic. The course emphasizes links and connections between borders which were artificial and porous but became crucially important and shaped the national identity. In this course students will also learn about key development in the history of modern Tajikistan in Soviet period, in particular, the Soviet collectivistion, modernization, industrialization. The second part of the course deals with the events that unfolded in the history of modern nation state of Tajikistan after its independence, including civil war, peace building, unity and development of Tajikistan as a nation state.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Discuss the key features, facts and frameworks that make up the history of modern Tajikistan
• Explore the ways national boundaries and cultural identity are created, through processes
• Locate the history of modern Tajikistan into wider history of nation-states in Central Asia
• Analyse and use the sources, methods and interpretive processes of the discipline of history

Course Assessments and Grading

COURSE #: HUSS 1116

Course Description

The English Academic Writing and Skills course is to provide students with practical writing support that supplements in-class instruction and helps students analyze a wide variety of writing assignments, including research papers, summaries, critical responses, and reflections on a general theme within their core subjects. Emphasis is placed on improving research papers writing, developing support from outside sources, using referencing techniques to avoid plagiarism, and increasing sentence variety. The course offers review workshops and presentations to strengthen students' academic writing and research skills, help students better develop and articulate their own ideas, and enable them to make effective rhetorical choices in their academic writing. In addition, students can receive one-on-one tutoring for holistic feedback and individualized, needs-based instruction to strengthen their writing.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Follow expectations of the specific discipline and/or writing task as related to basic organization, selected content and the presentation of the written communication.
• Use appropriate language to convey meaning and facts to suit the purpose and audience.
• Demonstrate an increased awareness of plagiarism.
• Synthesize information from two or more sources using summary, paraphrase, and quotation.
• Produce documents that conform to expectations of the task assigned and the needs of the relevant audience, including for professional and academic publications.
• Collaborate on a research project resulting in an individual essay.

Course Assessment and Grading

COURSE #: HUSS 1031

Course Description

The course investigates human-environmental relations whereby humans impact the environment, and the environment impacts humans and their activities. Three fundamental questions guide the investigation: a) “where things are located” describes the physical features of the environment and human utilization of places and spaces; b) “why things are located where they are” explains the physical forces as well as human enterprise and its limitations in shaping the environment; and c) “why should we care” focuses the attention on those aspects of the environment that of benefit or concern to humans. The prospecting and sustainable use of natural resources, migration, cross-boundary relations and exchange play a cross-cutting role in understanding Central Asia’s livelihoods, environmental degradation and adaptation options, economic chances and related constraints.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course the students will be able to:

• Describe the natural resources of Central Asia
• Explain how the location of natural resources affects their use
• Explain the use of natural resources from historical, socioeconomic, and political perspectives

Course Assessments and Grading

COURSE #: HUSS 1113

Course Description

This course explores the formation of Tajik people/nation in different periods of history, starting from the creation of the first societies, and states pre-modern Central Asia. It investigates two key themes. The first is the role of geography, politics and economics in determining the fate of the people, of an ethnic group in the region. The second is the contingent nature of identities, in particular, ethnic identity. In other words, identities are never unchanging or natural, but they are the product of wider circumstances. Central Asia’s position as a trading corridor meant that different culture and the institutions associated with them were widely disseminated and intermingled. By exploring how the development of states and societies is influenced by the interplay of geography, climate, cultures, religions, and civilizations, students will be equipped to, think critically about their own national identity.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Discuss the contingent nature of culture, and identity religion in human societies

• Explain why identities change
• Analyse reasons how geographical place, socio-economic and political changes influence on identity
• Discuss how nations are formed

2. Compare different encounters between Eurasian cultures and religions and their impact on the formation of ethnic group

• Explore the ways in which Central Eurasia has acted as a thoroughfare for people and ideas
• Discuss how Central Asian polities have affected the development of ethnic group
• Explore how the Tajik nation was formed

3. Use primary sources to question received narratives about the past

• Identify appropriate contexts for using primary sources
• Examine appropriate questions to seek from primary sources
• Discuss the motives that exist in the creation of public histories

Course Assessments and Grading

COURSE # HUSS 1080

Course description

The purpose of physical education is to strengthen health, develop the physical and mental abilities of students. Physical exercises and sports games is the way to a powerful and functional body, clear mind and strong spirit. The course is both practical and theoretical, it covers basic concepts of anatomy and physiology as well as health and safety requirements.  

Course learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be able to:

• perform a range of physical activities
• describe health and safety requirements for a range of physical activities
• describe the role and progress of sport in Central Asia
• chose an appropriate physical activities program for their age and gender
• identify tiredness and its symptoms to control the body during athletic exercises
• describe the technique of running for a long and a short distance and jumping
• accomplish running for a short and a long distance and jumping according to all necessary norms
• describe the rules of a range of sports games
• participate in a range of sports games according to their rules and techniques

Course Assessments and Grading

This course is graded with pass/fail.

TBA

COURSE #: EAES 1001

Course Description

Introduction to Earth and Environmental Sciences is the initial foundation course of the EES program. Earth is a dynamic planet, and the processes that have shaped it over geological time and continue to shape it before our very eyes are the focus of this course. Students will examine the evidence for our current understanding of the formation of our planet and the fundamental processes of plate tectonics, geomagnetism, and magmatism. Secondary geological processes will be explored including earthquakes, volcanism, orogenesis, and surface processes that shape our planet. These are all components of the complex, interconnected Earth System that will be examined in the context of the Earth’s climate system and the evolution of life.  Students will develop an understanding of how scientific research is carried out within the context of the Earth sciences.

Course learning outcomes

As a citizen of Planet Earth, you make environmental, political, and socio-economic decisions about your life for which knowledge of our planet is relevant. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Apply an evidence-based, logical, scientific approach to ask and address questions about our planet and solar system.
• Interpret everyday observations of the natural world and evaluate Earth Science-related topics covered in the media in terms of the Earth System and planetary processes including tectonics, magmatism, surface processes, and climate.
• Recognize the complex links among geologic, oceanic, glacial, atmospheric, and biologic processes.
• Identify and use appropriate time scales to describe and link different planetary processes.
• Articulate the relevance of Earth Science to individuals and to mountain societies.

Course Assessment and Grading