Preparatory: Completion of the lower division writing requirement and GE section B4 Mathematics. Introduction to the process of critical thinking through the lens of race-based theories and selected historical and contemporary discourse of African Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans and Latinos on race relations and multiculturalism in American society. Examines contemporary social issues through the use of scholarly studies and a range of cultural texts in order to explore the effects of race and racism on the relationship between language and logic, processes and form of reasoning and practices of critical reflection. Also examines intersection of race, gender and class. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Recommended Corequisite or Preparatory: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the basic concepts of deductive logic as a dimension of critical reasoning and the practical usage of those concepts in discussing, analyzing and critiquing ideas on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other relevant issues of modern society. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Preparatory: Completion of the lower division writing requirement is recommended. Introduction to critical thinking through the lens of American Indian Studies and the examination of knowledge production and reproduction. Examine selected historical and contemporary discourse/philosophies of American Indian nations and contemporary social issues, particularly the complex relationship between American Indians and the United States federal government, to make sense of American Indians’ racialized and legal/political status as groups and individuals. Emphasizes critical reading of theory, praxis, and artistic texts to explore critical thinking about research, knowledge, and meaning-making. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the process of critical thinking through the lens of race-based theories and selected historical and contemporary discourse of African Americans, Asian Americans and Chicanos/Latinos on race relations and multiculturalism in American society. Examines contemporary social issues through the use of scholarly studies and a range of cultural texts in order to explore the effects of race and racism on the relationship between language and logic, process and forms of reasoning and practices of critical reflection. Emphasis on the Chicano/Latino racial experience in contemporary America. Examines intersection of race, gender and class. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisite: Multiple Measures Placement in GE-level writing. Studies of the strategies used for rhetorical argument. Emphasis is given to ways of finding issues, using evidence and detecting fallacies in rhetorical communications. Includes intensive practice and application in the formulation and critical analysis of argument in rhetorical communications. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This course will focus on composing and reading practices appropriate to research writing tasks. Students will practice writing effectively and using information technologies. There will be a focus on comprehending and using quantitative and qualitative data and students will be introduced to generating qualitative or quantitative data. Other activities will include drafting and revising documents as well as analyzing information and testing its credibility, including through analyzing logical fallacies. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.) (IC)
This lower division course is designed to transition students from traditional instruction that focuses on individual subject areas to a more interdisciplinary, integrative approach toward learning. The course adopts a place-based perspective, which will bring students into the field where they will be challenged to consider immediate applications of the material to real-world contexts. This course will include required site visits in and around the San Fernando Valley. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Introduction to the process of critical thinking through the lens of historical evidence and interpretation. Examine how historians use evidence, logic, and reasoning to make historical arguments. Use the history of an increasingly diverse and globalized California to analyze public and political discourse, rhetoric, and historical scholarship. Investigate historical debates around race, immigration, and globalization in California to evaluate bias, fallacies, and disinformation in historical sources and scholarship. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
An introduction to the process of critical thinking through analysis of how Jews are represented in the medium of film. In particular, students will consider how this representation is affected by ideologies of race, class, gender and sexuality. Emphasis on the modern history and culture of Jews in America, Europe, Israel and elsewhere. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 200. Introduction to the identification, analysis, and evaluation of arguments. Students will learn to critically assess a variety of kinds of arguments, with attention to deduction and induction in real-world critical reasoning. Questions may include: What is an argument? What is the point of making arguments? What makes an argument good or bad? Can bad arguments be persuasive, and why? (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Not open to students who have completed PHIL 100. Examination of the relationship between logic and language. Accelerated introduction to the concepts essential to the identification, analysis and evaluation of arguments, with attention to deduction, induction and common fallacies. Emphasis on the application of these concepts. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; GE section B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 210. Introduction to modern deductive logic, including sentential and first-order logic. Students will learn how to translate from English to symbolic language, and will use truth tables, proofs, and other techniques to determine the validity of arguments and identify other logical properties. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
Preparatory: Completion of the lower division writing requirement is recommended. Introduction to the process of critical thinking through the lens of race, ethnicity and sexuality. QS 201 offers an exploration of race and ethnicity and its relationship to queer studies, emphasizing critical reading of theory, praxis, and artistic texts. This course also examines the specific development of queer of color critique, its indebtedness to women of color feminism, and its emergence as a response to the whiteness of mainstream queer theory. Students will engage the work of artists, scholars, and activists to interrogate the dominant discourses in the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, nation, and diaspora within the context of empire and neoliberalism and in relation to citizenship, welfare, and terrorism. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)
This course introduces and guides students in the practical use of the basic concepts of deductive logic as a dimension of critical reasoning. Using these concepts, students will discuss, analyze and critique statements that appear in the media (in the U.S. and elsewhere) that have been expressed by religious people and by the media itself. (Available for General Education, Basic Skills A3 Critical Thinking.)