Descriptions of Intermediate Learning Communities
Students may fulfill the Intermediate Learning Community requirement through successfully completing a two-unit ILC, a one-unit (team-taught) ILC, or a semester or summer session abroad in a Wagner-approved program in which a grade of C or higher is earned in two concurrent courses.
Students should plan ahead with their advisor to fulfill the ILC requirement before the fall semester of their junior year. There are generally more options of ILCs in spring semesters. Students are welcome to take multiple ILCs.
Students are required to take both courses in a two-unit ILC, during the same semester. Additionally, students should select ILCs that do not include any courses they have already taken. For example, a student who has previously taken SPC 103 should not try to register for an ILC combining a unit of SPC 103 with a unit of FI 201.
A one-unit (team-taught) ILC is a cross-listed course that fulfills the ILC requirement. Students who enroll in a one-unit ILC must choose to earn credit for one of the two courses. For example, a one-unit ILC incorporating SPC 252 and SO 300 allows the student to earn one unit of Speech or one unit of Sociology, not both. Students may not earn a unit for a course that is cross-listed with a course they have already taken. This applies whether or not the previous course was a stand-alone course or was cross-listed in a one-unit ILC.
As with all other cross-listed courses, a one-unit ILC has a shared maximum enrollment. If one of the disciplines appears to be full, a student may enroll as long as there are open spots in another discipline for that cross-listed course. For example, HI 239 is offered as a team-taught ILC with PS 239. If HI 239 is listed on myWagner as having an enrollment of 16 out of 16 while PS 239 is listed as having an enrollment of 12 out of 14, a student could register for HI 239. After the student registers, HI 239 would be listed as having an enrollment of 17 out of 17, and PS 239 as 12 out of 13.
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Spring 2025 ILCs
Cap: 30
This learning community, intended for nursing majors, looks at the cellular nutrition of eukaryotes (humans) vs. the nutrition of prokaryotes (bacteria). It also covers the similarities and differences in the structure, function and role of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins and trace elements in humans and bacteria. Finally, it looks at the immunological aspects of nutrition across the human life span compared to the immunological aspects in disease prevention. Students must be registered for NR224-IL or NR224-HL. Every effort should be made to take both courses and the lab in the same semester.
NR 224-IL – Nutrition & Health – Walley – M/W 8:00 – 9:30 am (Key Skills: L)
NR 224-HL – Nutrition & Health – Walley – M/W 8:00 – 9:30 am (Key Skills: L)
AND
MI 200 (any section) Microbiology
AND
MI 200L (any section) Microbiology Lab
This learning community exposes students to the workings of the governmental and political processes in Washington, DC. Through internship assignments, classroom instruction, and directed readings and research, students will develop a greater appreciation of the policy-making process. The courses are offered in Washington, DC (each course is a 2-unit course), and registration is by permission of the instructor.
GOV 395-IL – Washington Internship – Kraus
AND
GOV 396-IL – Dynamics of American Government – Kraus
Cap: 30
This ILC combines the Government and Politics class “Riots, Rebellions and Revolutionaries” with the History class “Riots and Rebellions in Early America.” The Government class explores and criticizes various perspectives on riots, specifically how they are often seen as apolitical and senseless; rebellions, on the other hand, are seen as the expressions of a legitimate political grievance. The History class highlights various kinds of resistance and disharmony in early American society, in contrast to the consensus story about early American history; it will include a Reacting to the Past game that will last for several weeks.
TR 11:20-12:50
GOV235-IL Riots, Rebellions and Revolutionaries (Key Skills: WW, U) – Steve Snow
or
HI323-IL Riots and Rebellions in Early America (Key Skills: WW, U, RR) – Brett Palfreyman
Cap: 30
This ILC investigates several questions, including: Is terrorism only a matter of political perspective? If no one knows it happens, can it be terrorism? Is it helpful to define terrorism, as most do, as political violence undertaken by non-state actors? Or, does it make sense to claim states engage in terrorism? North Korea is sometimes labeled as a “terrorist state.” Does North Korea have a hydrogen bomb, a neutron bomb, or an atomic bomb? (The media may not know the difference, but you will—and know how to make each one.) Does possession of such weapons mean the owners are terrorists? This course will examine historical examples, theory and the science behind the use of terror as a form of political expression, and include a detailed examination of the chemistry behind nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
M 1:00-4:00
CH291-IL: Chemistry of WMDs – Nick Richardson
or
GOV253-IL: Politics of Terrorism (Key Skills RR, WW) – Steve Snow
Cap: 16
This course is designed for intermediate-level students of acting and filmmaking. Actors will learn the fundamentals of acting for the screen: how film acting differs from the stage, how the camera and editing shape performances, how the practicalities of film production affect the actor’s work. Filmmakers will learn the process of acting from the inside, by performing in scenes with actors, and will develop their ability to communicate with actors. Actors will guide filmmakers through the demands of performance, and filmmakers will lead actors through the process of shooting and editing a scene. By studying the other’s craft, actors and filmmakers will come to a deeper understanding of their own. Prerequisites: TH-106 or TH-117 for Theatre students; FM-101 for Film and Media Studies students. Or permission of instructor for either group.
T 1:00-4:00
TH255-IL: Acting for the Camera – Theresa McCarthy (Key skills CC, A)
or
FM255-IL: Directing Actors for Film – Nelson Kim (Key skills CC, A)
Cap: 30
The sustainability of local environments and the globe affects all of us. Competing narratives about the state of the environment range from affirming the current path of capitalist excess to curbing consumption in the face of planetary doom. In the face of multiple narratives, it is easy to fall into overwhelm, feel that one individual cannot make a difference, and seek refuge in our daily lives. This ILC teaches students how to draw on the tools and methodologies of political anthropology and social philosophy to unpack narratives about climate and environmental crises across different social, political, and economic contexts. Broad questions include: Who controls the dominant narrative around environmental justice in the U.S. and abroad? How do different governments, economies and global financial systems influence environmental narratives? How do narratives affect environment and climate management? What role does the media play in narratives? Broad themes include: vulnerability, well-being, quality of life, disaster attribution, responsibility, development, sustainability, public policy and environmental politics. This ILC will also include an experiential component in the local community.
MW 1-2:30pm
AN325-IL: Culture, Power and Place (Key Skills UU) – Erin Friedman
or
PH203-IL: Ethics and Society (Key Skills UU, RR, WC) – Sarah Donovan
Cap: 30
Storytelling, and identity creation are aspects of our shared humanity. This course explores anthropology, art history and museum practice in light of decolonization, artifact trafficking, the ethics of museum display, and the dehumanization of cultures and peoples. It challenges students to ask what is displayed and whose stories are told in museums, and what messages an installation intends to communicate to visitors. Students will engage with readings and various museum exhibits in New York City to explore these ideas. The class will culminate in a semester-long participatory exhibit, Hostile Terrain 94, which asks students (and others) to bear witness and engage with and tell the story of individuals who perished while attempting to cross the U.S. southern border. Ultimately students will get to see first hand how museums and cultural institutions serve an essential role in how we tell stories about our human legacy, how ‘objectification’ in museums extends to their and others’ physical bodies, and how a community has a stake in this process.
MW 11:20-12:50
AN291-IL: The Dead Teach the Living: Ethical Issues (Key Skills UU, O, R) – Celeste Gagnon
or
AH221/AR221/HI240-IL: Museum and Gallery Studies (Key Skills O, C, WC) – Sarah Scott
Cap: 30
This team-taught ILC looks at the intersection of contemporary African American literature, environmental studies, food studies, and history since World War II. Students will read key literary texts and histories of environmental degradation, climate catastrophe and class struggle to understand how the environment has been depicted and approached as a historical and literary category in twentieth-century writing. Together we will ask: How does the environment chronicle itself, and what is its history? How do the experiences and histories of the Black diaspora inform a relationship with land and non-human nature?
MW 1-2:30
HI291-IL/HL: Environmental History and Change in the Modern World (Key Skills LL, U, WW) – Karim Malak
or
EN216-IL/HL: African-American Literature (Key Skills WC, UU, RR) – Eric Dean Wilson
Cap: 30
This ILC examines the structure and functioning of contemporary American society through the lenses of sociology and philosophy. It will focus on select social problems associated with the changing values of society. Topics include but are not limited to: immigration, sexuality, class, electoral politics, medicalization and the economy. Students will engage in an interactive learning project that explores the themes of this course.
TR 9:40-11:10
SO103-IL: American Society and its Social Problems (Key Skills UU, R, Q) – Miriam Moster
or
PH103-IL: Contemporary Moral Problems (Key Skills R, U ,WC) – Ting Lau
Cap: 30
This Honors ILC in collaborative history and theatre ILC will examine the modern Civil Rights Movement and create theatre performance pieces appropriate to ideas associated with the national fight for racial equality in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The course will run as a colloquium and acting workshop in which historic texts and artistic works are read, shown, discussed and dismantled. We will discover truths about American history, the individual creative process in relation to the evolution of student ideas. Students will be asked to risk not knowing in order to discover. The course texts will include historic research materials related to students’ projects as well as selected readings, speeches, and archival films. Course materials will include—but not be limited to—props, costumes, and set pieces necessary for works.
TR 11:20-12:50
SPC104-IL/HL: Devised Theatre (Key Skills OO, CC) – Theresa McCarthy
HI236-IL/HL: The Civil Rights Movement (Key Skills LL, UU, WC) – Rita Reynolds
Cap: 18
This two-course ILC explores revolutionary shifts that accompany, but also result from modern forms of cultural expression. Students in this ILC will examine how music has been a catalytic voice for cultural revolutions. They will also study how realist, rebellious, and retrograde filmmakers have shaped French cinema since its inception. No prior knowledge of music or French is required. Both courses also offer an honors option. Note that students can take French cinema for either English or French credit. Combined, this ILC offers the following knowledge areas and skills: (A), (L), (C), (UU), (H), (R), (WW), (UU).
MU291-IL/HL
Revolutionaries of Western Music (Key Skills L, C, UU) –Thomas Juneau
MW 2:40-4:10
AND
FR356 or EN356-IL/HL
French Cinema: Retrogrades, Rebels and Realists (Key Skills R, W, UU) –Dane Stalcup
MW 1:00-2:30
Previous Semesters
Fall 2024 Intermediate Learning Communities
Winter & Spring 2024 Intermediate Learning Communities
Summer & Fall 2023 Intermediate Learning Communities
Winter & Spring 2023 Intermediate Learning Communities
Fall 2022 Intermediate Learning Communities
Winter & Spring 2022 Intermediate Learning Communities
Summer & Fall 2021 Intermediate Learning Communities
Winter 2020 & Spring 2021 Intermediate Learning Communities
Summer & Fall 2020 Intermediate Learning Communities
Spring 2020 Intermediate Learning Communities
Fall 2019 Intermediate Learning Communities
Spring 2019 Intermediate Learning Communities
Fall 2018 Intermediate Learning Communities
Spring 2018 Intermediate Learning Communities