Catalog
Extradisciplinary Studies
Extradisciplinary courses are those that fall outside the domain of the college's existing departments and programs. They are listed in the Catalog and Schedule of Courses with a subject header of "EXDS."
CoursesShort Term Courses
EXDS s11. Financial Accounting.
This course is an introduction to the framework, basic concepts, and generally accepted accounting principles and standards underlying financial accounting systems. Students learn to analyze and record financial transactions form a source document through the entire accounting cycle. Accounting concepts include merchandising operations, inventory costing methods, internal controls and cash, receivables, liabilities, and long-term assets including intangibles. Students create basic financial statements and apply analytical tools to these and to statements from real companies. Additionally, ethical issues in accounting are discussed as relevant topics arise. Enrollment limited to 30. Normally offered every year. Staff.EXDS s15F. Short Term Practicum: Music Production, Recording, and Mixing.
This course provides a solid foundation of practical techniques for the new to intermediate recordist including signal flow analysis, optimization, structuring a session, budgeting time and finances, acoustics, mixing, and editing. The course is grounded in traditional rudiments and fundamentals, but focused on production that is nimble and forward thinking enough for the digital age. In addition to the technology, the course examines the musical, interpersonal, and organizational skills needed to make a record successfully – skills that extend beyond the realm of music production. Additionally, the course examines applications of audio technology beyond the realm of music production, including audio post-production for video and podcasting. The course focuses on imparting skills that can be applied to any digital audio workstation (DAW). Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission is required. One-time offering. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
EXDS s15I. Short Term Practicum: Consulting for Strategy Development .
This practicum places students in the role of organizational strategy consultants. Students examine how strategy helps groups prepare to respond adaptively to future uncertainties, volatility, and complexity. Students experience and become familiar with methods and practices for organizing groups to make progress on complex challenges such as developing strategies for the future. Once immersed in both the what of strategy and the how of facilitating groups to shape strategy together, students apply the methods, practices, and skills to a strategy consulting project for an initiative or program of Bates College. New course beginning Short Term 2016. Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission is required. (Purposeful Work.) One-time offering. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
EXDS s15J. Short Term Practicum: Journalism in an Age of Media Explosion.
An intensive experience in the process of creative journalism as it is practiced today, from reported pieces to travel journalism to the reported essay. Students read the best current journalism, and using the maelstrom of activity on the Bates campus as source material, brainstorm, research, report, write, and rewrite their own pieces with peer and professional guidance. Daily and weekly labs to help develop journalistic skills—idea development, outlining, interviewing, copy editing—in addition to practice writing clear and concise sentences, paragraphs, blog posts, short explanatory pieces, profiles, descriptive passages, opinion, humor, memoir, and narratives. New course beginning Short Term 2016. Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission is required. (Purposeful Work.) One-time offering. Staff.EXDS s15K. Short Term Practicum: Brand Culture Building.
This practicum course invites students behind the scenes of brand culture consultants, to not only humanize large corporate cultures, but also to arm students with tools to build, observe measure, maintain, and manage or shift a business’ brand culture to better align and prepare the organization to meet the challenges of today's marketplace. In a series of discussions, off-site visits, workshops and reflections, students gain the skills to analyze, strategize, and consult on the brand culture of various companies and organizations, local and global. Consultant teams present and critique their own brand proposal, and that of another team.New course beginning Short Term 2016. Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission is required. (Purposeful Work.) One-time offering. Staff.EXDS s15L. Short Term Practicum: Filmmaking, The Creative Process.
Visual storytelling has become ever more accessible, yet the creative process remains a mysterious and circuitous road of discovery, failure, innovation, happenstance, and, of course, perseverance. This practicum demystifies the creative process of visual storytelling while providing the basic tools to develop students' own ideas. What does it take to turn an idea into a pitch? A script? A film? How do you find your subject? Voice? Style? Students develop their own projects and work on those of their colleagues. Students work on the creative process in film, from the first idea, through the writing process, shooting, editing, and presentation.New course beginning Short Term 2016. Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission is required. (Purposeful Work.) One-time offering. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
EXDS s21. Life Architecture: Designing Your Future Work.
Everyone works, whether for pay or for pleasure, in public or in private, with gusto or with dread. This course supports students as they prepare for a lifetime of work by encouraging consideration of the philosophical components of their plan including identifying and developing personal attributes correlated with career well-being, exploring the context of vocational decision making, and contemplating how meaning and purpose can be infused into any work. They also consider the pragmatic components, discussing how mentors can be cultivated, how jobs are best secured, and the practical considerations that can hold people back from realizing their visions. Not open to First-Years or SophomoresNew course beginning Short Term 2016. Enrollment limited to 30. (Purposeful Work.) Normally offered every other year. R. Fraser-Thill.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations