Course Finder

• Skills Advisory: Energy Efficiency 1 and 2.

This course examines energy efficiency concepts as they apply to reductions in energy consumption for commercial buildings. Assessment of building performance related to design, construction, and operation will be analyzed. Students will examine various gas and electric rate options, HVAC systems and types of high-intensity lighting. Load profiles, calculating return on investment, and life-cycle cost of commercial building energy retrofit measures are explored.

IGETC AREA 1A (English Composition)

• Prerequisite: English 21B or 22, ESL 21B or Group A on the Placement Test.

This introductory course in rhetoric emphasizes clear, effective written communication and preparation of the research paper.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

Satisfies Global Citizenship

• Prerequisite: English 1.
• Advisory: English 2.

This course focuses on the literature written by and about United States’ ethnic groups, including European Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinx-Americans, Jewish Americans, and others. Students will analyze representative works from major genres and explore both the commonalities and differences among the works, including the uniquely American confusion and conflict around race and ethnicity. The course also examines the influence of these writers on the course of American literature.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

This course surveys contemporary American literature since World War II, with special emphasis on the novel. The selected texts include some of the essential and recurring themes in the history of American literature reflecting a diverse and evolving landscape of gender, ethnic and race relationships. The course content also aims to closely examine current literary criticism and cultural studies in order to familiarize students with different approaches to the interpretation of texts.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

In this course, students read and analyze seven or eight of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, as well as study his life, times, and theatre.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

This course introduces the students to the variety and wealth of British literature since 1945. The course will focus on novels, short stories, plays, and poetry from among such authors as Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, Seamus Heaney, and Jeanette Winterson. The course will cover topics such as gender, race, sexuality, and class as well as explore changes in style, genre, and literary experimentation. Discussion of relevant British music, films, fashion, and art will also be introduced.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

This course focuses specifically on Children’s Literature, including the value of children’s books to child psychology and development, and the historical construction of childhood. It introduces representative works from major genres, develops students’ close reading and analytical writing skills, and promotes appreciation and critical understanding of the cultural, historical, and aesthetic qualities of literature.

IGETC Area 1A (English Composition)

• Prerequisite: ESL 19B or Group A Placement.

This introductory course in rhetoric emphasizes clear, effective written communication and preparation of the research paper using texts that showcase issues of diversity and systems of difference. Students will learn of at least 2 different groups of people and begin to understand, through multiple perspectives and contexts, how political and social structures impact these groups. Examples of topics that may be discussed in class include the environment, violence, education, and the media.

C-ID: ENGL 105.

IGETC AREA 1B (English Composition- Critical Thinking) or 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

This course helps students to develop their critical thinking and writing skills beyond the level achieved in Reading and Composition 1. The course emphasizes the application of logical reasoning, analysis, and strategies of argumentation in critical thinking and writing, using literature (both fiction and non-fiction) and literary criticism as subject matter.

This course is designed to help students improve intermediate reading and writing skills necessary for college success. Students will increase their reading comprehension and vocabulary; they will build their understanding of patterns of organization used in academic writing, as well as their inferential reading techniques. Through the integrated study of reading and writing, students will develop an efficient writing process appropriate to audience and purpose. The course requires classroom work, and homework. In English 20, students will also review grammar and usage and develop skill in writing essays.

• Prerequisite: Group B on the Placement Test.

This course is the first semester of a two-semester course, English 21A/B. It consists of instruction in composition and the comprehension and analysis of readings, focusing on rhetorical strategies appropriate to audience and purposes in academic disciplines and the workplace. It also consists of a review of English grammar and usage.

• Prerequisite: English 20.

This course is the second semester of a two-semester course, English 21AB. It continues the study of composition, the fundamentals of English grammar and usage, and analysis of readings. Students will explore research techniques, as they write essays with multiple sources.

English 21B and 22: maximum of 3 units applied toward the SMC Associate degree.

• Prerequisite: English 21A or English 20.

This course provides extensive practice in composition, from pre-writing activities through rough drafts to final drafts, from single paragraphs to themes of several pages. Review of the fundamentals is assigned where needed.

English 21B and 22: maximum of 3 units applied toward the SMC Associate degree.

• Prerequisite: Group B on the Placement Test.

This course is an intermediate course designed to improve the reading skills necessary for college success and is strongly recommended for all students who score at the B level on the English Assessment Test. It concentrates on techniques of comprehension, such as finding the main idea, recognizing details and patterns of organization, as well as inference and critical reading skills. It also focuses on vocabulary development, study reading techniques and reading rate and flexibility.

• Prerequisite: Group A or B on the Placement Test.

This course is an intensive review of the principles of grammar for students who want to increase their understanding of the fundamentals of English. The course is open to all students at the A or B level. Students may wish to take the course prior to or concurrently with an English composition or a Business English course.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

In this introduction to the humanities students will survey literature in conjunction with great works of art through the ages (painting, sculpture, music, architecture, dance) exploring how, at widely separated points in time, artists and writers have expressed and responded to cultural, political, and intellectual concerns of their day. In doing so, they will see literature in the context of other art forms.

English 26 is the same course as Humanities 26. Students may earn credit for one, but not both.

• Prerequisite: Group B on the Placement Test.

This course emphasizes clear, effective written communication and preparation of the research paper to prepare students for success in college-level composition and reading. It consists of instruction in composition, comprehension and analysis of college-level readings, and basic research skills.

IGETC AREA 3B (Humanities)

• Prerequisite: English 1.

This course is a study of some of the masterpieces of world literature from Homer to Cervantes.

• Prerequisite: English 2 and admission to the SMC baccalaureate program.

Written and oral communications vary greatly between disciplines and fields. Building on the critical thinking and writing skills developed at the lower division level, this course further prepares students in the application of logical reasoning, analysis, and strategies of argumentation in both written and oral communication of content specific information. Students examine scholarly and professional readings and apply theoretical perspectives in a variety of modalities (genres and media) in a way that is targeted to specific audiences. Through critical analysis and review of appropriate literature, as well as complex writing assignments, students develop writing as a core aspect of academic and professional practice.

This course is open only to students who have been admitted to SMC’s Bachelor of Science program in Interaction Design. See ixd.smc.edu for more information.

• Advisory: ENGL 1.

This course is designed to introduce students to the craft and technique involved in writing short fiction and/or poetry.