Spring 2026 Liberal Studies Special Topics Courses 

NEW! LS 291: One Health-People, Animals, and the Environment (On-Campus) 

One Health explores the interdependence between human health, animal health, andenvironmental systems. Health challenges across all three areas are addressed through acollaborativeand interdisciplinary approach involving experts from fields like public health, wildlife conservation, and veterinary medicine. Through readings, case studies, guest lectures, and interactive projects, students will investigate local and global health challenges such as zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and climate change impacts. Using a multidisciplinary lens, students will analyze real-world problems, collaborate on solutions, and apply One Health principles to address the needs of diverse stakeholders and improve health outcomes for people, animals, and the environment. 

LS 301: Big Ideas in Comics (1 credit) (Online) 

description coming soon

LS 301 – Food, War, and Migration: Eating Across Cultures in an Age of Turmoil (Online) 

Explores the ways that humans use food to bring stability and connection in the midst of cultural trauma. A fully online course, LS 301 examines human movement around the globe and across time and documents the compelling culinary drama of evolving food cultures. Interdisciplinary in nature, the class covers topics that range from national identity to eco-scapes, from flavor profiles to ancient methods of food preservation. 

LS 301:  Parks, People, Places: Stories of our Public Lands (On-campus) 

This seminar will draw from literature, history, and ecology as we examine how Americans understand parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, and other public lands. We’ll read selections from a wonderful book that informs us of various aspects of our national parks, another volume introducing us to Ed Abbey and Wallace Stegner’s views of the American West, and a stimulating investigation of Europeans’ “right to roam” with a comparison to the U.S.  Students will have an opportunity to investigate a place of their own choosing.   

LS 391: Narrative Film (Online) 

CONTENT AND FORM SHAPE OUR LIVES. IN FILM, A NARRATIVE IS DEEPENED BY THE STORY’S FORM – VISUAL ELEMENTS, PACING, COLOR, MOVEMENT, AND COMPOSITION. ANALYZING A FILM'S STORY AND STYLE IS AN INTRICATE, REVEALING, AND REWARDING PROCESS. 

LS 391: The Fur Trade: The Cultures, Science, and Languages of the Fur Trade (Online) 

This course introduces students to the global fur trade through exploration of the many peoples 
who participated in the trade, as well as the environmental and scientific influences and 
consequences of the fur trade. While the trade in animal fur was primarily an economic 
venture, the business of the fur trade had far-reaching consequences for people around the 
world, including the area now known as Montana. The fur trade was about the business of fur, 
and also about global and local politics, social and cultural interaction, ecology, and religion.