These classes will be offered in the upcoming Summer 2025 and Fall 2025 semesters. Check MavLINK for enrollment appointments and to enroll.
MA CCT Courses offered Summer 2025 Semester
CACT 8000: Intro to Critical and Creative Thinking
This course is the foundational introductory course for the Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking program (MA CCT). It focuses on the development of students' skills as critical thinkers and creative problem solvers as well as the cultivation of students' capacity to recognize and leverage tools, resources, and ideas toward finding innovative solutions to everyday problems.
Prereq: Graduate status and acceptance into MA CACT program or permission of instructor. By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility.
Instructor: Brian Kanouse
CACT 8060-850: Special Topics: Digital Literacies for Technical Communicators
This course addresses emerging issues in digital literacies such as the rhetoric of technology, technological competency, technology and information ecologies, critical awareness of technology and human interactions, judicious application of technological knowledge, user-centered design, networking and online communities, ethics and technology, and culture and technology. Cross-listed with ENGL 8816/4810.
This course supports the Writing and Critical Reflection concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Tracy Bridgeford
CACT 8060-851: Special Topics: Geography, Gender and Entrepreneurship
An advanced seminar focused on links among geography, gender and work, emphasizing leadership and entrepreneurship. The course considers theory and method in addition to empirical work. The nature of space, of gender, and of work, are examined. Topics include the gendering of work, the geography of entrepreneurship, gender and leadership. Cross-listed with GEOG 8156, GEOG 4150, WGST 4150, ENTR 4150, ENTR 8156, WGST 8156.
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Karen Falconer Al-Hindi
CACT 8080: Independent Study
This course is designed for those students who are independently pursuing an area of study that is not covered under the existing curriculum. The student will be supervised by a member of the faculty of the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking program. All course assignments, readings, requirements, and expectations will be clearly communicated to the student in advance. May be repeated for credit for a total of six credit hours.
Prereq: Admission into the MA CCT program, successful completion of 6 hours of CACT coursework, including CACT 8000, and permission of faculty member. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
Instructor: Joseph Price
CACT 8316: Our Energy Future
In this course, students will analyze our energy options including the environmental, economic, and ethical connections with a particular emphasis on electrical energy. The course doesn't prescribe a particular energy future but rather emphasizes development of the knowledge and skills to more effectively contribute to the conversation. To understand our future, the course begins with the present energy landscape and its historical underpinnings, then focuses on developing a student's ability to critically assess energy options by examining the associated implications, consequences, intent, origins, and bias. Students' own work, life, and academic experience are used in the course to underscore the individual relevance of these energy choices. The course includes the necessary science, but the greater emphasis is on the associated critical and creative thinking so that ultimately students can make informed, creative, sustainable energy choices. Cross-listed with ENVN 4310, ENVN 8316.
This course supports the Health and the Environment concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Dana Richter-Egger
CACT 8400: American Immigration Policy and Law
This seminar will examine the evolution of American immigration policies and laws from the colonial period to the present day. Where appropriate, the course will examine American immigration laws in a comparative context. It will pay particular attention to how state policies create and/or sustain inclusionary or exclusionary practices for members of different racial, ethnic, religious, or gender groups in American society. Cross-listed with PSCI 8920, HIST 8916.
This course supports the International Migration, Development and Citizenship concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking. By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility.
Instructor: Danielle Battisti
CACT 8540: International Leadership and Strategy
This course introduces students to international leadership and strategy theory, research, and application. Cross-listed with PSCI 8220.
This course supports the Organizational Science and Leadership concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking. By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility.
Instructor: Michelle Black
MA CCT Courses offered Fall 2025 Semester
CACT 8000: Intro to Critical and Creative Thinking
This course is the foundational introductory course for the Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking program (MA CCT). It focuses on the development of students' skills as critical thinkers and creative problem solvers as well as the cultivation of students' capacity to recognize and leverage tools, resources, and ideas toward finding innovative solutions to everyday problems.
Prereq: Graduate status and acceptance into MA CACT program or permission of instructor. By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility.
Instructor: Brian Kanouse
CACT 8060-850: Special Topics: Information Design for Technical Communicators
This course introduces students to strategies for integrating visual and textual elements of technical documents. Instruction will focus on design theory and application through individual and collaborative projects. Students will develop the professional judgment necessary for making and implementing stylistic choices appropriate for communicating technical information to a lay audience. Cross-listed with ENGL 8856/4850.
This course supports the Writing and Critical Reflection concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Tracy Bridgeford
CACT 8060-851: Special Topics: Latin American Migrations
In this course we will use an interdisciplinary lens to study the changes and continuities of migration in the Americas. The course starts with an overview of immigration to the Americas during the first era of mass migration (1850-1920) to explore the relevance of European migrations for national and identity constructions in the Southern Cone of America. Students then will be introduced to the impacts of social and political change on emigration flows, both regionally and beyond the region. They will also explore migration related policies at the national and regional level. We will also study the changes and continuities in the migration system of the Americas. Lastly, we will analyze the new North-South migration, as well as immigration to Latin America from Asia (recent and historical), Europe, and Africa. Cross-listed with SCO 8256, SOC 4250, LLS 4250, LLS 8256, INST 4140.
This course supports the International Migration, Development and Citizenship concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Cristián Doña-Reveco
CACT 8060-852: Special Topics: Work and Family
This course examines the contemporary problems that individuals, families and communities in the U.S. have in integrating work and family/personal life. Cross-listed with SOC 4350/8316.
This course supports the Organizational Science and Leadership and Cultural and the Global Analysis concentrations in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Sam Ammons
CACT 8060-853: Special Topics: Booksmart! The Politics of Education
The purpose of this course is to enable a critical consideration of how education is tied inextricably to issues of class, gender, religion, culture, and politics as well as an examination of how literature responds to and represents the theme of education, often also powerfully making the case for outsiders excluded by systems of privilege. Crosslisted with ENGL 8190.
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Tanushree Ghosh
CACT 8060-854: Special Topics: Geography, Gender and Entrepreneurship
An advanced seminar focused on links among geography, gender and work, emphasizing leadership and entrepreneurship. The course considers theory and method in addition to empirical work. The nature of space, of gender, and of work, are examined. Topics include the gendering of work, the geography of entrepreneurship, gender and leadership. Cross-listed with GEOG 8156, GEOG 4150, WGST 4150, ENTR 4150, ENTR 8156, WGST 8156.
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Karen Falconer Al-Hindi
CACT 8080: Independent Study
This course is designed for those students who are independently pursuing an area of study that is not covered under the existing curriculum. The student will be supervised by a member of the faculty of the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking program. All course assignments, readings, requirements, and expectations will be clearly communicated to the student in advance. May be repeated for credit for a total of six credit hours.
Prereq: Admission into the MA CCT program, successful completion of 6 hours of CACT coursework, including CACT 8000, and permission of faculty member. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
Instructor: Joseph Price
CACT 8090: Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Project
The Graduate Project is an applied student project under the direction of a faculty advisor. In the project, the student will apply interdisciplinary knowledge and skills gained within the program to address a problem or to expand knowledge within or across disciplines. The product or artifact produced by the student may take a variety of forms.
Prerequisite(s): By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
Instructor: Joseph Price
CACT 8110: Global Social Issues
This course focuses on global cultural and social forces and how they interact to form nexuses of both opportunity and obstacle to constructive human engagement on a wide array of social issues. An overview of topics covered in the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking. This course will provide students with the analytical tools, collaborative engagement skills, and applied problem-solving techniques that will help students succeed in this concentration and program. Cross-listed with BLST 8110.
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis and the Interdsciplinary Security Studies concentrations in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Nikitah Imani
CACT 8206: Comparative Religious Ethics
An introduction to historical and contemporary approaches to comparative religious ethics, with special focus on specific case studies as encountered in societies and religious communities across the globe. In addition to reading authors from a variety of perspectives (Aristotelians, natural law theorists, philosophers of law, pragmatists, theologians, and historians of religion), students will be introduced to special topics in the field, e.g., religion and public life, religion and law, syncretism, the secular/non-secular divide, etc. Cross-listed with RELI 4200, RELI 8206, INST 4140.
This course supports the Ethics and Values concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Curtis Hutt
CACT 8520: Positive Org Psychology and Leadership
This course is a graduate seminar on organizational psychology and leadership that focuses on the understanding and critical analysis of theory and practice pertaining to individual functioning at work. Positive organizational psychology theories and practices will provide the overarching framework in understanding potential solutions to challenges and problems facing leaders and their employees. Cross-listed with PSYC 9421.
This course supports the Organizational Science and Leadership concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking. By permission number only. Please contact the MA CCT office (Tim) for permission number and eligibility.
Instructor: Lisa Scherer
CACT 8610: Professional and Technical Writing
This course will introduce students to the theory, research, and practices of professional and technical writing. Through readings, discussions, and assignments, students will gain an understanding of the types and circumstances of communication challenges encountered in the workplace. The course will also consider the roles of persuasion and ethics in written communication. Cross-listed with ENGL 8610.
This course supports the Writing and Critical Reflection and the Interdisciplinary Security Studies concentrations in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Tracy Bridgeford
For more information on any of the concentrations in the MA CCT, or to view course listings and course descriptions, please see the Graduate Catalog. For questions about enrollment or registration, please contact Tim Kniseley.