Selected Topic Courses
Selected topic courses are academic credit-bearing courses in the Cal Poly catalog that provide a generic course vehicle to offer special topics on an "as needed basis." The most common selected topic courses, 270, 470, 471, 570, 571, are available to all academic programs, and have the same generic course description. The specific topic title appears in the Class Schedule and on the students' transcripts. Topics that are no longer offered have been archived.
Selected Topic Course descriptions
AERO 470 Aerospace Modeling and Simulation (4) Effective Winter 2023
Modeling and simulation techniques used throughout the design of aerospace engineering systems. The approach of model based systems engineering will be emphasized. Simulation techniques will be implemented using object oriented programming techniques.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
AERO 470/471 Composites Manufacturing and Lab (4) Effective Spring 2019
Composites manufacturing methods, thermoset and thermoplastics composites, metal matrix composites, ceramic matrix composites, sandwich structures, destructive and non-destructive testing methods of composites.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
AERO 570 Model-Based Systems Engineering (4) Effective Spring 2020
Hands-on training on software to model systems engineering: SysML language, structure diagram, behavior diagram, requirements diagram, block definition diagram, internal block diagram, parametric diagram, sequence diagram, activity diagram, state machine diagram, use case diagram. Autocoding and Model validation tools.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGC 470 Ag, Food, Environment and Media (4) Effective Winter 2019
Examination of agriculture, food, and environmental sciences topics and media coverage. Using critical thinking and media literacy concepts, exploration of how and why media messages represent certain perspectives, analysis of messages, and engagement in dialog through participation on digital and social media platforms.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
AGC 470 Compliance for Fairs & Ag (4) Effective Spring 2022
Explore solutions for managing extensive compliance and communication systems at Fairs and Expositions, including resolutions for adherence within governmental and administrative compliance for fair facilities, construction, programing, labor, and events. Business planning solutions for Fairgrounds, trade events, and Expositions. Field trips required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: Completion of approved communication course; and AGC 314 or AGC 318; or Fair Management courses previously offered by the Agribusiness (AGB) department.
AGB 470 Economics, Society, and Beer (4) Effective Fall 2017
Examination of the economic and social influence of beer. From man's first settlement to current trends. Topics covered include historical significance, global and local policy, social equity, market structure, and new trends.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Agricultural Mechanics Curriculum Development (3) Effective Spring 2019
Strategies for the development of student skills in agricultural mechanics. Project design and wood construction. Shop safety and management of learning facilities.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Agricultural Research Seminar (1) Effective Fall 2024
Discussion of current CAFES faculty research in agriculture, food, and environmental sciences. Read scholarly journal articles and attend research presentations by faculty and industry persons in agriculture, natural resources, and related areas.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Mastering High School Ag Economic Principles (3) Effective Spring 2019
Development of Learn by Doing teaching strategies for high school teachers who teach an agricultural economics course. Topics include, Teaching Strategies for Principles for Agricultural Economics, Consumer Economics, Producer Economics, Farm and Agribusiness Management Principles, Macroeconomics, and Agricultural Policy.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Non/Informal Teaching Methods (3) Effective Spring 2021
Explore principles and methods associated with non-formal and informal teaching and learning for secondary agriculture, adult, and community-based education. Students design, implement and evaluate teaching and learning approaches in the non-formal and informal educational environments in natural and constructed settings.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Planning Agri-Phenomenon Inst (3) Effective Spring 2024
Development of collective knowledge and resources for planning and facilitating phenomena centered curriculum and lessons in the agricultural classroom with a 5E or experiential learning instructional design.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Teaching Food Science In High School (3) Effective Spring 2018
Instructional teaching methods for food science including, food safety, food microbiology, food chemistry, food processing, sensory evaluation and product development.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Teaching Methods in Agricultural Robotics (3) Effective Spring 2019
Instructional teaching methods for agricultural robotics including: sensors, data acquisition system, basic computer programming, data processing, control system, wheeled and aerial robots for agricultural applications.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 570 Teaching Natural Resources (3) Effective Spring 2018
Instructional teaching methods for environmental science and natural resources will include the following, plant and animal identification, current environmental management issues, safety and equipment needed for exploration of wilderness areas, age and condition of trees, and use of GPS equipment.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
AGED 572 Teaching Food Science (3) Effective Spring 2022
Instructional teaching methods for food science, including Food Safety, Food Microbiology, Food Chemistry, Food Processing, Sensory Evaluation and Product Development.
Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor.
ANT 470 Anthropology of Star Trek (4) Effective Spring 2024
Holistic study of cultural, social, and biological aspects of the expansive Star Trek universe. Deconstruct Star Trek's speculative society to understand human behaviors, social norms, and cultural structures via anthropological lens. Reflection of human society, interstellar relations, and identity constructs.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ANT 470 Forensic Anthropology (4) Effective Spring 2021
Provides an introduction to Forensic Anthropology. Includes a brief overview of osteology before learning how to develop a biological profile of skeletal remains and trauma reconstruction. Students will discuss ethical concerns and challenges faced by forensic anthropologists.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ANT 470/471 Museum Anthropology and Lab (4) Effective Fall 2024
Explore the history of museums, their roles in society, and the ethics of preservation, repatriation, and education/outreach. Under an anthropological lens, current museum practices contextualize recent movements to decolonize the collection, curation, and display of ethnographic and archaeological material. Exploration of local and international museum exhibitions. Critically assess museum curation practices and develop portfolio projects. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in ANT 470 and ANT 471 required.
ANT 471 Advanced Archaeological Field Methods (3) Effective Spring 2020
Hands-on instruction in advanced aspects of archaeological excavation including research design, articulation of research objectives with field techniques, oversight of field teams, compliance with cultural resources laws, coordination with tribal representatives. For students who have mastered the basic excavation techniques.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ARCE 570/571 Advanced Structural Design and Lab (3) Effective Winter 2020
Design principles for advanced structural systems in buildings. Exploration and integration of structural materials, framing schemes, and foundations for buildings, including section strategies. Analysis, design, and construction of steel, concrete, wood, and masonry structures. Design and construction issues related to foundation systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in ARCE 570 and ARCE 571 required.
ARCE 570/571 Soil-Structure Interaction and Lab (3) Effective Winter 2020
Introduction to analysis techniques for seismic soil-structure interaction, inertial and kinematic interaction, impedance functions and transfer functions for shallow and deep foundations. Implementation in standards and design guidelines. Field and laboratory tests. Analysis procedures. Emphasis on analytical and experimental procedures.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in ARCE 570 and ARCE 571 required.
ARCH 470 Structural Integration in Architecture (4) Effective Spring 2024
Integration of structural systems into architectural design. Preliminary design of structures including the development of gravity load carrying systems and lateral load resisting systems. Introduction to long span structural systems and cladding systems.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ART 470 Packaging Design (4) Effective Winter 2022
Graphic and package design course emphasizing theoretical and conceptual design development, including typography, layout, and original illustration; project-based interdisciplinary collaboration with 3-D mockups and interactive design experiences.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: Art 237.
ASCI 270 Gear Up for Food Safety (3) Effective Spring 2019
Microbial origin, evolution, and discovery. Interpretation of microbial cellular structure and function. Presence of pathogenic microorganisms, such as, Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria, yeasts and molds in food matrices and different methods of detection.
Prerequisite: Open to undergraduate students and consent of instructor.
ASCI 470 Sustainable Rangeland & Livestock Management (4) Effective Summer 2017
Students will develop skills in evaluating vegetation, water quality, and wildlife habitat conditions, learn methods of manipulating vegetation, and develop experience in monitoring progress towards ecological and enterprise objectives over time. Discussion of specific California rangeland management practices.
BIO 470/471 Advanced Avian Field Methods and Lab (3) Effective Spring 2023
Avian sampling theory, applications and analyses. Transect/point count surveys and occupancy modeling. Nest searching/monitoring and logistic exposure analysis. Mistnetting/banding, and survival and population models. Field trips require a meeting before scheduled lab time.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in BIO 470 and BIO 471. Recommended: BIO 263 and BIO 323.
BMED 470/471 BiCEP Design Experience Lecture and Lab (4) Effective Summer 2023
Biomedical Clinical Innovation Partnership (BiCEP) program's Summer Immersion in Design Experience (SIDE) course. Training in proper conduct in a biomedical/clinical setting, in entrepreneurial biomedical design thinking, and translating clinical observations into practical, applied prototypes.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in BMED 470 and BMED 471.
BMED 470/471 Cell Therapy I Lecture and Lab (2) Effective Winter 2023
Introduction to the growth of clinical cell therapies. Common sources of contamination in cell manufacturing and the aspectic technique. Cellular proliferation and human cell subculturing. Mechanisms of cryopreservation, post cryo cell recovery, and manual and automated cell isolation.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in BMED 470 and BMED 471.
BMED 470/471 Cell Therapy II Lecture and Lab (2) Effective Spring 2023
Continued introduction to the growth of clinical cell therapies. Advanced human cell subculturing, including methods of scale-up cell production in bioreactors, quality control assays of cell activation, assessment of cell activation and production of cytokines, and evaluation of targeting cell killing.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in BMED 470 and BMED 471.
BMED 470 Cellular Immunotherapy (3) Effective Winter 2024
Current cell and gene therapies that affect immune function. Fundamental aspects of immune responses and immune tolerance in cancer. Biological principles blended with medical advances, following evolution of cell therapy from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to latest treatments.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
BMED 470 Regenerative Medicine Therapies (3) Effective Spring 2024
Emerging use of cell and gene therapy and tissue engineering to treat degenerative diseases and chronic injuries. Topics include metabolic diseases, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, musculoskeletal diseases and injuries.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
BMED 571 Cell Therapy Manufacturing Lab (1) Effective Spring 2022
Process-based studies of T-cell isolation, expansion, cytokine productions, cytotoxicity, and donor-to-donor variability. Evaluate isolation methods, bioreactor rotations speeds, seeding density, and media exchange schedule.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
BMED 571 Cell Therapy Manufacturing II Lab (1) Effective Spring 2023
Review basic adherent and suspension culturing of human cells, including thawing, subculture, and cryopreservation. Focus on scale-up methods of cell production, including bioreactor culture and monitoring, cell purification, and automation processes.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
BUS 470 Data Analytics for Accounting (4) Effective Spring 2021
Conduct data analysis using software tools Excel, Access (including SQL), Tableau, and XBRL to solve accounting problems and visualize accounting data to provide data-driven insights and recommendations.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
BUS 470 Responsible Innovation (4) Effective Spring 2023
Evaluate the ethical and societal impacts of startup and innovation processes. Apply concepts of inclusion, sustainability, and privacy. Tools and techniques for operationalizing values into concrete practice and policy.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CE 470 Earth Fills and Embankments (4) Effective Winter 2024
Design and construction of structural fill, embankments, abutments, earth dams, and levees. Design and performance of compacted fill. Slope stability and settlement. Seepage analysis. Filter design and criteria. Computational methods and analysis.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CE 470 Land Development Engineering (4) Effective Winter 2023
Examination of land development as it relates to civil or environmental engineering. Including land use laws and environmental regulations, topographic surveys, feasibility study, drainage and utility design, street design, earthworks, and development and approval of plans.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CE 471 Advanced Geotechnical Laboratory (1) Effective Fall 2023
Advanced geotechnical laboratory testing for shear strength, saturated flow, and consolidation in soils. Applications in foundation design, embankment design, landslide evaluation, and construction engineering. Behavior of soils subject to cyclic loading.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CE 471 Geotechnical Computational Tools (1) Effective Winter 2024
Analysis and design in geotechnical engineering using numerical methods and computational tools. Applications in foundation design, embankment design, earth retention systems, and construction engineering. Use of engineering software for analysis, design, and visualization.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CE 570 Extreme Events in Water Resources (4) Effective Spring 2022
Examination of the physics and statistics behind risk and hazard assessment in water resources, including developing IDF curves, producing 100-year flood heights, interpreting FEMA studies, assessing climate change effects, and evaluating both coastal and inland hazards.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Recommended: CE 488, STAT 305, STAT 312, STAT 350 or STAT 542.
CHEM 470 Survey of Nutritional Biochemistry (3) Effective Spring 2018
Nutritional aspects of biochemistry. Topics include vitamins and minerals, essential and energy-providing nutrients, deficiencies, degenerative and genetic diseases of metabolism, hormones and brain chemistry.
Prerequisite: CHEM 351, CHEM 217 or CHEM 317. Recommended: CHEM 371.
CPE 470/479 Machine Learning for Embedded Systems and Lab (4) Effective Fall 2024
Develop Machine Learning applications for embedded systems using Tiny ML. Introduction to Machine Learning using Tensorflow. Training models suitable for running on an embedded system.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in CPE 470 and CPE 479 required.
CRP 471 Resilience by Design: San Francisco-Lisbon (2) Effective Fall 2017
Climate change, sea level rise, and resilience by design. Interdisciplinary approaches in planning and designing resilient cities. The cases of San Francisco and Lisbon, Portugal. International collaborative studio within the scope of the ACSA/AIA National Resilience Initiative (NRI) and CAED's MOU with the School of Architecture, University of Lisbon.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490 Projects in Computer Science (1) Effective Winter 2024
Instructor-guided design and implementation of advanced projects in computer science. Projects selected from real-world computing problems. Focus on implementation, testing, and analysis of team-based projects.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490 Seminars in Computer Science (1) Effective Winter 2024
Discussions of technical, societal, and ethical aspects of modern computer science theory and practice, concentrating on topics not covered in other courses.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490 Senior Project Capstone I (2) Effective Fall 2024
Capstone-based senior project. Project scoping, schedule development, literature review, requirements gathering, and prototyping. Project completed over two quarters.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490 Senior Project Capstone II (2) Effective Fall 2024
Completion of capstone-based senior project. Project design, implementation, analysis, and documentation.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490 Transfer Student Orientation and Workshop (2) Effective Summer 2024
Community building, personal well-being skills, academic success skills, and department, school, college, and university support resources. Curriculum and career paths. Review/introduction of core topics in computer science. Dynamic support for concurrent coursework.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
CSC 490/496 Advanced Algorithms and Applications and Lab (4) Effective Fall 2020
Advanced topics in design and analysis of algorithms, including linear programming, network flow algorithms, online algorithms, and randomized algorithms. Exploration of the applications of algorithms to recent problems in transportation, scheduling, and large-scale networks.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in CSC 490 and CSC 496 required. Recommended: CSC 349 and CSC 357, or equivalent.
CSC 490/496 Social Justice Software & C++ and Lab (4) Effective Winter 2022
Advanced topics in design and development of a medium scale software project(s) using modern C++, including object oriented programming, design patterns, smart memory management, lambdas, and performance considerations. Software applications will focus on racial and social justice applications (data, computation and analysis of results).
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in CSC 490 and CSC 496 required. Recommended: CSC 349 and CSC 357.
CSC 570 Advanced Algorithmic Graph Theory (4) Effective Winter 2019
Exact and approximate algorithms related to classic and current graph problems, including selections from graph coloring, matchings, graph packagings and coverings, subgraph finding, improved network flows, small world networks, and epidemiological networks.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Applied Affective Computing (4) Effective Winter 2023
Hands-on use of devices to detect emotions, including brain-computer interfaces, gesture- and posture-based affect recognition, eye-tracking, and physiological sensors. Machine learning workflow to build emotion awareness. Gather, filter, and integrate affective data. Design and implementation of affect-driven intelligent systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Computational Neuroscience (4) Effective Spring 2024
Introduction to the computational principles that govern the cognitive abilities of the human brain. Exploration of neural coding and neural dynamics. Detailed review of computational models of various brain functions.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Critical Creative Computing (4) Effective Spring 2024
In-depth exploration of computational creativity, making, and the ethics related to those topics. May cover making and using generative methods, applied artificial intelligence, applied computing, authoring tools and systems, mixed-initiative co-creativity, and the manufacture of creative artefacts.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Deep Learning and Knowledge Graphs (4) Effective Winter 2021
Explores recent developments in AI combining Deep Learning with graph-based knowledge representation techniques. This allows the augmentation of knowledge bases with information derived from large data sets, while reducing the difficulty of understanding the internal representations of Neural Networks.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Graduate Hardware Security (4) Effective Winter 2020
In-depth exploration of hardware security from embedded systems to secure VHDL design. Digital rights management, hardware-based trojans, hardware implementation of cryptography, side-channel attacks, secure communication protocols, hardware-based overflow detection, physical device verification, physical device attestation, and physically unclonable functions.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Machine Learning Pipeline Design (4) Effective Fall 2022
Key concepts and best practices to design an end-to-end Machine Learning (ML) pipeline incorporating preprocessing, feature engineering, model selection, interpretability and deployment stages will be taught. Challenges of class imbalance and concept drift will be analyzed.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
CSC 570 Software Performance Evaluation (4) Effective Fall 2022
Theory and practice of performance evaluation for enterprise software applications. Analyzing quality requirements of large-scale software. Performance analysis, modeling, testing, and tuning techniques. Evaluating software scalability. Capacity planning methodologies. Benchmarking and comparing software performance across multiple hardware and virtualization platforms.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing and evidence of satisfactory preparation in computer science.
DANC 470 Anatomy for Dancers (2) Effective Spring 2021
Specific application of dance-centered anatomical instruction. Emphasis on protocols for enhancing sustained health, safety, and functional dance methodology.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ECON 470 Optimization in Julia for Economics and Data Science (4) Effective Fall 2022
Optimization as a foundation for Economics and Data Science, using the Julia environment. Constrained and unconstrained least squares via QR factorization. Linear programming and duality. Applications to game theory, resource allocation, arbitrage pricing theory, portfolio optimization, econometrics, and machine learning.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: CPE/CSC 101, CSC 231, CSC 232, CSC 234, or ECON 395.
EDUC 270 College Corps Fellowship Program (1) Effective Fall 2023
Focus on student service in Climate Action, Food Insecurity and K-12 education. Service delivery systems, root causes, the role of volunteers in addressing the issues, and how as an individual, students can have an impact.
Prerequisite: Open to undergraduate students and consent of instructor.
EDUC 470 Barriers and Accessibility in Special Education (3) Effective Summer 2022
An overview of special education principles and their role in supporting access to instruction for the students with complex learning needs, including supporting students with complex communication needs, traumatic brain injury, and diverse medical needs.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
EDUC 470 Introduction to Clinical Practice in Special Education (3) Effective Summer 2022
Introduction to skills preservice teachers need to be effective teachers. Builds understanding of the lesson planning process, high-leverage practices for teaching special education, and professional dispositions. Experience the beginning of a K-12 academic year through initial fieldwork experiences.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
EE 470 Planning and Control for Autonomous Vehicles (3) Effective Fall 2024
Exploring the topics of autonomous vehicle and self-driving car technology; covering both theoretical understanding and practical applications in autonomous vehicles hardware/software architectures, vehicle dynamics/control, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, state estimation, sensory technologies, motion planning, safety assurance, trends in autonomous vehicles.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: EE 302, EE 329, and proficiency in MATLAB or Python programming language.
EE 470/471 Introduction to Computer Forensics and Lab (4) Effective Winter 2020
Basic computer disk and computer network forensics. Overview of the structure of popular file systems and file system metadata analysis. Overview of current encryption and decryption techniques. File storage formats. Exercises in adversarial thinking. Design and analysis of mock digital forensics scenarios. Ethical issues of computer security and privacy.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in EE 470 and EE 471 required.
Recommended: Familiarity with Linux operating system.
EE 470/471 Vision-Based Robotic Manipulation and Lab (4) Effective Fall 2024
Analysis and development in vision-based robotic manipulation technology, covering robotic kinematics, trajectory planning, control systems, vision sensor models, visual servoing, point clouds, grasping fundamentals, and vision-based grasp and manipulation planning. Integrates theoretical concepts with practical applications.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in EE 470 and EE 471 required. Recommended: EE 302, EE 329, and proficiency in MATLAB or Python programming language.
ENGL 470 Editing & Publishing: Artifact (4) Effective Spring 2023
The third course in the Editing & Publishing sequence. Publishing, publicizing, and distributing the journal and updating the editor's manual.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ENGL 470 Editing & Publishing: Practice (4) Effective Winter 2023
The second course in the Editing & Publishing sequence. Responsible for grant writing, fundraising, and editing submissions for publication.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ENGL 470 Queer Life Writing (4) Effective Spring 2018
Advanced study of life writing genres as they pertain to gender and sexuality. Investigation of how writers make narrative sense of gender, sexuality, and intimacy utilizing memoir, autobiography, and autotheory.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ENGR 270 MEP STAR Navigating College (1) Effective Fall 2024
Designed to support Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) students participating in the Success Through Advising and Relationships (STAR) program. Students will learn about campus resources, develop their professional confidence, and explore ways to get involved in their communities as an engineer.
Prerequisite: Open to undergraduate students and consent of instructor.
ES 470 African American Studies for K-12 Educators (4) Effective Fall 2022
Introduction to social, political, economic, legal, and cultural traditions of African Americans for K-12 educators. Special focus on pedagogy/curriculum for teaching African American Studies as a part of the new California Ethnic Studies high school graduation requirement.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor.
ES 470 Asian American Studies for K-12 Educators (4) Effective Fall 2022
Introduction to social, political, economic, legal, and cultural traditions of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders for K-12 educators. Special focus on pedagogy/curriculum for teaching Asian American/Pacific Islander Studies as a part of the new California Ethnic Studies high school graduation requirement.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor.
ES 470 Indigenous and Black Futurity (4) Effective Winter 2021
Analysis of Indigenous and Black futurity as theoretical and artistic practices to resist settler colonialism and white supremacy. Examination of theoretical and mixed media texts created by Indigenous and Black authors/artist as methods of storytelling, agency, and cultural sovereignty.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor
ES 470 Migration, Human Rights, and Imagined Communities (4) Effective Spring 2019
Advanced interdisciplinary study of contemporary migration and border crossing as counter-narrative to media representation of migrant "illegality." Focus on immigrant stories, through analysis of culture production, to understand the forces that expand and constrain membership rights in the newly formed transnational communities.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor.
ES 470 Social Justice and Public Policy (4) Effective Spring 2020
Identification of a local or state-wide issue with a focus in public policy and social justice. Work in teams. Development of a policy brief to be submitted to the appropriate organization.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor.
ES 470 Surfing and Empire in the Pacific (4) Effective Fall 2024
Examines the entangled relationships between modern surfing, Indigenous practices of wave riding, and empire building in the Pacific. Grounded in cultural works, this course interrogates how surfing reenacts neocolonial forms of power and Indigenous dispossession in the Pacific.
Prerequisite: At least one course in Ethnic Studies and consent of instructor.
FSN 470 Senior Project: Nutrition for Sport and Exercise (2) Effective Fall 2017
Advanced topics in sports nutrition including classic and recent findings related to mechanisms of nutrient effects on exercise performance, metabolism, muscle physiology, body composition, and health.
Prerequisite: Senior standing. Recommended: FSN 329, FSN 420 and STAT 218.
FSN 471 Senior Project: Research Experience (2) Effective Fall 2017
Guided research on advanced topics in nutrition. Implementation of methods, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Individual and group work. Completion of formal report findings. Results of findings will be used for synthesizing a senior standing report in FSN 470 Senior Project: Writing in Winter 2018.
Prerequisite: Senior standing. Recommended: STAT 218.
GSA 570 Introduction to Tableau (1) Effective Winter 2018
Use of Tableau Desktop software for data visualization. Navigating the Tableau software infrastructure; making connections to data; reorganizing different data types; employing a wide variety of data views; creating dashboards storyboards.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from the Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Data Mining and Text Analysis with Orange3 (2) Effective Spring 2022
Mine social media data using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Apply the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) methodology for text analysis, construct data visualizations using the Orange3 software package, and conduct analyses necessary to interpret unstructured textual data.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from the Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Design Thinking for Business Leaders (4) Effective Fall 2021
Skills for driving innovation, growth and empowering cross-functional teams through design thinking tools, frameworks, and mindset.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from the Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Excel VBA for Finance Modeling and Visualization (2) Effective Spring 2022
Produce financial data visualizations, model financial products, understand portfolio theory, and apply financial theory to data in Excel using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Financial Analytics (4) Effective Spring 2024
Data analytics tools and models in finance including encryption theory, blockchains, and machine learning. Deep dive into Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for financial data anomaly detection, predictive modeling, and backtesting. Develop hash functions for encryption. Apply techniques to real-world finance problems and data.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Financial Time-Series (4) Effective Spring 2022
Analyze financial data using time-series models to evaluate the risk and return of capital markets products. Examine historical databases, apply financial analysis software packages, conduct data analysis modeling price behaviors, and quantify risk by running tests and interpreting results.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Generative AI for Bus Analytics (4) Effective Spring 2024
Introduction to leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for business analytics. Hands-on experience in solving real-world business problem. Automated report generation, forecasting, personalized marketing, recommendations, text generation, and image generation.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from Associate Dean.
GSB 570 Global Marketing (4) Effective Spring 2024
Explore the principles and practices of marketing in the global context. Market analysis, cultural considerations, market entry strategies, global branding, and sustainability and ethical issues. Develop a deep understanding of how businesses operate and market their products and services on a global scale.
Prerequisite: OCOB graduate standing or approval from Associate Dean.
GSE 570 Collaborative Software Development for Economists (1) Effective Winter 2023
Hands-on training in core software development skills needed to be productive in a research team, including Unix shell, version control, data organization, automation, style, software environments, documentation, and workflow. Instruction is done via live coding.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
HIST 207 The Black Athlete (4) Effective Winter 2023
Sports are a microcosm of society. Using the athletic field as historical ground on which to study social identity construction, students will examine the ways in which athletics and athletes referee definitions of gender, sex, race, class, nation, and ability.
Prerequisite: Open to undergraduate students and consent of instructor.
HNRS 470 Perspectives on the Criminal Justice System (2) Effective Spring 2018
Dialogue-based course for students from Cal Poly and the San Luis Obispo County Jail. Discussion of the criminal justice system, gender, class, poverty, and restorative justice. Includes a service-learning component.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
IME 470 Innovation and Sustainability in the Start-Up Nation (4) Effective Fall 2023
Comprehensive exploration of strategic management principles and practices that drive sustainable success in entrepreneurial ventures, drawing inspiration from prominent case studies of major sustainable startups in Israel.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
IME 471 Advanced Welded Joint Design (1) Effective Fall 2023
Design for welding, including material, geometry, and tolerancing concerns; achievement of high-quality, low-cost welded joints; design of welding procedures, including advanced methods and techniques, equipment, defect detection, strength testing, and post-weld treatments; product design and fabrication projects.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
IME 470/471 Supply Chains Analytics and Digital Twins Lecture and Lab (4) Effective Spring 2024
Examines supply chain and logistics concepts. Covering analytics techniques and Digital Twins technology for supply chain design, control, and operation. Team-based projects and cases. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in IME 470 and IME 471. Recommended: IME 342 or IME 410.
IME 570 Process Mining: from Theory to Action (4) Effective Spring 2024
Process mining is a set of techniques that use event data extracted from Information Systems to analyze processes. During the course we learn theoretical and practical Process Mining principles using Flexicon's Disco and Celonis's Cloud software. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ITP 470 Sketching for Product Design (4) Effective Spring 2024
Survey of sketching and rendering techniques for product and packaging design and development using traditional and digital tools. Fundamentals of sketching and rendering techniques for industrial products. Exploration of form, space, and materiality in 2D and 3D. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
JOUR 470 Social Justice and Solutions Journalism (4) Effective Fall 2024
Report and write specialized content about local underrepresented groups, and work collectively to respond to the ongoing concerns of vulnerable and marginalized communities. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor; junior standing.
KINE 290 Gender and Power-Based Violence Prevention (3) Effective Winter 2020
Introduction to the public health epidemic of gender and power-based violence with focus on societal power dynamics. Emphasis on considerations for prevention on each level of the social ecological model, and self-development of understanding, skills, and behavior.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
KINE 470 Promoting Infant & Child Health (4) Effective Spring 2022
Examination of theory and research relevant to promoting infant and child health. Consideration of how early caregiver-child relationships contribute to infant and child public health outcomes. Practice in application of validated assessments and evidence-based intervention strategies.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: Completion of GE Area A; completion of GE Area B4 (GE Area B1 for students on the 2019-20 or earlier catalogs); and completion of GE Area E (GE Area D4 for students on the 2017-19 or earlier catalogs); or graduate standing.
LA 470 Landscape Architecture Portfolio (2) Effective Fall 2023
Skills for the organization, curation, editing, and production of a coherent and meaningful portfolio of work, with an emphasis on highlighting landscape architecture attributes and characteristics.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
LA 470 Precolumbian American Landscapes (2) Effective Spring 2022
Examination of Pre-Columbian urbanism and landscape adaptations in the Americas, including landscape management strategies such as fire, irrigation, agricultural systems, and terrain manipulation across the Americas. Settlement patterns and urban forms will be discussed and highlighted in relation to their hinterlands and celestial influences.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
LA 470 Urban Design and Walkability (2) Effective Spring 2021
Investigation of urban walkability and why it is important. Major components of walkability. Qualities that exist in urban environments that promote walkability. Limitations of creating more walkable communities. How landscape architects can design more walkable environments.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
LA 470 Urban Design Studies in San Luis Obispo County (2) Effective Winter 2024
Examine the designed landscape as a representation of culture, analyzing historic and contemporary sites. Urban design studies will focus on San Luis Obispo County. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
MATE 570 Polymers in Medicine (4) Effective Winter 2022
Natural and synthetic polymers and biomimetic polymer/proteins used in important biomedical applications, including drug and gene delivery, transdermal patches, implanted polymers, biodegradable polymers, nature-inspired biomaterials and systems. Polymer coatings on medical devices, bio-compatibilization, scaffolds for tissue engineering and organoids, and medical adhesives.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
ME 470 Classic Problems in Flow Analysis (3) Effective Spring 2020
Classic problems in flow analysis involving streamline, steamtube, and control volume methods for bounded and unbounded flows including compressibility.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Recommended: ME 347.
ME 470 Human Performance for Nuclear Plant Engineers (3) Effective Fall 2017
Human performance as it relates to employment in highly technical industries. Focus on nuclear-electric-generating stations although skills and approaches to human performance fundamentals are applicable to many other industries.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
ME 470 Plant Engineering (4) Effective Fall 2018
Materials and design components; strength analysis of cylindrical and spherical pressurized components; support and compensation of thermal expansion of pipelines; fluid dynamical design of pipelines; selection of pumps and compressors.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
NR 270 Forest Operations and Management (4) Effective Spring 2024
Relationships between sustainable forest ecosystem management, forest-based ecosystem services, operational forest management practices, harvesting methods, timber harvest planning, harvesting effects on other ecosystem components, cost analysis of harvesting, forest road design and building, safety in forest operations, value-added forest utilization, and environmental protection. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
NR 470/471 Ecological Restoration in Practice and Lab (4) Effective Spring 2023
Targeted study and application of ecological restoration concepts, theories, and practices. Evaluate benefits and limitations of restoration and conservation management strategies, with a focus on case studies in California. Develop and execute an applied project in restoration and conservation management in San Luis Obispo County. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in NR 470 and NR 471.
NR 470/471 Silviculture and Vegetation Management Lecture and Lab (4) Effective Fall 2023
Forest ecology focusing on the development of sustainable forest management practices for achieving diverse forest ecosystem management objectives in Western U.S. forests. Topics include natural forest stand dynamics and ecology, silvicultural systems and forest regeneration, forest fuels reduction, forest disturbance and health assessment, and managing for multiple ecosystem services. Field trip required. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Concurrent enrollment in NR 470 and NR 471.
PLSC 470 Current Issues in California Organic Agriculture (2) Effective Spring 2023
Exploration of concepts related to organic agriculture and specific issues facing the California organic industry. Seminars will be provided by organic producers, consultants, certifiers, and policy professionals.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
POLS 470 Applied Political Advocacy (4) Effective Fall 2023
Examines a theoretical and practical approach to engaging with policymakers and government structures, including effective advocacy strategies and skills.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Democracy: A Cookbook (4) Effective Winter 2022
Collaboration between students on portfolios that analyze the design of political institutions, the performance of those institutions within the current context of democracy and authoritarian social movement activity, and the struggle for human rights and political equality around the world.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Marriage and the Law (4) Effective Spring 2024
Examination of U.S. marriage law including laws about opposite-sex, same-sex, religious- and civil-marriage. Legal arguments regarding whether marriage should be abolished, remain monogamous, or expanded beyond couples.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Moot Court and Appellate Advocacy (2) Effective Winter 2024
Practical study in legal analysis, writing, and oral advocacy skills designed around the format of moot court competitions. Insight into the legal practice of appellate advocacy in state and federal courts, with particular attention to persuasive writing and oral presentation.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Moot Court Competition (4) Effective Fall 2024
Prepares students for written briefs and oral arguments for moot court competitions and similar experiences. Gain practical expertise in appellate advocacy, applicable to law school or all fields of persuasion and logical reasoning.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Surfing & the Law (4) Effective Spring 2023
Advanced study of several areas of U.S. law, including Torts, Contracts, Property, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Intellectual Property, Business Laws, and Native Law using cases and controversies in the context of California's official sport: surfing.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 470 Writing and Persuasion in the Legal World (4) Effective Spring 2024
Survey the effectiveness of legal reasoning and examine the structure of persuasive arguments. Engage in persuasion within the legal world and where it intersects with public opinion. Construct persuasive arguments for a variety of audiences including judges, lawyers, and the public.
Prerequisite: POLS 112 and junior standing.
POLS 570 Cybersecurity Policy and Tech (4) Effective Spring 2021
Survey of policy and technology topics related to cybersecurity including analysis of emerging policies and technology. Technical topics include cryptography, common exploits, and defense techniques. Policy topics include the computer fraud act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and others.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
POLS 570 Policing, Race & Social Justice (4) Effective Winter 2021
Examines politics and problems of race and policing in America. Emphasizes theoretical frameworks in the social structures and social construction of race, police reforms, class and gender. Topics include disparities in use of force, implicit bias, and minority incarceration.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
POLS 570 Public Policy Practicum (4) Effective Spring 2024
Experiential, project-based collaboration with a community client to address pressing, policy-relevant challenges. Field trip may be required.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
POLS 570 Securing Funding for Public Policy (2) Effective Spring 2020
Skills for developing and writing a solid grant proposal to secure community and foundation funding in the area of public policy.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
PSY 470 Sleep: Cognition, Health, & Society (4) Effective Winter 2024
An interdisciplinary dive into a range of sleep-related topics. Neuroscience of sleep, its effects on health, how it has changed across time and culture, and its place in society today. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Junior standing and consent of instructor.
SOC 470 Criminological Theory (4) Effective Spring 2019
Survey and application of criminological theories that explain crime. Discussion of historical, political, and cultural contexts that shape responses of crime.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
SOC 470 Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice (4) Effective Fall 2018
Social, economic, and political forces that shape criminal justice involvement for racial and ethnic groups. Discussion of data, ideologies, and current trends regarding the overrepresentation of people of color as victims, offenders, and defendant.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
STAT 470 Introduction to Database Queries Using SQL (1) Effective Spring 2022
Introduction to the SQL language for efficiency assessing data from large complex databases for use in statistical analysis, including how to work with relational databases and indices with the goal of summarizing, filtering, and sorting data. Comparison of SQL to other statistical programming languages.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
TH 470 Advanced Playwriting (4) Effective Fall 2022
Playwriting process used in the professional theatre industry, including writing workshop, giving and receiving dramaturgical notes, creating outlines and synopses, script writing, and revising. Students will create a writing resume and generate materials for submitting plays to theatres, contests, and development programs. Complete a draft of a one-act or full-length play.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
TH 470 Ancestral Theatre (4) Effective Spring 2024
Engage with personal ancestries, genealogies, family, and community to research familial and cultural pasts and relate them with our present and future through the creation of original plays.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
TH 470 Ethical Issues in Theater Practice (4) Effective Winter 2024
Exploration of theater making and ethical issues related to creative and administrative processes. Principles, dilemmas, and social responsibility integral to theater craft. Representational ethics, cultural competency, and audience engagement. Examination and rehearsal of the latest evolving ethical debates in theater making practice.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
TH 470 Sound for Theatre (4) Effective Winter 2020
Development and utilization of sound engineering, technical systems, critical listening, and sound design skills. Incorporation of techniques related to industry standard equipment and software.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
TH 470/471 Mainstage Theatre Rehearsal and Production (4) Effective Fall 2019
Rehearsal and Production of LYSISTRATA for public presentation as part of AY19/20 Theatre Production Season. Credit for participation as actor & stage management.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor (by audition). Concurrent enrollment in TH 470 and TH 471 required.
WLC 290 Elementary Russian I (4) Effective Fall 2022
Elementary language acquisition and introduction to Russian literature, film, history, music, and contemporary politics in an intercultural context.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
WLC 290 Elementary Russian II (4) Effective Winter 2023
Elementary language acquisition and introduction to Russian literature, film, history, music, and contemporary politics in an intercultural context.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
WLC 290 Elementary Russian III (4) Effective Spring 2023
Elementary language acquisition and introduction to Russian literature, film, history, music, and contemporary politics in an intercultural context.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
WVIT 270 Introduction to Viticulture and Enology (4) Effective Winter 2019
Fundamentals of viticulture and enology, overview of the primary commercial winegrape regions of the world. Grapevine biology, environmental variables affecting production and vineyard management practices. Grape processing and wine fermentation, finishing and aging, and chemical properties of wine, wine labels.
Prerequisite: Open to undergraduate students and consent of instructor.
WVIT 470 European Wine Tour: Part I (2) Effective Spring 2018
Examination of wine grape growing, wine making and wine business practices across producers in similar and different geographic regions. Topics include sustainable practices, varietals, geography, soil, climate, equipment use, business size and practices. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
WVIT 470 European Wine Tour: Part II (4) Effective Summer 2018
Examination of wine grape growing, wine making and wine business practices across producers in similar and different geographic regions. Topics include sustainable practices, varietals, geography, soil, climate, equipment use, business size and practices. Field trip required.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
WVIT 470 Topics in Grape and Wine Industry (4) Effective Winter 2019
Interaction with professionals in the grape and wine industry, discussion of management practices and solutions to emerging issues. Students will research and present a topic of current interest, contrasting the issue between Australia and the U.S. Not open to students with credit in WVIT 463.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.