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These classes will be offered in the upcoming Spring 2026 semester. Check MavLINK for enrollment appointments and to enroll.
MA CCT Courses offered Spring 2026
CACT 8060-850: Special Topics: Occupations & Careers
This course examines what makes individuals and groups happy and satisfied with their jobs, and the factors that can turn "a dead-end job" into a meaningful pursuit that lasts decades. The course utilizes a life course approach and covers early socialization experiences to retirement transitions. It also employs a sociological lens to explore how individual experiences in the work realm are affected by stratification (such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, and parental status) and as well as by occupational norms and structures, workplace relationships, and culture and practices at the organizational and societal levels. (Cross-listed with SOC 8186/4180).
This course supports the Organizational Science & Leadership concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Sam Ammons
CACT 8060-851: Special Topics: Written Communication and Leadership
This course focuses on the techniques leaders use in written communication, including emails, memos, letters, speeches, web pages, etc. Students will study the written style, development, and approach leaders practice in organizational contexts when communicating through writing to various stakeholders. Students will read about these public and private organizational practices through case studies, historical documents, organization web or print content, and internal documents when available. Discussions will include areas such as ethics, power and influence, storytelling, team interactions, cultural contexts, and diversity.
This course supports the Organizational Science & Leadership and the Writing & Critical Reflection concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Tracy Bridgeford
CACT 8060-852: Special Topics: Geographies of Sexualities
How are geography and sexuality related? What have cities got to do with sexual identities? Can rural spaces foster diverse sexual communities? These and related questions are the focus of this upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level course. Students read scholarly work by and about LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and +), and cisgender people, and their lived experiences creating and inhabiting different geographies. Students gain an appreciation for the social construction of diverse sexualized spaces and considers questions about equity and policy through case studies in a variety of countries. Each student also researches a course-relevant topic they choose. (Cross-listed with GEOG 4210, WGST 4210, WGST 8216).
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Karen Falconer Al-Hindi
CACT 8060-853: Special Topics: Environmental Ethics
This course introduces students to the thinkers and issues that make environmental ethics what it is today. It includes the analysis and evaluation, from ethical viewpoints, of such topics as: intrinsic value of animals, plants and ecosystems; animal rights; climate change; conservation and preservation; environmental law and politics; obligations to future generations; sustainability and new technologies; war, immigration, and the environment; human rights and the environment; nature and the built environment; and environmental activism. (Cross-listed with PHIL 3180, ENVN 3180).
This course supports the Ethics & Values concentration and the Sustainability & the Environment concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Rory Conces
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 8116: Geography of the World Economy
A study of the geography of economic globalization and the geography of the world economy. The major topics include the historical development of the world economy and globalization from the geographical perspective, trends in geography of global production, trade and investment, the most important factors and actors in the globalization processes and its geographic effects, geography of transnational corporations, case studies of economic geography of selected industries and service activities, effects of globalization on the developed and developing countries. (Cross-listed with GEOG 8556/4550).
This course supports the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Petr Pavlinek
CACT 8200: Seminar in Political Theory
This course introduces students to the history of political theory, from its origins in ancient Greece to its manifestations in contemporary thought. (Cross-listed with PSCI 8300).
This course supports the Ethics and Values 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: Carson Holloway
CACT 8310: Ecological Writing and Analysis
This course provides students with the opportunity to develop expertise in a wide range of foundational works and key techniques of ecological writing and theory in English. By engaging mindfully with these works and techniques, students will develop advanced skills in ecologically oriented critical analysis and creative thinking. (Crosslsited with ENGL 8310).
This course supports the Sustainability & the Environment and the Writing & Critical Reflection concentrations in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Eric O'Brien
CACT 8506: Creativity & Innovation in Orgs
To provide a discussion of the antecedents of individual and organizational creativity, including measurement, models, characteristics of the individual and the environment that facilitate creativity and innovation in an organizational setting. Students in this course will be able to understand the research literature related to creativity and innovation and apply the findings to improve critical and creative thinking, implementation of creative ideas, and development of creative teams and organizations. This course supports the Organizational Science and Leadership concentration in the Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking.
This course supports the Organizational Science and Leadership and the Interdisciplinary Security Studies concentrations 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: Vignesh Murugavel
CACT 8530: Personnel Psych and Leadership
This course provides an overview of personnel psychology from a leadership perspective. Topics include methodology, employee selection, performance appraisal, organizational attitudes and behavior, motivation, and leadership style.
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: Joseph James
CACT 8650: Writing Across Differences
This course provides students a theoretical foundation for understanding how language is used in various types of discourses and texts as a means of convincing others of a given viewpoint or idea. Students will apply this theory to real-world writing scenarios in their scholarly areas of interest, to advocacy and social issues movements, or to address workplace needs and goals. (Cross-listed with ENGL 8650).
This course supports the Writing & Critical Reflection and the Ethics & Values concentrations in the MA in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Instructor: Kay Siebler
For more information on any of the concentrations in the MA CCT, or to view course listings and course descriptions, please see the . For questions about enrollment or registration, please contact Tim Kniseley.