Astrobiology Minor (Non-Teaching)
The Astrobiology Minor is designed to educate students in this interdisciplinary field covering the varied scientific disciplines that contribute to our general understanding of life, the origin of life, the past history of life on Earth, possible futures for life on Earth, and the possible existence of life on other planetary environments. The principal goal of the minor is to develop students' literacy in astrobiology so they can critically evaluate claims related to this field that they encounter well after their college education has ended.
This minor is housed in the Department of Microbiology & Cell Biology (as of 2021). The BIOM 365 Astrobiology rubric replaces previous iterations of this course.
| Required Courses (17-19 credits) | ||
| ASTR 110IN | Introduction to Astronomy: Mysteries of the Sky | 3-4 |
| or ASTR 371 | Solar System Astronomy | |
| or ASTR 373 | Extragalactic Astronomy | |
| BIOB 160 | Principles of Living Systems | 4 |
| or BIOB 260 | Cellular and Molecular Biology | |
| or BIOM 360 | General Microbiology | |
| BIOM 365 | Astrobiology | 3 |
| ERTH 101IN | Earth System Sciences | 4 |
| GEO 211 | Earth History and Evolution | 3 |
| Elective Courses | ||
| Choose 9 credits from the following | 9 | |
| Solar System Astronomy | ||
| Extragalactic Astronomy | ||
| Biochemistry and Biochemistry Lab | ||
or BCH 441 | Biochemistry of Macromolecules | |
| Microbial Genetics | ||
or BIOH 320 | Biomedical Genetics | |
or BIOB 375 | General Genetics | |
| Microbial Diversity, Ecology, and Evolution | ||
| Applied and Environmental Microbiology | ||
| Microbial Physiology | ||
| Evolution | ||
| General Ecology | ||
| Geomicrobiology | ||
| Sci and Tech in World History | ||
or HSTR 417 | Early Modern Science | |
or HSTR 419 | Modern Science | |
or PHL 345 | Philosophy of Science | |
| Darwinian Revolution | ||
| Scnc/Psuedo Scnc & Subjectivty | ||
| Natural/Unnatural/Supernatural | ||
| Total Credits | 26-27 | |