This is the preliminary (or launch) version of the 2024-2025 VCU Bulletin. We may add courses that expose our students to cutting-edge content and transformative learning. We may also add content to the general education program that focuses on racial literacy and a racial literacy graduation requirement, and may receive notification of additional program approvals after the launch. The final edition and full PDF version will include these updates and will be available in August prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
LFSC 101. Academic and Career Options in Life Sciences. 1 Hour.
Semester course; 1 lecture hour. 1 credit. Students interested in the life sciences at VCU are faced with an enormous variety of academic options from bioinformatics and biomedical engineering to exercise science and nursing. Students outside of these programs have post-graduate opportunities in the life sciences, such as health care administration and government policy. This course will introduce students to an overview of all of the academic programs in life sciences available at VCU and their associated potential career options. Graded as pass/fail.
LFSC 191. Special Topics in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-4 Hours.
Semester course; 1-4 lecture hours. 1-4 credits. May be repeated for credit with different topics. A 100-level study of a selected topic in integrative life sciences. Students will find specific topics and prerequisites for each special topics course listed in the Schedule of Classes. If multiple topics are offered, students may elect to take more than one.
LFSC 301. Integrative Life Sciences Research. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 2 lecture and 1 recitation hours. 3 credits. Pre- or corequisite: UNIV 200 or HONR 200. Students will leave this course knowing enough about science and the process of science to feel confident in critically evaluating scientific information and/or embarking on their own process of discovery with a faculty mentor. They will gain an appreciation of the interdisciplinary and complex nature of life sciences and will hone their critical thinking about how science interacts with and informs society.
LFSC 307. Community Solutions: Multiple Perspectives. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: PSYC 101. Explores possibilities for addressing social concerns of the Richmond community by understanding the complex nature of social issues as essential to their successful amelioration via perspectives of life and social sciences. Toward this end, expertise from the social sciences, the life sciences and the community are integrated. Includes a service-learning experience (a 20-hour volunteer requirement). Crosslisted as: PSYC 307.
LFSC 391. Special Topics in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-4 Hours.
Semester course; 1-4 lecture hours. 1-4 credits. May be repeated for credit with different topics. A 300-level study of a selected topic in integrative life sciences. Students will find specific topics and prerequisites for each special topics course listed in the Schedule of Classes. If multiple topics are offered, students may elect to take more than one.
LFSC 401. Faith and Life Sciences. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: UNIV 200 or HONR 200. Open to students of any school or program. Explores the complex relationships between faith traditions and the life sciences. Topics include epistemology, impact of life sciences on ideas of fate and responsibility, limits of science and technology, and scientific and religious perspectives on human origins, consciousness, aggression, forgiveness, health, illness and death. Crosslisted as: RELS 401.
LFSC 491. Special Topics in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-4 Hours.
Semester course; 1-4 lecture hours. 1-4 credits. May be repeated for credit with different topics. A 400-level study of a selected topic in integrative life sciences. Students will find specific topics and prerequisites for each special topics course listed in the Schedule of Classes. If multiple topics are offered, students may elect to take more than one.
LFSC 510. Biological Complexity. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 2 lecture and 2 laboratory hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: physics and calculus, or permission of instructor. Open only to graduate students and qualified seniors. An introduction to the basis of complexity theory and the principles of emergent properties within the context of integrative life sciences. The dynamic interactions among biological, physical and social components of systems are emphasized, ranging from the molecular to ecosystem level. Modeling and simulation methods for investigating biological complexity are illustrated. Crosslisted as: BIOL 545.
LFSC 520. Bioinformatic Technologies. 2 Hours.
Semester course; 2 lecture hours. 2 credits. Prerequisite: BIOL 545/LFSC 510 or permission of instructor. Introduction to the hardware and software used in computational biology, proteomics, genomics, ecoinformatics and other areas of data analysis in the life sciences. The course also will introduce students to data mining, the use of databases, meta-data analysis and techniques to access information. Crosslisted as: BIOL 548.
LFSC 591. Special Topics in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-4 Hours.
Semester course; variable hours. 1-4 credits. A 500-level study of a selected topic in integrative life sciences. Students will find specific topics and prerequisites for each Special Topics course listed in the Schedule of Classes. If multiple topics are offered, students may elect to take more than one.
LFSC 610. Analytical Methods in Biocomplexity Analysis. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 2 lecture and 2 laboratory hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: LFSC 510/ BIOL 545 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. An introduction to mathematical and computational methods in biocomplexity analysis and the mathematical and computational simulation of biological systems. Topics include methods for dynamical systems analysis, nonlinear systems analysis, gene sequencing, fractals and chaos, and pattern recognition. Students will be exposed to Maple, Matlab, SPSS, E-cell, BioPerl, Epigram, and C.
LFSC 630. Integrative Life Sciences Research. 2 Hours.
Semester course; 2 lecture hours. 2 credits. Restricted to integrative life sciences doctoral students. An introduction to integrative research in the life sciences from the molecular to ecosystem level. The course will include presentations on ongoing interdisciplinary and systems-oriented life sciences research by faculty members and discussion and analysis of classic interdisciplinary research projects.
LFSC 631. Student Seminar in Integrative Life Sciences. 1 Hour.
Semester course; 1 seminar hour. 1 credit. May be repeated for credit. The ability to present and evaluate independent research across diverse disciplines is imperative to scientists in the life sciences, where collaboration and integrated thinking is essential. This seminar will provide this opportunity from both perspectives with oral informal presentations to a peer graduate student audience, who will provide peer evaluations and critical feedback. Graded as S/U.
LFSC 690. Research Seminar in Integrative Life Sciences. 1 Hour.
Semester course; 1 lecture hour. 1 credit. May be repeated for credit. Presentation and discussion of research topics of current interest in the life sciences. Graded as "S," "U" or "F.".
LFSC 691. Special Topics in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-4 Hours.
Semester course; variable hours. 1-4 credits. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor required. Advanced graduate study of a selected topic in integrative life sciences. Students will find specific topics and prerequisites for each Special Topics course listed in the Schedule of Classes. If multiple topics are offered, students may elect to take more than one.
LFSC 697. Directed Research in Integrative Life Sciences. 1-15 Hours.
Semester course; 1-15 research hours. 1-15 credits. May be repeated for credit. Directed research in interdisciplinary and integrative life sciences. Graded as S/U.
LFSC 701. Post-candidacy Doctoral Research. 9 Hours.
Semester course; 9 research hours. 9 credits. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment is restricted to students who have been admitted to doctoral candidacy in the integrative life sciences doctoral program. Registration requires approval from the integrative life sciences program director. Students will participate in supervised, discipline-specific research related to their dissertation topic. This course can be approved as a substitution for any post-candidacy degree requirement. Graded as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.