Objectives
The quantitative reasoning requirement has been established to develop students' abilities to collect, summarize, and analyze numerical data; to make abstract concepts operational; and to think critically about the accuracy and soundness of conclusions based on data or on mathematical models. Quantitative reasoning courses usually embed methodological training in their subject matter. These courses vary widely in the skills that are emphasized, but they usually include one or more of the following:
A. Learning to read, construct, interpret, and evaluate tables, graphs, and charts.
B. Developing quantitative measures of physical, behavioral, or social phenomena.
C. Using mathematical models to express causal relationships and to explore the implications of changed assumptions or proposed solutions to problems in the physical or social world.
D. Collecting and organizing numerical data from archives, surveys, lab experiments, or other sources.
E. Testing hypotheses, using experimental or statistical controls.
F. Assessing the limitations of research, such as the reliability and validity of measures, adequacy of experimental design, sample size and quality, and alternative hypotheses and interpretations.
Each Brandeis undergraduate is required to take one course from the approved list of quantitative reasoning courses. This list may change, so students should consult the most recent list of approved courses in the Course Schedule to assure that they will receive requirement credit. (Naturally, students will not be denied credit retroactively if a course taken to fulfill the requirement is later dropped from the list.)
Courses with an asterisk (*) satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement only when they are taken with the corresponding lab.
Courses of Instruction
ANTH 110a
Introduction to Human Evolution
BCHM 100a
Introductory Biochemistry
BIOL 22a* (formerly BIBC 22a*)
Genetics and Molecular Biology
CHSC 3a
The Planet as an Organism: Gaia Theory and the Human Prospect
CHSC 5a
The Magnitude of Things and How on Earth They Matter
Forensic Science: Col. Mustard, Candlestick, Billiard Room
Chemistry and Art
CHEM 11a
General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution
General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution
CHEM 15a
Honors General Chemistry, Lectures
CHEM 15b
Honors General Chemistry, Lectures
CHEM 150b
Special Topics in Chemistry
COSI 21a*
Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing
COSI 21b*
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
ECON 2a
Introduction to Economics
ECON 83a
Statistics for Economic Analysis
ECON 135a
Industrial Organization
HIST 127b
Household and Family in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1300-1800)
MATH 8a
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
MATH 36b
Mathematical Statistics
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
NEJS 170b
Analyzing the American Jewish Community
PHSC 2b
Introductory Astronomy
PHSC 4a
Science and Development
PHSC 7b
Technology and the Management of Public Risk
PHSC 9b
Introduction to Physics
PHYS 10a
Physics for the Life Sciences I
PHYS 10b
Physics for the Life Sciences II
PSYC 152a
Experimental Psychology
SOC 106a
Issues in Law and Society
SOC 115a
Class Structure and Consciousness
SOC 181a
Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry