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Home > MSI Degree > Cognate Courses

School of Information: External Cognate Course Student Recommendations

Current and recent SI students have recommended the courses below as potentially useful cognate courses. As an SI master's student, you are required to earn at least three credit hours from cognate courses taken at another school or unit at U-M. You must earn a grade of B- or better in a cognate course to have it count toward your degree.

The MSI specialization(s) of those who recommended a cognate course is listed with the course. If a specific instructor was recommended, his or her name is also included.

Remember that the listings and descriptions below are recommendations from master's students. The School of Information is not officially endorsing or recommending specific courses for cognate credit. Consult your advisor.

To determine whether a 400-level course can be counted as a graduate course cognate, search to find whether it's listed under Rackham's "programs" pages →.

Student Cognate Recommendations

Course Title	Recommender's Specialization	Term Taken	Instructor Taken	Comment
ENGLISH 516: Research and Technology in the Humanities				In the past, this course has been cross-listed with SI 516 and co-taught with SI's Vic Rosenberg. The course has students work with and study the theoretical implications of the tools and techniques used to create, gather, manipulate, analyze, and present electronic information both locally and via computer networks, with special attention to the techniques available to facilitate scholarship, especially collaborative scholarship, in the humanities.
PP585: Political Environment of Policymaking	IPOL	Winter '08		Great for understanding policy/policymaking (international policy, for the winter term version) and memo writing. Instructor rotates, so it's not clear how much of my experience is still accurate, but for my term it was a moderate to heavy reading load, multiple short papers and a few long ones, culminating in a group project - a mock policy debate. Awesome class.
ARCH 506	HCI	Winter '09	Malcom McCullough	This is a workshop class and is very loosely structured. The focus is on creating "off the screen" installations using Ardunio and Processing. I would recommend this course to students who are interested in ambient displays.
BIT678 Service Innovation Management	HCI	Winter '09	Nigel Melville	This is a half semester course based around a group project. Though it was a lot of work the class was excellent. The professor is really engaging and you will be exposed to a different way of doing user research and analysis that I found a refreshing change from the 501 style user research that is standard in SI classes. Cool methods learned include customer journey mapping and service blueprint.
BIT678 Service Innovation Management	HCI	Winter '09	Nigel Melville	Innovation in IT mediated services. Dealt with ideation, development and implementation phases. Basically design thinking applied to IT services. There is a group project that emphasizes more on ideation an development phases. Learned some new tools like Customer Journey Map, Service Blueprint.
STATS 500	HCI	Winter '09		The whole class is on linear models and regression analysis. It's a good class for more advanced stats than SI 544, and you can learn R which is useful. If you haven't had a math class in a while it takes the first 3 weeks or so to get back remember a lot of the notation and mathematical theory behind stats, especially matrices. But after that the pace is just right and it's a good textbook.
LING 406: Modern English Grammar	ARM	Winter '09	Curzan	If you don't want an undergrad style course (homework due twice a week) then this isn't for you. However it is pretty interesting and the 1.5 hour classes seem amazingly short compared to SI's marathon scheduling.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	ARM	Winter '08		Teaches basic GIS skills using the ArcGIS software package. Lab-based class, so the work-load is a bit heavy. Good course for LIS students interested in Gov Docs or SC students interested in location-based apps/data.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	LIS	Winter '09	Dan Brown	This course is lots of work. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on weekly labs and course readings. That said, if you are interested in working with geospatial data it is absolutely essential. This is not purely a software-oriented course, though it does give you an in depth view of what happens under the hood of ESRI's ArcView. This course teaches the basics of what can be considered Geographic information SCIENCE.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	IPOL	Winter '09	Dan Brown	Geospatial information systems, database and data design for spatial and geographic information. Data display, map design, GPS. Because there are 2 lectures and a computer-based lab, it is a wonderful introduction to the principles of geographic information systems and software.
ECON404 - Stats for Economists	ICD	Winter '09	Ed Rothman	If you've taken Lada's stats course in SI and are looking for more in-depth coverage on the mathematics and process going on with stats, I recommend this course. It's an undergrad course, so beware that the class is mostly undergrad econ majors but the professor (Ed Rothman) is really great.
SW 663: Grantgetting, Contracting and Fundraising	LIS	Winter '08	Bob Miller	It was refreshing to be in the School of Social Work -- Those people really care about people. There's one small presentation, a couple small papers and a big grant that you have to write by the end of the semester. Bob Miller is a better bet for professor than the other person.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	LIS	Fall '08	Bob Miller	You might want to consider taking a course in SI or more closely applicable to information non-profits (museums, libraries, archives, open-source orgs, etc.), because there is a lot of information in this course that, while it's very interesting, is not very applicable to information professionals.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	LIS	Winter '09	Bob Miller	It took me 3 weeks to realize that the hundreds of pages she assigned were really recommended resources, not required reading-look into this sooner than later. This is a great class for anyone interested in working in a non-profit organization-a very helpful skill, and taught in a very practical manner.
NRE 531: Introduction to GIS	PI	Winter '09	Bob Miller	Robert Miller is FANTASTIC. This class is excellent for those who are going into archives, libraries and museums, or plan on working for a nonprofit. It's a useful skill for a number of people, however. Workload is light (so far) and discussion is extremely helpful. Most work is independent, but you form a small group to help you read through your work. In the end, you write a grant that you can turn into any foundation and compete for funds.
Urban Planning 696: Historic Preservation	ARM	Fall '07		First of all, I did not take the course in Fall 2007, I took it in the Spring half term of 2007. However, it is available during the regular school year as well. It was interesting, but focused mostly on buildings and the built environment. I was an ARM student, and I did have to make an argument for taking this course. The argument was that buildings could be seen as a record of the built environment, and the class supported this sort of thinking about architecture. The projects were very interesting, and you had a lot of freedom to tailor the course material to your interests.
AMCULT 498 Reading Books: Reading Culture	ARM	Winter '09	Mary Kelley	This is an excellent course for someone interested in reading and the history of the book. It is a seminar class with weekly readings and a research paper. Highly recommended!
History of Art 401: Introduction to Museum Studies	ARM	Fall '08	Elaine Gazda	The best part of this course is working on a team to design an exhibit. The worst part is keeping up with the journals. There are three journals due and about a graduate level of reading per week and you're expected to write at least a paragraph commenting on (not summarizing) each reading. Fortunately, the rest of the assignments are small and easy to complete, but the journals were a constant complaint of the class. But you also get to go to New York and tour the Met as well as local museums!
ARCH 531: Networked Cities	HCI	Winter '09	Malcolm McCullough	Networked Cities is a very fun and exciting course that I'd recommend to anyone who's interested in how technology really affects society. You do one reading per week and discuss it in a seminar format - like 500, but more engaging. You also do a few posters and projects which are great opportunities to add some graphic design work to your portfolio. Professor McCullough is a great teacher and knows both his material and how to engage the class. It's a bit early for me to reflect on specific skills I picked up, but it's already given me a different perspective on technology.
ARCH 531: Networked Cities	HCI	Winter '09	Malcolm McCullough	This course is pretty vague but useful if you are interested in challenging your thinking about the history of technology and the future of pervasive computing related to place. Projects are somewhat vague as well but a welcome change from typical SI coursework. Deliverables (posters/story boards) are individual except for one two person poster.
MUSICOL 503 / SI 586 Music Bibliography	LIS	Fall '08	Reynolds	Great class, especially as an introduction to the resources available in a music library. Would be helpful to anyone interested in becoming a music librarian, although the information is fairly basic. There are minimal readings for this class, with about 4-5 fairly time-intensive assignments and a major individual paper (literature review). Class periods consist primarily of lecture, with some class discussion and occasional group activities. Very low-key. I would not recommend this class for anyone who is interested in a very in-depth look at music librarianship.
SW 651: Planning for Organizational and Community Change	CI	Winter '09	Katie Richards-Shuster	For students in CI and/or generally interested in information use in social movements or community organizing, this course provides a good grounding in community organizing principles. It also involves a consulting project with an external client applying the planning concepts discussed in the course. The client this semester is the ACLU of MS. I am also taking Digital Government I and I find the two courses complement each other quite well.
IOE 536: Cognitive Ergonomics	HCI	Fall '08	Nadine Sarter	HCI people must take it
MKT 621: Advanced Advertising Development	LIS	Winter '09	Tim O'Day	Advice: -Do the readings... -Make sure you have access to the Wall Street Journal, AdAge, and Business Week -Interesting guest speakers -Final group presentation where you present a real advertising strategy and campaign to Brand Managers from the company (Wrigley this semester).
COMM 810	ARM	Fall '08		This class was really SI 502 but more approachable and more technical. It was also extremely small so the professor tailors the topics to the students' interests and talents. With my class, we examined copyright and digital rights closely, also we looked at the "digital divide" and how companies are coping with that as well as how non-profits and other organizations are working to reach out through the Internet. The technical weeks focus on how the Internet works, how television works along with the history behind both.
PubPol 636: Program Evaluation	Tailored	Winter '08		Great for learning how to think about quantitative evaluation of programs and services. Good review of regression and assumptions behind it. Need some familiarity with statistics to take the course. Workload not big. A few problem sets, midterm, final, and group paper/class debate. Readings of past evaluations every week - very relevant to actually learning the material.
EECS 498: Building Application for iPhone or Android	HCI	Winter '09	Elliot Soloway	Topics covered: the latest news from mobile industry and everything related to mobile computing. Discuss apps from all the mobile platform (e.g. iPhone, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile) Type: project base & in class discuss & presentation work: review & report the latest news, no fixed reading. I recommend: if you want to hear something interesting from class and report something exciting to class, if you like mobile computing & app developing, you will like it.
EECS 498: Building Application for iPhone or Android	HCI	Winter '09	Elliot Soloway	it's mainly CS students in the course but the lectures are hardly about programming at all, but more a seminar about ideas, the industry, new technologies, .. the professor is pretty crazy and awesome. he knows a lot about the IT and mobile industry.
Design Science 502	HCI	Winter '09		It feels introductory (a mix of psychology combined with design process). Overall, I would push for this to replace SI688 for the HCI requirement. The tie-in between psychology (human behavior) and SI courses is much more relevant.
Psych 740: Neural Models	Tailored	Winter '09		School-media specializations might like this class. There is a lot of reading, and in-class participation is required, as the professors do not lecture, merely answer questions posed by students.
Psych 740: Neural Models	HCI	Winter '09	Stephen Kaplan	This is one of my favorite classes I've taken at the U of M. It's essentially a cognitive psychology class, that explores concepts surrounding the neural basis for how learning occurs in the brain. It's one of the most unique classes you'll ever take, as Kaplan does not lecture, but instead encourages students to set the agenda by asking questions and raising discussion points. There is a lot of reading, but a 'reading guide' is given each week that explains and annotates the readings. If you're willing to put in the work to read and ask questions, you'll get a lot out of this class.
PubPol 688: Intellectual Property and Information Law	IPOL	Fall '08	Bryce Pilz	Really good class for anyone interested in Intellectual Property (Copyright, Patents, etc).
BIT 646	HCI	Fall '08	Michael Gordon	Social Enterprises - how to run business that serve the community and still earn money. It is a valuable course if you care for the society and hope to make a positive change.
CAAS 5?? (Black Middle Class) also cross listed in sociology	IPOL	Winter '09	Karyn Lacy	This class was an excellent break from SI related course especially because the reading material centered on books and essays more related to issues of race, class as it exists in an American setting. Really excellent professor, small and high possibility of doing well as long as you keep up with readings.
Hist 594: Getting the documents to speak	Tailored	Fall '08	Jean Hebrard	This is a fabulous course for those aspiring to be a part of the archival world. This takes a look at archives from a user's point of view...specifically the historian's. We examined a variety of documents that can be found in an archive, and explored how one conducting research can gain insight into what the document can say about the past. This class was also really great for learning more about historical events that happened around the specific documents that we studied. The work load was about average - we had to read every week and write a response paper (1 page or so) that we then posted on CTools so everyone could have the chance to see what the other students had to say about the readings. There is also a large final project in which we had to actually go into an archive and find a document to write about. This is a graduate course in the history department, and my particular section was 8 students, all of which were history PhDs, which was a little bit intimidating at first, but it ended up being a very good class.
PPOL 720	IEMP	Fall '07	Virginia Rezmierski	We covered real technology incident cases within the University which made for an interesting class. There was not a lot of reading, however, in class group exercises were necessary as well as a series of writing assignments which were useful. I enjoyed this class so much; it helped me to develop my own framework of analysis that I subsequently used in other courses. I highly recommend this course!

Last updated: Mar 18, 2009 Home > MSI Degree > Cognate Courses

School of Information students have a wide choice of courses and are required to take at least three credit hours of cognates -- courses outside the School of Information -- in other U-M academic units.