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Home > MSI Degree > Cognate Courses
School of Information: Cognate Course Recommendations
Current and recent SI students have recommended the courses below as potentially useful cognate courses. SI master's students are required to take at least six credit hours of cognate courses outside of their specialization, generally at another school or unit at U-M.
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 follows the description, in parentheses.
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
Architecture 531: Networked Cities (posted by: Tailored)
"Explore the emerging city from a historical and technological perspective.
SI crossovers with discussions of infrastructure, human-centered design, and
complex systems. The class is part lecture part discussion with weekly
readings and reactions. Three design posters are due from each student and
there's a take home final. Must be willing to deal with some unclarity and
theory and to explore the space of architecture in modern cities, how it
emerged and what it may look like in the future. It's a nice change from
some the the very practice oriented classes at SI."
(McCoullagh)
Business Econ 501: Applied Microeconomics (posted by: IEMP)
"Expanded upon SI 502 and would benefit all SI students."
Business IT 581: Business Network Infrastructure (posted by: IEMP)
"This class is all about telecomm- and IT-related industry, both hard and soft, and its case analysis. What is interesting about this course is that I could go through cases that we know about not deeply but at least what happened to the company, the product, the business model, etc., so that it helps us picture "IT" itself as a multidimentional segment of our corporate world.
A 1.5-credit, group-work based course, but to me the amount of course work was appropriate and the professor was very approachable and knowledgable (of course). My group for the final project was about the search engine industry and Google's strategy. We were allowed to chose a topic for the project, and it was really fun and worthwile work, especially for a future information professional!"
(J. Wells)
Business IT 645: Social Enterprise: Innovation in IT (posted by: HCI, IEMP, Tailored)
"This class is especially applicable to CIC folk, and anyone interested in how the private sector can meet the needs of the world's poor (those living on less than $2 a day) and still make a profit. Topics include poverty and income, health and well-being, education and access to information, envirionment, government and regulation, and citizen organizations.
Students from many different schools and nationalities made it especially interesting and Prof. Gordon is an excellent professor. A B-School approach to corporate responsibility and social citizenship. A wonderful complement to CIC. Very interesting student projects associated with the course!"
(Michael Gordon)
Communications 810: New Media Technologies (posted by: Tailored)
"Learn about the development of Communication Technologies, starting with the
electromagnetic spectrum and ending on the Internet. The point of the class
is to give future Comm scholars/policy makers the technical background to
make informed decisions about (heavily regulated) Communication technology.
The professor arranged a trip to Washington DC to meet with Comm policy
makers, it was very educational. The format was like most graduate seminars,
weekly readings and a final 20-40pp paper at the end of the semester."
(Neuman)
Complex Systems 501: Introduction to Complex Systems (posted by: IEMP)
Engineering 580: Teaching Engineering (posted by: HCI, LIS)
"Was a good technical education course to teach how to teach to those with a
technical background and how to encorporate small group activities into large
lecture settings. Would be good for LIS students interested in
Science/Engineering librarian positions."
English 434: Contemporary Novel (posted by: LIS)
"The English Department grad level literature courses (ex. 434 is the one I'm taking) can be refreshingly different from regular SI work. Can be a good subject to study for those interested in Readers' Advisory/Reference in public libraries, for instance."
English 516: Technology & the Humanities (posted by: HCI, LIS)
"English 516 is fun and deals with a lot of SI topics in a humanities context. However, you have to fight for it to count as a cognate because it is co-taught by an SI prof (Rosenberg) and that is technically against the rules for a cognate.
Interesting course for individuals who might want an intro to the humanistic uses of technology. Good course to start getting used to Macromedia Flash & other interactive web technologies. Class has a final project which might be a good addition to one's portfolio."
(Rosenberg (co-teaches))
English 677: Language Use and Literacy (posted by: Tailored)
"The relationship of language and gender has
fascinated speakers and scholars for centuries. Do women and men use language
differently? Is the English language sexist? Are these, in fact, the questions
we should be asking? Drawing on more complex theoretical notions of gender, we
will begin this course by examining the relationship of language and identity
and the power of language to construct categories; in the process, we will set
parameters for the kinds of questions we want to ask. Our explorations for the
rest of the course will have a dual focus: constructions of gender in the
structure of language (and in English specifically) and the ways in which
gender plays out in patterns of discourse, especially in relation to other
factors such as race, class, and communities of practice. This course is
relevant for an SI student as it allows for a more informed sensibility when it
comes to creating information aids, such as a website."
Industrial & Operations Engineering 491: Human Error and Complex System Accidents (posted by: HCI)
"The course covers the different contributing aspects to major system accident: human perception, human error, accident models, systems theory, technological failure, organizational knowledge. The first half is background on these aspects and the second half is a series of case studies of different accidents and follow up accident investigations. There is some conceptual overlap with SI -- organizational knowledge, interface design guidelines, human biases, but these concepts feel more tangibly explored in this class."
Industrial & Operations Engineering 536: Cognitive Ergonomics (posted by: HCI)
"This class is usually offered in the fall semester. The course covers human performance, human error, the complexity of systems, automation, and the design and evaluation of interfaces of systems. There is some conceptual overlap with SI coursework, but the domain of study is high-risk work situations. Great class."
Management & Organizations 501: Human Behavior and Organizations (posted by: HCI)
"A look at how to create excellence in organizations. I think this could be relevant to any specialization and that SI students could add a lot to the class and learn a lot from it."
Marketing 501: Marketing Management (posted by: HCI, IEMP)
"Has broad scope and would benefit everyone. Especially useful to anyone looking at doing corporate Web design. Makes you think about the way marketing and HCI interact and often clash."
Marketing 613: Consumer Behavior (posted by: Tailored)
"The good thing about this class is that it's seven weeks long and ends early, but we don't get to really discuss many of the consumer behavior topics very much. It kind of gets into design research, information seeking behavior, and even a little contextual inquiry/design. There is a group project and one solo assignment. Students must get the professor's permission to enroll because it's a Business School class, but Dr. Carolyn Yoon is a very nice teacher. Most of the students were Day B-Schoolers."
Mgmt of Human Svcs 662: Management of Information in Human Service Agencies (posted by: Tailored)
"The development and
use of management information systems (MISs) in the human services will be
presented in this course with the goal of introducing students to relevant
social work knowledge, skills, and practice. Basic principles of information
management will be presented and students will apply those principles to the
analysis of existing information systems and the planning and construction of
information system improvements. This course is relevant for an SI student
looking to work in a human service agency as it provides exposure to an
alternate view of similar problems -- implementing information systems as viewed
from the perspective of the social worker. This serves to broaden the horizons
of the students."
Natural Resources & Environment 531: Principles of Geographic Information Systems (posted by: Tailored)
"Very good course if someone is
interested in GIS or geography. An interesting way to classify/view/analyze
information."
Operations & Management Science 616: Project Management (posted by: Tailored)
"This class is seven weeks long and requires permission to enroll. It has five case studies (highest three graded) and three quizzes (highest two graded). This course really helps students think critically about projects, including what goes right and what goes wrong. Students can work together on case studies, so it's best to take this with a friend, since most students are Evening B-Schoolers. Students should also be warned that turning in a case study WILL get their name called in class to defend some aspect of their analysis, (aka "cold-calling") so extremely shy people should probably stay away. The professor has an interesting personality but is very willing to meet students at his office hours, and even invited us to dinner at his house. (I hadn't even met him before meeting at his house.)"
Psychology 442: Perception, Science, and Reality (posted by: HCI)
"Course is about the fundamental reality of reality -- whether there is really something real outside human consciousness -- and it explores this from a scientific point of view. It reviews various theories of reality and shows how scientific results both supported and contradicted each view. It's a very interesting course for someone who has been studying usability and the scientific study of usability."
Psychology 640: Neural Models (posted by: Tailored)
"This class was actually advertised in SI, and I even bought the first half of the coursepack because I wanted so badly to be in this class. This is really a great class to take, however it won't be offered again until 2007. I know one other SI student is in this class now. The professor Stephen Kaplan admits to how confusing the material is to first understand, so students need to understand that they will be confused for a while, but the subject matter is so interesting that I'm sure they will like this course."
(Stephen Kaplan)
Psychology 958: Learning in Museums (posted by: LIS)
"I adored PSY 958. Scott Paris was the teacher, from the Psychology Department. The course was all about constructivist and experiential learning in museum environments, with a strong focus on children's learning. There were lots of great field trips and student-led discussions and activities. The readings were really interesting, and I took a lot from the class."
(Scott Paris)
Rackham 575: The Museum & Public Culture (Cantor Seminar) (posted by: ARM, LIS)
"It's a great seminar with one small paper and a 20-page research paper. The teacher is very knowledgable, interesting and excellent at directing
discussion. Unfortunately, it's only offered every four years, at this point. So have SI people look for it in 2009, or sooner if they are lucky."
Social Work 663: Grantwriting (posted by: ARM, LIS)
"Easy workload, but useful information for librarian and archives-types. Bob Miller, former director
of HealthSource, is the instructor I had. Deliverables included one short presentation, two book reviews, and a major project consisting of developing a grant proposal. I understand the other professor Miller's syllabus is much more demanding."
(Bob Miller)
Statistics 400: Applied Statistical Methods (posted by: HCI)
"Stats 400 is a fairly low-level introduction to applied statistics. Very little theory is introduced; the course is meant to help students understand the statistical details of research in their fields. Students are also introduced to SPSS, but not in a very deep way. The work load when I took it (Fall 2004) was light; one homework assignment per week, with problems that were quite easy. Although you won't come out of it a statistical expert by any means, the class did meet its aim of helping me to understand basic statistical reasoning in the literature."
Last updated: Jan 31, 2006
Home > MSI Degree > Cognate Courses
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School of Information students have a wide choice of courses and are required to take at least six credit hours of cognates -- courses outside the School of Information -- in other U-M academic units.
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