Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

Immunology (Face-to-Face)

BIOL 3350-01

Course: BIOL 3350-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: Biology
CRN: 30661

Course Description

A course dealing with topics of current research in immunology, such as antigen-antibody interactions, antibody synthesis, hypersensitivity, and auto-immunity. A minimum grade of "C" (2.0 or above) must be earned in this course before it can be counted in a biological science major or minor or as a prerequisite for any other biology course. (Fall) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): BIOL 3060 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: C

Required Texts

The Immune System, 6th Edition, by Peter Parham. W.W. Norton & Company, 2026. (ISBN 978-1-324-07211-9). This textbook is available on Canvas through the Inclusive Access program, which provides your required course materials on the first day of class at a significantly reduced price. If you choose to remain in Inclusive Access, your student account will be automatically charged for these materials.

Learning Outcomes

What this course promises you:

You have been taught that the genome in every cell of your body is a stable blueprint that never changes and that the genome in each and every cell is exactly the same. You have been taught a lie. 

Our body has no way of predicting which pathogens it will encounter before it faces the need to fight; as a consequence, the body must be prepared to fight all potential invaders…both those that currently exist, and those that might possibly exist at any point in the future. In order to be prepared for this momentous challenge our body has developed the potential to make billions of different proteins specifically designed to recognize foreign invaders and to mark them for destruction. And yet, there is no way that our genome of approximately 25,000 genes can possibly code for the incredible diversity of antibodies and T-cell receptors that are required to face this challenge using standard gene expression rules. Facing this quandary, the cells of our immune system did something unexpected: they changed the rules.

In this course you will have the opportunity to explore the amazing world of vertebrate immunity and to discover how our immune system is able to prepare itself for attack from invaders that it has never seen before, and, indeed, that may not yet even exist. Along the way you will be exposed to some of the basic laboratory techniques used to study the principles of immunology, or that use the principles of immunology to detect disease, identify compatible donors for blood transfusions and tissue transplants, and to serve as tools for molecular biology research.


Upon the successful completion of this course students will be able to:
  • Immune System Fundamentals: Explain the roles and significance of both the innate and adaptive immune systems in protecting against infection and preventing disease.
  • Structure and Function of the Immune System: Describe the organs, major cells, and molecular components of the vertebrate immune system, and explain their specific roles in immune defense.
  • Immunogenicity and Antigenicity: Differentiate between immunogenicity and antigenicity, and describe the factors that influence the immune response.
  • Antibody Structure and Function: Recognize and describe the basic structure of antibodies, and explain the biological roles of their various parts.
  • Genetic Basis of Immune Response: Understand the genetic mechanisms, including gene rearrangements and alternative RNA processing, that enable the immune system to recognize and respond to a wide array of foreign antigens.
  • Immunological Assays and Tools: Describe the applications of standard immunology-based laboratory assays, such as ELISA, Western Blots, and Immunoprecipitations, as well as key immunological tools like blood microscopy and PCR.
  • Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC): Explain the importance of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and its role in immune responsiveness and disease susceptibility.
  • Cell-to-Cell Communication: Describe the molecular basis of cell-to-cell communication and responses within the immune system.
  • Inappropriate Immune Responses: Explain the molecular mechanisms behind inappropriate immune responses, including allergies, asthma, anaphylactic shock, and autoimmune diseases.
  • Immunization Strategies: Differentiate between active and passive immunization and discuss their roles and molecular significance in disease prevention.


How these learning objectives will be achieved:
  • Attend class each day.
  • Engage in each day’s discussion. Simply sitting in class and listening to a lecture is insufficient for true learning. While in class you should actively take notes, consider the details and scenarios being discussed, ask questions, volunteer answers, and share your ideas with the class and in small groups, all while actively seeking to make connections between the discussion points and your own life. Actively participating in the discussions is part of the process that will help the material come alive for you.
  • Seek to improve upon the understanding you gain in class by pondering, reflecting, and researching the material discussed after class each day; you should strive to go deeper into the material to make a personal connection. Reflecting upon the material after class and engaging in further research will enhance the learning process and help to entrench the principles in your mind for long-term recall. Daily homework assignments will help you review material after each class, but it is STRONGLY recommended that you write your own study questions as part of your study regimen. To do this, identify the key concepts of each discussion and write questions to test your understanding. Write these as open-ended questions and either write the answers on the back of a piece of paper or an index card or use a quiz app such as Anki (recommended), which uses the principle of Spaced Repetition to help with long term retention. Forming study groups is another excellent way to improve your understanding and retention of course content; meet together often, quiz each other, and discuss principles that members of the group might be struggling with. Also, take advantage of your instructor’s office hours; these are good opportunities to ask questions and review for exams. 

Course Requirements

  • Syllabus Quiz: To encourage each student to read the syllabus and to help ensure that you understand the requirements of this course, a syllabus quiz will be administered after the first day of the class. 
  • In-class activities and quizzes: Daily in-class activities, which may include a variety of writing assignments and quizzes, will be administered with the dual objective of gauging understanding and recording attendance. Students must be present and on time to receive credit for these activities. These activities will range in value with the value of each activity stated in class at the time the activity is assigned. 
  • Exploratory Assignments: Exploratory Assignments are homework assignments that are intended to introduce you to important microbiology-related concepts. Assignments will focus on reading and interpreting research papers and on developing skills that will be introduced in class. Please read and follow the instructions for each assignment carefully. These assignments will be due at the date and time posted on Canvas.
  • Exams: Four unit exams and one final exam will be administered during the semester. The dates for each unit exam are listed on Canvas. The dates for all exams are fixed and will not be changed to ensure that students can plan their schedules around these important assessments. To avoid conflicts, ensure that you are aware of the exam dates from the start of the semester. While the focus of each unit exam will be on the material covered during that unit, each unit exam is comprehensive and will include material covered in previous units. The course is divided into units covering related topics, but each exam will focus only on the material discussed in class up to the date of the exam. A detailed list of topics covered on each exam will be made available on Canvas under Modules → Exams a few days before each scheduled exam. It is your responsibility to review this information to guide your study preparation. The unit exams will be administered in the Testing Center and may consist of short answer, multiple choice, and matching-type questions. The exams are only available during the days listed in Canvas. Except for approved school absences (SUU Policy #6.30 [https://wwww.suu.edu/policies/06/30.html] that are approved in writing by the appropriate SUU administrative office, no early or late exams will be given, so schedule your plans accordingly. The final exam is comprehensive and will focus on the application of your accumulated knowledge. The final exam will be administered on the date scheduled by the University; this exam will only be administered on this date; no early or late exams will be given so schedule your plans accordingly. The point value of all exams combined are worth 50% of the final grade in the course. 
  • Please note: The Exam portion of your course grade will be the higher of a) the average of all five exams (the four unit exams and the final exam), or b) your score on the Final Exam. Even if you performed poorly on one or more of the unit exams, keep working hard and don’t give up. By using each exam as a learning tool, you can master the material; if you can demonstrate improvement on Final Exam, that score can serve as the score for the Exam portion of the final grade. The purpose of this policy is to help you remain engaged and motivated all the way through the semester.


Course Outline

Topics covered
  • 01 Innate Immunity
  • 02 Hematopoiesis
  • 03 Cells of the immune system
  • 04 Organs of the immune system
  • 05 Antigens
  • 06 Antibodies
  • 07 Ig genes
  • 08 Major Histocompatability Complex
  • 09 Antigen processing and presentation
  • 10 T cell receptor
  • 11 B cell maturation
  • 12 T cell maturation
  • 13 Complement
  • 14 Hypersensitivity
  • 15 Vaccines

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

 Assignments are due at the date and time listed on Canvas. In general, late assignments will automatically receive a 10 percent deduction for each day they are late, beginning one minute after the assignment is due. If you have plans to be away from your computer when an assignment is due, you need to plan ahead and ensure that you submit your work in advance. Technical problems are not an excuse for late submissions; it is your responsibility to ensure that submissions have been successfully uploaded by the submission time by submitting early and by ensuring that you have a strong and reliable internet connection. The only exception for this late policy would be extended hospitalizations or deaths in the immediate family; in these cases, you may submit a petition to have late work considered; such petitions are intended to cover one assignment or, at most, one week’s worth of assignments, and must be submitted within 1 week of the assignment due date. 

Attendance Policy

Attendance is Required
Attendance is crucial and is required at all class meetings. Attendance will be recorded daily and will be part of the Assignments portion of your grade; students must be present in class and on time to receive credit. Note that students who sign in and then leave the classroom will be counted as absent for that day. The only absences that will be excused are those that meet the definitions outlined in SUU Policy #6.30 [summarized below], and which are approved in writing by the appropriate SUU administrative office.

SUU Policy 6.30 (https://www.suu.edu/policies/06/30.html) provides specific guidelines for excused absences. The following is a summary of policy 6.30; follow the link above to read the full policy.

  • The following activities may be eligible for the excused absence policy:
    • Academic Events. Academic events include competitions (related to a major or an academic department), fine arts performances, course-related field trips, and conferences associated with professional organizations and honor societies.
      • Course-related events must be approved by the program’s Department Chair and Dean.
      • Other academic events or for events serving the University interest (e.g., conferences, department/major events, Board of Trustees meetings) must be approved by the sponsoring organization committee, advisor, Department Chair, Director, and appropriate Dean. 
    • NCAA Intercollegiate Athletic Competition events. These events must be approved by the Athletic Compliance Director, the SUU Athletic Director, and the Faculty Athletics Representative.
    • Legally mandatory events. Jury duty, military, or emergency law enforcement mandatory activities; appropriate documentation must be provided.

  • The following are examples of events that specifically DO NOT qualify for the SUU Excused Absence Policy:
    • Practice or rehearsal for an event.
    • Any event that would require absence from academic endeavors that require the completion of a predetermined number of contact hours, as in clinical/lab/studio experiences, field placements, or internships. 
    • Sports clubs
    • Intramural events
    • Greek activities (events/rushes)
    • Career fairs

  • Student responsibilities for Excused Absences
    • Students shall inform their instructor of dates they will miss class due to an excused absence prior to the date of that anticipated absence. For activities whose schedules are known prior to the start of the semester, students must provide their instructors a written schedule during the first week of the semester showing days they expect to miss class. For other university-excused absences, students must provide each instructor the earliest advanced notice of the classes they will miss.
    • Make-up Work:
      • It is the responsibility of the student to arrange with the instructor an opportunity to complete missed assignments, activities, and labs that will be missed during excused absences. The student must work with the instructor prior to the absence to develop a plan and document the following for each assignment or activity missed (in an email or some other form):
        • Any modifications or changes to the original assignment required in lieu of the in-class element.
        • Due date for the assignment or date when activity must be completed.
      • Students are responsible for all material covered in classes missed, even when their absences are excused.

  • Students should be aware that excessive absences, whether excused or unexcused, may affect their ability to do well in class.

  • Students falsifying information in order to obtain a sanctioned excused absence or sharing information about a make-up examination with other students is considered in violation of Policy 11.2 and/or the Academic Honesty Section of the Student Handbook. Examples of University activities that will not be sanctioned as excused absences include.

For this class, to ensure consistency and fairness to all students in the course, no other absences will be excused than those specifically outlined in SUU policy 6.30.

Canvas

 We will be using Canvas (https://suu.instructure.com) as our course management system; this is where you will access and submit assignments and where your grades will be reported. Please make certain that you have access to this important tool; become familiar with it and check it often (particularly the Modules and Syllabus pages).  

Grading Policy

Your overall grade will consist of work performed in two categories: assignments and exams, with 50% of the grade coming from each category, as follows: 
  • Assignments (50% of Grade)
  • Exams (50% of Grade)

Please note: The Exam portion of your course grade will be the higher of a) the average of all five exams (the four unit exams and the final exam), or b) your score on the Final Exam. Even if you performed poorly on one or more of the unit exams, keep working hard and don’t give up. By using each exam as a learning tool, you can master the material; if you can demonstrate improvement on Final Exam, that score can serve as the score for the Exam portion of the final grade. The purpose of this policy is to help you remain engaged and motivated all the way through the semester.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.