Students participating in the Honors Program have the opportunity to enroll in special topic Honors Program seminars offered only to Honors Program members. These seminars change annually and fulfill various general education requirements.
The following Honors Seminars are offered for Spring 2012:
HON 2100: Capital Punishment & Society (Dr. Stephanie Whitus, Criminal Justice, TTH 10:00am-11:45am)
PRE-REQS: None Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Honors Program. Meets Knowing Ourselves and Others Group-A general education requirement.
Capital punishment generates enormous controversy. Some--including a number of religious and human rights groups--argue that use of the death penalty is inherently wrong. Other opponents might be willing to support the use of the death penalty in certain circumstances. These “conditional opponents” contend that death penalty sentencing processes currently available to the criminal justice system are plagued with serious--perhaps unsolvable--problems. Proponents of capital punishment claim that it is a reasonable and just response to serious crimes. Some advocates argue that capital punishment offers or has the potential to offer instrumental benefits to the community (i.e., deterrence and incapacitation). The purpose of this course is to provide a careful, critical and even-handed study of these conflicting positions. Throughout the course we will discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s adjudication of a number of capital punishment-related issues, particularly those during the past 35 years. These cases confront issues that are central to the death penalty debate: (1) interpretation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment; (2) the methods by which capital punishment is administered; (3) the form of judicial proceedings in capital cases; (4) overall trends in the use of capital punishment; (5) the issue of wrongful conviction and punishment of innocent people; (6) deterrence effects; (7) public opinion about the death penalty; and (8) racial and geographic disparities in the administration of capital punishment.
HON 2200: Sex and the Bible: The Song of Songs from Antiquity to Today (Dr. David Fink, Religion/History, TTH 1:15pm-3:00pm)
PRE-REQS: None Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Honors Program.Meets Knowing Ourselves and Others Group-B general education requirement.
In this course we will explore the long and storied career of a text that almost didn’t make it into the Bible. A work which appears at first blush to be a frank celebration of sexual love, the Song of Songs has almost always been read as much more—and sometimes also as much less. Early Jewish Midrash read the poem as a representation of God’s love for his chosen people, and early Christian theologians took over this allegorical mode of interpretation in claiming the text as a representation of Christ and the Church. Throughout the middle ages, the Song was commented upon by scholars more than any other book in the Christian scriptures. Though its popularity fell off rapidly in the aftermath of the Reformation, the Song of Songs has recently recaptured the imagination of scholars and artists alike, raising as it does important questions related to sex, gender, and the interpretation of sacred scripture. The central questions we engage in this course will be: what is it about erotic language that makes it so apt an occasion for particular kinds of religious reflection and/or mystical experience? What attitudes to sex and gender do these interpretations inscribe on the text? What does the longstanding Christian fascination with this text tell us about Western conceptions of the human and the divine?
HON 2300: Mind and Matter (Dr. Valerie Flynn, Psychology, MWF 9:30am-10:25am)
PRE-REQS: None Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Honors Program. Meets Our Natural World general education requirement
This topical course will focus on the neuropsychological foundations of behavior, thought, and emotion. Readings will cover current issues in brain research, such as the link between music and brain development, effectiveness of antidepressants, biological correlates of meditation and prayer, origins of optical illusions, evidence of animal language, and the effects of technology on the developing nervous system. This class is designed to provide an empirically based view of current issues, controversies, and exciting new discoveries in the neurosciences. Prior coursework in biology is helpful but not necessary.
HON 2400: Mysticism and Modernity (Dr. Jonathan Dean, Religion/History, MWF 10:40am-11:45am)
PRE-REQS: None Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Honors Program. Meets Aesthetic & Philosophical Expression-A general education requirement.
In this course, students will meet the extraordinary and beautiful phenomenon of mysticism, common to all the world’s spiritual traditions. Mystics are those with an unusually vivid sense of the presence of the spiritual in their lives, and a deep intuitive notion of truth and grace. Across the world’s religions, they challenge, console, inform and diagnose the human condition, as activists, teachers, leaders, gurus and guides. Through the semester, we’ll meet some amazing examples of these seers, from across history, culture and religious affiliation. We’ll discover their remarkable witness and compelling, timely vision. From the medieval Muslim, Rumi, to the 20th century African-American, Howard Thurman, from the monk Thomas Merton to the scientist Teilhard de Chardin, the course aims to explore the depth of mystic thought and its contribution to urgent contemporary conversations, including gender and sexuality, environmental stewardship, war and peace, and the search for security.
HON 2500: Borderlands/La Frontera: The Mexico-United States Border Region and Its Peoples in Literature, Film, and Cultural Studies (Dr. Donovan Gwinner, English, MWF 12:00pm-1:05pm)
PRE-REQS: None Prerequisite: Acceptance to the Honors Program.Meets Aesthetic & Philosophical Expression-B general education requirement.
In recent years, political discussion regarding our southern national border has reached a fever pitch, but, over the last several decades, writers, flimmakers, and other cultural observers have been imagining and representing the national boundary, the transnational area some refer to as a "borderland," and the residents, immigrants, and migrants who temporarily or permanently populate the area in ways that complicate and enrich the popular, contemporary rendering which crops up in news stories and candidates' speeches. The primary title of the course is borrowed from an influential book in this area of study, Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, a work that combines autobiographical reflection, essays, and poetry and that critically examines the meanings of the border and theorizes a certain kind of borderland identity. This course will ask students to engage in their own critical examinations of texts and materials that depict various versions of the region and diverse portraits of its peoples. We will carefully read and view different kinds of sources, including literature and film, to formulate complex, insightful perspectives on a "frontier" that is too frequently subjected to partisan ax-grinding and myopic analysis.
Some examples of past seminar offerings include:
HON 2100: Death and Dying. Dr. Paula Biedenharn (Psychology), MWF 1:15-2:20, 4 semester hours, meets General Education "Knowing ourselves and others A" requirement.
One of our last cultural taboos is the subject of death and dying. In this course we will explore attitudes toward death in the U.S., a culture described as having "invisible death". In addition, we will compare our current and historical death customs with those of other cultures, such as Mexico's Dia de los Muertos festival. Funerals, burials, cremation, and new "green" options will be examined. Current medical treatments for the dying, including hospice care and the controversial issue of physician-assisted suicide will be debated. Questions for discussion include: What are the experiences and needs of those who are dying?; What happens to those of us left behind after the death of a loved one?; and How can the end-of-life experience be improved? Depictions of death in art, music, literature, television and film will also be studied. Facts and warning signs about suicidal behavior will be reviewed. The course ends with a discussion of religious views and depictions of the afterlife. Despite the course title, appreciation for life is a primary theme.
HON 2200: Art Theft. Dr. Libby Escobedo (Art), MWF 12:00-1:05, 4 semester hours, meets General Education "Knowing ourselves and others B" requirement.
From ancient tomb raiders to antiquities looted from Iraq; from medieval monks stealing saints' relics to Nazis confiscating art collections owned by Jews; for nearly as long as people have been making art, others have been stealing it. This course examines the practical and ethical aspects of all kinds of art "theft", including the problems posed by forgeries, issues of repatriation of artifacts like the Elgin marbles, and recent problems for museums like the Metropolitan and the Getty that knowingly or unknowingly bought stolen goods. The lasting impact of art thefts will be discussed, as well as the way art theft has been interpreted in popular culture and media.
HON 2300: Great Women of Science. Dr. Mark Zelman (Biology), T/TH 1:15-3:00, 4 semester hours, meets General Education "Knowing Our Natural World" requirement.
This seminar examines the rich history of women in science, their contributions to various scientific fields, and current obstacles and challenges women face in science. Discussion topics also include the nature and culture of science, the feminist critiques of science, issues in K-12 and post-secondary science education, and analysis of proposed solutions. This seminar emphasizes critical engagement of a variety of sources, the ability to discuss complex issues, and the ability to write about these issues. The class will create an internet-based resource for women and girls interested in science careers.
HON 2400: Buddhism and the Beat Generation. Dr. Patrick Dunn (English), MWF 9:20-10:25, 4 semester hours, meets General Education "Knowing through Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression A" requirement.
In this course, we will explore the connection between Buddhism and the Beat writers of the 20th century. We will investigate questions such as "What was it about Mahayana Buddhism that appealed to the Beats?" "How did the Beats use ideas and images from Buddhist cultures in their work?" "What influence did the Beats have on the development of American Buddhism?" "How did Buddhist ideas influence the Beats' composition processes?" In pursuit of answers to these questions we will read Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others. We will also read some earlier Buddhist poetry and some texts about Buddhism, especially ones available to the Beats in their heyday. Student work will consist of short writing assignments, and a research project, which they will present orally.
HON 2500: Visual Communication & Commerical Culture. Dr. Matt Kneller (Communication), MWF 10:40-11:45, 4 semester hours, meets General Education "Knowing through Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression B" requirement.
This course will investigate the role that visual imagery in the modern media plays in constructing individual identity and societal ideologies. Special attention will be given to visual media forms such as advertising and comic books. The course will also include several visual production assignments and a primer in graphic design.
HON 2100: Social Media & Cyberculture (offered spring 2010, Dr. Toby Arquette, Communications)
What do we mean by community? How do we encourage, discuss, analyze, understand, design, and participate in healthy communities in the age of many-to-many media? With the advent of virtual communities, smart mobs, and online social networks, old questions about the meaning of human social behavior have taken on renewed significance. Using a variety of online social media simultaneously, drawing upon theoretical literature in a variety of disciplines, and reviewing empirical studies that inform our contemporary understanding of community, this course delves into the discourse about community across disciplines. This course will enable students to understand the kinds of analyses applied by different disciplines to questions about community, to apply methodologies of different disciplines to contemporary questions about media, technology, sociality, and society in a variety of settings, and to establish both theoretical and experiential foundations for making personal decisions and judgments regarding the relationship between mediated communication and human community. Much of the class discussion takes place in a variety of virtual world environments during and between face-to-face class meetings. As a practicum, those who complete this course will know how to chat, blog, tag, wiki, avatar, comment, twitter and flickr productively -- and have some notion of how these social practices affect self and community.
HON 2200: Film Documentary - What is Reality? (offered spring 2010, Dr. Gerald Butters, History)
Documentary films capture reality - or do they? This course will investigate the relationship between history, film, and the construction of reality. Contemporary film theory, popular culture, and postmodernism will be combined in a way to have you reconsider the "truth" of what you see when you watch a documentary on the History channel, HBO or Discovery. Specific units in the course consider archival material and newsreels, the narrative voice in documentary film, the legacy of direct cinema, documentary "journeys," observational reality shows such as docusoaps and reality television, the image of the president of film, performative documentaries and new directions in documentary construction. Students will make a short documentary film by the completion of the course. Films studied may include archives and newsreels of warfare and significant historical events, as well as documentaries of the lives of everyday people. We will examine the phenomenon of "reality TV" as well as look at how the lives and careers of our presidents have been crafted in documentaries about them.
HON 2300: The Chemical World (offered spring 2010, Dr. Michael Marvel, Chemistry)
This course will bring chemical concepts, usually relegated to the abstract, into the real. We will explore the pervasive nature of chemistry in society. Significant attention will be paid to the links between chemistry and numerous aspects of our lives, including medicine, warfare, travel, food, materials, and technology. Major chemical accomplishments, such as the discovery of nuclear fission, anti-HIV drugs, nitrogen fixation, and second harmonic generation, will be considered in the context of their societal impact areas: nuclear warfare, healthcare, agriculture, and technology (i.e. flat-screen televisions), respectively. Students will read and discuss both scientific and literature based concepts of the role of chemistry in everyday life. Field trips and guest speakers are anticipated.
HON 2400: American Transcendentalism (offered spring 2010, Dr. Sara Elliott, English)
This course will examine American Transcendentalism, focusing on major Transcendentalist writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Fuller, with some attention to the lesser known writers such as Bronson Alcott and George Ripley. We will use the texts of these writers to interact with some fundamental quesTtions of human experience, such as: Is there a divine presence in the world? What is the "self"? What is the relationship between humans and nature? How does knowledge work? Where does it come from and how do we test its validity? What is the individual's relationship to society? Is it possible for individuals to transform society? The course will consider the philosophical roots of the movement as a reaction to the ideas of John Locke and an extension of the ideas of Immanuel Kant. We will also study the ways that the historical context of early 19th-century America both shaped and challenged transcendentalist principles. Ultimately we will explore the possibilities and limitations of applying transcendental philosophy today.
HON 2500: American Journeys (offered spring 2010, Dr. Dan Hipp, English)
This course will take an interdisciplinary approach (combining literary, cinematic, historical perspectives) to understanding the American experience. Specifically, the course will be organized around the theme of journeys-physical movement, travels, quests, and exploration throughout American history. We will be studying primarily novels with first-person narrators and some recent cinematic adaptations of the literature. The course will attempt to explore the relationship between the physical journey and the processes of self-discovery experienced by imaginary and real Americans. It will also attempt to represent trends in American history as they are related to conflicts that arise over various people's contested attitudes about definitions of an American homeland or nation. We will try to see how these individualized stories contribute to or challenge the larger myths of the American experience that form part of our cultural heritage and present.
