IDIS
280-451 (HONR 111 LLC Students) "The Seven Deadly Sins"
HONR 112: Issues in Social Sciences: Alternate Edens: A History of
Gardens
HONR 112: Issues in Social Sciences:
The City: A Cultural History of Urban Spaces
HONR 112: Issues in Social
Sciences: Sports, Media, and Culture
HONR 212: Issues in Natural
Sciences: Darwinism, Then and Now
HONR 212:
Issues in Natural
Sciences: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Solar System
HONR 311:
Interdisciplinary
Seminar: Mediating the Fifties & Sixties:
Mad Men as Cultural History
HONR 311: Interdisciplinary
Seminar: Utopia Meets Reality: Russian Revolutions Through Literature
HONR 311: Interdisciplinary
Seminar: “Mother and Maids; Queens and Lusty Dames”: A History of Women
in Early Modern Europe
HONR 311: Interdisciplinary
Seminar: Modern Corporation
HONR 311: Interdisciplinary
Seminar: Environmental Spirituality in Japan
HONR 312 Honors
Research/Creative Project
HONR 490 Honors Thesis
Preparation
HONR 495
Honors Thesis
HONR
496 Honors Thesis Consult
Honors
Outcome Portfolio
Check out the links
at the bottom of the page to find
the courses from previous
semesters!
IDIS 280-451 (meant for Honors 111 LLC students)
“The Seven Deadly Sins”
Dr. Charlotte England
Time: 5-6:00 PM
Not
really meant as a primer on how to commit them, this class will meet
once a week over tea and biscuits to discuss classic short fiction that
asks insightful questions about enduring aspects of human behavior and
relationships. Spend time with Somerset Maugham, Margaret Atwood, Aldous
Huxley, Edith Wharton, Rudyard Kipling, Honoré de Balzac, Anton Chekov
and a host of other fabulous writers. Fascinating reading, thought
provoking conversations and sugar - Dr. C. England is looking forward
to sharing these with members of this year’s Honors 111 LLC.
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Issues in Social Sciences:
Alternate Edens: A History Of Gardens
HONR
112.041 MW 3:00-4:15PM
Dr.
Charlotte England
Gardens are
archetypal places rich in cultural associations and connected to many of
the main forces of history. This class will be a conversation about the
ways in which men (and a few women) have tried to shape the earth into
statements of power or philosophy, expressions of beauty, explorations
of beliefs, dreams and fears or consolations for the fragility of
existence. On a philosophical level we will ask why gardens are built
and how they reflect attitudes to nature. As historians we will examine
the ways gardens fit into power structures, exploit particular
environmental conditions and assist developments in the history of
science. We will discuss the relations between real gardens and their
literary counterparts, pausing to consider how designers have turned
land into text. As we approach the twentieth century we will touch on
ecology, genetic modification and the native plants movement. Expect to
spend the semester looking at the world in ways you have never thought
of doing before and to do a little time on your knees in a campus
garden.
Satisfies a Gen Ed Group IIIB Social Science Requirement
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Issues in Social Sciences:
The City: A Cultural History of Urban Spaces
HONR 112.042 TR 11:00-12:15PM
Dr.
Charlotte England
Cities are
complex human and architectural phenomena that have captured the
imaginations of artists and shaped the identities of inhabitants for
centuries. In this class we will look at the city as a geographical
reality, a cultural ideal and an environmental challenge/opportunity.
Expect to investigate a range of real and imagined cities from Medieval
poetry about the heavenly Jerusalem to the hellish realities of
industrial centers in Victorian England. We will spend time considering
that most iconic of American cities, New York, and leave town in the
wake of the great suburban migrations of the twentieth century with the
irascible James Kunstler as our guide. Along the way we will delve into
the history of urban planning, talk about architecture and the way it
shapes the human experience, and ask ourselves why Dorothy, from Middle
of Nowhere, Kansas has to go to the Emerald City in order to discover
that there is, in fact, “no place like home.” Come along for the ride
(imaginatively, and literally – there will be field trips) to develop a
new appreciation for the problems and the potential that are the urban
experience.
Satisfies a Gen Ed Group IIIB Social Science Requirement
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Issues in Social Sciences:
Sports, Media, and Culture
HONR 112.151 W 7:00-9:45PM
Dr.
Haven Simmons
The course examines sports as a microcosm of our culture
and society, with significant emphasis upon media coverage and
portrayals. Race and gender are among the cultural elements germane to
the growth and popularity of sports in America. Interest and
participation in sports is uniquely pervasive in the United States,
prompting local, regional, national and global coverage by an astounding
array of media. Students weigh the benefits of sports, such as healthy
competition and building community, against allegations they have been
glamorized unjustly in an entertainment culture. Sports are studied from
ancient times, through the Penny Press, baseball and industrialization
of the 1800's, the advent of broadcasting in the 20th century, and the
extraordinary venues, salaries and media outlets of today.
Satisfies a Gen Ed Group IIIB Social Science Requirement
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Issues in Natural Sciences:
Darwinism, Then and Now
HONR 212.041 TR 2:00-3:15
Dr.
Richard England
Since the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859,
scientists, philosophers, and public intellectuals have explored and
argued about the radical implications of Charles Darwin’s theory of
evolution. Today, essays, research reports, and popular debates still
draw inspiration from Darwin’s work, and often echo the controversies
that first sounded in Victorian lecture halls and laboratories. In this
course we will learn the foundations of modern evolutionary theory by
reading key texts by Darwin and his scientific heirs, and comparing them
to modern treatments of key issues in evolutionary theory: the tempo and
mode of evolution, speciation, adaptation, and the role of development
and inheritance. We will also explore the continuities and
discontinuities in controversies about science, particularly with regard
to questions of design and the evolution of humans.
Satisfies a Gen Ed Group IVB Natural Science Requirement
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Issues in Natural Sciences:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Solar System
HONR 212.142 MWF 1:00-1:50 PM
Dr.
Joseph Howard
Our place in space is much more interesting than most
anyone realizes, full of awe inspiring vistas, hugely energetic events,
and fascinatingly home to living organisms that are able to explore,
ponder, and theorize about all the natural phenomena around them. Let’s
take a journey to some of the most powerful, mysterious, and beautiful
places in our solar system. Touring the solar system can provide us with
imagined opportunities to go mountain biking down the Tharsis volcanoes
and hang gliding off the sheer cliffs of Valles Marineris on Mars,
glacier hunting in the braided rings of Saturn, swimming through the
terrifyingly toxic atmosphere of Venus, or just patiently hanging out
with deep thoughts in the blue-green clouds of a gas giant watching a
42
year sunset.
Are you interested? Of course you are. But, Don’t Panic! The
Hitchhiker’s Guide will start with current theories on the nature,
formation, and evolution of the sun and solar system, make stops at each
planet and many moons, while pausing along the way to examine any
interesting chunk of debris so that we can hop, skip, and randonnée
across our local neighborhood of space and time. Once the course is
finished, you will hopefully gain a perspective on your life, the
universe, and everything. Oh, and don’t forget your towel on this mostly
harmless adventure.
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Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Mediating the Fifties & Sixties:
Mad Men as Cultural History
HONR 311.151 R 6:00-8:45 PM
Dr. James Burton
This course will use the AMC show, Mad Men (2007-), to
interrogate the cultural history of late-1950s/early-1960s. Of
particular focus will be the realities and representations of the era's
cultural and social movements and developments, such as consumerism,
feminism, civil rights, the beats, and other associated collective
memories. In addition to the series, we will look at the era's
literature, film and music, as well as its sociological and political
texts. Ultimately, we will question Mad Men's veracity, its
significance, and its cultural impact.
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Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Utopia Meets Reality: Russian Revolutions Through Literature
HONR 311.042 TR 9:30-10:45 AM
Dr. Greg Cashman
We can learn much about the Soviet Union from Russian
writers who have struggled to tell the story of the great
transformations wrought by Lenin and Stalin (and Gorbachev). This course
will attempt to explore the philosophical aspects of Marxist socialism,
the attempt to “build socialism” in Russia, the “messiness” and
brutality of revolution and its social, cultural, economic and political
results by examining some of the great works of Russian fiction, poetry,
biography and film.
In our journey through the tumultuous world of Russian
politics, we will focus on two propositions: (1) Revolutionaries are by
their very nature visionary “maximalists” who wish to impose a utopian
vision of the future on the present with a limited understanding (or
care) for how this will happen in reality. Revolutions are giant leaps
into the unknown, and they often have unintended consequences. (2) The
revolutionary “experiment” has life-changing effects – socially,
culturally, psychologically, politically, economically -- on those real
people who are the subjects of this great experiment. Life goes on. But
merely attending to mundane daily life under these extreme conditions
frequently takes on aspects of the heroic or the absurd.
The reading list for this class will include Boris Pasternak’s
Doctor Zhivago,
a love story set amid the turbulence of WWI, the Russian Revolutions and
the subsequent Civil War. Perhaps the greatest of all the works of this
period is Mikhail Bulgakov’s
The Master and Margarita,
a true fantasy masterpiece, in which the devil and his demonic retinue
pay a visit to Moscow in 1920, with disastrous and comic results. We
will also read Bulgakov’s short story,
Heart of a Dog,
which involves a revolutionary experiment to turn a dog into a man;
Yevgeny Zamiatin’s novella
We,
a science fiction story of a futuristic “dystopia” that was the model
for George Orwell’s
1984;
the truly breathtaking
Journey into the Whirlwind,
the story of a woman’s journey through Stalin’s gulag; Anna Akhmatova’s
famous
Requiem,
a poem so
emotional that it cannot be read without tears of outrage; and Vladimir
Voinovich’s
The Fur Hat,
an outrageous satirical look at Communist bureaucracy. Films will
include the Soviet classic,
The Battleship Potemkin,
and two Oscar winning films,
Doctor Zhivago
and
Burnt by the Sun.
Familiarity with Russian politics or history is not necessary.
Satisfies a Gen Ed IB Literature Requirement
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Interdisciplinary Seminar:
“Mother and Maids; Queens and Lusty Dames”:
A History of Women in Early Modern Europe
HONR 311.150 T 6:00-8:45 PM
Dr. Kristin Walton
This course examines the gender roles of women during the
early modern period and addresses an interesting question often asked by
historians: can we detect change in the early modern period, or do the
years 1500-1800 portray general continuity from the medieval ages?
During the Early Modern Period, fascinating historical events occurred,
from the Printing Press to the Discovery of the New World to the French
Revolution. Traditionally, the story of this age has been told through
the eyes of men, ignoring over fifty percent of the contemporary
population. Many women were kept like “birds in their houses, not
suffered to fly abroad”, but women still played an important role in all
aspects of early modern society. In many ways, the Early Modern Period
sets the stage for the story of women in the United States during the
19th and 20th centuries. In addition, by looking at women of all levels
of society and in western Europe across “national” divides, this course
will give the students great insight into the different ways woman has
been constructed through the ages. As women are now allowed to partake
of the “refreshing rain of good education”, it is best that some of that
education looks at women themselves: how their gender roles were forged
through the ages, the various masks they would wear, the thoughts they
would think, and the attitudes men held toward them.
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Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Modern Corporation
HONR 311.152 T 7:00-9:45 PM
Dr. Bob Wood & Dr. Memo Diriker
This course
will examine 21st Century Corporate America in its historical,
socio-economical, and ethical contexts. Senior executives from major
corporations will regularly join the course instructors to guide
students through a variety of mini projects, essays, in-class debates,
online discussions, and a major semester project. Students will be
encouraged to learn about, and explore in-depth, different industry
perspectives, different societal imperatives, and different schools of
thought in business and management.
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Winter Term: Study Abroad
Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Environmental Spirituality in Japan
HONR 311.901, TBA
Dr.
Joan Maloof
This class centers on the religious and environmental
significance, both contemporary and historical, of the 1000 year old
Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route in the Kii Mountains of Wakayama
Prefecture. A World Heritage Site, the trail is cared for by the
Japanese government, as well as by the many villages and small towns
through which the pilgrims walk. Shingon Buddhism, the religious view
developed by Kukai, advocates that the world—both in its sentient and
insentient forms—is the expression of divine Buddha mind. The Shingon
tradition, a Japanese form of esoteric Buddhism, continues to exist in
close alliance with Shinto traditions predating Buddhism’s introduction
into Japan. The class includes five days of hiking on the Kumano Kodo
Pilgrimage Route and visits to sites with religious, environmental and
historical significance in the Kii mountains. Hundreds of temples and
shrines are located along the pilgrimage route, which crosses a rural
landscape of waterfalls, cedar forests, mountain ridges, vegetable
farms, orange groves, tea fields, and clear rivers winding through
narrow valleys. On the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route, students will stay
overnight in a series of small inns open to walkers of the pilgrimage
trail. These inns offer traditional meals and baths, in one case fed by
a hot spring. At Koyasan, students will stay overnight in a Buddhist
temple. During their time off the trail, students will be lodged in a
hotel in Wakayama City. Each student has also been invited by the
Prefecture of Wakayama into a Japanese home for an overnight
stay. Students write daily in a personal pilgrimage journal reflecting
upon questions raised by readings, conversations, walking and
visitations. Dr. Kumi Kato, a professor of Environmental Studies at
Wakayama University serves as the assistant instructor for this course.
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HONORS RESEARCH/CREATIVE PROJECT
HONR 312
Dr.
Jay Carlander
Honors students complete a research
or creative project in a 300-400 level course of their choosing (this
does not have to be an honors course) and will present their research or
creative project at a public symposium or conference.
One
credit, pass/fail.
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HONR 490 HONORS THESIS PREPARATION
Dr.
Jay Carlander
With
the guidance of the Honors Program Director, students consider thesis
topics and possible mentors in their major. They do preliminary
research on their topic and write a prospectus (which must be approved
by their committee) describing what they hope to accomplish in their
thesis. In addition to meeting as necessary with their mentor, students
will meet together regularly with the Honors program liaison to discuss
progress and problems.
One
credit, pass/fail.
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HONR 495-041 HONORS THESIS
Dr.
Jay Carlander
The
Honor thesis is a three or four credit, focused, in-depth project in
one's major field. What distinguishes an Honors thesis from a research
paper in a regular classroom is the willingness of the student to go
beyond the classroom and to assume the responsibilities associated with
commitment to scholarship.
Prerequisite: Completion of HONR 490
Corequisite: HONR 496-041
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HONR 496-041 HONORS THESIS CONSULT
Dr.
Jay Carlander
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HONORS OUTCOME PORTFOLIO
Required of all students as of Fall 2007 (under the new curriculum),
you need to locate your electronic portfolio on the K drive and start
filling it with papers from your Honors classes. In it, you can also
reflect upon your growth as a campus citizen in three of the following
areas (Athletics, Community Service and Outreach, Culture and Diversity,
International Study, Language Proficiency, and Leadership). Get busy
and get doing!
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The following links
take you to previous course brochures:
Fall 2011
Spring 2011
Fall 2010
Spring 2010
Fall 2009
Spring 2009
