Spring 2022 Honors Program Course Information

ANTH 2100: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Kate Fischer
This course is an introduction to the discipline of cultural anthropology and the substantive issues, methods, and concepts of the discipline. Cultural anthropology is the study of how human beings organize their lives as members of society, and the ways in which they make their lives meaningful as cultural individuals. This field of study involves encountering, interpreting, and communicating about the human situation in all its variety. Cultural anthropology is a vast discipline with far reaching objectives. Cultural anthropologists study and apply their expertise to many problems worldwide. While we cannot possibly cover the breadth and depth of the discipline during one semester, this course will offer an appreciation and understanding of culture and different ways of thinking about the diversity we encounter in our everyday lives. Therefore, the primary goal of this course is to provide you with the ability to apply an anthropological perspective to understanding how people are influenced by and are part of the historical, social, economic, ecological, and political processes that occur across the globe. It is my hope that this course will instill in you a sense of curiosity about people and cultures around the world, provide you with a set of tools for understanding difference, and offer you a deeper insight into your own experience as a cultural being.

  Classics
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CLAS 1100-880 & 001:  Greek and Roman Mythology
Dimitri Nakassis
This class provides an introduction to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. We will explore traditional tales associated with figures important to the ancient Greeks and Romans (gods and goddesses, nymphs, heroes and heroines, and fearful monsters), as well as modern attempts at theorizing and interpreting these myths (e.g., psychoanalytic, feminist, and structuralist). Because Greek and Roman religion is fundamentally bound up with Greek and Roman mythology, we will spend a good deal of time considering the significance of the divinities to each culture’s thought, imagination, and ritual. Each time a traditional tale was (and is) told, it was (and is) modified in some way. For this reason, as we study mythology this semester, we will frequently ask ourselves 1. who is telling the story and 2. for what purposes is the story being told. This class will thus introduce you to the political and cultural contexts that produced these traditional tales (e.g., the emphasis on autochthony at the height of the Athenian empire). This class will also serve as an introduction to ancient literary genres, like epic, lyric, and tragedy. Our investigation will center mostly on primary sources (e.g., Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, ancient vase painting, Virgil’s Aeneid) but will also include modern movie adaptations of these myths (e.g., Troy and O Brother Where Art Thou) as we consider how these ancient myths live today and what purposes they serve in our world.

  Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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EBIO 1220: General Biology 2
Robert Buchwald
Are humans currently evolving? Should you be concerned about eating genetically modified plants? What, exactly, is a cephalopod? We will answer all these questions and more in EBIO 1220 – a concentrated introduction to evolution, the diversity of life, and ecology & conservation biology. As an honors class, we will also incorporate several outside readings, critical thinking exercises and presentations, such as “Biology in the News,” “Nutrition Myths, Truths & Quackery,” and “Natural Selection Misconceptions.” This course is intended for EBIO (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) majors, other science majors (such as Psychology, Kinesiology, Biochemistry, etc.), as well as other majors for which biology is a requirement. EBIO 1240 (laboratory) is a co-requirement for potential EBIO majors and as specified by your particular major (please see your departmental advisor if you have questions). Students who simply need to satisfy the Natural Sciences core requirement should consider taking EBIO 1030, 1040, & 1050, “Biology—a Human Approach,” which are lecture/lab courses for non-Biology majors. If you have questions about this, please see me or your departmental advisor. Although it is not a pre-requisite, this course assumes that you have taken EBIO 1210 or its equivalent, since lectures in EBIO 1220 often rely on knowledge gained from EBIO 1210. If you have not taken EBIO 1210 or the equivalent or are concerned about your background, please see me.

  English
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ENGL 1800-880: American Ethnic Literatures
Maria Windell
We’ve learned to read and value Ethnic US writing through a resistance framework: how does this story register and protest social injustice and systemic prejudices? When narratives by authors of color don’t fit this framework as we expect, we label their stories complicit with the system. But what if we thought beyond resistance? Scholars argue that “it is a mistake to view black” and Latinx “expressive culture … in terms of resistance” even when it “acknowledges white violence.” How can we think beyond resistance to see the ways Black and Latinx “cultural producers orient themselves toward racial self-affirmation” and other forms of self-expression? We will explore these questions through writings by African American and Latinx authors including Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, N.K. Jemisin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, and Colson Whitehead. [Citations from Koritha Mitchell, From Slave Cabins to the White House.]  For more information, check out the ENGL 1800 flyer.

  Geography
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GEOG 1972-880: Environment-Society Geography 
Abby Hickcox
The goals of this class are to introduce you to the ways in which the field of geography has approached the interaction between the environment and society and to increase your skills in analyzing contemporary environmental issues.  In pursuit of these goals, the class will introduce several perspectives from which to view our relationship with the environment, with an emphasis on the social and political-economic dimensions of human-environment relations.  The study of the environment evokes one of the most profound questions of our times:  What is, and what ought to be, the relationship between humans and the environment?  We will address this question through an examination of selected environmental issues and objects, social responses to environmental change, and different perspectives on how to study the environment.  We will also ask:  How do we understand “nature”?  What drives human modification of the earth, and how do these modifications affect specific groups of people differently?  What kinds of assumptions have led to the creation of certain environmental problems (and for whom are they problems)?  Topics covered include:  population and consumption, environmental hazards, common property, anthropogenic climate change, and food production.  Through this class, you should find that geography offers an integrated way of understanding environment and society that is increasingly useful for addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems.  Formerly GEOG 2412. Meets MAPS requirement for social science: geography.

GEOG 3742-880: Place, Power, and Contemporary Culture
Abby Hickcox
This course takes a geographic approach to place, power, and culture, examining different ways to understand each and how the three relate to each other to shape our society and ourselves.  By the end of course, you will be able to discuss the complexity of culture as a “way of life” and as a lens through which to understand the way we live in our world.  You will see the role of culture in creating a “sense of place,” even while dynamics of globalization move through places, and people move from place to place.  You will develop the tools to analyze spatial inclusion and exclusion as cultural operations of power.  The first part of the course introduces key terms such as culture, place, and globalization.  Part 2 focuses on material culture, the study of how objects shape our lives.  Part 3 introduces space, landscape, and power and explores their relationship with one another.  The final part of the course is devoted to students developing their own case study analyses of culture, place, and power.

HONR 3220‐880: Advanced Honors Writing Workshop
Andrea Feldman
This course introduces honors students to an analysis and argumentation as they are rendered in longer prose forms. As such, the course provides excellent preparation for writing an honors thesis. With the collaboration and thoughtful feedback of your colleagues in class, you will have the opportunity to engage in independent scholarship in your area of expertise. Our informal theme for the semester will be cultural rhetoric. In responding to texts that represent cultural diversity, students will evaluate issues and relate them to their own experiences. Through these readings as well as class discussion of written assignments, students will learn to make reasoned arguments in defense of their own opinions. By examining diverse voices, this course helps students meet the challenges of academic writing. This course will extend your ability to adapt rhetorical strategies and arguments on cultural issues and diversity to address the needs of a range of different audiences and stakeholders. Writing Process and the Workshop Format: The course offers an opportunity to understand writing from the audience or reader perspective by focusing on the peer review of work in progress. Through this approach, you will discover how revision is central to the writing process. Your own writing will be the principal text; we will all work together as a team to improve each paper. We will adopt the attitude that any paper can be improved, and give constructive criticism to everyone. Your job will be to provide oral and written commentary on other students' papers when assigned to do so. Approved for Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum: Written Communication.

  Mathematics
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MATH 2300-880: Calculus 2
Braden Balentine
Details coming soon!

MATH 2510-880:  Introduction to Statistics
Braden Balentine
This is an introductory course in statistics. We will cover some of the fundamental ideas and tools used in statistics. Topics that we will cover include elementary statistical measures, statistical distributions, statistical inference, hypothesis testing and linear regression. We will also go over some of the basics of probability as they are necessary for our understanding of statistics.  Check out the MATH 2510 class flyer here

  Philosophy
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PHIL 2220-880: Philosophy & Law
Brian Talbot
Legal scholars, lawyers, judges, politicians, and citizens largely agree that law is important but that human-made laws are imperfect, and can in fact be deeply flawed.  This raises crucial questions:  what should the law look like, how should it be made, how should it be enforced, and when should agents with important legal roles – police officers, judges, attorneys, citizens – obey the law?  This class will teach you how to start asking and answering these questions for yourself.

  Political Science

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PSCI 2004:  Survey of Western Political Thought
Jeffrey Chadwick
Studies main political philosophies and political issues of Western culture, from antiquity to 20th century.

PSCI 2116:  Introduction to Environmental Policy and Policy Analysis
Jeffrey Chadwick
Details coming soon!

PSCI 3211-880:  Politics of Economic Inequality in US.
Janet Donavan
In this class, we will examine the politics of economic inequality from a variety of angles and perspectives. First, we will read and discuss ideas about whether and when economic inequality is something of concern in a representative democracy. Second, we will seek to understand the level of economic inequality in the United States. We explore disparities in economic well-being by race, ethnicity and gender; issues of intergenerational poverty and economic mobility; and how public policies contribute to and/or alleviate economic inequality.  Third, we examine the relationship between economic inequality and political inequality, looking at how economic disparities affect campaigns and elections, national governance, and the public policies that are adopted by the national government.  Finally, we spend some time looking at economic and political inequality in the current context, with events that are happening or have happened recently.
 
We explore these issues through course readings, lectures, class discussions, online activities, and take-home essay exams. The readings in this class are broad in their scope and often complex. It is very important for students to both complete the readings on time and to come to class and participate. This is an in-person class. Students who are ill nor need to isolate/quarantine will be accommodated with alternate work, but there is no remote option for this course.   

PSYC 1001:  General Psychology
Jennifer Schwartz
How are we able to perceive the world around us? Why do we dream? How does alcohol impact the brain? What makes each individual’s personality unique? Do young children think differently than adults? How do we learn? Are people with psychological disorders dangerous? How do psychologists help people lead richer more fulfilling lives?   This course is designed to address these and other questions by giving you an introduction to the content and methodology of the field of psychology.  It will give you an overview of some of the major sub-disciplines within psychology. It will also expose you to both seminal and cutting-edge research studies within these domains, as well as encourage critical interpretation of research findings. To guide and integrate our exploration, we will focus on several theoretical frameworks and ongoing debates that cut across specific sub-fields and define the study of psychology as a whole. You will be connecting these ideas to your own life by applying class content to the reading, listening, watching, interacting, and experiencing you do every day.  The goals of this course are to stimulate you to further explore the field of psychology and to provide a foundation of knowledge and critical thinking skills that will benefit your academic, career, and personal paths, whatever they may be.

PSYC 3303-880:  Abnormal Psychology
Jennifer Schwartz
This course provides an introduction to the field of abnormal psychology:  the scientific study of abnormal behavior.  The class will provide a survey of mental disorders, including clinical presentation, major etiological theories (biological, psychological, and psychosocial approaches), and the most widely used and empirically supported approaches to treatment.  We will also discuss relevant research. You will be encouraged to think about not only what we know about abnormal behavior, but also what we don’t know.  We will tackle some of the major controversial issues and unresolved questions that psychologists face as they seek to better understand, prevent, and treat mental disorders.  While the course emphasizes a critical thinking and scientific approach to the understanding of abnormal behavior, it also aims to provide students with a rich understanding of the human experience of psychopathology, enabling all of us to be more empathic toward, and inclusive of, those who struggle with mental illness and their friends and loved ones. Thus, an additional theme of the course is to explore the stigma surrounding mental illness, and how it can be exacerbated and/or eliminated. To these ends, the class will culminate with presentations in which students analyze a portrayal of mental illness found in popular culture (recent selections include Kanye West, the main character, Rebecca, in the television show, “Crazy Ex Girl Friend,” and “The Bachelor” franchise).  Requisites: Requires a prerequisite course of PSYC 1001 (minimum grade of C-)

  Russian
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RUSS 3241-880: Red Star Trek: Russian Science Fiction Between Utopia and Dystopia
Natalia Plagmann
In this course we will study a selection of some of the best Eastern European science fiction literature and film. While focusing on the works created in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we will also contextualize Eastern European utopian/dystopian imagination with the help of earlier philosophical as well as literary texts and examine most recent post-socialist utopian political and ecological dreams. Many visionary ideas on technology and space exploration, on the human desire and ability to transcend space and time were first articulated by science fiction writers. How do we imagine and describe the future of humanity? What are the consequences of space conquest? Is communication with alien life forms possible? This course explores these ideas and provides a unique insight into the diverse world of science fiction from Russia and Eastern Europe. The books and films selected for this course are famous in Russian and Eastern European cultures, yet are little known to American readers, even to avid sci-fi fans. All readings are in English. Taught in English.  Check out the RUSS 3241-880 flyer.

  Sociology
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SOCY 1006: Social Construction of Sexuality
Ali Hatch
This is an introductory course on the sociology of sexuality. As opposed to thinking of human sexuality as the inevitable expression of biological instincts or drives, we will use a social constructionist framework to explore the ways in which we as a society create our sexual reality. Throughout the course we will explore the construction of sexual orientation and gender as they impact our cultural and individual understandings of sexuality. Additionally, we will examine the roles institutions and individuals play in creating and maintaining sexual hierarchies and policing sexual choices.  

SOCY 3314-880: Violence Against Women and Girls
Ali Hatch
This course is an overview of gender-based violence. We will analyze the political and cultural structures that perpetuate gendered violence, and explore how gendered violence intersects with race, class, and sexuality. This course focuses on violence against women and girls, and the relationship between gender inequality and violence. Specifically, utilizing a feminist sociological lens, this course will cover various manifestations of gender violence, including (but not limited to): hate crimes motivated by trans and homophobia, rape and sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, pornography, and femicide.

  Women & Gender Studies
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WGST 2600-880: Gender, Race, and Class in a Global Context
Kate Fischer
This introductory course examines how constructions of gender, race, and class are structurally determined and lived through in today’s global society. It applies an interdisciplinary perspective to identify how history, politics, culture, economics, and social life converge with and shape the way gender, race, and class are understood. While the course primarily focuses on women, it is impossible to ignore how race and class articulate with ideas about gender and how these socially determined characteristics form a triad for identity construction and subjectivities. The goal of this class is to create awareness of the contemporary inequities that plague our global society and develop a critical understanding of how forms of privilege and exclusion based on gender, race, and class are written about, comprehended, and contended with. To that end, we will read a novel, a graphic novel, and two academic books as well as a number of scholarly articles during the course.