Summer 2 Term (May 14-June 22)
IDS 3932 (Team-Taught): Honors The Festival in History and Anthropology (Dr. Rachel Corr, Associate Professor of Anthropology; and Dr. Chris Ely, Associate Professor of History), 3 credits
Who participates in festivals and why? What is it that’s happening when a group of people engage in collective hysteria? Who controls festivals? How do different sectors of society experience the same event? This course examines the meanings of festivals in particular historical and cultural contexts. We explore theories about the nature of festivity and celebration as they relate to social structure and social change, periods of political stability and rebellion, and class, race, and gender relations. We explore questions as to whether festivals reinforce the existing social structure or encourage change.
Summer 3 Term (June 25-August 7)
IDS 2931 (Team-taught): Honors The Meaning of Food (Dr. Amy McLaughlin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy; and Dr. Jacqueline Fewkes, Associate Professor of Anthropology), 3 credits
Are you vegan, omnivorous, carnivorous? Do you keep halal or kosher? Are these defining choices—that is, is it true that "you are what you eat"? How do we decide what counts as food? What values do we express by our interactions with food and what are their social significance(s)? In this course we will explore various issues relating to food from both philosophical and anthropological perspectives, using classic texts as well as popular sources. Students will be encouraged to become more aware of the food choices they make, and the socio-cultural values and ideas they are supporting through those choices.
AMH 3630: Honors U.S. Environmental History (Dr. Chris Strain, Associate Professor of History and American Studies), 3 credits
U.S. history may be characterized by the “taming” and “civilizing” of the American landscape in the interest of creating a Euro-American vision of paradise. Only in the last few decades of the nation’s history have Americans begun to slow their rampant destruction of the natural landscape and re-evaluate their notions of progress and paradise. This course, which surveys all of U.S. history in a single term, examines the basic issues and sources for understanding the historical interaction of humans with the natural environment of North America since European settlement. Interdisciplinary in nature, it provides an overview of U.S. environmental history that engages not only historical inquiry but also geography, ecology, conservation, land use, politics, government, law, economics, cultural values, societal norms, and traditions.
SPN 1120: Honors Beginning Spanish Language and Culture 1 (Dr. Carmen Cañete-Casada, Assistant Professor of Spanish), 4 credits
This is a first semester course designed for beginners with no prior knowledge of Spanish. The course will develop your ability to communicate in Spanish through listening and speaking, reading and writing. You will acquire a wide range of essential vocabulary, practice your pronunciation with a native professor from Spain, conjugate verbs to convey current and past events, and obtain cultural information through readings and oral presentations. At the end of the semester, you will have acquired a solid foundation in Spanish and should be more than prepared to communicate with Spanish speakers at a basic level.
LIT 1051: Honors Comedy and the Devil (Dr. Michael Harrawood, Associate Professor of English), 3 credits
This course will examine comedy and laughter in the context of the Western religious and intellectual traditions. As the course title suggests, laughter and comedy are problems for Christian theology, especially in the middle ages and early modern period. But there is also a tradition within European intellectual history that rejects the comic as a low and belittling art form. Perhaps more importantly, the comedic can be malevolent: we laugh at the sorrows of others. The French poet Baudelaire says laughter is the voice of the Satanic in the human heart. In this course we will read a number of different texts and will view several films that will allow us to consider the meaning of comedy and laughter inherited by our own times.
BSC 4930: Biology of Fishes (Dr. Jon Moore, Professor of Biology) is cancelled
CHM 1025*: Honors Introductory Chemistry (Dr. Michelle Ivey, Assistant Professor of Chemistry), 3 credits
Are you a future science major who doesn’t feel prepared for General Chemistry? A non-science major looking for a class to fulfill one of the Honors College Natural Science core requirements? Someone who wants to know why we celebrate Mole Day on October 23rd? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this class is for you! This course is designed for students who have little or no chemistry background, though students should be proficient in algebra. We will examine basic scientific and chemical principles, and apply them to real-world applications like cooking, crime solving, reality television, understanding how light bulbs work, and more.
ECO 1933*: Honors Freshman Seminar in Economics: Contemporary Controversies (Dr. Keith Jakee, Associate Professor of Economics), 3 credits
This course consists of a series of modules, each focusing on a contemporary controversy in society. We will examine the causes and consequences of these controversies, especially as they involve economic theory and policy. A wide variety of topics will be covered, including, among others: an increasingly globalized world, the economics of US drug policy, the 2008–09 financial meltdown, the US housing crisis, the debate over US government indebtedness (and the origins of the Tea Party), Europe's financial crisis and the threat to the EU, the rise of China, the economics of global warming, wealth inequality in the United States, increasing generational inequality, the potential crisis in capitalism, problems with anti-price gouging laws and other price fixing regulations.
MAC 1147*: Honors Pre-calculus (Dr. Warren McGovern, Assistant Professor of Mathematics), 4 credits
This course discusses those topics from Trigonometry and Algebra that are essential for a student to succeed in an Honors Calculus course. If taking it for the first time or looking for a review this course will prepare you for future courses in mathematics.
*Transitions courses: These courses may be of special interest to students admitted into the Honors College for Fall 2012 who want a jump start on their Core requirements. They are: CHM 1025, ECO 1933, and MAC 1147.
Note that students should be prepared for the contingency that a course may be cancelled if there is insufficient enrollment on the first day that the course meets. Minimum enrollment for team-taught courses is 18 and all other courses is 10.
|
