Honors Curriculum

Below are brief course descriptions for the Summer 2012 University Honors (UH) classes.  Refer to WINGS Express via the WINGS portal for a complete listing of Honors courses, including days, times, and locations.

SUMMER 2012

UH 201-B01 Latin American Travel Literature (Bonch Reeves)
This class includes a study abroad experience in Costa Rica. Please contact instructor Ksenia Bonch Reeves for more information. (UH 201 is a General Education Area IV Human Expression course substitution.)

UH 400-C90 Government and Science Fiction (Morrisette)
This web-only course will examine the relationship between citizens and their government. Science fiction writers, because of the genre in which they produce their works, are often very adept at taking political ideas to their ultimate - and often unforeseen - conclusions. Thus, through the medium of the science fiction story, students will examine various areas of government and politics, including, but not limited to:

• Citizenship - the privileges and responsibilities of the citizen
• Equality - the meaning of equality and the responsibilities of government
• Franchise - to whom should the right to vote be granted
• Dissent - under what circumstances and in what manner may citizens express their dissent
• Police Power - the use of government force
  

FALL 2012 - Watch for updates!

UH 2010-01 Travel Literature (Rubin)
This is a course about travel and a course about literature: the literature that people write inspired by their travels. Travel literature is often misunderstood and often not taken seriously by the mainstream literati: in this course students will define, examine, analyze, and interpret the writings of travelers. They will become travel writers themselves, composing a piece of travel literature based on their own previous travels. The course is a seminar, which means that active participation in class discussions is absolutely required and expected. (UH 2010 satisfies the Arts/Humanities Element in the Core curriculum.)

UH 2010-02 Poetry for Non-English Majors (Blakelock)

UH 2020-01 Search for Community (Eguaroje)
This social science course delves into the importance and relevance of community in a modern world. Class community studies are reviewed and used as the basis for discussions, role playing exercises, and a case study. Students will collectively author a course product: a mini-community study of a nearby small town. This course will be conducted in a seminar format, enhanced by multi-media presentations and films. (UH 2020 satisfies the Social Science Element in the Core curriculum.)

UH 2020-90 Decision Making (Morrisette)
Decision making is an integral part of our daily lives, ranging from the relatively simple--shall I have Coke or coffee?--to the complex and seemingly insoluble--how can we reduce the rate of violent crime in the U.S.? Regardless of one's area of interest or expertise, difficult decisions must be made. This course provides an introduction to the concepts of decision theory, systems analysis, and rational analytic techniques of decision making, as well as an exploration of non-rational theory and processes. Students will analyze the process and the assumptions that underlie the process from several viewpoints and disciplines: rationality, incrementalism, analytical reasoning, and complexity and chaos. (UH 2020 satisfies the Social Science Element in the Core curriculum.)

UH 4000-01 Politics of the 1960s (Leonard)

UH 4000-02 Flat World and the U.S. Education System (Helms)
The complexities of the U.S. educational system are many. There are no shortcuts, no utopias, no silver bullets, and no magic feathers that will enable elephants to fly. This course will examine current educational issues and reform measures as proposed by intellectuals such as Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria, Diane Ravitch, and Linda Darling-Hammon. Students will investigate the topic from the perspectives of U.S. and world history, culture and sociology, geography, economics, government and citizenship, psychology, science and technology, and globalization.

UH 4000-03 Politics and the Novel (Crews/Funderburk)
Students will examine and critique the political themes found in works of selected modern authors' writings about politics. "Politics" is defined broadly to include social roles, activism, political awareness, power, government, and conflict at the individual, institutional, and international levels.

UH 4000-04 History vs. Hollywood (Sayer)

Refer to WINGS Express via the WINGS portal for a complete, up-to-date listing of Honors sections, including days, times, and locations.

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