Honors Seminar Descriptions



HON 200A - Civic Engagement in a Global Society
Dr. Mary Slade, Department of Exceptional Education

Citizens are the individuals working to be the change in the life of a community.  An engaged citizen has the ability, skills, values, and motivation to make a difference in the quality of life in local, national, and global communities.  Upon studying contemporary issues engaged citizens take the community action.  Therefore, civic engagement encompasses the individual or collective actions of citizens designed to identify and address issues of public concern.  This seminar provides opportunities for students to combine their intellectual pursuits across disciplines with service-learning and civil discourse, thereby raising their voices and empowering them to become engaged participants in tomorrow's global society.

 

HON 200B - Myth and Meaning
Dr. Kate Kessler, School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication

Myth and Meaning will explore the power of myth by examining the myths of various cultures and times and looking at the archetypes common among them.  We will investigate some of the big questions:  "How do myths reflect culture?", "How do myths shape cultures?", "How do myths help to explain the unknown and give humans a feeling of power and control?", "How do myths give life meaning?", "How do myths affect human behavior?"

 

HON 200D - Game Theory
Dr. Scott Stevens, Computer Information Systems and Management Science

This course will look at many different kinds of games: games of pure competition and games that involve a cooperative component, games with only two players and games involving many players, games with simultaneous decisions and games with sequential ones, games with secrets and games in which all information is public, games with chance and games without.  The course applies basic principles and a minimum of mathematics to real-world situations applicable to any discipline.  No pre-requisite is required.


HON 200F - Astrobiology:  Search for Life on Other Worlds
Mr. Hugh T. Daughtrey, Department of Computer Science

Astrobiology is the scientific study of the origin, development, and distribution of life in the universe.  This study brings together historically separate scientific fields such as microbiology, ecology, astronomy, geology, paleontology, and chemistry. It considers the most fundamental questions science can pose:  What is life?   Where and how would you look for life on other worlds?   What would you do if you found life?  These questions have been asked for generations, but only recently have we had the knowledge and the technology to address them from a scientific perspective. This course will provide a foundation to the quest for extraterrestrial life.



HON 200G - Multicultural Awareness
Dr. Karen Evans, Department of English

Critical Race Theory and Diaspora Studies ground this seminar.  U.S. borders studies and post-colonial scholarships are, necessarily, integral and coalescing foundations of the course.  Double consciousness, mobility, hybridity, revision, "third space," histories of coalition-building and transnational diasporic connections are aspects of the lectures, readings, films and presentations for consideration of race, class, and gender in America.

 

HON 200I - American Indian Studies
Dr. Karen Evans, Department of English

American Indian Studies examines the cultures and histories of American Indians in North America from contact to the present.  The primary focus is on contemporary issues:  literature, Indian activist movements, spirituality, politics, arts, education, reservation life, economics, government relations, Indian organizations, Indian-White relations, legal issues, land rights, community concerns and additional topics of interest. The coursework will address the political, cultural, legal and military relationships that developed between American Indians and the American government



HON 200M - Evolution, Human Nature and Morality
Dr. Steven Keffer, Department of Biology

The starting assumption of this class will be that human beings have been fashioned by natural, evolutionary processes.  What does the evidence from evolutionary evidence tell us about human nature and morality?  Students will actively apply this knowledge to diagnose and propose solutions for some of the serious problems facing humankind.

 


HON 200X - Biology in the Movies
Dr. Chris Rose, Department of Biology

Advances in genetics and development biology allow scientists to manipulate genes, cells, and embryos in ways that increasingly challenge traditional concepts of human identity and could permanently alter the structure of human society.  At the same time, media bombard the public with science-based entertainment that is timely, engaging, and at some level credible to an increasingly savvy and demanding audience.  This course explores the intersection of these trends by addressing how popular culture presents science in movies and the potential costs of its misrepresentation.  Topics include human cloning, genetic engineering, origin and evolution of humans, and artificial and extraterrestrial intelligence.



HON 200Y - African Language and Storytelling
Mr. Joe Opala, History Department

About 1/3 of the world's languages are spoken in Africa.  This course offers a window into African languages and storytelling by focusing on the Krio language of Sierra Leone.  Krio is an English-based Creole language, meaning that it combines elements of English and African languages.  You will learn to read and interpret Krio stories.  You will also learn the rich history of this language and the people who speak it.


 

HON 200Z - History of Slavery
Mr. Joe Opala, History Department

In this seminar, students will read and discuss four recent studies of the history of New World slavery.  These works cover every aspect of slave history from the European political and economic matrix of the Atlantic slave trade to the operation of the slave trade on the African coast, to the infamous Middle Passage to plantation slavery in the Americas to the distinctive contributions Africans made to New World civilization.

 

HON 300P - African American Folk Culture Through Film
Mr. Joe Opala, History Department

The Gullah people of coastal South Carolina and Georgia have preserved more of their African cultural heritage than any other black community in the U.S.  This course explores Gullah history and culture through film.  Each week you will see a documentary film exploring the Gullahs' African-derived language, music, religion, crafts, foodways, and farming, and the efforts of Gullah people to preserve their traditional culture in the modern world.



HON 300U - Writing and Human Development
Dr. Kate Kessler, School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication

The Writing and Human Development will examine ways writing has evolved as a uniquely human endeavor. We will examine how literacy has affected human thought and behavior.  We will explore the shift from orality to literacy, the development of pre- and proto-writing, functions and forms of writing, and development of writing technologies.  At each stage in the history of writing, we will examine ways literacy is both a product and an enhancement of our sapient selves.  The Writing and Human Development seminar is multi-disciplinary, and will examine issues through historical, technological, psychological, anthropological perspectives.

The Writing and Human Development will be conducted as a seminar course. A seminar is a group of advanced students studying with a professor who facilitates discussions.  Each student engages in original research and shares results through a presentation.  This seminar will challenge each student to actively participate in the learning process.


HON 300W - A Women's Colloquium
Dr. Karen Evans, Department of English

The Colloquium examines contemporary women's issues in America, bringing attention to the experiences, contributions, and special concerns of women in many walks of life.  The seminar is multidisciplinary, featuring presentations by class members and guest lecturers.  Topics include Constitutional law, psychology, justice and sexuality, cultural values, health, the workforce, religion, reproductive rights, and the feminization of poverty.



HON 301 - Nuclear Age, The:  Living with the Genie
Dr. Bill Ingham, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Nuclear weapons and controlled nuclear power reactors were first constructed during and soon after World War II. Among today's population, only those who were born before the dawn of the nuclear age are senior citizens.  This seminar aims to help undergraduates learn some "nuclear history", understand our present circumstances, and assess future challenges and prospects.  Restricted to sophomore standing or higher.  NO SPECIFIC BACKGROUND IN SCIENCE IS ASSUMED.



HON 302 - A Taste of the Appalachian Trail
Dr. Kate Kessler, School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication

Seminar participants will have the opportunity to experience living on and studying the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.  Participants will be able to experience both group and solo hikes, and will be able to meet both group and individual members of its unique community.  We will hike and camp on pre-designated sections.  Section hikers, thru-hikers--both GAME (Georgia (GA) to Maine (ME) ) and MEGA (Maine (ME) to Georgia (GA) ), ridge runners, and trail angels will provide us with a deeper understanding of the rich diversity of Virginia's Appalachian Trail-its geography, its anthropology, its history, and its future.  The opportunity to study and hike sections of the Trail will offer participants new and different perspectives of the National Park and the "long, linear" community known as the Appalachian Trail.

 

HON 303 - Caribbean Literature and Culture
Dr. Michelle Smith-Bermiss, Department of English

This course explores a rich variety of contemporary Caribbean cultural productions: from history, to novels and poetry, to song and film.  We aren't just filling in small spaces on a map: we can construct an increasingly "textured" sense of a place and people by blending popular culture with more formal representations.  This approach is both a perspective and a skill, both of which may prove useful as globalization reshapes the 21st century world.

The main focus of the seminar will be a multifaceted exploration of the social, political and historical forces that have shaped the cultures of four larger Caribbean nations-Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti and Cuba-and the three smaller ones of St. Lucia, Barbados and Martinique.  This course will both delineate the differences between and outline the commonalities among these territories.  The seminar will also examine particularly Caribbean struggles with political and cultural colonialism, and how these interlock with thematic representations of home, exile and trans-nationalism.  We will also concern ourselves with the authors'/ artists' representations of universal struggles with gender and sexuality, as well as race and class.  Finally, we will focus on the degree to which international recognition, from American Grammys to the Nobel Prize (among other literary awards), has played a role in successful promotion of Caribbean culture and people on the world stage.