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Honors Courses
HONORS 101 Honors First-year Seminar +
Description:
This course addresses directly, in an introductory fashion, questions of how knowledge is created and communicated in a variety of situations: within academic disciplines, in different cultures, and under changing social and technological conditions. Concrete exercises allow students to explore their own creativity in relation to the opportunities and constraints posed by such situations. Individual instructors may introduce a central topic or theme as well. All sections provide focused instruction in active reading, convincing writing, critical thinking, and oral performance. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 210G Honors Intermediate Seminar +
Description:
The Honors College Intermediate Seminar shares the attributes of university-wide intermediate seminars in its attention to developing analytical reading and writing skills, cultivating critical thinking, guiding students to learn how to synthesize material from two or more sources to support an argument, and leading them to understand and practice that writing is a process of revision, with each draft helping the student to gain increasing confidence and ability to articulate and express an idea and its development, culminating in a sustained presentation of a logically constructed enlargement. Self-assessment is a crucial aspect of the Honors College IS, as it is of the university-wide IS, and instructors are encouraged to develop self-assessment tools so that students may evaluate their growth as writers and also learn to recognize their strengths and areas for improvement. The Honors College Intermediate Seminar also requires students to use technology, for example, to access electronic databases for secondary material or construct a powerpoint slideshow for an in-class presentation. The Honors Intermediate Seminar exhibits a central feature of the Honors curriculum: interdisciplinary for content and pedagogy. Thus, and Honors intermediate seminar includes materials from different disciplines (the intermediate seminar on ''collecting'' for example, draws on readings from psychology, sociology, and history; the intermediate seminar on ''Baseball'' includes perspectives and analyses of the game from biology, physics, and history). Students are taught how to engage texts and data/information from multiple disciplines, and through the IS pedagogy, they are equipped with the skills to synthesize their understanding of concepts across disparate disciplines. Instruction might also include field trips to significant sites so that students can acquire hands-on experience with relevant materials and interact with practitioners in their work locations. Assignments are designe More Info
Offered in:HONORS 290 Special Topics +
Description:
Courses of special interest in selected fields drawing on the scholarly interests of faculty. Topics vary each semester. Examples include: Beethoven: Romance and Revolution, Reading Joyce, Darwinian Medicine, Environmental Crime and Justice, History of Social Protest, and The Islamic City. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
HONORS 291 Honors Topic in Arts +
Description:
An Honors course in the AR distribution explores - from term to term in varied specific cases - the basic assumption that form has meaning. In each Honors AR course, we address the questions ''What is the study of arts?'' by exploring areas including architecture, literature, painting, music, and sculpture. We will discuss the fundamental basic assumptions of the arts, including: the artist's subjectivity affects the creative process; the creative process is shaped by the social and cultural and political contexts in which the artist works; the creative outcome in open to interpretation' the interpretive process is driven by features of a specific piece and conventions of a specific form; artists both build on and disrupt established conventions in their field; the creative process involves revision.An Honors College course in the Arts shares the attributes of university-wide AR course in its emphasis on learning how the arts strive to articulate the aesthetic, moral, intellectual and spiritual aspects of the human condition. Students acquire hands-on experiences with the humanistic methods of inquiry by learning how to interpret ideas and symbolic expression. Students are taught how to engage artistic texts of all kinds, while also being trained to situate these texts in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contexts. In this way, an Honors course in the Arts emphasizes the interplay between arts, humanities, natural science, mathematics, and technology. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 292 Honors Topic in Humanities +
Description:
An Honors course in Humanities distribution explores- from term to term in varied specific cases - the basic assumption that the world is interpretable. In each Honors HU course, we will begin by exploring fundamental questions and the basic assumptions of the field. This course will address the question ''What is the study of Humanities?'' We will discuss the fundamental basic assumptions of the field, including: humanities research can redefine the decisions we need to make; there are different ways of seeing and interpreting human nature; the diversity of perspective is rooted in historical and social and cultural contexts; the humanities involve articulation of human values and are dependent upon cultural context; the study of humanities involves introspection and re-imagining of the interpretive endeavor.An Honors College course in Humanities shares the attributes of university-wide HU courses in its emphasis on learning how to appreciate ways in which the aesthetic, moral, intellectual and spiritual aspects of the human condition have been and may be articulated. Students acquire experience with the methodologies of the humanities by learning how to examine philosophical, historical and literary materials, and investigate a multitude of creative productions. Students are taught how to engage a variety of types of texts, ideas, and symbolic expression, while also being trained to situate these data and texts in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contexts. In this way, an Honors course in Humanities emphasizes the interplay between humanities, arts, culture, and the social sciences. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 293 Honors Topic in Social and Behavioral Sciences +
Description:
An Honors course in Social and Behavioral Sciences distribution explores - from term to term in varied specific cases - the basic assumption that variables affect human behavior of individuals and groups. In each Honors SB course, we will begin by exploring fundamental questions about the social and behavioral sciences, and the basic assumptions of the field. This course will address the question ''What is the study of social and behavioral sciences?'' by exploring human behavior and the multiple mechanisms and social structures through which behavior is influenced. The assumptions of such an examination include: there are universal processes among humans, human behavior is predictable, and human freedom is bounded by social structures and contexts. An Honors College course in Social and Behavioral Sciences shares the attributes of the university-wide SB courses in its emphasis on learning about the institutions, practices, and principles that define human interactions. Students acquire hands-on experiences with the methodologies of the social and behavior sciences by learning how to analyze the individual-level factors and group-level factors that impact behavior and society. Students are taught how to engage with both primary and secondary texts in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contexts. In this way, an Honors course in social and behavioral sciences emphasizes the interplay between social sciences, natural sciences, arts, and humanities. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 294 Honors Topic in World Cultures +
Description:
An Honors course in the World Cultures distribution explores - from term to term in varied specific cases - the basic assumption that culture is a vital framework for thought and action. In each Honors WC course and in this course, we will address the question ''What is the study of World Culture?'' by exploring the fundamental basic assumptions of the field, which include: culture is material and symbolic; cultural symbols and materials are created by (a) people who express their cohesive identity through these products and labels; historical forces impact culture; even within a homogenous culture there will be debate and contestation; culture identifies members of a group while also distinguishing them from other groups; and a comparative perspective is essential to understanding the diversity of world cultures. An Honors College course in World Cultures shares the attributes of university-wide WC courses in its emphasis on discussing the meaning of culture, the dynamic nature of culture, and the implications of ethnocentrism. Students acquire experience with the diverse methodologies (textual interpretive, participatory, and observational) of studying world cultures by learning how to understand cultures other than one's own, and how to compare and contrast different cultures with one another. Students are taught how to engage academic texts and data/information from current research studies, while also being trained to situate these data and texts in interdisciplinary contexts. In this way, an Honors course in World Cultures emphasizes the interplay between history, economics, politics, and culture. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 295 Honors Topics in the Natural Science +
Description:
An Honors course in the Natural Science distribution explores -- from term to term in varied specific cases -- the basic assumption that physical and biological science are knowable in terms of causality. In each Honors NS course, we will begin by exploring fundamental questions about natural sciences and the basic assumptions of the field. This course will address the question ''What is Natural Science?'' by exploring topics including: the difference between life science and physical sciences, the difference between data and information, the emphasis on metrics of measurement, the ability to go beyond being descriptive and enter the domain of being predictive, and the capacity to use measurements and patterns to create models of natural phenomena. We will discuss the fundamental basic assumptions of natural science, including: the world is knowable, humans can perceive and understand the world through structured observation, the things that happen in the world around us have natural causes, experiments and observations can be used to learn about these natural causes, and the causes that operate in the natural world are consistent and therefore can be represented through models and other forms of mathematical or quantitative expression. An Honors College course in Natural Sciences shares the attributes of university-wide Natural Science courses in its emphasis on learning how laws of the physical world are derived and tested, and gaining an understanding of how scientific knowledge is correctable. Students acquire hands-on experiences with the methodologies of science by learning how to articulate hypotheses, making observations, designing experiments, analyzing date, drawing conclusions, and engaging in problem solving. Students are taught how to engage scientific texts and data/information from the physical and life sciences, while also being trained to situate these data and texts in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary contexts. In this way, an Honors course i More Info
Offered in:HONORS 380 Honors Colloquium +
Description:
Through multi-disciplinary study of a topic chosen each semester, the Colloquium explores principles and methods of research common to many fields. Students trace scholarly controversies, frame hypotheses and questions, use print and electronic sources, display data in text and graphic forms, work independently and collaboratively, and present results orally and in writing. Each student prepares a prospectus for an individual research project. More Info
Offered in:HONORS 490 Special Topics +
Description:
Topical coverage in selected fields of scholarly interests directed by members of the faculty. More Info
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