For PDF of schedule.

Course Descriptions

HON 2380D, Is This Really Math? Graph Theory and its Applications

Substitution(s):  MATH 1315, 1316, 1319, or 4336
Professor(s):  D. Ferrero
Course Description:  This course will present the most important topics of graph theory through its applications and in a lively style, including some examples of proofs designed to strengthen mathematical techniques, and offer challenging opportunities to have fun while doing mathematical research. The course is intended to be self-contained, so no prior knowledge of graph theory is required.

HON 2391T, The Beat Generation

Substitution(s): ENG 2360 or 3336
Professor(s):  S. Wilson
Course Description:  An overview of the Beat movement of the 1940s and 1950s that will explore the Beat’s influence on social norms, literature and politics. We will also consider the enduring influences this small group of social outcasts has on modern America.

HON 2391V, Nature and the Quest for Meaning

Substitution(s):  ENG 1320 or ENG 2360
Professor(s):  S. Hanson
Course Description:  After exploring the origins of American nature writing, we will read and discuss the works of a number of contemporary authors. In the process, we will consider the ways in which human beings experience the natural world — as an object of study, as a reflection of themselves and as a lens through which they look for meaning in their lives.

HON 2391X, Democracy in America

Substitution(s):  POSI 2320
Professor(s):  K. Grasso
Course Description:  This course will explore Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville's seminal study of American social and political life, the nature and distinctive character of modern democratic societies, and the problems and perils these societies confront. Themes will include Tocqueville's account of the strengths and weaknesses of democratic governments; the impact of Puritanism on American culture; the role of religion in American public life; the impact of both slavery and racism on American life; sex roles in American society and the impact of democratic social structures on the family and the lives of women; the tension between capitalism and democracy; the effect of equality on American political culture; how and why democratic social conditions foster individualism, materialism, a cult of conformity to mass opinion and culture, and cause government to expand in scope and grow more centralized.

HON 3390H, The Problem of Evil

Substitution(s):  Advanced Philosophy or Counts toward the Minor in Religious Studies
Professor(s):  P. Hutcheson
Course Description:  Is it reasonable to believe that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good God, despite the appearance of pointless evil? The course consists of attempts to answer this question with rational arguments.

HON 3390P, Hollywood Amnesia

Substitution(s):  Sophomore Literature or Advanced English or Media Studies minor
Professor(s):  R. Bell-Metereau
Course Description:  This course offers a historical overview of a topic that appears with increasing frequency in films of the last decade — various forms of memory loss. We will explore how films about various forms of amnesia satisfy a viewer’s desire to come to terms with memory loss in an aging society and how the project of creating a state of constant cultural amnesia satisfies the needs of larger governmental and economic engines. (Prerequisites: English 1310 and 1320)

HON 3391B, The Shaping of the Modern Mind

Substitution(s):  Advanced Philosophy or Advanced Psychology
Professor(s):  D. Stimmel
Course Description:  How does the neurobiological composition of your brain affect your beliefs? This course will examine modern theories concerning psychological, biological and philosophical origins of cognition.

HON 3391R, The Prisoner

Substitution(s):  Media Studies minor or International Studies: International Relations, Mexican-American or African-American Studies, Interamerican, European, or Asian Focus
Professor(s):  B. Liddle
Course Description:  Explore the themes of individualism, isolation and social control as ingredients of both modern society and particular elements in the British TV series, The Prisoner, which appeared in 17 episodes during 1968. Examine struggles between society's need to organize and control individuals, and the individual's need to understand his or her environment to exercise personal autonomy.

HON 3392X, The Contemporary African Novel

Substitution(s): Sophomore Literature, Advanced English, or International Studies Elective
Professor(s):  E. Holt
Course Description:  Novels by contemporary African writers from western and southern Africa will be read and discussed. The class will also study the effects of colonialism on traditional African cultures. Students will consider problems of language in the African novel.

HON 3394M, Rendering Nature and Phenomenon in Art

HON 3394P, Intro to Humanities II: A Global Odyssey

Substitutions(s):  Sophomore Literature, Advanced English, or arranged (varies by semester)
Professors(s): C. Martin, R. Raphael
Course Description: This team-taught course will trace the various avatars of travel from Thomas More's Utopia (1516) to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). How did the notion of travel frame the movements of thought that have characterized the Western worldview–from utopianism to romantic imperialism to structuralism to post-modern critique? How does travel as an idea recapitulate or critique religious narratives, and how does actual travel spark the development of a study of human religions? What happens when travel as an instrument of criticism is confronted with the actual experience of travel? The Common Experience theme of A Global Odyssey: Exploring Our Connections to the Changing World informs this version of Intro to Humanities II.

HON 3394V, Universal Human Rights: A Global Perspective

Substitution(s): International Studies, SOWK 3339 or SOWK 4360
Professor(s): Hawkins, C.
Course Description: What are the significant social, political, philosophical, historical, legal, economic, geographic, and cultural factors that impact universal human rights? What are the challenges involved in implementing universal human rights; what efforts effectively redress inequity and what are the opposing viewpoints? Students will engage in critical intellectual inquiry and personal self-reflection in order to facilitate the development of a global perspective for the 21st century.

HON 3394X, Magic Realism in the Works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

HON 3395M, Humanity & the Natural Enviroment: A Study of Interrelationships

HON 3396T, How We Decide: Making Decisions from the Inside Out

HON 3396B, Playwriting: A Structured Approach to Writing for the Stage

HON 3396E, Free Speech, Free Press & the Supreme Court of the U.S.

HON 3396F, The Art of Storytelling: From Origins to Improv

HON 3396L Early American History through Biography