Fall 2012 Honors Seminars
The Art and Science of Medicine
UH 402RH-01 or 403RS-01 (4 credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Monday/Wednesday, 2:10 – 4:00 pm
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructor: Professor Don Demetriades
Course Description:
Designed for students from all academic disciplines, this seminar will focus on just how broadly and profoundly contemporary medicine touches all of our lives. It will examine the underlying principles of medicine through the lens of literature, science, art and related fields. The why of suffering and disease, the how of healing, and the role both patient and physician play in individual health will be explored. Numerous medical professionals will visit the seminar.
Ethics and Etiquette in the Digital Age
UH 407IS-01 (4 credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 3:10 – 5:00 pm
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructors: Dr. Richard Wolff (Professor and Gilhousen Telecommunications Chair, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering)
Course Description:
How has information technology impacted policy, ethics, etiquette, and the legal system? This seminar will explore the revolutionary and disruptive advances occasioned by information technology. From cell phones to Wi-Fi; Face book to computer games; Artificial Intelligence to Second Life, telecommunications have affected our lives in profound ways. Social networks, instant messaging, online video and music downloads are but a few of the markers of change in daily life. Academic inquiry and creative activities have also been affected dramatically and questions abound. What does the future hold and what are the social and economic implications? Students will engage in a range of activities including online learning systems, blogging, social networking, electronic research methodologies and new media creation techniques. Numerous guests will visit the seminar, providing expertise tailored to student interest. Each student will carry out a research project in an area of their choice and will be required to provide appropriate documentation in addition to a class presentation.
Our Nuclear Age
UH 494-01 (4 Credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Monday/Wednesday, 6:10 am - 8:00 pm
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructor: Professor Amanda Rutherford (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering)
Course Description:
Whether we like it or not, we live in a nuclear age. We will seek to better understand nuclear energy, from scientific, political and cultural points of view. We will study nuclear science and landmark events in historical context. How close has our nation been to nuclear war? What happened at Three Mile Island? How are fusion reactors fundamentally different from fission reactors and how close are we to the reality of fusion power? How has the existence of nuclear energy permeated our culture? We will discuss these questions and many others throughout the course of this interdisciplinary examination of our nuclear age.
Nestings: Recursive Structures in Literature, Film and Cognitive Science. "The Further in You Go, the Bigger it Gets"
UH 494-02 (4 credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Tuesday/Thursday, 10:00 - 11:50 am
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructor: Professor Michael Sexson (Department of English)
Course Description:
This class will be devoted to discussion and reflection on the idea of “recursive structures,” which in literature, might be called “nesting” (the containment of worlds within worlds), or in film, “mise en abyme” the inclusion of a smaller versions of larger elements. Other related terms might include “frame devices,” “strange loops,” “drost effects,” “stories within stories,” “synecdoches” or “meta-references.”
Spring 2013 Honors Seminars
Honors Read
UH 494-01 (4 Credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: TBA
Place: TBA
Instructor(s): Professor Kent Davis
Course Description:
This seminar will offer students the opportunity to contribute to the selection of texts for "Hike and Read," as well as "Texts and Critics: Imagination and Knowledge", respectively. Seminar participants will each identify and champion a text for possible inclusion in the Honors curriculum for the upcoming academic year. Through vigorous research and debate, students will collaboratively create guidelines for selecting the texts. Seminar goals: the synthesis of new and unexpected texts, real-world exploration of the intersection between pedagogy and pragmatism, and engaging a community of enthusiastic, diverse, upper-division students; who are excited about challenging and inspiring their fellow Honors students.
Scholarly Inquiry: Africa
UH 409D-01 (4 Credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Thurdays, 4:10 - 7:00 pm
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructor(s): Professor George Metcalfe and Distinguished Guests
Course Description:
This seminar will focus on the historic and current status of Change and Development on the continent of Africa, inclusive of its impact on global affairs. In addition to informing students about Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective, the course will encompass intellectual discovery and philosophical discernment from and value/ethical perspective about how the process of Change and Development has and is evolving in the highly diverse societal and ecological context that is Africa. This seminar will include consideration of the catalytic role and impact of foreign and indigenous agents of change engaged in the process of Change and Development in Africa. To facilitate understanding and insight into Africa in the 21st century, the seminar will focus on the challenges associated with Change and Development in the Republic of South Africa, and its impact on Africa and industrialized nations.
Human Nature
UH 494-02 (4 Credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Wednesdays, 3:10 - 6:00 pm
Place: Wilson Hall, Room 1139
Instructor(s): Professors Robert Rydell, John Miller and Distinguished Guests
Course Description:
What exactly is human nature and why do answers to that question matter so much? This seminar examines the problem of human nature from multiple perspectives in the sciences, the humanities, the social sciences and the arts with a view towards encouraging students to “dive deeper” (the phrase is from Moby Dick) into issues that have been fundamental to thinking of ourselves—and our future—as human beings. To what extent do we have free will? How important is “nurture” to understanding our “nature” and vice versa? How do ideas about human nature inform thinking about government and society? Why do ideas about human nature change? Does human nature itself change?
The seminar will meet once a week for three hours and will be organized around three thematic clusters: 1) Human Nature: Our Bodies, Our Minds, Our Selves; 2) Being Human: Nature and Culture; 3) Human Nature and the Body Politic. Each cluster will be divided into four seminar meetings between students and visiting faculty with the final week of each cluster being devoted to synthesis. For each of the seminar meetings with visiting faculty, students will prepare a 1-2 pp. set of questions along with comments about why their questions are significant. At the end of each cluster, the seminar will meet to summarize and synthesize the arguments that have been presented. For a final project, students will work in groups of 5 and will prepare a creative project for presentation that elucidates the themes of the course.
Language and the Brain: Neuro-linguistics
UH 402RH-01 (4 Credits)
Prerequisites: UH 201 & UH 202, or UH 301
Time: Mondays/Wednesdays, 1:10 - 3:00 pm
Place: Quad F, Room 105
Instructor(s): Dr. Jerome Coffey (English) and Dr. John Miller (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Course Description:
Neuro-linguistics is the study of relations of language and communication to aspects of brain function, i.e. how the brain understands and produces language and communication. This involves attempting to combine theory from neurology and neurophysiology (how the brain is structured and how it functions) with linguistic theory (how language is structured and how it functions). With the aid of local neurologists students will participate in clinical experiences with brain damaged and aphasiac patients. Students will be expected to write several short papers and reports on their laboratory, clinical and research experiences. At the end of the term students will write a major research report and will share this work with their fellow students in a seminar setting.
