Course Descriptions By Program

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HON100 - Honors and University Orientation

This course provides the Honors student with a fairly comprehensive introduction to University life in general and the Honors Program in particular. Practical matters, including a comprehensive review of the Honors Program curriculum, requirements to remain in the program, advisement and registration procedures to be followed, and an elaboration and description of ancillary University services available to the student, are covered. The meaning and function of a university, the importance of the liberal/general education part of the curriculum, the relationship between the university and society, and current issues affecting the academy are addressed through selected readings and discussion. Also, students will be required to establish a portfolio that will be maintained throughout the undergraduate experience.

HON150 - Honors Composition I

As an introduction to university level writing and critical thinking, this course rehearses and refines students’ abilities to construct argumentative essays incorporating secondary research, classical argumentation, and rhetorical analysis. The course involves significant reading assignments and is organized thematically to include British, American, and/or world literature, studies of historical periods or events, studies of philosophical questions or problems, or investigations of political and/or cultural importance. As preparation for college and professional writing, students will also practice appeals to authority and differing audiences as well as revising and critiquing their own writing and that of others.

HON200 - Honors Research Practice I  

This course is intended for undergraduate Honors students in the second year. It builds on concepts introduced in HON 100 and HON 250, and it should serve as preparation both for the Honors Thesis Project (HON 499) and for other research projects related to Honors coursework or major coursework.

HON201 - Topics in Quantitative Problem Solving

This course will provide the student with an application-oriented, investigative quantitative problem-solving curriculum. Drawing from diverse disciplines in the fields of mathematics, engineering, the physical and life sciences, business, finance, computer science, and/or the social sciences, students will use technology and cooperative group work to solve real-life problems and gain a greater understanding and appreciation for quantitative analysis. This course is repeatable.

HON210 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in Mathematics and Quantitative Literacy

This course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in the study of mathematics, the science of numbers and their operations, interrelations, combinations, generalizations, and abstractions and of space configurations and their structure, measurement, transformations, and generalizations. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with the permission of the instructor.

HON215 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in Technological Literacy

This course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in learning and knowing how to use tools, resources, processes and systems to change or to control the natural and artificial environment, thus altering the human condition. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with the permission of the instructor.

HON220 - Introduction to Disciplinary Research in the Social Sciences

The course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in the disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, social work, economics, archaeology, political science, linguistics, etc. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experience with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with permission of the instructor.

HON225 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in the Fine Arts

This course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in disciplines such as art, dance, music, theatre, film, etc. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with the permission of the instructor.

HON230 - Introduction to Disciplinary Research in the Humanities

The course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic through a combination of any of, but not limited to, the following mediums: literature, fine arts, writing, photography, music, theater, film, graphic arts. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experience with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both.

HON235 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in the Natural Sciences

The course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in disciplines such as (but not limited to) biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, environmental science, etc. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with permission of the instructor.

HON240 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in Public Speaking

This course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in disciplines such as rhetoric, public speaking, and the history and theory of rhetoric, etc. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with the permission of the instructor.

HON245 - Honors Introduction to Disciplinary Research in Health and Wellness

This course will make use of disciplinary norms and may explore any topic arising in the study of health and wellness such as physical, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental health. Each course will focus on a specific topic, discipline, and area of scholarship as selected by the instructor. These will include at least one of the following emphases: eating and exercising toward a healthy active lifestyle, building healthy relationships, understanding and preventing disease, explaining alcohol and drug use and abuse, making healthy choices, and building healthy communities. No prior experiences with the topic and discipline is necessary, as the course will serve as an accelerated introduction to both. The course is repeatable with the permission of the instructor.

HON250 - Honors Composition II

Building on the skills learned in HON 150, this course shifts the focus to responding to the ideas of others and includes preparation and presentation of a major research project. The course involves significant reading assignments and is organized thematically to include British, American, and/or world literature, studies of historical periods or events, studies of philosophical questions or problems, or investigations of political and/or cultural importance.

HON270 - Global Transitions II

This trans-disciplinary course rooted in the history of humankind is the second in a two-semester sophomore sequence on the origin, nature, accomplishments and failures of the diverse complex societies of this planet. This panoramic investigation focuses on two major themes: 1) human interactions with the natural world, and 2) the ways that human societies have changed, grown apart from one another, re-established contact, and influenced one another. This course covers events from approximately 1300 C.E. to the present. Global Transitions since 1300 is a standalone course and need not be taken in conjunction with Global Transitions to 1300.

HON300 - Honors Research Practice II  

This course is intended for undergraduate Honors students in the third year. It builds on concepts introduced in HON 100, HON 200, and HON 250, and it should serve as preparation both for the Honors Thesis Project (HON 499) and for other research projects related to Honors coursework or major coursework.

HON320 - Topics in Self and Society

This course is an interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between the self and society with the specific topic of each offering determined by the instructor. The selected topic may be explored through a combination of any of, but not limited to, the following approaches: history; political science; sociology; psychology; anthropology; economics; linguistics; archaeology; communications; ethnic, race, and gender studies; law; social work; and urban and rural studies. This course is repeatable.

HON330 - Topics in Culture and Society

Culture is not a new idea, and its meaning is a subject of debate. This course employs culture (and its political uses) as a lens through which to examine topics and texts in a range of disciplines from the social sciences, to media studies, to the humanities. In the process, this course examines some of the most pressing issues of today and the past. This course is repeatable.

HON335 - Topics in Science and Technology

This course is an interdisciplinary foray into the hard sciences. It does not presume a prior extensive knowledge of chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, the environmental sciences, applications of technology and/or the philosophy or history of science. The course defines science and technology, their terminology and method of inquiry, the philosophical ideas underlying scientific inquiry, and how humans value them. Various topics, especially from the physical sciences, may be examined with an emphasis on the specific ways scientific inquiry tries to understand our experience, whether it reflects universal rationality or particular cultural concerns, whether it offers understanding of nature or only control of (some) natural processes, and what impacts – both positive and negative – the application of technology has. This course is repeatable.

HON340 - Topics in Arts and Humanities

Each class will focus on a specific topic selected by the instructor. The selected topic may be explored through a combination of any of, but not limited to, the following mediums: literature, the fine arts, creative writing, photography, the graphic arts, music, theatre and film. This course is repeatable.

HON490 - Honors Research Seminar  

This course is intended for undergraduate students at any stage of the University Honors Program who wish to develop an independent research project within their major or related to Honors coursework. Scientific work, research papers, creative efforts, service projects, are just some of the possible research projects. Each project will be tailored to the individual student, will involve close collaboration with a faculty member, and should ultimately be presented publicly or published.

HON499 - Honors Thesis

The senior Honors project serves as the capstone of the University Honors Program. Under the supervision of a faculty adviser of the student's choice, the Honors student seeks to make a substantive contribution to the discipline. Considerable latitude in the form of the contribution is permitted. Empirical and historical research as well as creative products are all appropriate. A reader/reviewer is assigned to independently pass judgment on the student's scholastic effort. An oral defense, demonstration, or display of the completed honors project is required.