Fall 2009 Honors Seminars (Updated 7 Apr 2009)
HONR300L111
Honors Ethics:
Kiernan, B
Slot 8: MR 12:30-1:45
Core Distribution Area: Ethics
Description: In this course, students will reflect upon and critically evaluate a number of fundamental moral
questions as they are broached in some of the major ethical theories (utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics,
rights-ethics, care-ethics, etc.).
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Ethics requirement.
HONR300L112
Honors Ethics:
Kiernan, B
Slot 12: W 2:00-3:15, F 3:30-4:45
Core Distribution Area: Ethics
Description: In this course, students will reflect upon and critically evaluate a number of fundamental moral
questions as they are broached in some of the major ethical theories (utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics,
rights-ethics, care-ethics, etc.).
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Ethics requirement.
HONR311L111
Versions of the Self: Youth in Transition from School to Work
Ryan Kinlaw
Slot 7: TR 11:00-12:15
Core Distribution Area: Social Science
Description: What are the expectations and concerns of adolescents and young adults as they prepare to move
from formal schooling into the workforce? What other transitions do youth face, and how do they influence the
school-to-work transition? Do motivation and performance in school predict satisfaction and success on the
job? Does education always open doors? How are decisions about careers made? Is the pursuit of a job “all
about the money” for most youth? What opportunities and obstacles do young people face as they prepare for
participation in the labor force? What are the consequences of holding part-time jobs? These are some of the
questions to be considered in this course as we examine and discuss scholarly and popular materials which
address this transition point in identity development. We will explore factors related to school motivation and
performance, influences on the career decision-making process, and topics pertaining to workforce preparation
and participation.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Social Science requirement.
HONR312L111
Versions of the Self: Medieval Cultures in Contact
Petersen, J
Slot 5: W 8:00-9:15, F 11:00-12:15
Core Distribution Area: History
Description: The traveler embarks on a process of self-discovery, for discovering and attempting to understand
different cultures promotes a reassessment of one’s own society and personal values and biases. This was true
for the medieval no less than the modern adventurer. During the central and late Middle Ages (900-1500),
travelers from Asia, Africa, and Europe met and observed one another’s societies on the trade routes through
Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the North Atlantic; on the pilgrimage routes of several religions; or on the
passages created by war and conquest. This course will explore the interaction between these cultures,
focusing on how individuals interpreted and made sense of societies that were perceived as “foreign,” such as
the pagans in Scandinavia and Eurasia; Muslims in Spain and in the Holy Land; Christians in Byzantium and
Ireland; and inhabitants of the Far East and Africa. We will pay particular attention to how medieval
observers interpreted and made sense of societies that they perceived as “foreign.” We will consider such
questions as: How did individual Europeans react to different cultures? What identified these societies as being
foreign? How did societies respond to this difference; that is, did they characterize these other cultures they
encountered in the same way? Finally, how did these encounters impact European society as a whole?
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE History requirement.
HONR310L111
Versions of the Self: Madness in Literature
Neilson, L
Slot 11: TF 2:00-3:15
Core Distribution Area: Literature
Description: This course will explore the recurring motif of madness in literature, and address the question of
how madness challenges traditional assumptions regarding individual identity. We will examine how writers
represent madness, from the spurned Greek lover, to the respectable doctor turned murderer, to the misplaced
rebel on a psychiatric ward. What do these representations suggest about the nature of madness, or what we
might now call mental illness?
We will seek a partial answer to these issues by examining texts as we focus on the definition and treatment of
madness, and the duality of human nature. Particular attention will be paid to the role of social pressures
behind the historical transformation of the concepts of madness, and how these concepts are represented in our
literature. Course materials will be wide-ranging and will include novels, drama, scholarly articles, critical
reviews, and film.
Besides Honors, this course satisfies the CORE requirement in Literature and serves as elective credit for the
English major and minor.
HONR320L111
Art of Culture: The Literature, Film, and Culture of Hispanics in the U.S.
Casey, I
Slot 15: MW 5:00-6:15
Core Distribution Area: Literature, Cultural Diversity
Description: This course will provide a basic appreciation and understanding of the culture of Hispanics in the
US. We read the writings of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans in the US and see film by and
about them. Although the experiences of these groups may be different, their creations give a vision of their
lives and what binds them together in the US.
Besides Honors, this course satisfies the CORE requirement in Literature. This course may also be used to
satisfy the ethnic/national literature requirement for the English major, elective credit for the English minor,
and the Cultural Diversity requirement.
HONR320L112
Cultural Memory, Identity, and the American Civil War
Morreale, M
Slot 10: MR 2:00-3:15
Core Distribution Area: Literature
Description: This course examines historical and literary memory, both in the ways perceptions of gender, race
and class were formed (and transformed) by memory of the American Civil War, and how more recent
sensibilities have reshaped these points of identity. Students will explore these issues fictionally, historically,
and culturally by examining a variety of materials. These materials, including memoir, letters, history,
criticism, poetry, fiction, art and film, will all grapple with the issue of identity and identity-formation in
fundamental ways. What types of stresses did the Victorian Age put upon American culture, especially as those
stresses impacted upon the relations between races and genders? How did men and women define themselves
in this crisis-laden age and how did those definitions inform the ways we see ourselves today? Assignments will
include creative projects, literary criticism, and historical research.
Besides Honors, this course satisfies the CORE requirement in Literature.
HONR321L111
Art of Culture: Music That Built America
Himmelberger, A
Slot 10: MR 2:00-3:15
Core Distribution Area: Fine Arts
Description: This course will develop the student’s knowledge and appreciation of the creation, development
and function of various genres of music and the music industry utilized over a 400 year evolutionary process,
occurring congruent to the history and development of our nation. Historical periods and functions include:
Purposes and utilization of music by the Puritans; Native Indians; other early settlers; exploratory expeditions;
Colonial America; American Revolt and War for Independence; Federal Period and War of 1812, American
Civil War, Post Civil War Band Activities and Entertainment Movement by the touring of Patrick Gilmore, John
Philip Sousa and others, radio broadcasts of the Goldman Band, Romantic and 20th Century Orchestral
Composers, Post Civil War American Broadway Musicals and other music theater activities to include 20th
Century Broadway Musical development, Ragtime, Jazz, Big Bands and Blues development. The students will
understand how this development of American Music paralleled the growth of our nation.
Besides Honors, this course will satisfy the Core requirement in Fine Arts.
HONR331L111
Hudson River Valley Studies: Edith Wharton
Saunders, J
Slot 14: TR 3:30-4:45
Core Distribution Area: Literature
Description: Edith Wharton is one of the most illustrious writers associated with the Hudson Valley. She
utilizes its landscapes and its architecture in many of her fictional works, integrating regional settings with plot,
theme, and character. In this seminar we will read a good sampling of Wharton’s novels, novellas, and short
fiction, reviewing some biographical and autobiographical materials as well. In addition to examining her
fiction from a literary standpoint, we’ll try to place it in its cultural-historical context, considering it in light of
societal changes staking shape in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Special
emphasis will fall on Wharton’s depiction of gender issues and social roles.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Literature requirement. The course may also be
used to meet an upper-level requirement in the English major or the American Studies major; it will fulfill a
related-field requirement in the History major; it can be used as part of a cognate in the Communication major.
HONR341L111
Global Engagement: The U.S. and the World
Zuccarello, L
Slot 2: MR 9:30-10:45
Core Distribution Area: Social Science
Description: This course will explore selected current issues that confront the U. S. in its dealings with other
nations and regions of the world. Our primary focus will be on political relationships, which necessarily involve
other dimensions, such as economic, social and cultural factors. We will look at some current “hot spots,” and
explore some pervasive issues associated with “globalization.” A major emphasis will be placed on how the
international community has dealt with the issue of “Genocide.” These matters occupy a prominent place in
international politics and promise to affect the future of the U. S. and the world community.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Social Science requirement. This course may also
be used to satisfy elective credit for the Political Science major.
HONR342L111
Global Engagement: Christianity and Non-Western Cultures
Knight, J
Slot 8: MR 12:30-1:45
Core Distribution Area: Philosophy/Religious Studies
Description: The Christianity course is designed to introduce students to some of the principles and history of
Christian thought. Of particular interest are the Christian scriptures, the person of Jesus, Christian doctrines
and moral teachings, and the differences among Christian denominations. In this Honors seminar, we will pay
particular attention to the way figures from a number of cultures, ancient and modern, have shaped the
teachings and practices of Christianity over the centuries. Some of these figures were part of ancient near
eastern nomadic tribes, some were products of Hellenistic philosophical schools, some were influenced by the
culture of the Roman imperial court and Roman orators, and that of modern western Europe. Will we also look
closely at the way the social teachings of one particular Christian tradition (Roman Catholicism) interacts with
various aspects of contemporary economic globalization.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Philosophy/Religious Studies requirement.
HONR343L111
Global Engagement: The Vietnam War
Bayer, K
Slot 10: MR 2:00-3:15
Core Distribution Area: History
Description: The American war in Vietnam had a drastic impact on how the world responded to, and
represented conflict between major powers and the post colonial world. The war remains a point of reference
for the environmental consequences of war and further global confrontations, such as the U.S. Iraq war. This
course will examine the American war in Vietnam from the perspectives of both the Vietnamese and the
Americans, originating with French imperialism in Southeast Asia and analyzing the situation in Vietnam as a
global event which further unfolds with United States intervention there. We will focus on the military,
political, cultural and social history of the war, and trace the complexity of its origins, impact, and legacy for
both sides of the conflict.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE History requirement.
HONR350L111
Science, Technology, and Society: Statistics Introduced
Helmreich, J
Slot 4: TF 9:30-10:45
Core Distribution Area: Mathematics
Description: Intro Stats (Math 130) is a traditional course where the fundamentals have not changed in
nearly a century. In particular, in order to make calculations easier, very strong (and unrealistic) assumptions
about the world are required. There is a much better way though, as the great statistician Sir Ronald Aylmer
Fisher realized as long ago as 1936. The problem: his method was easy, but time consuming when done by
hand. We now can overcome that hurdle quite easily: we can do on a cheap computer in a split second what it
would have taken a person a life time to do back then. So this course will examine the topic of statistics from a
very different angle than is currently traditional; from a direction that is easier to understand, more accurate
and more intuitively convincing than traditional Intro Stats. In fact, we will cover more advanced topics easily
that never see the light of day in Intro Stats. In short, this course will be *Statistics Introduced*.
Besides Honors, this seminar satisfies the College's CORE Mathematics requirement.