HONORS COLLOQUIA
Spring 2013
Last updated December 10, 2012. Please check back for possible additional major credit
that departments agree to offer for one or more of these colloquia.
Special Note:
American Studies Honors Students:
Beyond any major credit indicated in this document, certain courses may count for credit in American Studies.
Determination is made on a case-by-case basis. Consult your academic advisor for details.
Anthropology Honors Students: Beyond any major credit indicated in this document, certain courses may count
for credit in Anthropology. Determination is made on a case-by-case basis. Consult your academic advisor for details.
Religious Studies Honors Students: Please see your Religious Studies advisor for approval to apply a religion-related
colloquium to your major.
SIS Honors Students:
You are encouraged to speak with your SIS academic advisor to determine whether a colloquium might be considered
for another functional area or regional field.
SOC Honors Students:
Many of these course offerings may meet the “hours outside of SOC” or the “Liberal Studies” requirement. Please check
with your SOC academic advisor to determine applicability.
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All Honors Students: If a given Honors colloquium does not specify credit in your major but you think a case can be made
for it, please consult with your academic advisor. You can also contact the colloquium faculty member about approaching
a given department or school about possible major credit for the class.
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HNRS-400-001H READING THE GLOBAL NOVEL: MODERNITY AND ITS OTHERS
Lindsey Green-Simms
TF 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.
Meets with LIT-667-002
Enrollment limited to 15 Honors students with junior standing or above (i.e., 60+ credits)
Western thought has historically regarded the non-West as its “Other,” a non-modern place of backwardness,
darkness, irrationality, and occult or exotic ways. We will begin the course by examining European literary and
philosophical writing about “the Other” but will spend the majority of the class looking at the ways that authors and
intellectuals from the “third world” or Global South critique, invert, and satirize Western visions of modernity and
progress. In the process, we will ask a variety of questions about what happens when non-Western stories become the
point of departure: How does one react psychologically to racism and colonialism? What do stories about witchcraft
and zombies tell us about modern forms of capitalism? How does the possession of desired natural resources like oil
alter the dynamics of a community? Why are some lives considered to be superfluous? Our primary site of
investigation will be the global novel (primarily from Brazil, the Caribbean, and Africa), but we will regularly rely
upon a variety of sociological, anthropological, and philosophical works that help us to understand the larger political
context at hand. We will also supplement our readings with discussions of contemporary cinema.
MAJOR CREDIT: LITERATURE; POLITICAL SCIENCE (Major Related Social Science Requirement); and SIS
(Comparative and International Race Relations, and International Development)
HNRS-300-002H NEW PERSPECTIVES ON
THE HISTORY OF RACE AND INCARCERATION IN AMERICA
Mary Ellen Curtin
W 11:45 a.m.-2:25 p.m.
“Freedom is the United States’ founding creed,” begins Texas Tough, by Robert Perkinson, but the country
that takes pride in being the freest in the world is also the most punitive. In America, over the last thirty
years, the number of people in penitentiaries has risen from approximately 300,000 to over 2 million, and
an additional 5 million serve time in jails, or are under probation and parole. American prisoners, according
to the Department of Justice, are disproportionately African Americans, a group six times more likely than
whites to be in prison. American prison practices deviate from other western democracies in a number of
ways: we impose the death penalty, try juveniles as adults, disfranchise ex-felons, incarcerate non-violent
first offenders in large numbers, and imprison people for debt. What has happened here? What are the
origins of our nation’s unique approach to punishment and incarceration? Is this state of affairs simply the
product of recent years, or does it reflect a deeper pattern rooted in the nation’s beginnings and slave past?
This course takes a historical approach to understanding America’s prison practices and focuses on the role
of race and ethnicity in shaping our nation’s current incarceration crisis. Readings are interdisciplinary and
cover the entire range of American history, from slavery to the present. Our goal is to examine how and
why local, state, and federal practices of incarceration changed over time, and to explore the role that
racism and racial assumptions played in shaping carceral institutions, definitions of crime, and prison
experiences. Readings include texts from sociologists, historians, ethno musicologists, journalists,
playwrights, film makers, and prisoners themselves.
MAJOR CREDIT: CLEG (Law); HISTORY; JUSTICE AND LAW (Elective); LAW AND SOCIETY (Elective);
POLITICAL SCIENCE (Gender, Race and Politics Concentration or Law and Politics Concentration); SOCIOLOGY
HNRS-300-003H ADVANCED WRITING: CREATIVE NONFICTION
Alison Thomas
MTH 10:20-11:35 a.m.
In this intensive prose writing course, students will come to define, study, write, and revise examples of
"creative nonfiction," a broad term that encompasses many different forms of composition. Those forms
will invite both the use of memoir and the kinds of research that provide the foundation for literary
journalism. We will spend time on generative writing exercises and in workshops in which students will
sharpen the ability to consider critically both their own work and their classmates’.
MAJOR CREDIT: FILM (Advanced Requirement); JOURNALISM (Skills); LITERATURE
HNRS-301-002H CONSCIOUSNESS: THE I OF THE MIND
Bryan Fantie
TF 1:10-2:25 p.m.
For decades, consciousness has been ignored, and even denied by mainstream psychology. It is, however,
undeniably the most important aspect of our mental lives and understanding consciousness has become the
Holy Grail of 21st-century neuroscience. This course will review ideas, debates, and research from
philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, literature, and film in order to explore the nature of consciousness.
We will examine what it is, how it works, and what it is for. To do this, the class will consider and discuss
nonhuman consciousness, altered consciousness, split consciousness, theory of mind, and free will, among
other topics. We will also examine our own conscious lives.
MAJOR CREDIT: HEALTH PROMOTION; LITERATURE; PSYCHOLOGY
HNRS 302-002H CONTRACT LAW: THE LAW OF THE DEAL
Michael Mass
T 2:35-5:15 p.m.
In our increasingly capitalist world, “the deal” takes on great importance and the law of contracts sets the
rule by which this game is played. This course will study the U.S. laws governing the creation,
performance and breach of contracts from the perspective of the allocation of risk, an element that exists in
every deal. For example, when is a “deal a deal,” and when do circumstances allow for releasing parties
from their legal obligations? It will examine the legal rules governing the sale of goods and services in the
United States and compare them to laws governing contracts internationally. Students will debate such
politically divisive topics as the use, or abuse, of punitive damages and the allocation of the legal fees and
other costs of litigation between parties. Emphasis will be paid to the distinctions between the legal and
ethical obligations of individuals and enterprises. Students will be introduced to legal research and writing.
MAJOR CREDIT: AMERICAN STUDIES; CLEG (Law); ECONOMICS; JUSTICE; JUSTICE AND LAW (Elective);
KOGOD; LAW AND SOCIETY (Legal Theory); and SIS (International Economic Relations, International Business)
HNRS-302-003H MEXICO 2013:
DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, AND CHALLENGE OF VIOLENCE
Todd Eisenstadt
TH 11:45 a.m.-2:25 p.m.
In the wake of Mexico’s 2012 presidential election, what are the prospects for diminishing the drug-related
violence in that nation, and for getting it back on the course of democratic consolidation and economic
growth Mexico experienced at the dawn of the 21st century. The course will look at the nation’s major
domestic challenges such as the drug-related violence that has spiraled out of control over the last few
years, widening economic gap between the urban North and the rural South, the depletion of Mexico’s oil
reserves and its budgetary impact, and the consolidation of democracy as felt by Mexico’s interest groups,
political parties, and citizens. We will also consider Mexico’s foreign policy challenges, such as the
continued consolidation of a North American Free Trade Area, binational collaboration with the U.S. in
The War on Drugs, and border issues such as security and migration. The course will combine lectures,
readings, multi-media, and discussion with topical several role-playing exercises, some of which have been
written or commissioned by the instructor.
MAJOR CREDIT: CLEG (Government); HEALTH PROMOTION; JUSTICE AND LAW (Criminology Concentration or
Justice and Law Elective); POLITICAL SCIENCE (Comparative Politics Concentration); SIS (International Economic
Relations, International Business); SOCIOLOGY
Note: This course includes an optional Honors Study/Travel trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, during spring break.
HNRS-302-004H POWER AND PROTEST
Adrienne LeBas
New Time: M 5:30-8 p.m.
This seminar examines the emergence of representative government, especially the role of popular protest
in that process. We will start by looking at why states exist and how power was organized in early modern
Europe, and then we will consider a variety of examples of popular resistance against states. One week we
may look at food riots, while the next could turn to more orderly acts of resistance, such as the popular
petitioning of eighteenth-century England. The course serves as an introduction to theories of political
mobilization and social movements, and readings will be drawn from several disciplines, including
sociology, political science, and history. Throughout the course, we will ask the same questions: how was
protest organized? What roles do language and persuasion play in political mobilization? What factors
explain the success or failure of social movements?
MAJOR CREDIT: CLEG (Government); WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES (Language and Area Studies:
French/Europe, German/ Europe Area Studies); LAW AND SOCIETY (Related Elective); POLITICAL SCIENCE
(Comparative Politics Concentration); SIS (Global Environmental Policy, International Politics, Peace and Conflict
Resolution); and SOCIOLOGY
HNRS-302-005H THE SIXTIES IN AMERICA
Leonard Steinhorn
M 2:35-5:15 p.m.
Immerse yourself in the culture, media, politics, and controversies of 1960s America. Journey through a
decade of intense cultural change, one defined by civil rights, black power, Vietnam, campus unrest, the
generation gap, rock 'n' roll, the counterculture, the sexual revolution, feminism, television, assassinations,
and backlash as well. We will study a decade considered the most tumultuous, consequential, and decisive
in recent American history. Students will be asked to travel back in time to an era when people their age
had to decide whether to fight in a war or protest it, whether to attend class or participate in a sit-in,
whether to risk the rejection of their parents by embracing the social and sexual changes brought about by
their generation. No other decade has had such an impact on who we are and how we think today, and in
many ways we are still fighting the cultural and political battles that began in the 1960s. Understand the
Sixties and you will better understand America today.
MAJOR CREDIT: COMMUNICATION STUDIES (Media and Government); HISTORY; JOURNALISM (Media Studies);
POLITICAL SCIENCE (Major Related Social Science Requirement); PUBLIC COMMUNICATION (Media Studies); SIS
(International Communication); SOCIOLOGY
HNRS-302-006H PERSPECTIVES ON MENTAL ILLNESS
Adam Lowy
W 2:35-5:15 p.m.
In this course, we will study various aspects of mental illness by analyzing key works by novelists, poets,
philosophers and psychiatrists. We will gain an understanding of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
suicidality and major depression by reading works by artists who struggled with these problems, as well as
fictional representations of these illnesses and psychiatric theories and scientific studies of them. Further,
we will explore what these depictions tell us about the author’s view of what is real or normal. We shall
questions how mental illness (and health) can be defined and what are the philosophical ramifications of
making such distinctions.
MAJOR CREDIT: HEALTH PROMOTION (Special Education Minor); PSYCHOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH
HNRS-302-007H ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGININGS:
THE PLANETARY CRISIS IN FICTION AND LITERARY NONFICTION
Judith Shapiro
M 11:45 a.m.-2:25 p.m.
This colloquium draws on novels, literary non-fiction, political analysis, film, and scholarly classics to
explore our planet's past and future, developed North and developing South. Authors include Amitav
Ghosh, Margaret Atwood, T. Corghessan Boyle, Aldo Leopold, and Bruce Barcott. Students should expect
heavy but enjoyable reading and lively discussion.
MAJOR CREDIT: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (BA Program Only, Environmental Applications); LITERATURE; SIS
(Global Environmental Policy)
HNRS-302-008H WHO KILLED JFK?
Donald Fulsom
TF 10:20-11:35 a.m.
This colloquium is a full examination of the many continuing mysteries and the latest findings about the
murder of President John F. Kennedy in the streets of Dallas 50 years ago. Questions of who was
responsible and why will be supplemented by a thorough look at the impact this tragic event has had on
America’s government and its citizens.
MAJOR CREDIT: HISTORY; JUSTICE, LAW and SOCIETY (Elective); POLITICAL SCIENCE (Major Related Social
Science Requirement)
HNRS-302-009H AMERICAN IDENTITY:
THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM
Akbar Ahmed
W 8:55-11:35 a.m.
Meets in SIS 120
This multidisciplinary course examines how the Muslim experience in the United States challenges and
relates to core features of American identity. It is based on an unprecedented research trip across the
United States and includes notes, films, and ethnography from that trip from Muslims and non-Muslims,
encompassing the full range of American life and culture. The course examines how American identity was
shaped over American history through the work of writers like Alexis De Tocqueville and the role that
minorities played in shaping that identity. Using the Muslim experience as a case study, the course will
examine how American ideals key to its identity like pluralism have held up in a post 9/11 society.
MAJOR CREDIT: AMERICAN STUDIES; EDUCATION; POLITICAL SCIENCE (Major Related Social Science
Requirement); RELIGIOUS STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Major only); SIS (International Communication, The Americas,
U.S. Foreign Policy, Islamic Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution; Comparative and International Race Relations);
SOCIOLOGY
HNRS-302-010H KEY DEBATES IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Randolph Persaud
W 5:30-8 p.m.
This course will examine some of the most pressing international issues in a debating format. The
following topics are scheduled for debating – preventive force, humanitarian intervention, nuclear
deterrence, terrorism, offensive and defensive realism, environmental security,
human security, sanctions, democratic peace, and U.S. grand strategy.
MAJOR CREDIT: CLEG (Government); JUSTICE AND LAW (Criminal Justice Concentration or Elective); POLITICAL
SCIENCE (Major Related Social Science Requirement); SIS (Global Environmental Policy, Global Security, Peace and
Conflict Resolution, U.S. Foreign Policy)
HNRS-302-011H MEDIA AND THE AMERICAN MIND
Rodger Streitmatter
M, TH 8:55-10:10 a.m.
Movies, TV shows, newspapers, advertising—they influence who we vote for, how we define America’s
role in global politics, and where we stand on such major issues as same-sex marriage and stem-cell
research, while at the same time helping to shape our moral values and to determine how we dress and how
we spend our leisure time. This course explores the vital role that the various media genres play –
historically as well as in contemporary times – in affecting American society writ large and simultaneously
influencing the individual attitudes and actions of those of us who make up that society. Among the
required readings in this course is the professor’s 2009 book, From ‘Perverts’ to ‘Fab Five’ – The Media’s
Changing Depiction of Gay Men and Lesbians. SOC majors may undertake their Honors capstone in
conjunction with this course, while non-SOC majors are also eagerly welcomed to enroll in the course.
MAJOR CREDIT: AMERICAN STUDIES; ANTHROPOLOGY; CLEG (Communication); COMMUNICATION STUDIES
(Media and Society); EDUCATION; FILM (Film and Media Studies); HEALTH PROMOTION; JOURNALISM
(Media Studies); LITERATURE; POLITICAL SCIENCE (Related Social Science Requirement); PUBLIC
COMMUNICATION (Media Studies); SIS (International Communication); SOC (Media Studies; all majors);
SOCIOLOGY; WOMEN’S, GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES
HNRS-302-012H CULTURES IN CONTACT, CULTURES IN CONFLICT:
IMAGINING AND CONSTRUCTING THE ‘OTHER’
Mirjana Morosini-Dominic
New Time:
T 5:30-8 p.m.
Grounded in a thorough examination of the various theories of society, such as social Darwinism, and
designed around a comparative and multidisciplinary set of scholarly works and literary writings, this
course explores the colonial, postcolonial, and imperial interactions between the West and the rest of the
world during the 19th and 20th centuries. It looks at the ways the perception of differences informs reality
and conditions the imagining and the construction of the racial, ethnic, and national others. On a more
fundamental level, it questions the meaning of modernity and its civilizing processes steeped in the
common myth of progress and betterment of itself through rationalization and institutionalization.
MAJOR CREDIT: HISTORY; POLITICAL SCIENCE (Major Related Social Science Requirement); SIS (International
Communication, Peace and Conflict Resolution); SOCIOLOGY