Honors Courses: Fall 2015
Course Descriptions
ART 275 AQX: Honors: Graphic Design History (4 cr)
This course offers students an art historical introduction to the History of Graphic
Design. Emphasis will be placed on the social and historical contexts of typography,
graphic imagery, and design. Ancient to pre-modern design will be considered.
Students will produce a significant research paper addressing the unique attributes of
the Bauhaus as an educational model, and ways in which theories of gender enable us
to better understand Graphic Design History.
BIO 151 ESU: Honors General Biology: Cell Biology & Ecology (4 cr)
This course (the first of a two-semester sequence) explores basic biological concepts of
cell biology, energy capture and transfer, and ecology. This course is grounded in the
philosophy and process of scientific inquiry and highlights historical events that have
shaped past and current biological thought and practices. This course includes lectures,
discussions, field trips, and laboratory experiences.
BIO/ENVS 250 EV: Honors Introduction to Environmental Science (3 cr)
Humans are intimately connected to the natural world. We not only depend on the
environment for our existence and well-being, but we are also part of the environment
and our actions can affect it profoundly. This course explores the connections between
humans and our environment by examining basic ecological principles and applying
them to many of the major environmental issues currently faced by humanity.
COMMS 100 O: Honors Food Conversation: How Food Influences Community, Culture and
Identity (3 cr)
This course explores the relationship between food and the human experience. The
central theme of this course is that food communicates to people literally and
metaphorically, and that food negates the false simplicity of merely “eating to
survive.” Food is more than sustenance and its significance is far reaching.
Students will actively engage in the learning process through assigned writing
opportunities based on reading and structured inquiry, including group research,
class discussions, and presentations from discussants on and off campus.
ENG 110C W: Honors College Writing Rhetoric of Revenge (4 cr; two sections)
This course will explore the scary appeal of the revenge narrative, one of literature's
most enduring and reliable themes, throughout its history from Ancient Greece to South
Park, the television show. Students will see how this narrative investigates the darker
elements of human nature and also acts as a spur to writing. They will compose four
short essays and a longer research paper in response to revenge-themed literature.
ENG 111F 1CD: Honors: Coming of Age in America (4 cr)
The Bildungsroman, or “coming-of-age” novel, has along and distinguished history in
American letters. Some critics have even seen the process of grappling with incipient
adulthood as a topic inherently suited to “American” themes of rebellion, individualism,
and modernity. This class seeks to redefine the “classic” Bildungsroman, taking into
account portrait presented in the diverse and multifaceted novels of today. The
theoretical framework underlying our study will be contemporary literary criticism,
particularly cultural approaches emphasizing race, class, ability, sexual orientation,
religious orientation, gender, ethnicity, and geographical identity.
ETHS 150 1D: Honors: Diverse Landscapes in US Culture
This course examines from a sociological perspective the ramifications of a multicultural
population within a given setting, paying special attention to the complex relationships
between landscapes and the diverse communities who inhabit these spaces. Students
will examine their relationships to these communities and the relationships within,
paying attention to the ways race, class, gender and sexuality shape these settings.
Emphasis will be placed on the research method of ethnography, with each student
learning how to write an ethnography centered on a specific setting. S/he will take
special note of all interactions within the setting. Prerequisites: This course is for first
semester freshmen or freshmen transfer students.
GEOS 469 – Honors: National Park Geology & Preservation
The course uses National Parks to learn about geological features and the
processes that form them, as well as society’s need to preserve such features and
make them accessible to the public. A site is established as a national park,
monument, seashore, or other element of the National Park Service because it displays
a special aspect of the cultural or natural history of the United States. The mission of the
National Park Service is to protect such features and make them accessible to the public.
Geologic features are an important part of this heritage, not only because they help us
understand Earth’s history, but also because they are the landscapes upon which our
country’s cultural and natural history take place.
IC 401: Honors Scholarship (0 cr)
This course is for junior or senior Honors Students who wish to complete an Honors
Scholarship Project in fulfillment of their final Honors Program requirement. This is
an individually designed project, and will require a contract between the Honors
student, his or her Project Advisor, and the Honors Director.
**ADVISING NOTE: COMMS 100, ENG 110C, ENG 111F, and ETHS 1D are all highly recommended for firstyear students. Freshmen must complete at least one Honors course within their first year. However,
students who are planning to pursue majors with restrictive schedules (such as Nursing or Education)
would benefit from enrolling in more than one Honors course during their first year to help satisfy the
four-course requirement.