Honors (HON)
HON 150 Epic Tradition in Literature (3 credits)
This course explores the way in which literature seeks to define values in the real world. Beginning with a brief introduction to the world of epic for the Greeks and the Romans, we will trace themes and conflicts emerging from ancient epic and informing subsequent epics of the English Renaissance. Students will be exposed to the ongoing search for God in the fractured religious contexts of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.
Attributes: First-Year Seminar, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 201 Shakespeare in Short (1 credit)
This Honors course involves three Shakespeare plays and a mandatory trip to see one of them, The Tempest, performed at Quintessence Theatre in March. The course will involve videos, quizzes, discussions and questions on Canvas, as well as one essay and/or exam, due during finals week.
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 221 Rebels&Revolutionaries:Art&Lit (3 credits)
In this course we will explore the works of 20th- and 21st-century visual artists and writers who have rebelled against the status quo and revolutionized the course of visual art and literature. We will delve into their texts and images through readings, discussions, and field trips, and consider what they teach us about our own time and our role in it.
Attributes: English Area 4- British/Irish, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Irish Studies Course, Undergraduate
HON 222 Leadership: Ancient&Mod Views (3 credits)
The Greco-Roman world produced some of history’s most celebrated leaders. Through its presidents and entrepreneurs, the U.S. has dominated the global political and economic scene since the early 20th century. The course examines ancient and modern examples of leadership to deepen students’ understanding and prepare them for future positions. Topics include: What motivates people to become leaders? What are the qualities associated with a successful leader? What flaws and weaknesses characterize a bad leader? How do leaders inspire others to share their vision? To what extent is the ability to lead determined, or undermined, by one’s gender, race, or socioeconomic status? How does one overcome such obstacles?
Attributes: GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 270 Honors Special Topics (3 credits)
Topics will vary by instructor each semester in which the class is offered.
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 300 Community Engaged Scholarship (3 credits)
In this course, students will work with a community-based organization to design and conduct research on an issue related to homelessness or affordable housing. Throughout the semester, students will learn about research methods, research ethics, and the particular urban context within which they will be working. More importantly, students will gain experience working alongside staff of a community-based organization to solve problems or assess needs and strengths. This is a service-learning course.
Attributes: Diversity Course, GEP Social Science, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 301 Modern Mosaic I (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1832 to 1939, analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts and literature.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Attributes: GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 302 Modern Mosaic II (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1832 to 1939, analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts and literature.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Attributes: GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 303 Reason Revolution Reaction I (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1500 to 1832 analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts, and literature.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate Day Division level students.
Attributes: English Area 4- British/Irish, GER Art/Literature, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 304 Reason Revolution Reaction II (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study in Western European civilization from 1500 to 1832 analyzing developments in history, philosophy, science, music, the arts, and literature.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate Day Division level students.
Attributes: English Area 4- British/Irish, GER Art/Literature, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 305 America:Myth/Images/Real I (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study of American culture from the early settlement years to the present, juxtaposing novels, films, historical documents, paintings, poems, legislation, and photographs.
Attributes: GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 306 America:Myth/Images/Real II (3 credits)
A continued interdisciplinary study of American culture from the early settlement years to the present, juxtaposing novels, films, historical documents, paintings, poems, legislation, and photographs.
Attributes: GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 309 Pens/Guns:Litr Road Am Civ War (3 credits)
An interdisciplinary study of the links between literature and politics leading up to and occurring during the American Civil War, with emphasis on the ways American writers used fiction, poetry, and other literary forms to react to and to comment publicly upon slavery and the sectional crisis that threatened the nation from the 1840s to the 1860s. Satisfies upper-level requirement for history majors, the American literature requirement for English majors, and the elective requirement for American Studies minors.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and ENG 101
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 310 Womens Writing as Emancipation (3 credits)
This course explores how British and American women of the late seventeenth to early twentieth centuries used writing as a means of emancipation. Drawing on a wide variety of women's texts-narrative fictions, poetry, political polemics, conduct books, letters, autobiographies, social theories, sermons, etc.-we will examine both the historical circumstances in which women found themselves and the literary production that resulted.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Attributes: American Studies Course, Diversity Course, English Area 4- British/Irish, English Area 5 - American Lit, English Early Lit, English Diversity, Gender Studies Course, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 311 Paradoxes, Prob & Proofs (3 credits)
Can a sentence be both true and false at the same time? Can a theorem be true if it has no proof? Can there be different sizes of infinity? Can a single solid ball be decomposed and reassembled to create two balls each with the same volume as the original? These questions all lie at the juncture of philosophy and the foundations of mathematics. This course examines the questions that have emerged in the 20th century about the nature of mathematical truth and the status of our mathematical knowledge. This is an interdisciplinary course that considers questions from both mathematical and philosophical perspectives.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Honors Course, Math Beauty, Undergraduate
HON 315 An Understanding of Suffering (3 credits)
The template through which this class will be offered is the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual model. In so many words such a model is designed to help one arrive at an "Ecology of the Spirit" whereby one is led to respond to the question, What are the conditions through which a person is more open to be alert to the movements and workings of God's Spirit (whatever one's belief)? In effect, this "Ecology of the Spirit" may serve as a useful way of conceptualizing theologically suffering, trauma and evil, that is to say, a theodicy. This particular class is designed to accentuate the philosophical, psychological and theological meanings surrounding suffering and trauma.Using the faith and reason principle of gratia perfecta natura (grace perfects nature), I will suggest how God comes to a person in and through suffering, even in trauma. Various religious understandings of suffering and trauma will be offered with special emphasis given to the Catholic tradition. Through an appropriation of these understandings, the student will learn to become even more skilled in encountering suffering, one's own and that of others, and be a source and a resource for healing and hope. In this respect the student will become a competent and compassionate man/woman for others.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 154 or THE 221) and ENG 101
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 316 Tragedy in Lit & Philosophy (3 credits)
This course, focused on classical, Shakespearean, and modern examples of tragedy, will seek to answer the following questions: Why do we enjoy seeing representations of tragic suffering? What does this tell us about human nature and our societies? Would a life without tragedy be fully human? What is the relationship between tragedy and trauma?
Attributes: English Area 3 - Shakespeare, English Area 4- British/Irish, English Early Lit, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Philosoph Anthropol
HON 318 Society, Democracy, Republic (3 credits)
This Honors team-taught course will focus on the intellectual heritage of thinking and writing about collective human life, with particular reference to governance, decision-making, mores, social codes and conventional relationships of power (including both explicit power-sharing arrangements and customary divergences in status, authority, autonomy or control for various classes of persons). Despite an avowed focus on governance and the exercise of power, the course is devoted neither to the history of governments nor to political analysis. It will, instead, deal with principles, ethical frameworks and broadly humanistic values that we will illuminate through a large and varied sample of readings from the Ancient World and from the modern West. The intellectual content of the course will be rooted in social commentary and in literary and philosophical texts. Ethical considerations lie at its core.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, GEP Art/Literature, Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 320 The Elections (3 credits)
This course coincides with the Federal Election cycle, and provides an analysis of the presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial races. Students will develop a basis for understanding the election cycle, especially drawing upon the changes that have taken place in American politics since the 1980s and the history of electioneering in America, especially in the modern era. This will include discussion of partisan realignment, the growing importance of personality and interest group politics, and the role of issues in influencing electoral choice. Particular attention will be devoted to understanding the tactics and strategies of the two major parties as they position themselves and then engage in the campaign process.
Prerequisites: ENG 101
Attributes: GEP Social Science, Honors Course, Undergraduate, Writing Intensive Course- GEP
HON 324 Russia as a Global Power (3 credits)
This course will examine Russia’s rise and role as a global power in the 20th and 21st centuries. After suffering a devastating defeat in World War I, Russia, as the Soviet Union, remade its economic, cultural, and military power to be central to the defeat of the Axis states and then challenged the U.S. throughout the Cold War. The breakup of the Soviet Union set Russia’s position back again, but since 2007, Putin has been increasingly assertive around the world. Combining the disciplines of History and Political Science, students will study the ebb and flow of Russian power using the tools of both disciplines. By examining secondary and primary sources, as well as theories of empire, war, state formation, and authoritarianism, students will achieve a strong understanding of Soviet and Russian foreign policy and the conceptual tools for better understanding post-Soviet Russia in the global arena.
Attributes: Honors Course, International Relations Course
HON 328 Anthro & Philo of the Body HON (3 credits)
This multidisciplinary course examines critical questions raised by the human body and our lived experience. We ask how our natures as complex human persons with rational, biological, and spiritual elements are both formed in response to bodily experience and how, in turn, these elements impact our experience and sense of the possible. This leads us to inquire into the ethical norms and responsibilities that have been fashioned around the body, as they pertain both to oneself and others. Specific topics may include: cultural relativism; the sources of normativity; the ethics of suffering and enduring; the ethics of pleasure; duties and possibilities of kindness; ordinary and transformative lived experiences; the corporeality of inequality and injustice.
Attributes: GEP Social Science, Honors Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
HON 370 Honors Special Topics (3 credits)
Topics will vary by instructor each semester in which the class is offered.
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 384 Jew/Chr: Theologies Compared (3 credits)
The course studies fundamental religious questions as understood from various Jewish and Christian perspectives. Christian and Jewish students will gain an understanding of the other religious community while also deepening their understanding of their own. Other students will encounter the two traditions through a comparative lens. Topics to be discussed include the experience of God; the Bible; how Christians and Jews understand their relationship to God and the world; worship and prayer; and the destiny of the created universe.
Attributes: Honors Course, Religious Difference Course, Undergraduate
HON 388 Jews&Chr: Bible Interpretation (3 credits)
Although Jews and Christians share many of the same scriptural books, their respective collections are differently organized and named. Christians refer to their collection as the "Old Testament," while Jews call their texts the "Tanakh" (an acronym for the Hebrew words for Teaching, Prophets, and Writings). Despite, or because of this commonality, Christians and Jews have often battled over these scriptures' meanings. This course explores the ways that Jews and Christians have interpreted key texts, separately and together, over two millennia of learning from and disputing with each other. It also examines why the Bible has been a source of conflict between the two groups, with a focus on certain key passages, and why that is currently changing - as evidenced in recent official Catholic instructions.
Attributes: Honors Course, Religious Difference Course, Undergraduate
HON 390 Descending Tower: Commty Rsrch (3 credits)
Engaged scholarship can take several forms. Broadly defined, it means connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic, and ethical problems. One key way of sharing these resources is through research--not "on" the community, but "with" the community. This type of research model is one in which projects are developed collaboratively by community organization staff, faculty, and students, building on the unique strengths of those involved. In this course, students will work with a community-based organizations to design and conduct research. Throughout the semester, students will learn about research methods and ethics, and the particular urban context in which they will be working. More importantly, students will gain experience working alongside staff of a community-based organization to solve problems or assess needs and strengths.
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 493 Independent Research I (6 credits)
Independent research, either for an Honors Independent Study, a College Honors Thesis, or a Research Concept Form
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 494 Independent Research II (6 credits)
Independent research, either for an Honors Independent Study, a College Honors Thesis, or a Research Concept Form
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate
HON 495 Capstone (6 credits)
Honors capstone research
Attributes: Honors Course, Undergraduate