Course Schedule & Descriptions: SPRING 2022

HONORS SPRING 2022              
SUBJECT CRSE SEC CRN UNT COURSE TITLE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME ROOM MODE CAT INSTRUCTOR
HSP 172 2A 8439 1 GI in Fine Arts Ballroom to Hell T  R 2:15-4:05 Obs MAC   Maureen Balke
HSP 172 1A 8022 1 GI in Fine Arts Creating the Play T  R 2:15-4:05   MAC   Stephanie Henderson
HSP 172  3A 8534   GI in Fine Arts Sculpture and Site: Bodylore M W   2:15-5:00   MAC   Shauana Merriman
HSP 172  4A 8535   GI in Fine Arts An Exploration of Light, Shadow & Art T  R 10:30-12:20pm   MAC   Kaite Bullock
                         
HSP 131 1T 8440 1 GI in Humanities Don Quijota of La Mancha M W F 1:00 - 2:05   MTA   Kalen Oswald
HSP 135 1H 8441 1 GI in Humanities Ancient Faith, Modern World T  R 10:30 - 12:20   MHC   Jocelyn McWhirter
HSP 131 2T 8486 1 GI in Humanities The Rise and Demise of the American Postwar Liberal Moment: Hollywood andCapital Hill, 1945-1950 M W   2:15-4:05 Obs MTA   Andy Grossman
HSP 132 1A 8527 1 GI in Humanities Poetic Forms and Traditions M W 2:15-4:05   MAC   Helena Mesa
                         
HSP 125 1D 8442 1 GI in Science Sex and Gender, Nature & Nurture M W F 1:00 - 2:05     YGE Marc  Roy
HSP 123 1S 8528 1 GI in Science Patterns in Nature T  R 9:20-12:20   MSA   Kelly Hallinger
HSP 126 1V 8529 1 GI in Science Citien Science & Public Engagement in the Natural Sciences M  W 8:00 - 9:50     YEN Joe Lee-Cullin
                         
HSP 157 1 8023 1 GI in Social Science Identity & Inequality W  F 2:15-4:05     YEH Scott Melzer
HSP 155 1H 8443 1 GI in Social Science American Encounters w/China T  R 10:30-12:20   MHC   Joe Ho
 
                              COURSE DESCRIPTIONS for SPRING 2022  
Great Issues in Fine Arts -  “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Vienna 1814-1815

HSP 172     CRN 8439
Tuesday – Thursday  2:15 - 4:05p.m.
Observatory Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view the A&E production Napoleon:  An Epic Life. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class members will create individual projects presented at the end of the semester. Projects may involve music, historical information or skits, dance, ballroom games, battlefield strategies, etc. according to students’ interests.

*COUNTS FOR ARTISTIC CREATION (MAC)     You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, musician, historian, or political scientist in order to contribute to class!

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from the, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Fine Arts - Creating the Play 

HSP 172   CRN 8022
Tuesday, Thursday  2:15-4:05pm
Stephanie Henderson, Instructor 

COURSE DESCRIPTION : Introduction to Playwriting is a “workshop” course in which we will explore writing for the theatre through practice and discussion.  We will study major components of playwriting including action, dialogue, and character, and we will deepen our understanding of these components by completing and workshopping writing assignments, providing and receiving feedback, and reading the work of contemporary playwrights.  Upon completion of this course each student will have written and revised one ten-minute play.

This class will help students develop applicable skills in a wide range of academic disciplines and professional fields.  Students will regularly practice analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -- skills that will be beneficial in the classroom or the workplace.

  • Analysis - Reading contemporary playwrights will facilitate the breaking down of the plays into parts to understand how the whole operates. We will analyze others’ writings as well as develop one’s own understanding of where and how the parts hold together or breakdown.
  • Synthesize - Personal observations, experiences, and questions will be utilyzed to create original writing
  • Evaluate - Reflecting on one’s own writing and that of others will explore possibilities for revision.

Feedback - This is a critical component of the course.  No matter what field one pursues, it is inevitable to receive feedback in regards to one’s performance and offer feedback  on others.  This can be scary, but a workshop class such as this will give plenty of practice in receiving and giving feedback.   Learning how to listen actively is critical feedback, respond gracefully to that feedback, and process the feedback in a productive manner.  Students will also learn how to provide honest, tactful, and productive feedback to others.

Finally, we will read plays by a selection of writers who are diverse in background as well as style.  You will consider different perspectives and experiences, which will help you better understand and communicate with the diversity of classmates and colleagues you encounter now and in the future.  You will also delve into your characters in your own writing that may think and behave differently than you, encouraging you to deepen your capacity for empathy which is invaluable both professionally and personally.

*COUNTS FOR ARTISTIC CREATION (MAC)

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts - Sculpture & Site: Bodylore

HSP 172   CRN
Monday, Wednesday – 2:14-4:05
Shauna Merriman

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Bodylore* is an interdisciplinary studio/seminar that engages students in producing original sculptures and site-specific installation artworks. Site-specific art is designed specifically for a particular location and has an interrelationship with it. A variety of sculptural approaches and mediums are explored, including mold making and casting multiples, to create figurative and abstract forms. Students choose their sites based on personal creative research interests that develop throughout the semester, in buildings and nature across campus and around Albion. We will investigate the body and identity as a subject through readings, writing, discussions, and the collaborative process of making Sculpture.

*Bodylore was coined in 1989 by Katherine Galloway Young, lecturer/theorist/folklorist and writer on body image, narrative, space, disability, and medicine. Her books include Presence in the Flesh: the Body in Medicine, and Bodylore, where she writes, “Culture is inscribed on the body....Culture is at the same time fabricated out of the body.”

NO ART EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED
*COUNTS FOR ARTISTIC CREATION (MAC)

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration.

Great Issues in Fine Arts – An Exploration of Light, Shadow & Art

HSP 172   CRN
Monday, Wednesday  -  9:15-11:40am
Bobbitt
Kaite Bullock

COURSE DESCRPTION:  This transdisciplinary class will introduce students to the concept of light as material through the study of optics, optical devices, and light-based phenomena that can be found in the world at large. Students will discover, create, and document optical effects by using common everyday materials and adapting them into alternative optical devices and experiences. With these basic materials, students will explore a wide variety of artistic approaches. Emphasis will be placed on bringing documentation of both found and created optical phenomena into the classroom, where observations and research will act as foundational driving factors in the students’ hands-on learning experiences. Weekly physical demonstrations, group reading discussions and a mixture of informal and formal critiques will foster an atmosphere of collaboration, experimentation, and exploration.

This class will stress the importance of both play and research in the execution of proposed ideas, while providing contextual presentations focused on light and its wide-ranging roles and applications in art and design. Lectures and demos will focus on mapping the use of optics and projection in visual artwork since the turn of the century, and we will discuss the theories and artistic climate that has promoted this particular intersection of art and science. The class will examine the changing meaning and context of vision, color, reflection, and refraction over time, and delve into the philosophical and metaphorical implications of studying light and optics. Students will be encouraged to reconsider their seemingly familiar surroundings, while challenging notions of objectivity and truth. Through careful looking, documenting, reflecting, and ultimately sharing work with one another, students will be encouraged to engage with large-scale questions and challenges through local noticing and action.

*COUNTS FOR ARTISTIC CREATION (MAC)

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration

Great Issues in Humanities - Don Quijota of La Mancha

HSP 131    CRN 8440
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1:00 – 2:05pm
Kalen Oswald

COURSE DESCRIPTION: “The best novel in history:100 renown authors select ‘El Quijote’ in a survey conducted by the Nobel Institute.”   Thus reads the title of a full page article in El País from Wednesday, May 8, 2002. Very few would argue that Miguel de Cervantes’s work El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha is a masterpiece of world literature. Virtually everybody has heard of Don Quijote and Sancho, and most have seen some representation of their (mis)adventures, be it the Broadway hit “Man of La Mancha,” the more contemporary made for TV movie starring Jon Lithgow, or Mr. Magoo’s Don Quixote. The verb phrase “tilting windmills” and the adjective “quixotic” are found in English dictionaries. Nevertheless, the fraternity of humankind that has actually read the entire book cover-to-cover is still relatively small. It is about time we make that fellowship a little larger. Reading and analyzing this work—the first great modern novel—will be a challenging, but life changing experience. 

*COUNTS FOR TEXTUAL ANALYSIS (MTA) 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in Humanities - Ancient Faith, Modern World

HSP  135         CRN  8441  
Tuesday, Thursday - 10:30-12:20pm
Dr. Jocelyn McWhirter
Email:                                                                                                     

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Where did we come from? If we know right from wrong, why do we so often choose to do wrong? Why do bad things happen to good people? In this seminar, we will analyze the Bible’s answers to these and other questions, together with the answers of modern scientists, philosophers, and religious thinkers. We will evaluate these answers as we discuss them in class, often with reference to the PBS series The Question of God, which sets the views of Sigmund Freud (a Jew who lost his faith as an undergraduate studying biology) in conversation with C. S. Lewis (an atheist who became a Christian while working as a professor of medieval English). By interacting with the arguments of those who strive to interpret their ancient faith in this modern world, we will test some answers of our own.

This course fulfills the Honors Program humanities requirement as well as the College’s Historical and Cultural Analysis Mode requirement.

*COUNTS FOR HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL (MHC)

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Humanities - The Rise and Demise of the American Postwar Liberal Moment: Hollywood and Capitol Hill, 1945-1950.

HSP 131   CRN 8486
Monday, Wednesday – 2:15-4:05pm
Professor (Emeritus), Andrew D. Grossman
Observatory

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  This course will be primarily a textual analysis of  films dealing with the home-front, de-mobilization, and social policy in the USA after World War II (1945). Between 1945-1956 a liberal (in the traditional sense of “liberal”)  moment in postwar domestic politics. Between 1945-47 domestic social policies such as universal healthcare, a GI Bill for all, civil-rights–the US had just fought a war to protect liberal democracy while at the same time having laws in place the purposely treated some citizens (African Americans and others of color) as second-class or much worse, basic equality for woman, issues dealing with sexuality and sexual orientation, and especially interesting issues related to public discussions related to PTSD. 

Topical categories include how the US closed off a liberal political postwar moment, in American politics. We will use film texts on propaganda, historical allegory, combat, gender, advocacy, social engineering, political commentary, race, drama, and the relationships among art, cinema, and politics to flesh out key issues of this period of postwar US politics. Hollywood films re-produced concerns about important social domestic issues that were stymied by the US Government as it mobilized for the Cold War.

We will try and meet as at the Bohm theater for our film days.

Films: The Best Years of Our Lives; The Stranger; Key Largo, Let There Be Light (short); A Soldier’s Story, The Manchurian Candidate, one more film TBA.

Readings: relevant essays (PDF on course web) that analyze the period 1945-1950 since I have PDF’s that will be on the course webpage,  I will use one textbook as our primary background reader:  Ira Katznelson, Fear Itself.

*COUNTS FOR TEXTUAL ANALYSIS (MTA)

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Humanities - Poetic Forms and Traditions

HSP 132H   CRN 8527
Monday, Wednesday  -  2:15 – 4:05pm
Helena Mesa, English

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Poet Charles Simic writes, “Poems witness our existence in ways nothing else can.  There’s that moment in a great poem when time stops and the reader’s self is touched by someone else’s life.  The poem ascends, and so do we in its company.  In a long history of forgetting, poems make us remember what it means to stand naked before ourselves.”  But how do we go about writing poems that metaphorically stop time, poems that emotionally touch the reader, or poems that unexpectedly ascend? 

As an introduction to poetic forms and traditions, this course provides guidance, feedback, and practice on the craft of writing poetry.  Throughout the semester, we will approach poetry from a writer’s perspective, analyzing how writers craft their poems, and each discussion will serve as a model for students to write their own poems.  We will study both traditional and contemporary readings, examining the writers’ techniques and styles; that is, we will investigate various traditional subjects (such as ekphrasis, dramatic monologues, elegies, and poetry of witness) in addition to various traditional forms (potentially sonnets, villanelles, heroic couplets, and blues poems).  Furthermore, we will consider not only the tradition of a poetic form (subject, structure, expectations), but contemporary uses and adaptations of the form.  And in the process of exploring poetic forms and traditions, we will also discuss what elements make a poem a great poem—imagery, narrative, lines, line breaks, music, etcetera.

Thus, the main concentration of our class will consist of three major components: reading and analyzing published poems;  writing, revising, and editing; and learning to critique fellow student work.  We will workshop several of each poet’s poems, offering constructive criticism and due praise, which the poet will revise for one portfolio and one reinventions project. Since the workshop’s usefulness depends on student ideas and suggestions, everyone will participate in class and individually respond to fellow writers’ work.  Lastly, students will present one poetic tradition or form to the class.

One does not need to be a poet to take this course—the course is designed so that every writer will learn about poetic craft, and so that every writer will develop over the course of the semester.

COUNTS FOR ARTISTIC CREATION (MAC)

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Science - SEX AND GENDER, NATURE AND NURTURE

HSP 125    CRN  8442
M
onday, Wednesday, Friday -  1:00 – 2:05pm
Dr. Marc Roy

COURSE DESCRIPTION:   In this course, we will examine how biological factors interact with physical, social, and cultural factors to influence the expression of sex and gender in a variety of animals, including humans.  From the earliest possible moments, sometimes even before birth, we identify individuals as females and males.  Gender roles and identities are reinforced from birth with the clothes we dress infants in and the toys we give them.  But what makes us males and females?  Sex and gender are concepts that have been studied from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.  Are they the same things?  What leads to differences in sex and gender?  While some people have argued that biological factors are the primary factors that determine if an individual is female or male, others have argued that these terms are socially constructed and that social and cultural factors are the primary determinants of sex and gender. 

Our understanding of sex and gender has changed historically and is understood differently in different cultures.  Also in this course, we will examine how these constructs, along with sexual orientation, have changed over time.  We will also explore how gender and sexual orientation are understood and expressed in several different cultures and social groups (e.g. religious groups, race, and ethnicity), including those that the students may have encountered in their lives.  We will use texts from several disciplines including biology, psychology, and anthropology. 

*COUNTS FOR GENDER  (YGE)

 Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Science - Patterns in Nature

HSP 123    CRN 8528
Tuesday, Thursday  -  9:20am – 12:20pm
Dr. Kelly Hallinger

COURSE DESCRIPTION:   Spots, stripes, spirals, symmetries, waves, cracks – patterns abound in the natural world among both living and non-living entities. In this course, students will explore the physical, chemical, and biological basis of pattern formation and the ways in which humans (and other organisms) perceive and respond to them. Students will also examine ways in which humans have historically drawn inspiration from patterns in nature and incorporated them into art, literature, architecture, and design. Taught in studio format.

*COUNTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS (MSA)

 Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Science - Citizen Science and Public Engagement in the Natural Sciences

HSP  126      CRN 8529
Monday, Wednesday - 8:00am – 9:50am
Dr. Joe Lee-Cullin

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this course students will investigate citizen science (here meaning nonprofessional participation in science) as it relates to the natural sciences, its capacity to influence policy, and its value in empowering and educating communities. Readings will be branch across multiple scholarly disciplines including Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Geography, Ecology, and Earth Science.

Students will develop their own citizen science proposal focused on an area of personal interest, take turns leading discussions, and work with a community partner to develop a project to crowdsource important hydrologic data while simultaneously actively learning methods to collect river quality data as nonprofessionals themselves. There will be one local field trip (date presently TBD) in conjunction with our community partner to collect river quality data. 

*COUNTS TOWARD Environmental (YEN)

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science - IDENTITY AND INEQUALITY

HSP 157     CRN 8023
Monday, Wednesday - 2:15 – 4:05pm
Dr. Scott Melzer

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  How does difference get transformed into inequality? Our interdisciplinary honors seminar examines the connections between group identity and inequality. We will focus in particular on contemporary cases in politics and education, as tied to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, citizenship, caste, and more. Whereas identity has been the province of micro-level researchers, inequality implies a macro-level analysis. Our course will attempt to bridge these two levels of analysis by studying group rather than individual identities. Sociology, political science, psychology, and education are some of the key academic disciplines that will inform our understanding of these issues.

Group identities are cultural constructs rooted in socio-historical processes of belonging and exclusion, power, conflict, stigma, dehumanization, violence, and oppression. Although identities are arbitrary – they are, after all, contested and change over time – their hierarchical ordering make them all too real in people’s everyday lives. Group membership and status affect psychological, emotional, physical, economical, educational, and political wellbeing. We will explore social movements such as BLM, MeToo, and Standing Rock to better understand American identify politics, along with how the racial/ethnic/class cultures and policies of elite U.S. college impact student belonging and exclusion, and how the rigid caste systems in India and Nazi Germany compare to group-based structural inequality in the United States. We will conclude the course asking if inequality is inevitable; that is, can there be difference without oppression?

*COUNTS FOR ETHNICITY (YEH)

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Social Science - American Encounters with China: Cross-Cultural Histories and Global Dynamics

HSP 155   CRN 8443
Tuesday, Thursday  -  10:20 – 12:20pm
Dr. Joseph W. Ho

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  This course examines cross-cultural encounters between China and the United States from the late 18th through the 21st centuries.  Using diverse interdisciplinary and historical lenses, the course covers topics that include transnational communities (Americans and Chinese abroad), the development of trans-Pacific cultural networks, and the roles of empire, global religion, national identities, modern media, and race and gender in influencing historical Sino-US relationships.  While US-China relations are conventionally defined by issues of diplomacy and politics, the goal of this course is to consider the many ways in which cultural exchanges “on the ground” have profoundly shaped American views of China and Chinese views of the US over time.

*COUNTS FOR HISTORICAL & CULTURAL ANALYSIS (MHC)

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Social  Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by the Director of Honors, before registration

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HONORS FALL 2021              
SUBJECT COURSE SEC CRN UNITS COURSE TITLE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME ROOM MODE CATEGORY INSTRUCTOR
HSP 172 1A 1407 1 GI in Fine Arts The Music, Art, and Culture of Downton Abbey M W F 10:30-11:35am Obs MAC   Lia Jensen-Abbott
HSP 172 2A 1408 1 GI in Fine Arts Book Arts T R    9:15-12:00pm Bobbitt MAC   Emmeline Solomon
HSP 137       GI in Humanities Race in Media T R  10:30-12:20pm Vulg 123 YEH Krista Quesenberry
HSP 137 1Y 1513 1 GI in Humanities Legacy of French-Speaking People of Color in North America M W F 10:30-11:35am     YEH Dianne Guenin Lelle
HSP 131 1T 1409 1 GI in Humanities “Haves and Have Nots”: Socioeconomic Issues on the Stage of German Literature and Film  M W   2:15-  4:05pm   MTA   Perry Myers
HSP 135 1T 1410 1 GI in Humanities Human and the Natural World M W F   9:15-10:20am   MHC   Ian MacInnes
HSP 124 1M 1411 1 GI in Science Data Reasoning in th Too Much Information Age T R  10:30-12:20pm   MMA   Marcella Cervantes
HSP 124 2M 1412 1 GI in Science 8 Big Ideas that Shaped Science M T W F   1:00-  2:00pm Obs MMA   Mark Bollman
HSP 126       GI in Science Microbes and Society T R    2:15-  4:05pm     YEN Ola Olapade
HSP 124       GI in Science Making Medicine: How Science, Politics, and Money Shape the Medical Profession MWF 10:30-11:35am   MMA   Craig Streu
HSP 159 1L 1514 1 GI in Social Science Skin in the Game: Risk and Reward in Politics M W F 11:45-12:50pm     YGL Dawid Tatarczyk
HSP 156       GI in Social Science Environmental History and  Anthropology M W F   1:00 -  2:05pm     YEN Eron Ackerman
                         
HSP 397 1 1512 0.3 Thesis Development Thesis Development T 7:00-8:00pm       Carrie Walling


COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
 

Great Issues In the Fine ArtsThe Music, Art, and Culture of Downton Abbey
HSP 172    CRN 1407
Monday, Wednesday, Friday    10:30-11:34am
Observatory
Dr. Lia Jensen-Abbott     

Course Description:  This class will explore the Music, Art, and Culture of the popular PBS Series and Feature Film, Downton AbbeyA 5 day trip to North Carolina to the Biltmore Castle Estate and other museums and sites is part of this class – Honors will pay a large portion of this trip, there will be a small cost to students.  Students will engage critically with the primary text (film/tv) during and outside of class.  The class will explore the main thematic music of the show/film, and how it is expressively manipulated/broken into motivic development to reflect the plot points of the show. We will have a unit on castles of England, exploring basic tenets of architecture, the history of construction, as well as the art which aristocratic families possessed.  You will be making critical assessments about class, race, gender roles, and society and how traditions were shifting during this time period.  Finally, students will engage with the other artistic considerations in this show/film:  aspects of food, dress, and other music considered in the show.

Note: If you have taken taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts – Book Arts
HSP 172     CRN 1408
Tuesday, Thursday     9:15 – Noon
Bobbitt
Professor Emmeline Solomon

Course Description: Designed to teach students the traditional and contemporary craft and conversations around handmade visual books. Students will master a wide variety of historical and contemporary bookbinding techniques through hands-on demonstrations as preparation for their own individual content-driven creations. In addition to the craft of bookbinding itself, and the creation of unique works of art, students will investigate the history and social importance of the bound book and printed word through readings, and discussion.

Note: If you have taken taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Humanities  - Legacy of French-Speaking People of Color in North America
HSP 137    CRN 1513
Monday, Wednesday, Friday     10:30-11:35am
Dr. Dianne Guenin-Lelle, Professor of French

Course Description:  This course focuses on the legacy of French-speaking People of Color in North America.  Interdisciplinary in design, the lessons of the course are based in history, literature, music and other forms of cultural expression. The course begins with an overview of the history of French colonialism in North America linking Paris and Versailles to the West African slave trade, especially Senegambia, and onto the Americas, in particular to La Nouvelle France (Canada) and La Louisiane (about one-third of today’s United States). The historical, economic and social connections between French Canada, through the Great Lakes including Michigan, down the Mississippi River through the Illinois Territory, to New Orleans will be mapped allowing students a coherent picture of this forgotten colonial presence. 

This Course will also take care of the Ethnicity requirement

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in Humanities - 
“HAVES AND HAVE NOTS”: SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES ON THE STAGE OF GERMAN LITERATURE AND FILM (1800 - PRESENT)
HSP 131    CRN 1409
Monday, Wednesday     2:15 – 4:05pm
Dr. Perry Myers

Course Description Germany is well-known as the economic driver of the European Union; yet traditional historical approaches depict Germany’s economic development either solely from an economic perspective (i.e., industrialization, technology) or simply as an important factor in the Nation’s political history.  This course will provide a new methodological approach, designed to explore how samples of German social science, literature and film have depicted and interfaced with the image of the “German economic machine” since the Enlightenment. In this class we will combine cultural studies of Germany, historical and social scientific descriptions, literary texts, and films that depict, stereotype, parody, and criticize socioeconomic changes in Germany throughout the past two centuries.  The course is designed specifically for the student interested in socioeconomic thought, cultural history, literature, or film, seeking a unique and more in-depth look at how German culture deals with the socioeconomic environment since the later eighteenth-century.  Learn about Germany’s cultural and economic role in modern Europe, as Germany represents itself!  The student will learn 1) how one studies “culture” 2) how literature and film interpret historical and economic development, a unique methodological approach to history 3) the fundamental aspects of Germany’s economic history.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in Humanities -  Humans & the Natural World
HSP 135     CRN 1410
Monday, Wednesday & Friday     9:15-10:20am
Dr. Ian MacInnes              

 Course Description:  One of the oldest and most persistent questions in the humanities concerns the relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world.  Are humans a part of nature, or do they stand apart? What relationship should humans have toward the world of plants, animals, stones, and stars? Should it be one of wonder, of appreciation, of domestication, of exploitation, of stewardship? Should the natural world be rejected altogether in favor of the spiritual or the rational?  Today we sometimes expect such questions to be answered by science or public policy, but for centuries they were the sole province of poets, philosophers, and artists.  We will be studying a variety of sources including medieval bestiaries, animal fables, philosophical and religious texts, lyric poetry, drama, landscape painting, zoological illustration, early-modern travel literature, and creative non-fiction. We begin the course by looking back at western attitudes toward the natural world and then explore the extent to which such attitudes inform the founding discourses of America and the degree to which they have been subsequently transformed within the humanities.

In addition, this class has the learning goals included in the history & culture mode of inquiry.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Science - Data Reasoning in the Too Much Information Age
HSP 124    CRN 1411
Tuesday & Thursday    10:30-12:20
Dr. Marcella Cervantes

Course description:  A course at the University of Washington, Calling Bullshit: Data Reasoning in a Digital World, created by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West undefined has inspired this course. This course will be unique,, the intention is the same, "to teach you how to think critically about the data and models that constitute evidence in the social and natural sciences."

This course's three goals are 1) use critical analysis and analytical reasoning to recognize fake, biased, misleading, or false information. Students will learn to determine whether data support findings purported in a document. On the flip side, 2) students will learn to form assumptions supported by a set of data and recognize the limits of interpretation. Lastly, 3) students will learn to represent data robustly and ethically. The hope is that this course will inspire you to refute incorrect representations of data wherever they appear and represent data fairly and concisely.

Students will do Case Studies - Identify a case of data misrepresentation matching the theme of the week. The representation may be in text, graphic, video, or audio format. Note the relevant data and describe the misrepresentation. Include, if relevant, how you could improve the representation using the same data to make the same point. If there was an incorrect assumption, express a more viable assumption that can be made from the data, or note data that better supports the point trying to be made. Propose a more true representation of the relevant data.

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Science - 8 Big Ideas That Shaped Science
HSP 124   CRN 1412
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday     1:00 – 2:00pm
Observatory
Dr. Mark Bollman

Course Description:  This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.

Astronomy: Big Bang theory                                           Biochemistry: DNA structure
Biology: Evolution                                                              Chemistry: Periodic Law
Computer science: Information theory                       Geology: Plate tectonics
Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry                      Physics: Atomic structure

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry.  Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

The reading list will include:

The Discoveries, Lightman                                      
Mendeleev on the Periodic Law, Mendeleev/Jensen  
The Non-Euclidean Revolution
, Trudeau
The Double Helix, Watson
The Origin Of Species, Darwin
Fortune’s Formula, Poundstone
Plate Tectonics, Orestes
The Canon, Angier

Note: If you have taken taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in Science - Making Medicine: How Science, Politics, and Money Shape the Medical Profession
HSP 124    CRN  1591
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10:30 – 11:35am
Craig Streu (Chemistry & Biochemistry)

Course Description: Healthcare is a big business in America. Our health and our economy rely on developments in this rapidly evolving industry. Additionally, a pandemic as well as other recent events have placed the healthcare industry squarely at the center of public consciousness. How does it work and why should we all care? This course will examine the field of healthcare as a whole, but focus on the roles of physicians and pharmaceuticals within it. It is impossible to separate the profession of medicine from the business of healthcare and so the course will often and unavoidably diverge into topics of ethics, marketing, and economics.

 

Great Issues in Science - MICROBES AND SOCIETY
HSP 126   CRN 1590
Tuesday and Thursday: 2:15 -4:05pm
Ola A. Olapade, Professor of Microbiology             

Course description: Microbes are recognized as arguably the pre-eminent and one of the oldest living cellular entities in the natural world.  The documented numerous contributions by microbes have significantly shaped, impacted and transformed various environments and other cellular forms, over billions of years of their co-evolutionary residence within the biosphere.  Therefore, the main goal of this course is to have a better appreciation for the presence of various microbial populations within different societies, especially by exploring their contributions towards several human activities in different societies such as to agricultural practices, animal husbandry, biotechnology, disease causation, food production, energy generation, among several others.  The class will begin by endeavoring to find the appropriate answer(s) to such a rhetorical question as, “are microbes’ human friends or foes?”  As the course progresses, other very important questions including “why is it that all societies are not necessarily influenced and/or transformed the same way or at the same rate, globally? This particular question is very germane to the course, especially to the present-day phenomenal issue as proposed and explained by the “hygiene hypothesis”.  Specifically, the course will discuss why there are observed differences in the occurrence and prevalence of some immune-related, hypersensitivity diseases between western developed societies and their poorer, under-developed counterparts globally.  Could these observed differences be attributable to variations in exposure rates and levels by human residents to various microbes in these societies?  This and many other relevant questions around interactions between microbes and human societies will be pondered upon and discussed during the duration of the course.

 

Great Issues in Social Science - Skin in the Game: Risk and Reward in Decision-Making
HSP 159    CRN 1514
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 11:45 a.m. - 12:50 p.m. 
Dr. Dawid Tatarczyk (517-629-0664),
Office hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 10:30am- 11:30am, Robinson #303

Course description:  This course is designed around the theme of risk and reward in decision-making. The principle of “skin in the game” refers to situations when decision-makers expose themselves to risks associated with their decisions. Conversely, to make decisions for others, or yourself, without a "skin in the game" is both unethical and has potentially huge negative consequences. Although many problems we will discuss are political in nature, we will use examples from the following fields: economics, philosophy, ethics, probability theory, religion, and history. Because this course draws from many different fields of study, it will also be global in its focus. Some examples include: competition between religions in the West, trade practices in the Mediterranean region, the problem of suicide bombers in the Middle East, and much more. Overall, this course is designed to help students improve their decision-making ability, as well as increase their capability to evaluate macro-level choices.

This course will also take care of the Global Requirement

Note: If you have already taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science - Environmental History & Anthropology
HSP 156   CRN 1592
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1:00pm – 2:05pm
Dr. Eron Ackerman

Course Description: This course explores how human relationships with the natural world have changed over time from the agricultural revolution through the age of global capitalism. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we will investigate the causes and consequences of environmental problems linked to human activity along with the development of strategies to mitigate those problems. Major issues examined include the depletion and conservation of natural resources, colonial exploitation and environmental conflict, the production and management of industrial waste, and the spread and containment of deadly pathogens. Special attention will be given to issues of environmental justice, non-Western systems of environmental management, cultural conceptions of nature, and clashes between indigenous groups and colonial settlers arising from competition over resources.

This is an Honors course, and the credits earned fulfill the Environmental Studies Category. As an Honors course, it will be taught in a seminar-style, student-centered fashion with more emphasis on participatory discussion between the instructor and fellow students than on lectures. So, I urge you to all come to class well prepared to discuss the readings and topics. The course requires a higher level of reading, writing, and engagement than most survey courses because we know you are up to the task. The readings and assignments, while challenging, are designed to immerse you in an intellectual climate of rigorous academic analysis and respectful debate. The assignments also offer you the flexibility to pursue topics that you find most interesting, important, and engaging. Provided that you take the time and effort to meaningfully engage with the content and class discussions, you will learn a lot about challenging issues in human ecology and environmental history, and you will even have fun in the process! Note: Content and scheduling on the syllabus may change at the discretion of the instructor, but you will be given ample time to plan for any changes that occur.

 

THESIS DEVELOPMENT
HSP 397     CRN 1512
Tuesdays   7:00-8:00pm
Dr. Carrie Walling
Observatory

 Course Description: The thesis development colloquy is a writing workshop open to Prentiss M. Brown seniors, juniors, and second semester sophomores. The workshop prepares students for, and guides them through, the process of researching and writing an undergraduate thesis. Students learn how to identify a research question and situate it in the relevant literature, assemble a thesis committee, and develop a thesis proposal. Students will also develop their library research skills, learn how to responsibly cite sources, create smart writing goals and learn strategies for developing a writing habit. In sum, this course helps students identify and navigate the challenges of thesis writing and learn the tips and tricks that academic writers use to overcome them. 

 

 

 

HONORS SPRING 2021            
MODULE C                
SUBJECT COURSE SEC CRN UNITS COURSE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME ROOM MODE/CAT INSTRUCTOR
HSP 172H C1A 3329 1 Book Arts - G.I. Fine Arts MTWRF 0900-1200pm Studio 1 MAC Solomon, E
                     
HSP 172H C2A 3330 1 From the Ballroom to Hell - G.I. Fine Arts MTWRF 0200-0320pm GOODRI MAC Balke, M
                     
HSP 124H C1M 3331 1 Animal Communication - GI in Science MTWRF 0900-10:20am ONLINE MMA Kennedy, D
HSP  157H C1Y 3371 1 Identity & Inequality - GI in Social Sci MTWF 1210-0150pm ONLINE YEH Melzer, S
                     
HSP 155H C1T 3332 1 Black Swan & Everyday Life - GI in Social Sci MTWF 1210-0150pm Olin MHC Christopher, D
                     
HSP 155H C1H 3333 1 Canada - GI in Social Sci MTWRF 1040-1200pm Ludington MHC McLean, P
                     
                     
MODULE D                
SUBJECT COURSE SEC CRN UNITS COURSE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME ROOM MODE INSTRUCTOR
HSP 154H D2M 3334 1 Negotiation & Dispute Res - GI in Social Sci MTWF 1210-0150pm NORRIS MMA Saltzman, G
                     
HSP 155H D2H 3335 1 American Encounters with China - GI in Social Sci MTWRF 0200-0320pm ONLINE MHC Ho, J
                     
HSP 151H D2T 3336 1 US Foreigh Policy Since 1945 - GI in Social Sci MTWRF 1040-1200am Wash. Gard. MTA Yoshii, M
                     
HSP 131H D1T 3337 1 Mystery, Manners, Moderernisms -GI in Humanities MTWRF 1040-1200am ONLINE MTA Collar, M
                     
HSP 124H D2M 3433 1 Cancer: History, Science & Biomedicine - GI in Science MTWRF 0200-0320pm Palenske   Rohlman, C
                     
HSP 132H D1A  3434  1 Poetic Forms & Traditions - GI in Humanities MTWF 1210-0150pm ONLINE MCA Mesa, H

 

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

GREAT ISSUES IN HUMANITIES - POETIC FORMS AND TRADITIONS
HSP 132H     CRN
MODULE D
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday  /  12:10 – 1:50pm
ONLINE
Helena Mesa, English

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Poet Charles Simic writes, “Poems witness our existence in ways nothing else can. There’s that moment in a great poem when time stops and the reader’s self is touched by someone else’s life. The poem ascends, and so do we in its company. In a long history of forgetting, poems make us remember what it means to stand naked before ourselves.” But how do we go about writing poems that metaphorically stop time, poems that emotionally touch the reader, or poems that unexpectedly ascend?

As an introduction to poetic forms and traditions, this course provides guidance, feedback, and practice on the craft of writing poetry. Throughout the semester, we will approach poetry from a writer’s perspective, analyzing how writers craft their poems, and each discussion will serve as a model for students to write their own poems. We will study both traditional and contemporary readings, examining the writers’ techniques and styles; that is, we will investigate various traditional subjects (such as ekphrasis, dramatic monologues, elegies, and poetry of witness) in addition to various traditional forms (potentially sonnets, villanelles, heroic couplets, and blues poems). Furthermore, we will consider not only the tradition of a poetic form (subject, structure, expectations), but contemporary uses and adaptations of the form. And in the process of exploring poetic forms and traditions, we will also discuss what elements make a poem a great poem—imagery, narrative, lines, line breaks, music, etcetera.

Thus, the main concentration of our class will consist of three major components: reading and analyzing published poems; writing, revising, and editing; and learning to critique fellow student work. We will workshop several of each poet’s poems, offering constructive criticism and due praise, which the poet will revise for one portfolio and one reinventions project. Since the workshop’s usefulness depends on student ideas and suggestions, everyone will participate in class and individually respond to fellow writers’ work. Lastly, students will present one poetic tradition or form to the class.

One does not need to be a poet to take this course—the course is designed so that every writer will learn about poetic craft, and so that every writer will develop over the course of the semester.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Humanities - Mystery, Manners, Modernisms and Me
HSP 131 CRN 3337
MODULE D
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday  \  10:40 - Noon
ONLINE
Dr. Mary Collar

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns. Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good. At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer. Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify. The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Fine Arts - “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna 1814-1815
HSP 172 CRN 3330
MODULE C
Monday thru Friday  \  2:00 – 3:20pm
Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester. The evening may contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, according to the class interests, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Fine Arts – Book Arts
HSP 172 CRN 3329
MODULE C
Monday thru Friday  \  9:00 – 12:00pm
Studio 1 – Bobbitt Visual Arts Building
Professor Emmeline Solomon

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Designed to teach students the traditional and contemporary craft and conversations around handmade visual books. Students will master a wide variety of historical and contemporary bookbinding techniques through hands-on demonstrations as preparation for their own individual content-driven creations. In addition to the craft of bookbinding itself, and the creation of unique works of art, students will investigate the history and social importance of the bound book and printed word through readings, writing, and discussion.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Science - ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
HSP 124H CRN
MODULE C
Monday - Friday  \   9:00am – 10:20am
ONLINE
Instructor: Dale Kennedy

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication? We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective. Animal communication involves a minimum of three components: a sender (signaler), a signal, and a receiver (perceiver). We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile signals) and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species. We will address a variety of other questions, including: whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspectives of both the sender and the receiver; whether signals work among different species and whether there is interspecific eavesdropping; how anthropogenic and other changes to environment (for example, noise, changes in water quality) impact signals; and what, if anything, distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language. Students will learn to observe animals and gain an overview of some models of animal communication.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.



Great Issues in Science - Title to TBD
HSP 124H CRN
MODULE D
Monday - Friday   \   2:00 – 3:20pm
Instructor: Dr. Chris Rohlman

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  The past century has witnessed remarkable advances in medicine and our understanding of the biomedical science of Cancer.  The National Cancer Act of 1971 announced our declaration of war on this disease.  We have yet to declare victory.  Even with all the apparent answers our biomedical advances have provided, Cancer continues to be a global challenge that involves quality of life, economic resources, environmental impacts and access to health care. These challenges also present bioethical issues that arise as a natural consequence.  Can biomedical science provide solutions to these problems?  What do we need to understand about the basic science of Cancer and medicine, as well as human culture, history and governance, in order to be active participants in this conversation?  We will consider these questions, and others, in hopes of gaining a better vision of the resulting impact social policy and biomedical science have on ourselves, and our society, and how our answers to these questions will shape the coming century

 Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.


Great Issues in Social Science - Black Swans and Everyday Life
HSP 155 CRN 3332
MODULE C
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday  \  12:10 – 1:50 p.m.
Location – Olin 341
Dr. Drew Christopher

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This seminar will examine how human beings typically process information about “black swans,” which are defined as events that are extremely rare, typically unpredictable, and have a visible, significant impact on everyday life. We will also discuss how human beings typically process information about “white swans,” which are defined as events that are common, predictable in the aggregate, and tend to have an unseen significant impact on everyday life. In this course, we will examine at least three historical events of a “black swan” nature: the rise of Nazi Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the 9/11 attacks, and the Crash of 2008. In addition, we will examine at least one prospective black swan: the current pandemic and the effects it might have moving forward (e.g., rises in domestic and foreign terrorism, along with greater depersonalization of everyday life). We will also examine at least one issue of a “white swan” nature: drug abuse and addiction. Discussion will focus on the unfolding and aftermath of the black swan events, why experts tended to neglect the possibility of black swans, and how other supposed “experts” could explain them after they occurred.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science - Canada: More than Snow, Hockey & Maple Syrup
HSP 155H CRN 3333
MODULE C
Monday – Friday  \  10:40-12:00pm
Ludington
Instructor: Patrick McLean

COURSE DESCRIPTON: This course is designed to introduce students to Canada and Canadian society from a range of vantage points. We will examine the history, culture, politics, society, literature, arts and the strong regional differences within the country to our north through readings, discussions, guest lectures, film and travel. We also will examine the highly asymmetrical relationship between Canada and the United States and the influence each has on the other.

Canada offers a convenient lens through which to view our own country. Canada’s history parallels that of the US at times, but represents a very different response to colonial rule. Canada retains a strong set of regional identities, including a linguistic minority that influences every facet of the country’s history. Canada has developed through its Canadian content laws a vibrant arts, culture and literary scene. Canada has followed a less assimilationist approach toward immigrants, resulting in a “Vertical Mosaic” compared to the American Melting Pot.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

Great Issues in Social Science - Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
HSP 154 CRN 3334
MODULE D
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday  \  12:10 – 1:50pm / Norris 100
Dr. Greg Saltzman

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:

• Lawyers                                                Managers
• Public officials                                       Human services professionals
• Environmental advocates                     Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Walling, Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Social Science - American Encounters with China: Cross-Cultural Histories and Global Dynamics
HSP 155 CRN 3335
MODULE D
Monday - Friday   \  2:00-3:20pm
ONLINE
Dr. Joseph W. Ho

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines cross-cultural encounters between China and the United States from the late 18th through the 21st centuries. Using diverse interdisciplinary and historical lenses, the course covers topics that include transnational communities (Americans and Chinese abroad), the development of trans-Pacific cultural networks, and the roles of empire, global religion, national identities, modern media, and race and gender in influencing historical Sino-US relationships. While US-China relations are conventionally defined by issues of diplomacy and politics, the goal of this course is to consider the many ways in which cultural exchanges “on the ground” have profoundly shaped American views of China and Chinese views of the US over time.
Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

 

 FALL 2020
 FALL 2020       MANY COURSES TAKE UP MULTIPLE LINES.  PAY ATTENTION TO CRN'S AND SECTION NUMBERS.
MODULE A COURSES            
COURSE SEC CRN TYPE COURSE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME INSTRUCTOR MODE CATEGORY
123H 'A1S 4443    Science MTWRF 0900-1200pm Kennedy MSA  
131H 'A1T 4441 ONLINE Humanities MWR 0700-0915pm Miller MTA  
155H 'A1H 4442   Social Science TR 0900-1040am Rose MHC  
          MW 0900-1000am Rose MHC  
          F 0900-1020am Rose MHC  
178H 'A1D 4571 ONLINE Fine Arts MTWF 1210-0150pm Demerdash   YGE
                   
        MANY COURSES TAKE UP MULTIPLE LINES.  PAY ATTENTION TO CRN'S AND SECTION NUMBERS.
MODULE B COURSES            
COURSE SEC CRN TYPE COURSE TITLE DAYS CLASS TIME INSTRUCTOR MODE CATEGORY
124H 'B2M 4575   Science MW 0320-0500pm Streu MMA  
          TR 0400-0500pm      
          F 0340-0500pm      
126H 'B1V 4446   Science MW 1020-1200pm Skean   YEN
          F 1040-1200pm Skean   YEN
          TR 1100-1200pm Skean   YEN
124H B1M 4445 ONLINE Science TR 1100-1200pm White MMA  
          F 10:40-1200pm White MMA  
          MW 10:20-1200pm White MMA  
154H 'B1M 4398   Social Science MTWF 1210-0150pm Saltzman MMA  
158H 'B1D 4573   Social Science TR 0900-1040am Pain   YGE
          MW 0900-1000am Pain   YGE
          F 0900-1020am Pain   YGE
172H 'B2A 4030   Fine Arts F 0900-1020am Jensen MAC  
          TR 0900-1040am Jensen MAC  
          MW 0900-1000am Jensen MAC  
172H 'B3A 4031   Fine Arts TR 0200-0340pm Balke MAC  
          F 0200-0320pm Balke MAC  
          MW 0200-0300pm Balke MAC  

 

FALL 2020 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Great Issues in Science: The NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE

HSP 124   CRN 4445
*ONLINE
MODULE B   BLOCK 1
Monday, Wednesday = 11:00 - Noon
Tuesday, Thursday = 10:40 - Noon
Fridays = 10:20 - Noon
Dr. Douglas White

Course DescriptionExploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts.  What is love?  Why do we love?  How is love important? 

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog.  Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest.  Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines.  And, Albion needs love to flourish.  Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds.  Can we see love there in revealing variety?  We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love.  Do they have it right?  Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways?  Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology.  Where is your bliss?  Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

This course fulfills the Model and Analysis Mode.  It is not intended to address directly sex education, sexual politics, or gender issues. 

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science - ANIMAL COMMUNICATION w/LAB

HSP 123      CRN 4443
MODULE A – LABS / STUDIOS
Monday - Friday 9:00am – Noon
Dr. Dale Kennedy

Course Description:  In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication?  We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective.  Animal communication involves a minimum of three components:  a sender (signaler), a signal, and a receiver (perceiver).  We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile signals) and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species.   We will address a variety of other questions, including: whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspectives of both the sender and the receiver; whether signals work among different species and whether there is interspecific eavesdropping; how anthropogenic and other changes to environment (for example, noise, changes in water quality) impact signals; and what, if anything, distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language. 

In the laboratory portion of the course, students will begin by reading about ethical treatment of animals in behavioral research.  They will learn to observe animals, gain an overview of some tools and techniques used in studies on animal communication, and they will carry out and write up several hypothesis-based observational or experimental projects on animals.  Students should be considering potential projects as we learn different techniques.

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science - MAKING MEDICINE: HOW SCIENCE, POLITICS, AND MONEY INFLUENCE THE DRUG'S WE TAKE

HSP 124    CRN  4575
MODULE B   BLOCK  3
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Friday  12:10-1:50
Dr. Craig Streu

Course Description: Pharmaceuticals are big business in America. Global trade treaties, the stock market, and most importantly, our health, rely on developments in this rapidly evolving industry. How does it work and why should we all care? This course will examine the types of pharmaceuticals, how each works, and how they are discovered, evaluated, developed, marketed and ultimately brought to market. The course will have a distinct focus on the science behind drugs, but it is impossible to separate the science of drug discovery from the business of drug sales and so the course will often and unavoidably diverge into topics of ethics, marketing, politics, and economics.  

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science - BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS

HSP 126H      CRN 4446
MODULE B     BLOCK  2
Monday, Wednesday = 10:20am-Noon
Tuesday, Thursday = 11:00am – Noon
Fridays = 10:40 - Noon
Instructor: J. Dan Skean, Jr.

Course Description:  From Asian carp to COVID-19, invasive species are affecting the earth in ways that are generally not as well-known to the public as other environmental concerns. In Biological Invasions, we examine invasive species and the impacts that they have on ecological systems, human health, and the economy. We will address the relevant biological characteristics of invasive animals, plants, and microbes, as well as their pathways to invasion. We will also consider our attempts at managing them, and whether or not the costs exceed the potential benefits. The course emphasizes invasives and potential invasives in the U.S., but will examine case studies worldwide. We also will consider humans in light of our invasiveness and how, besides helping to spread invasives, we are impacting the environment. The course fulfills the environmental category requirement.   

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities - HAUNTED MINDS: VICTORIAN LITERATUREAND PSYCHOLOGY

HSP131    CRN 4441
*ONLINE
MODULE A    BLOCK 6
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday = 7:00pm – 9:15pm
Dr. Ashley Miller

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The Victorian period in Britain (roughly 1837-1901) witnessed one of science’s great success stories: the development of psychology as a distinct discipline. A full century before Freud’s theory of the unconscious, British writers and scientists were investigating the deep workings of the human mind. Yet these new formulations of “mental physiology” (as it was called) also illuminated the dark corners of the mind, raising new and troubling questions about insanity, hallucination, trance, addiction—and even the possible existence of ghosts. 

This Great Issues in the Humanities course will investigate the “haunted minds” of Victorian literature alongside the period’s scientific writings on psychology. Our course materials will provide an interdisciplinary gateway to crucial topics in Victorian culture, including problems of gender, class, and race. Throughout the semester we will consider questions such as these: What does it mean to be haunted? To whom does this happen, and why? And why were these problems of particular interest to Victorian society?

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in the Social Sciences- Free Speech on Campus: Liberty, Equality,and the Politics of Rights

HSP 155    CRN 4442
MODULE A     BLOCK 1
Monday, Wednesday = 9:00am-10:00am
Tuesday, Thursday = 9:00am-10:40am
Friday = 9:00am=10:20am
Dr. Bill Rose

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In the United States, the idea of free speech is understood to be both an important political and moral ideal.  The First Amendment makes freedom of speech central to our identities as citizens and to our national identity more generally. What it means to be an ‘American’ has seemed to be linked to our rights of free speech. How has this come to be the case?  Further, what precisely do we mean when we join the ideas of freedom and speech?  Why, as a society, should we tolerate ignorant, or offensive, or hateful, or false speech? Indeed, why is the principle of tolerance central to the free speech tradition? What kinds of speech, and what kinds of freedom, are we talking about here, and why have they come to mean what they do?  What might it mean to silence, or limit, certain kinds of speech? And, if and when they come into conflict, how do we balance speech rights against other fundamental interests?

So, then, at least since the early days of the republic, we have agreed that free speech is essential for a healthy, vibrant, and democratic society. However, context (both time and place) matters when we talk about freedom of speech. And, in the present moment, the idea of freedom of speech on college and university campuses is challenged by the ever-evolving social and political realities of contemporary democracy in the United States. This seminar will provide its participants with the resources to think critically about the role free speech plays on college and university campuses and how this discourse shapes the broader story about free speech protections across the United States more generally. Why have questions regarding free speech suddenly become an issue on college campuses? Has anything like this happened before?  Is speech or student ‘safety’ really at the heart of the issue? Do the values of speech and expression trump other values and concerns (for example, safety, ‘dignity,’ or equality – for example, equal access to educational opportunities)? What is the principal mission of colleges and universities in the 21st century, and how does that mission impact our understanding of the place of speech on campus? How has the definition of free speech evolved between the 20th and 21st centuries, and how are colleges and universities addressing these changes?

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

HSP 154      CRN 4398
MODULE B    BLOCK 3
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 12:10pm – 1:50pm
Norris 100 – Dr. Greg Saltzman


COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.
Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
• Lawyers
• Managers
• Public officials
• Human services professionals
• Environmental advocates
• Community group leaders
The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - Queer Community, Queer Politics

HSP 158    CRN 4573
MODULE B     BLOCK 1
Monday, Wednesday = 9:00am -10:00am
Tuesday, Thursday = 9:00am – 10:40am
Friday = 9:00am – 10:20am
Dr. Emily Pain

COURSE DESCRIPTION:   Fifty years after the Stonewall Riots, the event commonly thought to have kickstarted the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, LGBTQ+ politics continue to be central to the U.S. and abroad. Yet, ‘the movement’ is a misnomer, as is the idea of a unified LGBTQ+ ‘community.’ The ideologies and practices that guide LGBTQ+ political movements and communities have varied and political rifts formed that persist today. This course explores the ‘queer’ perspective of LGBTQ+ identity, community, and politics, questioning common narratives and critiquing mainstream political tactics. We will address questions such as: What does it mean to be queer? How is queer political? How does queer both foster and disrupt LGBTQ+ community? How do queer politics differ from mainstream LGBTQ+ politics? What ideologies and actions are central to queer politics? What can the act of queering contribute to our social world? In addressing these questions and more, we will draw from several fields such as history, sociology, philosophy, and women’s, gender, & sexuality studies. This course provides a framework for understanding and critiquing our social world regardless of your own gender and sexual identities.

Note: if you have taken a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts -  WOMEN, GENDER, AND CONTEMPORARY ART OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE DIASPORA

HSP 178     CRN 4571
*ONLINE
MODULE A    BLOCK 3
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday = 12:10pm – 1:50pm
Dr. Demerdash-Fatemi

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines contemporary artistic practices of artists based in the Middle East and within the diaspora, through the lens of women’s perspectives and gender issues. Taking cues from the late Jamaica-born cultural theorist Stuart Hall—in his argument that cultural identity is fluid, mobile, hybrid, and often plural in nature—this mid-level course examines contemporary visual and literary cultures (e.g. architecture, literature, painting, sculpture, photography, film, and beyond) against the backdrop of migration and cosmopolitanism, created by predominantly women artists who originally hail from, or have roots in, a range of Middle Eastern and North African nations. In addition to the intersections of cultural identity and geopolitics, our queries will focus on artistic production vis-à-vis issues of gender and women’s plural subjectivities.

Identity in the Middle East and North Africa is an inherently complex matter, and it is rendered even more complex with the women artists we will look at this semester. The Middle East and North Africa are plural, diverse regions with incredibly multicultural, multi-religious (e.g. Muslim (Shi’a, Sunni), Jewish, Coptic, Catholic, Druze, Orthodox Christian, Zoroastrian, etc.), multiethnic (e.g. Armenian, Jewish, Berber/Amazigh, Arab, Turkic, Kurdish, Farsi/Persian, etc.), multilingual (e.g. Arabic (a Semitic language) and its various dialects, Hebrew, Amazigh (a Berber language), Farsi (an Indo-European language), Turkish (Ural-Altaic language), Urdu (Indo-Aryan/Indo-European)

Note: If you have taken taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Fine Arts - THE MUSIC, ART AND CULTURE OF DOWNTON ABBEY

HSP 172    CRN 4030
MODULE B     BLOCK 1
Monday, Wednesday =   9:00am – 10:00am
Tuesday, Thursday = 9:00am-10:40am
Friday = 9:00-10:20am
Dr. Lia Jensen-Abbott  

Course Description:  This class will explore the Music, Art, and Culture of the popular PBS Series and Feature Film, Downton Abbey.  Students will engage critically with the primary text (film/tv) during and outside of class.  The class will explore the main thematic music of the show/film, and how it is expressively manipulated/broken into motivic development to reflect the plot points of the show. We will have a unit on castles of England, exploring basic tenets of architecture, the history of construction, as well as the art which aristocratic families possessed.  You will be making critical assessments about class, race, gender roles, and society and how traditions were shifting during this time period.  Finally, students will engage with the other artistic considerations in this show/film:  aspects of food, dress, and other music considered in the show.

Note: If you have taken taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Fine Arts-  “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna 1814-1815

HSP 172     CRN 4031
MODULE B    BLOCK 4
Monday & Wednesday = 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Tuesday & Thursday = 2:00pm – 3:40pm
Friday = 2:00pm – 3:20pm
MODULE B
Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.   Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.

Note: If you have taken a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Carrie Walling, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Spring 2020 Honors courses

       
HSP 124            G.I. in Science MWF   9:15-10:20am Observatory   Doug White
HSP 123   G.I. in Science MWF 11:45-12:35pm Palenske 123 Beth Lincoln
HSP 123L   G.I. in Science - LAB T   1:00-  4:00pm Palenske 123 Beth Lincoln
                 
HSP 131   G.I. in Humanities MWF 10:30-11:35am Vulgamore   Perry Myers
HSP 135   G.I. in Humanities MTWF   1:00-  2:05pm Observatory   Mark Bollman
                 
HSP 155   G.I. in Social Science MWF 11:45-12:50pm Observatory   Deborah Kanter
 HSP 154   G.I. in Social Science M W   2:15-  4:05pm Norris 100   Grege Saltzman
                 
HSP 172   G.I. in Fine Arts MWF 10:30-12:00pm Bobbitt   Lynne Chyilo
HSP 172   G.I. in Fine Arts T R   2:15- 4:05pm Observatory   Maureen Balke
                 
HSP 397H Thesis Development T 0700-0800pm OBSERV   Kennedy, Dale

 

Great Issues in Science:
The NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
HSP 124
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9:15-10:20 Observatory
Douglas White

Course Description:  Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts.  What is love?  Why do we love?  How is love important? 

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog.  Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest.  Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines.  And, Albion needs love to flourish.  Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds.  Can we see love there in revealing variety?  We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love.  Do they have it right?  Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways?  Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology.  Where is your bliss?  Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

This course fulfills the Model and Analysis Mode.  It is not intended to address directly sex education, sexual politics, or gender issues. 

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Science
THE GEOLOGY OF CITIES
HSP 123  WITH A LAB
Discussion: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:45am – 12:35pm
Lab: Tuesday 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Classroom: Palenske 123
Instructor: Beth Lincoln

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Today according to many geoscientists we are living in a new epoch of earth history, the Anthropocene. The start of this epoch is defined by the onset of human-caused global disturbances, include changes in the chemistry of water and the atmosphere and changes in land use. Modern megacities certainly seem at home in this epoch; it is easy to visit one and forget the role that nature played in its development. Yet even today geology places constraints on these cities from determining the height of their buildings, supplying the resources needed to build and maintain them, and placing them in harm’s way from a variety of hazards. In this course we will look at the relationship of geology to the development of cities while considering questions such as: are there limits to the growth of a city? Are there locations too hazardous for a city? In the future, will cities still be constrained by geology?

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration


Great Issues in Humanities

“HAVES AND HAVE NOTS”: SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES ON THE STAGE OF GERMAN LITERATURE AND FILM (1800 - PRESENT) 

HSP 131 
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10:30-11:35am
Dr. Perry Myers

Description:  Germany is well-known as the economic driver of the European Union; yet traditional historical approaches depict Germany’s economic development either solely from an economic perspective (i.e., industrialization, technology) or simply as an important factor in the Nation’s political history.  This course will provide a new methodological approach, designed to explore how samples of German literature and film have depicted and interfaced with the image of the “German economic machine” since the Enlightenment. In this class we will combine cultural studies of Germany, historical descriptions, literary texts, and films that depict, stereotype, parody, and criticize socioeconomic changes in Germany throughout the past two centuries.  The course is designed specifically for the student interested in cultural history, literature, or international business, seeking a unique and more in-depth look at how German culture deals with the socioeconomic environment since the later eighteenth-century.  Learn about Germany’s cultural and economic role in modern Europe, as Germany represents itself!  The student will learn 1) how one studies “culture” 2) how literature and film interpret historical and economic development, a unique methodological approach to history 3) the fundamental aspects of Germany’s economic history.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues In Humanities
PERSPECTIVE ON GAMBLING
HSP 135      CRN
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday
1:00 – 2:05pm
Observatory

Dr. Mark Bollman, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Course Description: This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gambling, considering the topic from historical, philosophical, and mathematical perspectives for a balanced look at this multifaceted and increasingly important subject.  Evaluation will be based on 5-6 essays of varying lengths, computer laboratory work, and some mathematical exercises.  Students must be 18 years old no later than April 1, 2020.

Texts under consideration:
      History: Roll The Bones: The History of Gambling, David Schwartz, The Unfinished Game, Keith Devlin
      Mathematics: Practical Casino Math, Robert Hannum & Anthony Cabot, The Mathematics of Games and Gambling, Edward Packel
      Philosophy: The Logic of Chance, John Venn
      Literature: The Literary Companion to Gambling, Annabel Davis-Goff

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science
AFTER THE MELTING POT: ISSUES IN 20th-CENTURY U.S. IMMIGRATION
HSP 155      
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
11:45 – 12:50pm
Observatory
Dr. Deborah Kanter, Department of History

Course Description: The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Readings (tenative list): Ernesto Galarza, Barrio Boy, Mitra Kalita, Suburban Sahibs, Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, Rubén Martínez, Crossing Over: a Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, Israel Zangwill, “The Melting Pot”, Jane Ziegelman, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement
Films: The Sixth Section, Hester Street, Today’s Special

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in Social Science
NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

HSP 154      CRN 7315
Monday & Wednesday
2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100 – Dr. Greg Saltzman

Course Description: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:

  •      Lawyers                                                 Managers
  •      Public officials                                        Human services professionals
  •      Environmental advocates                      Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

 Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues Issues in FINE ARTS
CERAMICS AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
HSP 172     
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10:30am – 12:00pm Ceramics Annex
Lynne Chytilo

COURSE DECRIPTION: Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution is an interdisciplinary course that engages students in producing handmade pottery while tracing the history and commerce of the ceramics industry from pre-industrial times to the 1920s. Students will learn to make and fire clay objects in the studio, starting with hand forming techniques and later using plaster molds, while taking part in discussions from readings about how the industrial revolution changed many aspects of the world. Each student will find a research topic related to cultural changes during the Industrial Revolution and present their findings to the class. Emphasis will be placed on student-facilitated learning, exploration, discovery, and collaborative processes.    

NO CERAMICS EXPERIENCE NEEDED

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Great Issues in FINE ARTS
“FROM THE BALLROOM TO HELL” – SCHUBERT'S VIENNA 1814-1815
HSP 172     
Tuesday & Thursday
2:15 – 4:05pm
Observatory Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester. The evening may contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, according to the class interests, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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FALL 2019 Honors courses
         
HSP 126H 7386 G.I. in Science MWF 0915-1015am Palenske 153 Beth Lincoln
HSP 124H 7385 G.I. in Science MWF 0100-0205pm Observ   Doug White
HSP 123H 7380 G.I. in Science MWF 1030-1135am Putnam 151 Tim Lincoln
HSP 123H 7383 G.I. in Science - LAB W 0100-0400pm Putnam 151 Tim Lincoln
                 
HSP 131H 7391 G.I. in Humanities T R 0215-405pm Vulg 202 Mary Collar
HSP 132H 7398 G.I. in Humanities M W 0215-405pm Vulg 201 Helena Mesa
HSP 151H 7401 G.I. in Humanities MW 0215-0405pm Observ   Andrew Grossman
                 
HSP 154H 7315 G.I. in Social Science MW 0215-0405pm NORRIS 100 Saltzman, Gregory
HSP 155H 7402 G.I. in Social Science MWF 0100-0205pm Rob 206 Joseph Ho
                 
HSP 172H 7026 G.I. in Fine Arts MW 0915-1200pm Bobbitt   McCauley
HSP 172H 7055 G.I. in Fine Arts T R 1030-1220pm Goodrich McIlhagga
                 
HSP 397H 7405 Thesis Development T 0700-0800pm OBSERV   Kennedy, Dale

 

FALL 2019 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE - THE DYNAMICS OF DISASTER
HSP126   CRN 7386
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9:15am – 10:20am
Room: PAL 123
Instructor: Beth Lincoln

Course description: Natural disasters seem to becoming more severe and more frequent as major hurricanes, floods, and large-scale wildfires dominate their news cycles. Is this true? What roles do people play in disasters? We will investigate these questions as well as the causes of natural hazards including earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, storms, and climate change and their consequences for natural systems as well as for people. A major theme throughout the course will be the influence of major disasters on people’s views of nature as well as themselves, their neighbors, their government, and their place in the universe.

This course will count as Environmental

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
HSP 124   CRN 7385
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1:00-2:05 Observatory
Douglas White

Course Description:  Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts.  What is love?  Why do we love?  How is love important? 

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog.  Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest.  Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines.  And, Albion needs love to flourish.  Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds.  Can we see love there in revealing variety?  We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love.  Do they have it right?  Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways?  Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology.  Where is your bliss?  Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

This course fulfills the Model and Analysis Mode.  It is not intended to address directly sex education, sexual politics, or gender issues.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE:  DRINKING WATER
HSP 123   CRN 7380 / Lab 7383
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
CLASS 10:30-11:35am  Putnam 151
LAB 1:00-4:00pm Wednesdays

Course Description: Drinking water is unquestionably a fundamental resource.  The course will help you understand the science behind many issues related to drinking water. Questions of ownership and access cannot be fairy addressed without an understanding of the nature of water, its cycles and its chemistry. Hydrology tells us that it is more realistic to think of water as moving through places rather than existing in them.  We will explore this concept through fieldwork along the Kalamazoo River and its wetlands.  Water has an astonishing ability to dissolve other compounds; unfortunately, some of them are toxic.  We will look at case studies from Flint, Toledo and Bangladesh where different processes have severely contaminated drinking water supplies.  We will explore the basic chemistry of water using everything from board games to automated analytical equipment in the Dow lab, which will allow us to complete accurate analysis of our samples without a lot of complicated laboratory work.  Along the way, we will learn to form and test hypotheses.  Is bottled water actually better than tap water?  As the climate in Michigan is changing, how is it affecting the flow in our streams? We will end the semester considering some important policy questions: Are water supplies safe from terrorists? Is safe drinking water a right, or a commodity? Is privatization of water supply systems a good idea? And what can be done to provide safe water to the billions people who presently lack access to this fundamental resource? 

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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GREAT ISSUES IN HUMANITIES: MYSTERY, MANNERS, MODERNISMS AND ME
HSP 131    CRN  7391
Tuesday & Thursday
2:15 – 4:05pm
Vulgamore 202
Dr. Mary Collar

Course Description: This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns.   Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good.    At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer.  Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify.  The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

GREAT ISSUES IN HUMANITIES: POETIC FORMS AND TRADITIONS
HSP 132H   CRN 7398
Mondays and Wednesdays
2:15 - 4:05pm
Helena Mesa, English
Vulgamore 201

Course Description: Poet Charles Simic writes, “Poems witness our existence in ways nothing else can.  There’s that moment in a great poem when time stops and the reader’s self is touched by someone else’s life.  The poem ascends, and so do we in its company.  In a long history of forgetting, poems make us remember what it means to stand naked before ourselves.”  But how do we go about writing poems that metaphorically stop time, poems that emotionally touch the reader, or poems that unexpectedly ascend? 

As an introduction to poetic forms and traditions, this course provides guidance, feedback, and practice on the craft of writing poetry.  Throughout the semester, we will approach poetry from a writer’s perspective, analyzing how writers craft their poems, and each discussion will serve as a model for students to write their own poems.  We will study both traditional and contemporary readings, examining the writers’ techniques and styles; that is, we will investigate various traditional subjects (such as ekphrasis, dramatic monologues, elegies, and poetry of witness) in addition to various traditional forms (potentially sonnets, villanelles, heroic couplets, and blues poems).  Furthermore, we will consider not only the tradition of a poetic form (subject, structure, expectations), but contemporary uses and adaptations of the form.  And in the process of exploring poetic forms and traditions, we will also discuss what elements make a poem a great poem—imagery, narrative, lines, line breaks, music, etcetera.

Thus, the main concentration of our class will consist of three major components: reading and analyzing published poems; writing, revising, and editing; and learning to critique fellow student work.  We will workshop several of each poet’s poems, offering constructive criticism and due praise, which the poet will revise for one portfolio and one reinventions project. Since the workshop’s usefulness depends on student ideas and suggestions, everyone will participate in class and individually respond to fellow writers’ work.  Lastly, students will present one poetic tradition or form to the class.

One does not need to be a poet to take this course—the course is designed so that every writer will learn about poetic craft, and so that every writer will develop over the course of the semester.

This course will count as Artistic Creation Mode

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

GREAT ISSUES IN HUMANITIES: THE RISE AND DEMISE OF THE AMERICAN POSTWAR LIBERAL MOMENT: HOLLYWOOD AND CAPITAL HILL,1945-1950.

HSP 131     CRN 7401
Monday & Wednesday
2:15pm – 4:05pm
Professor, Andrew D. Grossman
Observatory

Course Description: Textual analysis of 8 films dealing with the home-front, de-mobilization, and social policy in the USA after World War II. Between 1945-1950 a liberal moment in postwar domestic politics. Between 1945-47 domestic social policies such as universal healthcare, a GI Bill for all, civil-rights–the US had just fought a war to protect liberal democracy while at the same time having laws in place the purposely treated some citizens as second-class or worse,  basic equality for woman, issues dealing with sexuality and sexual orientation, and especially interesting issues related to public discussions related  to PTSD. 

Topical categories include how the US closed off a liberal political postwar moment, in American politics.  We will use film texts on propaganda, historical allegory, combat, gender, advocacy, social engineering, political commentary, race, drama, and the relationships among art, cinema, and politics to flesh out key issues of this period of postwar US politics.  Hollywood films re-produced concerns about important social domestic issues that were shut down by the US Government as it mobilized for the Cold War. 

Films: The Best Years of Our Lives; The Stranger; Key Largo, Let There Be Light; The Song of the South, Crossfire, Lifeboat, and The Manchurian Candidate.

Readings: relevant essays (PDF on course web) that analyze the period 1945-1950 in the US. Books:  Schlesinger’s The Vital Center, Trilling’s, The Liberal Imagination, and Katznelson, Fear Itself.

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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GREAT ISSUES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
HSP 154      CRN 7315
Monday & Wednesday 
2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100 – Dr. Greg Saltzman


COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.
Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
• Lawyers
• Managers
• Public officials
• Human services professionals
• Environmental advocates
• Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

GREAT ISSUES IN SOCIAL SCIENCEC: AMERICAN ENCOUNTERS WITH CHINA: CROSS-CULTURAL HISTORIES AND GLOBAL DYNAMICS
HSP 155   CRN 7402
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 
1:00pm-2:05pm
Putnam 253
Dr. Joseph W. Ho

Course Description:  This course examines cross-cultural encounters between China and the United States from the late 18th through the 21st centuries.  Using diverse interdisciplinary and historical lenses, the course covers topics that include transnational communities (Americans and Chinese abroad), the development of trans-Pacific cultural networks, and the roles of empire, global religion, national identities, modern media, and race and gender in influencing historical Sino-US relationships.  While US-China relations are conventionally defined by issues of diplomacy and politics, the goal of this course is to consider the many ways in which cultural exchanges “on the ground” have profoundly shaped American views of China and Chinese views of the US over time.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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GREAT ISSUES IN FINE ARTS: FOLD, FAN, AND FOLIO:  BOOKS AS ART
HSP 172   CRN 7026
Monday & Wednesday
9:15pm – 12:00pm
Anne McCauley
Bobbitt

Course Descritpion: Students in this course will learn to make historical book forms from various cultures (Coptic, codex, accordion, and Japanese bound) and discover an appreciation of books in a new and wider context.   From there, students will apply newly learned techniques to the production of nontraditional artist books.

In creating your original work, whether text, imagery, or a combination of the two is employed, emphasis will be placed on the creation of books as visual objects. 

No art making experience required.  Class size is limited to 10 students.  Fulfills Artistic Creation Mode.

This course will count as Artistic Creation Mode

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors

GREAT ISSUES IN FINE ARTS: Perspectives ON COMPOSER: STYLE AND EXPRESSION IN MUSIC COMPOSITION 
HSP 172   CRN 7055
Tuesday & Thurday
10:30am – 12:20pm
Goodrich 145
Sam McIlhagga 

Course Description:  This course will examine music composition through the lens of the composer, the performer, and the audience.  Further views by musicologists, philosophers, and psychologists will provide an interdisciplinary approach to the topic.  While music composition is the primary focus, relevant parallels in architecture, visual art, literature, and poetry will also be considered.  Course activities include artistic creation, readings, listening assignments, writing, concert attendance, field trips, class discussion, and presentations.

Student learning outcomes:

-Students will experience the compositional process first-hand through multiple composition projects on various topics

-Students will prepare and perform select compositions from their portfolio of compositions in an end-of-semester recital

-Students will accurately identify similarities and differences in musical genres, composers, compositions, and critical analyses through written assignments

You DO NOT have to be a music major or play an instrument to take this class

 This course will count as Artistic Creation Mode

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors

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THESIS DEVELOPMENT COLLOQUY
HSP 397    CRN 7405
Tuesdays
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Obervatory
Dale Kennedy

By the end of this course successful students will be able to:

  • construct a thesis topic and gather relevant literature on that topic
  • find a thesis advisor for their thesis topic (or at least provide evidence that they have explored numerous possibilities for an on-campus advisor)
  • maintain a journal that explains their record of achievements in selecting a thesis topic and a thesis advisor
  • explain a thesis topic and rationale for this topic to a group of your peers

Course Evaluation: This course is graded on a credit/no credit basis (“pass/fail”). Credit will be given to all students who complete the spirit of the assignments below and keep a clear record of their progress in developing a thesis proposal by means of a written journal and by handing in a completed thesis registry form at the end of the semester. You will also be expected to lead discussions with the group about your weekly progress. Because we meet only once per week, students who miss more than one meeting will normally receive no credit for the course.  Failure to make adequate progress (at a sincere attempt at progress) will result in ‘no credit’ for the colloquy

 **This class is for 1st, 2nd & 3rd Year Honors Students

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SPRING 2019 HONORS COURSE SCHEDULE

Sub Crs# Sec CRN Course Type Days Time BLDG RM Instructor
HSP 124H 1M 9453 G.I. in Science MWF 0915-1020am OBSERV   White, Douglas
HSP 124H 2M 9130 G.I. in Science MTWF 1145-1250pm OBSERV   Bollman, Mark
HSP 126H 1V 9454 G.I. in Science TR 0215-0405pm PUTNAM 253 Skean, Dan
                   
HSP 131H 1T 9455 G.I. in Humanities MWF 0100-0205pm VULG 123 Oswald, Kalen
HSP 135H 2H 9456 G.I. in Humanities MWF 0915-1020am ROB 403 Brade, Laura
                   
HSP 154H 1M 9324 G.I. in Social Sci TR 0215-0405pm NORRIS 100 Saltzman, Greg
HSP 155H 1H 9409 G.I. in Social Sci MW 0215-0405pm OBSERV   Walling, Carrie
                   
HSP 172H 1A 9488 G.I. in Fine Arts MWF 1030-1135am OBSERV   Balke, Maureen
                   
HSP 397H   9457 Thesis Development  T 0700-0800pm OBSERV   Kennedy, Dale
                   

2019 SPRING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

Great Issues in Science - 8 BIG IDEAS THAT SHAPED SCIENCE
HSP 124 CRN 9130
11:45 – 12:50pm
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Observatory
Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.
Astronomy: Big Bang theory                      Computer Science: Information theory
Biochemistry: DNA structure                      Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry
Biology: Evolution                                       Physics: Atomic Structure                     
Chemistry: Periodic Law                             Geology: Plate tectonics

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry. Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science - BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
HSP 126H CRN 9454
Tuesday, Thursday 2:15 – 4:05 pm
Putnam 253
Instructor: J. Dan Skean, Jr.

Course Description: From Asian carp to the Zika virus, invasive species are affecting the earth in ways that are generally not as well-known to the public as other environmental concerns. In Biological Invasions, we examine invasive species and the impacts that they have on ecological systems, human health, and the economy. We will address the relevant biological characteristics of invasive animals, plants, and microbes, as well as their pathways to invasion. We will also consider our attempts at managing them, and whether or not the costs exceed the potential benefits. The course emphasizes invasives and potential invasives in the U.S., but will examine case studies worldwide. We also will consider humans in light of our invasiveness and how, besides helping to spread invasives, we are impacting the environment. The course is being submitted to fulfill the environmental category requirement.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE: - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
HSP 124 CRN 9453
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9:15 – 10:20am Observatory
Douglas White

Course Description: Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts. What is love? Why do we love? How is love important?

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog. Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest. Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines. And, Albion needs love to flourish. Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds. Can we see love there in revealing variety? We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love. Do they have it right? Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways? Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology. Where is your bliss? Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

This course fulfills the Model and Analysis Mode. It is not intended to address directly sex education, sexual politics, or gender issues.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities - Don Quijota of La Mancha
HSP 131 CRN 9455
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
1:00 – 2:05
Kalen Oswald

“The best novel in history: 100 renown authors select ‘El Quijote’ in a survey conducted by the Nobel Institute.” Thus reads the title of a full page article in El País from Wednesday, May 8, 2002. Very few would argue that Miguel de Cervantes’s work El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha is a masterpiece of world literature. Virtually everybody has heard of Don Quijote and Sancho, and most have seen some representation of their (mis)adventures, be it the Broadway hit “Man of La Mancha,” the more contemporary made for TV movie starring Jon Lithgow, or Mr. Magoo’s Don Quixote. The verb phrase “tilting windmills” and the adjective “quixotic” are found in English dictionaries. Nevertheless, the fraternity of humankind that has actually read the entire book cover-to-cover is still relatively small. It is about time we make that fellowship a little larger. Reading and analyzing this work—the first great modern novel—will be a challenging, but life changing experience.
Will satisfy Textual Analysis Mode.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a Humanities, you may NOT take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Humanities - Refugees, Forced Migration, Statelessness
HSP 135 CRN 9456
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
9:15 – 10:20am
Dr. Laura Brade

Course Description: Refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons. The world is currently in the midst of a crisis of mass displacement. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 65.6 million people worldwide were living in a condition of displacement in 2017. The levels of displacement today are the highest on record, surpassing numbers at the end of World War II. With prospects for return bleak, this is not a situation that is going away anytime soon. This course examines the experience of refugees and displaced persons from the first mass civilian displacement during World War I through the present, centering on interactions between refugees, policy makers, and local populations against an international backdrop. We will pay special attention to the intersection of the refugee experience with human rights developments. We will make use of primary sources and secondary literature, fiction, memoirs, film and other media in the course of our examination.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a Humanities, you may NOT take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration. 

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Great Issues in Social Science - NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
HSP 154 CRN 9324
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100 – Dr. Greg Saltzman

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.
Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
• Lawyers                                           • Managers
• Public officials                                  • Human services professionals
• Environmental advocates                 • Community group leaders
The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate. 

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - THE POLITICS OF GENOCIDE
HSP 155 CRN 9409
Monday & Wednesday 2:15 – 4:05pm
Dr. Carrie Walling

Course Description: In this course students will examine genocide using historical, interpretive and comparative methods. The course will focus principally on two genocides: the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. We will use oral histories and written testimonies along with historical, political science and public policy texts, human rights reports, international law, and government documents. We will examine the motives of perpetrators and the experiences of victims being attentive to the unique character of each genocide, as well as the similarities that exist between them. Through our studies, we will confront extraordinary inhumanity by examining the causes of genocide and its methods of implementation but we will also learn about the strength of the human spirit by studying resistance, survival and rescue within the context of genocide. Students will have the opportunity to produce a major research report using oral testimony through the Shoah Digital Archives and other online sources. The course will include interaction with external speakers, a field trip to the Farmington Hills Holocaust Museum, and a final research project using testimony.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts - “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna 1814-1815
HSP 172 CRN 9488
Monday & Wednesday 2:15 - 4:05p.m.
Observatory Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester. The evening may contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, according to the class interests, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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FALL 2018 HONORS COURSE SCHEDULE

SUBJ CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG RM INSTRUCTOR
HSP 123H 1S 8428 G. I. in Science  M W F   9:15-10:20am Palenske 123 Beth Lincoln
HSP  123HL 8429 Laboratory M      1:00-  4:00pm Palenske 123 Beth Lincoln
 HSP 124    8542 G.I. In Science M W F 11:45 - 12:50pm Observatory   Dale Kennedy
HSP 131H 1T 8431 G.I. in Humanities M W F 11:45-12:50pm Observatory   Jess Roberts
HSP 135H 1H 8465 G.I. in Humanities M T W F   1:00-  1:50pm Observatory   Mark Bollman
                   
HSP 151 1T 8432 G. I. in Social Sci M  W   2:15-  4:05pm Rob 313   Midori Yoshi
HSP 154 1M 8433 G. I. in Social Sci T  R   2:15 - 4:05pm Norris  100 Gregg Saltzman
HSP 155 1H 8434 G. I. in Social Sci M W F   9:15- 10:20am Observatory   Deborah Kanter
HSP 155 2H 8435 G. I. in Social Sci M  W   2:15-   4:05pm Putnam 253   Joseph Ho
                   
HSP 172 1A 8436 GI in Fine Arts M  W   2:15-  4:05pm Observatory   Maureen Balke
HSP  172 2A 8437 GI in Fine Arts M W F 10:30-12:00pm Art Annex   Lynne Chytilo
                   
HSP 397H 01 8438 Thesis Development T 0700-0800 pm Observatory   Kennedy, E. Dale 
                   

 FALL 2018 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Great Issues in Science - Animal Communication
HSP 124H CRN 8542
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:45 – 12:50pm
Putnam 253
Instructor: Dale Kennedy

Course Description:  In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication? We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective. Animal communication involves a minimum of three components: a signaler (sender), a signal, and a perceiver (receiver). We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile), and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species. We will address a variety of other questions, including whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspective of the sender and the perceiver, whether signals work among different species (interspecific), and what (if anything) distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language

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Great Issues in Science - THE GEOLOGY OF CITIES
HSP 123    CRN 8428     LAB CRN 8429
Discussion: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:15am – 10:05am
Lab: Monday 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Classroom: Palenske 123
Instructor: Beth Lincoln

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Today according to many geoscientists we are living in a new epoch of earth history, the Anthropocene. The start of this epoch is defined by the onset of human-caused global disturbances, include changes in the chemistry of water and the atmosphere and changes in land use. Modern megacities certainly seem at home in this epoch; it is easy to visit one and forget the role that nature played in its development. Yet even today geology places constraints on these cities from determining the height of their buildings, supplying the resources needed to build and maintain them, and placing them in harm’s way from a variety of hazards. In this course we will look at the relationship of geology to the development of cities while considering questions such as: are there limits to the growth of a city? Are there locations too hazardous for a city? In the future, will cities still be constrained by geology?

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues In Humanities - PERSPECTIVES ON GAMBLING
HSP 135    CRN 8465
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday     1:00pm – 1:50pm
Observatory
Dr. Mark Bollman

COURSE DESCRIPTION: We will take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gambling, considering the topic from historical, literary, philosophical, and mathematical perspectives for a balanced look at this multifaceted and increasingly important subject. Evaluation will be based on 5-6 essays of varying lengths, computer laboratory work, and some mathematical exercises. Students must be 18 years old no later than November 1, 2018.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities - MOBY DICK
HSP 131     CRN 8431
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:45 - 12:50pm
Observatory
Dr. Jess Roberts, Department of English

COURSE DESRIPTION: We will set about the ambitious project of coming to understand the sense and nonsense, the portentousness and power, the history and wonder of what is arguably the most important novel ever written by an American—Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Class discussions as well as formal and informal writing will provide opportunities for us to discover what the novel has to teach us about language, form, history, intertextuality, truth, fate, our selves, and, yes, whales. Because coming to understand one text is always a matter of coming to understand many texts, we will also read and discuss some of Melville’s sources (the Bible and Macbeth, among others) as well as later revisions of his novel (such as Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou).
Course Goals. By the end of this course students will…
1. have grappled with the form and content of what is arguably the most important novel ever composed by an American
2. have come to a fuller understanding of the legacy of Melville’s work and what accounts for that legacy
3. understand the nature of intertexutality and how it can help us generate increasing nuanced ideas about literary works and about ourselves
4. be able to generate and explain insights regarding a piece of literature in compelling, cogently written, and logically sound literary analysis
5. be able to recognize the difference between paraphrasing, summarizing, and analyzing
6. be able to perform textual analysis; that is, identify the meaning(s) of a text and the strategies through which it creates that/those meaning(s)
7. be able to engage in a reasoned exchange—that is, to articulate their own ideas clearly and logically, to listen attentively to others as they do so, to seek out the strengths and weaknesses in their classmates’ logic and their own, to ask real questions, and to emerge from an exchange not necessarily in agreement with the other person/people but with a better understanding of their classmates’ idea and their own
8. be able to cite literary works according to the MLA format

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - U.S. FOREGIN POLICY SINCE 1945
HSP 151     CRN 8432
Monday & Wednesday     2:15pm – 4:05pm
Robinson 313
Dr. Midori Yoshii

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course analyzes U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to present through documents. Students are required to participate in class discussions and write a research paper based on the State Department documents, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). They will learn how to read and interpret official documents and memoirs of policy makers. The class activities also include critique of contemporary media coverage and films related to American diplomacy. Special attention is paid to the policies by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in the 1960s and the Middle Eastern policies under Reagan and Bush Sr. in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
HSP 154      CRN 8433
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100 – Dr. Greg Saltzman

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.
Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
• Lawyers
• Managers
• Public officials
• Human services professionals
• Environmental advocates
• Community group leaders
The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science -  After the Melting Pot: Issues in 20th-Century U.S. Immigration
HSP 155      CRN 8434
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:15 – 10:20am
Observatory
Dr. Deborah Kanter, Department of History

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.
How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago? Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?
The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - American Encounters with China: Cross-Cultural Histories and Global Dynamics
HSP 155     CRN 8435
Monday & Wednesday 2:15pm-4:05pm
Putnam 253 Dr. Joseph Ho, Department of History

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines cross-cultural encounters between China and the United States from the 19th through the 21st centuries. Broad topics include transnational communities (both Americans and Chinese abroad), the development of trans-Pacific material culture and circulation, and the roles of empire, national identities, and race and gender perspectives in historical Sino-US relationships. The course's main goal is to look beyond (without ignoring) conventional forms of Sino-US diplomacy. Contacts between the two countries will looked at through multi-layered, shifting 'lenses' of global cultural exchange. These will encompass literature and textual discourse, visual culture, religious beliefs and political ideologies, and changing forms of popular mass culture.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts -  “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna 1814-1815
HSP 172     CRN 8436
Monday & Wednesday 2:15 - 4:05p.m.
Observatory Professor Maureen Balke

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war.
Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.
To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester. The evening may contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, according to the class interests, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues Issues in Fine Arts - CERAMICS AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
HSP 172     CRN 8437
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10:30am – 12:00pm Ceramics Annex
Lynne Chytilo

COURSE DECRIPTION: Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution is an interdisciplinary course that engages students in producing handmade pottery while tracing the history and commerce of the ceramics industry from pre-industrial times to the 1920s. Students will learn to make and fire clay objects in the studio, starting with hand forming techniques and later using plaster molds, while taking part in discussions from readings about how the industrial revolution changed many aspects of the world. Each student will find a research topic related to cultural changes during the Industrial Revolution and present their findings to the class. Emphasis will be placed on student-facilitated learning, exploration, discovery, and collaborative processes.    NO CERAMICS EXPERIENCE NEEDED

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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SPRING 2018 COURSE DESCRITPIONS

Great Issues in Fine Arts -  "FROM THE BALLROOM TO HELL” - Schubert’s Vienna ca. 1815
HSP 172 CRN 6244 Tuesday, Thursday 2:15 - 4:05pm
Observatory
Maureen Balke

Course Description:

Vienna 1814-1815—Napoleonic war, politics, the Congress of Vienna, censorship, secret police, rapidly changing society; the diversions young people sought to “escape” from unpleasant (or horrific) realities of war. Such diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos, exotic animals) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.  To counter the “Hell” and chaos of war and the battlefield (the dominion of men), the “Ballroom” in particular became the dominion of ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance. In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed. Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment (for those partaking) and great hilarity (for onlookers!). All these activities were a form of “escape” from life’s stresses, within “safe” societal boundaries.
Meanwhile at the Congress of Vienna, called to re-balance power on the continent in order to prevent another Napoleon, the Prince de Ligne summarized the proceedings thus: “You have come at the right moment. If you like fetes and balls you will have enough of them; the Congress does not move forward, it dances.”
We will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times occurred. We will study the Congress of Vienna (with its political, strategic, festive, and amorous complexities), and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier (with eye-witness accounts of horrific battlefield conditions, starvation, privation, infestation, disease and slaughter), and view portions of the A&E production Napoleon. We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume, etiquette, class structure, and dance through viewing Pride and Prejudice and portions of Amadeus. We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and study selected readings about Viennese history and society.
Class will present your findings in a public performance near the end of the semester. The evening may contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, according to the class interests, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute. You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist. But if you have special interest or ability in any of these areas, that contribution will be welcome!

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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** SPRING 2018 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS **

Great Issues in Fine Arts - Music and the Holocaust
HSP 175 CRN 6246 Tuesday & Thursday 10:30-12:20 p.m.
Room 145 Goodrich Chapel
David Abbott

Course Description: This class will explore the role of music of European music between 1925-50, a time of immense social, political and cultural turmoil. Students will study and learn about the conditions and climate for artistic expression, including music composed under socialist patronage as well as a reaction or resistance to government and social repression. This will include works created and performed in ghettos and concentration camps in situations of extreme impoverishment, cruelty and terror. These activities constitute artistic attempts at survival, witness and resistance.
Students will be exposed to music and in some cases art, that is, the cultural “artifacts” created in a place and time that is significantly removed from the experience of American students in 21st century. To help connect more directly with this historical period, lectures by Holocaust survivors and a visit to Holocaust Museum are part of the course curriculum. After studying the circumstances of music composed and performed during the period of the holocaust, students will be directed to investigate and reflect on how people in the present day are continuing to be uprooted from their culture and environment and in many cases be faced with extinction.
Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts - Perspectives on Composer: Style and Expression in Music Composition
HSP 172 CRN 6245
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
2:15 – 3:20pm
Sam McIlhagga

Course Description: This course will examine music composition through the lens of the composer, the performer, and the audience. Further views by musicologists, philosophers, and psychologists will provide an interdisciplinary approach to the topic. While music composition is the primary focus, relevant parallels in architecture, visual art, literature, and poetry will also be considered. Historically established music traditions (e.g. concert music and jazz) are contrasted with new forms (e.g. techno, film music and rap) in search of the expanding role of music composition. Course activities include artistic creation, readings, listening assignments, writing, concert attendance, field trips, class discussion, and presentations.

You DO NOT have to be a music major or play an instrument to take this class

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Humanities - Mystery, Manners, Modernisms and me
HSP 131 CRN 6240 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 1:00 – 2:05pm
Vulgamore 202
Dr. Mary Collar

Course Description: This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns. Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good. At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer. Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify. The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities -
    Modern India: History and Culture From the British Raj to Bollywood

HSP 135 CRN 6214 Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:30-11:35am
Rob 403
Dr. Perry Myers

Course Description: This course will provide a historical and cultural survey of modern India from the Raj—early 19th century—to the current era—the emergence of Bollywood and the emergence of India as a world economic and political power. The course will first focus on key political, cultural and economic transitions during British rule in the nineteenth century and focus on the emerging nationalist movements lead by Ram Mohan Roy and the Bramo Samaj, and later by Debendranath Tagore. Our depiction of these movements will emphasize the critical entanglement of religion and politics as India gradually sought to overthrow the Raj and later to gain independence. Beginning with the 20th century the course will focus first on Gandhi—his philosophy and political assertions—as well as other important social and political leaders such as Nehru and Ambedkar, then turn to independence and partition, and finally the political, social, and economic dilemmas faced by the postcolonial states of the Indian subcontinent: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Through the combination of primary and secondary readings the course will emphasize the entanglement of the political, religious, and economic domains.
Learning Outcomes: 1) Students will gain a solid understanding of modern Indian history. 2) Students will learn to analyze primary texts in their historical and cultural context.

This course has no prerequisites and requires no prior knowledge of Indian history.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanitites
HSP 135H CRN 6239 Tuesday, Thursday 10:30 – 12:20pm
Vulgamore 202
Dr. Ronney Mourad

Course Description: This course will examine some of the institutional, legal, and ethical dimensions of the relationship between religion and politics. In seeking to understand this relationship, we will draw on political theology, history, philosophy, and political science. We will look at some classic Christian models for the relationship between church and state in their historical contexts, trace religious responses to the emergence of modern secularism, and examine some contemporary theological prescriptions regarding the role of religion in liberal democracies. Class material will emphasize theoretical approaches to the topic, but student papers may apply these approaches to issues such as school prayer, the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance, or the display of religious symbols in government buildings.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
HSP 154 CRN 6242 Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100
Greg Saltzman

Course Description - This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done. It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining). Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice. This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
     Lawyers                             Human Services Professionals
     Manager                            Environmental Advocates
     Public Officials                  Community Group Leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy. I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - THE POLITICS OF GENOCIDE
HSP 155 CRN 6243 Tuesday, Thursday 10:30-12:20pm
Observatory
Dr. Carrie Walling

Course Description: Course Description: In this course students will examine genocide using historical, interpretive and comparative methods.  The course will focus principally on two genocides: the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. We will use oral histories and written testimonies along with historical, political science and public policy texts, human rights reports, international law, and government documents.  We will examine the motives of perpetrators and the experiences of victims being attentive to the unique character of each genocide, as well as the similarities that exist between them.  Through our studies, we will confront extraordinary inhumanity by examining the causes of genocide and its methods of implementation but we will also learn about the strength of the human spirit by studying resistance, survival and rescue within the context of genocide. Students will have the opportunity to produce a major research report using oral testimony through the Shoah Digital Archives and other online sources. The course will include interaction with external speakers, a field trip to the Farmington Hills Holocaust Museum, and a final research project using testimony.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science -
          Canada: More than Snow, Hockey & Maple Syrup

HSP 155H CRN 6289 Monday, Wednesday 2:15 – 4:05pm
Robinson Hall 403
Instructor: Patrick McLean

Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to Canada and Canadian society from a range of vantage points. We will examine the history, culture, politics, society, literature, arts and the strong regional differences within the country to our north through readings, discussions, guest lectures, film and travel. We also will examine the highly asymmetrical relationship between Canada and the United States and the influence each has on the other.

Canada offers a convenient lens through which to view our own country. Canada’s history parallels that of the US at times, but represents a very different response to colonial rule. Canada retains a strong set of regional identities, including a linguistic minority that influences every facet of the country’s history. Canada has developed through its Canadian content laws a vibrant arts, culture and literary scene. Canada has followed a less assimilationist approach toward immigrants, resulting in a “Vertical Mosaic” compared to the American Melting Pot.

**This course includes a required, week-long trip taken during Spring Break 2017 that will provide students with an opportunity to visit Parliament in Ottawa, a series of incredible museums, and to explore Toronto, Ottawa and several other cities in Ontario and Quebec. Last year’s trip even included an NHL hockey game.

Note: If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Science - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
HSP 124 CRN 6241 Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:15 – 10:20am
Observatory
Douglas White

Course Description: Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts. What is love? Why do we love? How is love important?

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog. Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest. Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines. And, Albion needs love to flourish. Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds. Can we see love there in revealing variety? We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love. Do they have it right? Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways? Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology. Where is your bliss? Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in fiction writing and music.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science -  DRINKING WATER
HSP 123 & 123L     CRN 6019 & 6020    Monday, Wednesday, Friday   
Class Time = 10:30-11:35am      Lab Time = 1:00-4:00pm
Putnam 155 & 151
Dr. Tim Lincoln

Course Description:  Drinking water is unquestionably a fundamental resource. Providing this resource has posed challenging policy concerns throughout history, and across civilizations. Today is no exception. The recent tragedy of lead in Flint’s water and the ongoing problems with toxic algae threatening Toledo’s supply highlight the question “Is our water safe?” This course will use investigative science to explore this and other questions, such as “Are water supplies safe from terrorists?”; “How might climate change affect water supplies?” and “What can be done to provide safe water to the billions who live in developing nations and presently lack access to this fundamental resource?” The course will draw from both chemistry and geology (hydrology). You will learn to use the equipment in the Dow Lab to analyze water, and you will develop an understanding of chemical and geological principles, supported by some simple but powerful chemical and hydrological modeling software, to allow you to interpret your results. These tools will allow you to investigate local issues of concern, such as the leaching of lead from soils, the behavior of nutrient elements in local waterways or how local groundwater recharge and stream flows might be affected by projected changes in climate. A scaffolding for the course will be Environmental Law professor James Salzman’s book Drinking Water, A History. This non-technical book will help place the science in historical and cultural context and provide a starting point for discussions of policy issues. 

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

 

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FALL 2017 SCHEDULE
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE SCHEDULE:

SUBJ CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
HSP 123 1S 5054 G. I. in Science T   R   8:00 - 9:50am Observatory Vanessa McCaffrey
HSP 123L 1 5055 G. I. in Science  W   1:00 - 4:35pm Kresge 376 Vanessa McCaffrey
HSP 123 2S 5397 G. I. in Science M  W  F   9:15 - 10:20am Palenske Beth Lincoln
HSP 123 2 5398 G. I. in Science  M       1:00 - 4:00pm Palenske Beth Lincoln
 HSP 124   5543 G.I. in Science M W F 11:45 - 12:50pm Putnam 253  Dale Kennedy
HSP 131 1T 5387 G.I. in Humanities T   R   2:15 - 4:05pm Observatory Ashley Miller
HSP 135 1H 5388 G.I. in Humanities M  W  F   1:00 - 2:05pm Observatory E. Barrios-Ramirez
 HSP 154   5389 G.I. in Social Science T  R     2:15 - 4:05pm Olin 220 Katie Price 
HSP 154 1M 5400 G. I. in Social Science T   R   2:15 - 4:05pm Norris 100 Greg Saltzman
HSP 155 2H 5391 G. I. in Social Science M  W  F   9:15 - 10:20am Observatory Deborah Kanter
 HSP 172 1A 5392 G.I. in Fine Arts T   R   2:15 - 5:00pm Bobbitt  Anne McCauley
HSP 172 1A 5392 G. I. in Fine Arts T  R   2:15 - 5:00pm Bobbitt Anne McCauley
 HSP 397H 1 5393 Thesis Development T   7:00 - 8:00pm Observatory Dale Kennedy
                 

 

FALL 2017 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Great Issues in Social Science - COMMUNICATION IN LEADERSHIP
HSP 154 CRN 5389    Tuesday & Thursday    2:15pm – 4:05pm
Olin 220    Dr. Katey Price

Course Description: The role of the leader-follower relationship is vital to personal relationships, communities, organizations and businesses, and government. Communication is the vehicle through which these relationships are formed, maintained, strengthened, and destroyed. Although an understanding of communication and leadership theory is inherent for a solid grasp on this specific field of inquiry, hypothetical and practical application as well as experience are vital to a complete grasp of the leader-follower dynamic. Students will build their knowledge through multiple texts, analyze - through discussion and writing - fictional and current real examples of the leader-follower exchange, and utilize the multiple methods for communicating as a leader and a follower and reflect on their experiences through class discussion and journaling about their experiences on campus.

Note: if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP154, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science - Animal Communication
HSP 124H CRN 5543    Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:45 – 12:50pm
Putnam 253    Instructor: Dale Kennedy

Course Description:
In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication? We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective. Animal communication involves a minimum of three components: a signaler (sender), a signal, and a perceiver (receiver). We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile), and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species. We will address a variety of other questions, including whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspective of the sender and the perceiver, whether signals work among different species (interspecific), and what (if anything) distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science - After the Melting Pot: Issues in 20th-Century U.S. ImmigrationHSP 155     CRN  5391    Monday, Wednesday, Friday    9:15 – 10:20am
Observatory    Dr. Deborah Kanter, Department of History

Course Description: The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race? 

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration 

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Great Issues in Social Science - Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
HSP 154    CRN 5400    Tuesdays and Thursdays   2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100     Dr. Greg Saltzman

Course Description: This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
•    Lawyers
•    Managers
•    Public officials
•    Human services professionals
•    Environmental advocates
•    Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Notes:  (1) This course meets the modeling and analysis mode requirement. 
(2) This course is open only to students in the Prentiss Brown Honors Program.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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G.I. in Science - The Nobel Prize in the Sciences
HSP 123H     CRN5054      CRN Lab 5055    Discussion – Tuesday, Thursday  8:00am – 9:50am
Lab – Wednesday 1:00pm – 4:35pm     Dr. Vanessa McCaffrey

Course Description: Every October, the world waits with bated breath for the announcement of the Nobel Prizes. These awards go to “those who had done their best to benefit mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.” (www.nobel.se) In this class, we will be learning about Alfred Nobel and the reasons that he might have established this significant award. This class will focus solely on the prizes in Physics Chemistry, and Medicine. We will be looking at several of these awards in detail to understand the science and the benefit that the work has had on humankind. There are many controversies that surround the Nobel Prize that will also be explored, including Gender and Race in laureate selection, why certain fields were chosen to have awards, while others were not (Math and Biology for example) and what happens when the Swedish Academy of Sciences may have made a flawed selection. There is a lab associated with this class. Students will be assessed on participation, reading notes and several communication assignments, including lab reports, oral presentations and other assignments.  Class is limited to 12

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Science - THE GEOLOGY OF CITIES
HSP 123    CRN 5397    LAB CRN  5398
Discussion: Monday, Wednesday, Friday   9:15am – 10:05am
Lab: Monday  1:00pm – 4:00pm
Classroom:  Palenske 123    Instructor:   Beth Lincoln       

Course description:  Today according to many geoscientists we are living in a new epoch of earth history, the Anthropocene.  The start of this epoch is defined by the onset of human-caused global disturbances, include changes in the chemistry of water and the atmosphere and changes in land use.  Modern megacities certainly seem at home in this epoch; it is easy to visit one and forget the role that nature played in its development.  Yet even today geology places constraints on these cities from determining the height of their buildings, supplying the resources needed to build and maintain them, and placing them in harm’s way from a variety of hazards.  In this course we will look at the relationship of geology to the development of cities while considering questions such as:  are there limits to the growth of a city?  Are there locations too hazardous for a city? In the future, will cities still be constrained by geology?

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities - MAD MEN: 19th-CENTURY LITERATURE AND PSYCHOLOGY
HSP 131    CRN  5387    Tuesday & Thursday    2:15pm – 4:05pm
Dr. Ashley Miller

Course Description: The nineteenth century is often regarded as a bastion of the cult of self-control. Social mores and material structures alike—from the corset to the convent, the etiquette-book to the asylum—contrived to keep people in order. Yet nineteenth-century literature reveals a surprising fascination with people who have lost the ability to control their own actions. 

This Great Issues in the Humanities course will investigate the representation of insanity, trance, possession, and addiction in transatlantic nineteenth-century literature. Alongside our literary texts, we will explore a number of nineteenth-century writings on psychology—a field that is just coming into being during this period. 

In short, the problem of aberrant psychology provides an interdisciplinary gateway to crucial topics in nineteenth-century culture, including problems of gender, class, and race. Throughout the semester we will consider questions such as these: What does it mean to be out of your own control? To whom does this happen, and why? And why were these problems of particular interest to nineteenth-century society?  

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration 

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Great Issues in Humanities - Climate Change, History, and The Arts 
HSP 135    CRN 5388     Monday, Wednesday, Friday    1:00 – 2:05pm
Observatory     Dr. Elizabeth Barrios-Ramirez

Course Description: This interdisciplinary course has two central goals. The first is to provide a cultural history of the climate change as a byproduct of humanity’s incessant efforts to control the biosphere. We will particularly focus on fossil fuels as the key tool used to “liberate” human societies from material constraints.  The second aim of this course involves exploring how a changing global climate pushes us to re-evaluate traditional ideas about what separates culture from nature, the human from the animal, the immediate from the global and long-term. In particular, we will examine the role of writing and the arts in helping us think about, respond to, and prepare for ecological catastrophe, as well as their role in helping us imagine more sustainable ways of life.
 
The readings include Latin American, U.S. American, and European fiction, continental philosophy, political theory, as well as historical and anthropological texts. We will additionally analyze advertisements, photography, performance art, and film about a range of environmental topics.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts - FOLD, FAN, AND FOLIO:  Books as Art
HSP 172   CRN 5392    Tuesday & Thursday    2:15pm – 5:00pm
Anne McCauley      Bobbitt

Course Description: Students in this course will learn to make historical book forms from various cultures (Coptic, codex, accordion, and Japanese bound) and discover an appreciation of books in a new and wider context.   From there, students will apply newly learned techniques to the production of nontraditional artist books. 

In creating your original work, whether text, imagery, or a combination of the two is employed, emphasis will be placed on the creation of books as visual objects.  

No art making experience required.  Class size is limited to 10 students.  Fulfills Artistic Creation Mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

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SPRING 2017
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE SCHEDULE:

SUBJ CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
HSP 125  1H  3449 G. I. in Science Thursdays   7:00 - 10:00 Palenske Dan Skean
HSP 124 1M 3344 G. I. in Science  M  W  F 10:30 - 11:35 Observatory Doug White
HSP 131 1T 3237 G.I. in Humanities T  Th 10:30 - 12:20 Vulg 202 Mary Collar
HSP 131 2T 3345 G.I. in Humanities M W    2:15 -  4:05 Observatory Emanuel Yewah
HSP 155 1H 3260 G. I. in Social Sci M W F   9:15 - 10:20 Observatory Deborah Kanter
HSP 155 2H 3346 G. I. in Social Sci T  TH 10:30 - 12:20 Rob 403 Patrick McLean
HSP 155 1T 3347 G. I. in Social Sci T  TH   2:15 -   4:05 Rob 203 Andy Grossman
HSP 172 1A 3349 G. I. in Fine Arts T  TH   2:15 -  4:05 Observatory Lia Jensen-Abbott
HSP 172 1A 3348 G. I. in Fine Arts T  TH   10:30 - 12:30 Ceramics Annx Lynne Chytilo
HSP 397H 1 3350 Thesis Development T     7:00 -  8:00 Observatory Kennedy, E. Dale
                                 

 

 SPRING 2017 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

Great Issues in Humanities  -  Mystery, Manners, Modernisms and Me
HSP 131    CRN  3237     
Tuesday & Thursday    10:30 – 12:20
Vulgamore 202     Dr. Mary Collar

Course Description:
This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns.   Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good.    At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer.  Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify.  The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Humanities  -  Law and Literature
HSP 131     CRN 3345     2:15 – 4:05    Monday, Wednesday
Observatory     Dr. Emmanuel Yewah

Course Description:
This course draws from a wide range of sources including novels, short stories and/or films and theoretical materials to establish the link between law and literature. It also explores such issues as text, legal ideology, storytelling techniques by writers and litigants in a courtroom, marginalization, language, the questions of evidence, etc.  Additionally, it seeks to understand writers’ contributions to the indigenous and received traditions in the law through legal narratives that illuminate some aspects of the law or, indeed, raise fundamental questions about those traditions.

Evaluation of the course will be based on attendance, attentive reading of assigned materials prior to class, active participation in class discussions, three critical essays (or the student’s own creative work), and a reasonable length term paper.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Humanities, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science:  -  The NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
HSP 124   CRN 3344     
Monday, Wednesday, Friday    10:30-11:35
Observatory     Douglas White

Course Description:
Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts.  What is love?  Why do we love?  How is love important? 

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog.  Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest.  Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines.  And, Albion needs love to flourish.  Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds.  Can we see love there in revealing variety?  We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love.  Do they have it right?  Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways?  Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology.  Where is your bliss?  Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science  -  Florida: Paradise Lost
HSP 125   CRN 3449     
Thursdays          7:00 – 10:00pm
Dr. Dan Skean

Course Description:
This course is an introduction to the biodiversity and natural ecosystems of Florida and the environmental challenges imposed upon them by the demands of development and tourism. A field trip to Florida over spring break (March 3-11), is required at an additional cost.

Topics include environmental issues surrounding agriculture (citrus, sugar cane, and vegetables), freshwater availability, storm protection, and coastal development, all in the face of climate change and rising sea levels. Readings include natural history texts, novels, and primary scientific literature. The mandatory field trip introduces participants to the subtropical terrestrial and marine ecosystems of the Florida Keys, the sawgrass of the Everglades, the sloughs and swamps of Big Cypress, and the unique and endemic sand pine scrub of the Lake Wales ridge. If all goes well, we plan to end at Sea World in Orlando, with a behind-the-scenes tour of their animal rehabilitation and marine conservation efforts. You may have been to Florida, but you have never see it like this!

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking any Great Issues in Honors Science course, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from E. Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in Social Science  -  After the Melting Pot: Issues in 20th-Century  U.S. Immigration
HSP 155     CRN  3260     Monday, Wednesday, Friday     9:15 – 10:20am
Observatory     
Dr. Deborah Kanter

Course Description:
The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science  -  Canada: More than Snow, Hockey & Maple Syrup
HSP 155H   CRN 3346     Tuesday & Thursday 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Robinson Hall 403     Dr. Patrick McLean

Course Descritpion:
This course is designed to introduce students to Canada and Canadian society from a range of vantage points.  We will examine the history, culture, politics, society, literature, arts and the strong regional differences within the country to our north through readings, discussions, guest lectures, film and travel.  We also will examine the highly asymmetrical relationship between Canada and the United States and the influence each has on the other.

Canada offers a convenient lens through which to view our own country.  Canada’s history parallels that of the US at times, but represents a very different response to colonial rule.  Canada retains a strong set of regional identities, including a linguistic minority that influences every facet of the country’s history.  Canada has developed through its Canadian content laws a vibrant arts, culture and literary scene.  Canada has followed a less assimilationist approach toward immigrants, resulting in a “Vertical Mosaic” compared to the American Melting Pot.

This course includes a required, week-long trip taken during Spring Break 2017 that will provide students with an opportunity to visit Parliament in Ottawa, a series of incredible museums, and to explore Toronto, Ottawa and several other cities in Ontario and Quebec.  Last year’s trip even included an NHL hockey game

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dr. Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

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Great Issues in the Social Sciences  -  “Savage ‘Little’ Wars: Narratives of   Counterinsurgency Warfare in Film                                                                       and in Practice 1963-2013”
151       CRN 3347
Tuesday, Thursday     2:15pm – 4:05pm 
Rob. 203     Dr. Andy Grossman
 

Course Description:
This honors seminar is framed by a puzzle which is best considered as a question: How is it that a military strategy, “Counterinsurgency” (COIN) that has failed so often and so systematically can continue to be held in high regard by political and military elites in countries such as the United States?

In thinking about this question, we  will analyze how COIN has been viewed by national security and military elites (post-World War II generals in particular) as a long-term strategy to fight asymmetric wars:  that is, post-Colonial conflicts, conflicts that arise in “failed states,” and, finally, the  problematic “global war on terrorism”— i.e., the post 9/11 strategies for asymmetric war. 

We will take two approaches to the analysis in the seminar. 1). The consideration of how COIN tactics have been portrayed in film; that is, how narratives are used in film to establish a particular kind of thinking. 2). A careful and close reading of important academic literature in the national security, war-fighting, and policy history scholarship. This aspect to our seminar aims at a fuller understanding of how military strategy has adjusted to modern asymmetric warfare and why COIN regularly reemerges with a new gloss, as the “go to” tactic/strategy for countries such as the United States.

As regards the use of film, the seminar will examine how COIN has been portrayed  in popular film as a means to either support or raise questions about so-called “small wars” and the tactics associated with these types of conflicts. We will view films representing various points of view.   We will also consider questions about how the use of film narratives (drawing on the work of Hayden White and others) can reconstruct a particular context (opposing realities if you will) that lends support to counter-insurgency warfare or, undermines this strategy.

The second approach will be reading intensive referencing the literature on the military strategies of asymmetric warfare emphasizing the perspective of those on the “receiving end” as it were, of counter-insurgency operations.  I would like us to  focus specifically on why COIN tactics and strategies seem to continue to garner significant purchase among the military, even in light of its abject historical failure (save a few instances in modern history).  Why is this the case?  That is the what the seminar is about.

The course will entail both a close reading of two types of texts: film and literature. Short papers follow each film. One final paper for the course. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Social Science, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues Issues in Fine Arts  -  Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution
HSP 172   CRN  3348     Tuesday & Thursday     10:30am-12:30pm
Ceramics Annex      Lynne Chytilo

Course Description:
Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution is an interdisciplinary course that engages students in producing handmade pottery while tracing the history and commerce of the ceramics industry from pre-industrial times to the 1920s. Students will learn to make and fire clay objects in the studio, starting with hand forming techniques and later using plaster molds, while taking part in discussions from readings about how the industrial revolution changed many aspects of the world. Each student will find a research topic related to cultural changes during the Industrial Revolution and present their findings to the class. Emphasis will be placed on student-facilitated learning, exploration, discovery, and collaborative processes.

NO CERAMICS EXPERIENCE NEEDED

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts  -
HSP 172     CRN 3349     Tuesday & Thursday    2:15 – 4:05pm
Observatory     Dr. Lia Jensen-Abbott

Course Description:
This class will explore the relevance of all the arts in society, culture, and education.  As a microcosm of trends nationwide, the course will assess Albion's lack of funding for arts programs and perhaps try to come up with some ideas for this community.  The course will have three components: 

  1. individual exploration of students’ own needs, appreciation, etc. for the arts;
  2. We will read/research aesthetic philosophy/theory as well as some statistical research and analysis, and bring in speakers. 
  3. The final component will involve working in this community—the class will brainstorm a project with the ultimate goal of putting into place some new arts initiative. 

We may travel to see plays, museums, music performances, etc., along with speakers.  The course will involve different types of writing—journals, research based papers, and a final project.

Class trip to Chicago or Detroit DIA to get some direct experience of the things we will be covering in class --- visit to the art museum, etc….

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of Honors Fine Arts, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy

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FALL 2016 SCHEDULE - Descriptions are below

CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
123H 1S 2148 G. I. in Science M W F 11:45 - 12:35 Olin 230 Wilson, W. Jeff
123HL 1 2149 Laboratory R   9:15 - 11:15   Wilson, W. Jeff
124H 1M 2070 G. I. in Science  MTWF   1:00 -   2:15 Observatory Bollman, Mark
125H 1H 2367 G. I. in Science  MWF   9:15 - 10:20 Observatory Roy, Marc
131 1T 2480 G.I. in Humanities M W F   1:00 - 2:05 Vulg. 301 Judy Lockyer
151H 1T 2368 G. I. in Social Sci M W    2:15 -  4:05 Olin Yoshii, Midori
154H 1M 2184 G. I. in Social Sci T R    2:15 -  4:05 Norris 100 Saltzman, Greg
155H 1H 2369 G. I. in Social Sci M W    2:15 -  4:05 Rob 203 Walling, Carrie
175H 1H 2371 G. I. in Fine Arts T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Goodrich 145 Abbott, David
172 1A 2370 G. I. in Fine Arts M  W   2:15 -   4:05 Obsevatory Balke, Maureen
397H 1 2372 Thesis Develpmnt T    7:00 -  8:00 Observatory Kennedy, E. Dale 

 

FALL 2016 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Great Issues in Fine Arts
Music and the Holocaust
HSP 175   CRN  2371
Tuesday & Thursday    10:30-12:20 p.m. -  145 Goodrich Chapel
David Abbott

This class will explore the role of music of European music between 1925-50, a time of immense social, political and cultural turmoil.  Students will study and learn about the conditions and climate for artistic expression, including music composed under socialist patronage as well as a reaction or resistance to government and social repression.  This will include works created and performed in ghettos and concentration camps in situations of extreme impoverishment, cruelty and terror.  These activities constitute artistic attempts at survival, witness and resistance.

Students will be exposed to music and in some cases art, that is, the cultural “artifacts” created in a place and time that is significantly removed from the experience of American students in 21st century.  To help connect more directly with this historical period, lectures by Holocaust survivors and a visit to Holocaust Museum are part of the course curriculum.  After studying the circumstances of music composed and performed during the period of the holocaust, students will be directed to investigate and reflect on how people in the present day are continuing to be uprooted from their culture and environment and in many cases be faced with extinction.

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Great Issues in Fine Arts
“From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna ca. 1815
HSP 172     CRN  2370
Monday & Wednesday  2:15 - 4:05pm  -  Observatory
Maureen Balke

This course will look at Vienna around 1815—its background of Napoleonic war, politics, censorship, secret police, and rapidly changing society, as well as the diversions young people sought out to “escape” from unpleasant reality. 

These diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.  

To counter the horrors and chaos of war and the battlefield (where men reigned), the ballroom in particular became the dominion of the ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance.    In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed.  Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment and great hilarity.   Secret messages could be sent to a lover through glove and handkerchief flirtations.  All these activities were a form of “escape” within “safe” societal boundaries.

This class will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times developed.  We will study the Congress of Vienna and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier.  We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume and hairstyles.  We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and look at some of the poetry Schubert chose to set to music. 

We will present our findings in a combination Schubertiade/salon/ball in a public performance near the end of the semester.   The evening will contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute.  You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.  But if you have special interest or ability in any of these areas, that contribution will be welcome!

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Great Issues in Science
8 Big Ideas That Shaped Science
HSP 124   CRN 2070
1:00 – 2:15pm
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday - Observatory
Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.

Astronomy: Big Bang theory                            Biochemistry: DNA structure
Biology: Evolution                                            Chemistry: Periodic Law
Computer science: Information theory             Geology: Plate tectonics
Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry           Physics: Atomic structure

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry.  Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

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Great Issues in Science:
Neurophysiology for Beginners
HSP 123     CRN 2148  / Lab CRN 2149
Monday, Wednesday, Friday = 11:45 – 12:35  Olin 230
Thursday LAB = 9:15 – 11:15am  Olin 234
Dr. Jeff Wilson

Everything that you do, feel, think, perceive… basically everything that matters to you… is the result of activity in your nervous system.  Individual cells called “neurons” communicate with one another to create your mind.  In “Neurophysiology for Beginners” we will learn about the activity of neurons: how they work, how they encode sensory information, how they control movement, perhaps how they produce emotions and mental activity.  The course will provide an overview of the history of our understanding of neurons, and will include many experiments and/or demonstrations that illustrate the concepts that we address.  You will also gain a basic understanding of simple instrumentation used to study the nervous system.  Because neurons are comparable across species, we can learn about your neurons by studying the neurons of simpler organisms like invertebrates; many of the lab experiences will focus on neurophysiology in cockroaches and earthworms, but we will also at times examine the neurons of students.  A specific lab period is scheduled, but lecture time will also be devoted on occasion to laboratory-related experiences and discussion.  Students will be expected to maintain a lab notebook in which they record methodology and observations of each lab.  Students will also write up three of the labs (literature review, methodology, results, and discussion) according to APA style – these write-ups will be graded.  Finally, each student will design an individual experiment that extends one of the studies that we conducted in lab, ideally providing information about some as yet unanswered question in the literature.

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Great Issues in Science
SEX AND GENDER, NATURE AND NURTURE
HSP 125    CRN 2367
Monday, Wednesday, Friday  -  9:15 – 10:20am    Observatory
Dr. Marc Roy

In this course, we will examine how biological factors interact with physical, social, and cultural factors to influence the expression of sex and gender in a variety of animals, including humans.  From the earliest possible moments, sometimes even before birth, we identify individuals as females and males.  Gender roles and identities are reinforced from birth with the clothes we dress infants in and the toys we give them.  But what makes us males and females?  Sex and gender are concepts that have been studied from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.  Are they the same things?  What leads to differences in sex and gender?  While some people have argued that biological factors are the primary factors that determine if an individual is female or male, others have argued that these terms are socially constructed and that social and cultural factors are the primary determinants of sex and gender. 

Our understanding of sex and gender has changed historically and is understood differently in different cultures.  Also in this course, we will examine how these constructs, along with sexual orientation, have changed over time.  We will also explore how gender and sexual orientation are understood and expressed in several different cultures and social groups (e.g. religious groups, race, and ethnicity), including those that the students may have encountered in their lives.  We will use texts from several disciplines including biology, psychology, and anthropology. 

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Great Issues in Social Science
Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
Greg Saltzman
HSP 154    CRN  2184
Tuesday & Thursday   2:15 – 4:05 PM  -  Norris 100

This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?

A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:

  • Lawyers                                                Managers
  • Public officials                                       Human services professionals
  • Environmental advocates                     Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

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Great Issues in Social Science
DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION
HSP 155    CRN 2369
Monday & Wednesday  2:15 – 4:05pm  -  Observatory
Dr. Carrie Booth-Walling

In 1942 only twelve countries in the world could call themselves democracies. Less than 70 years later, there are more than 115 electoral democracies globally. Democracies continue to emerge, elections continue to be held, and popular decision-making continues to take root. This is staggering given the challenges that we face globally today: religious extremism, political violence and terrorism, global poverty, conflict, war, devastating natural disasters, global health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, and increased strain upon the environment, to name only a few.

Despite this hopeful news, challenges remain for those countries undergoing democratic transitions. These new democracies are all but stable, their transitions far from certain. Even our own stable and prosperous democracy, often fails to live up to the ideals of popular sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and checks upon state power.  This is a class about democratization—in short, how countries become, and how they stay, democratic. We will examine the meaning and importance of democratic institutions, the ways in which democratic transitions emerge, and the challenges in “consolidating” democratic transitions—in short, ensuring that democracy (rather than violence, authoritarianism, or military rule) becomes “the only game in town.”

We will examine case studies of democratization from various regions of the world in order to better understand the causes of democratic transition and democracy’s consolidation.  Because it is a presidential election year in the United States we will also focus our attention on evaluating the health and strength of the American democracy.  We will also look at the successful and failed democratic transitions underway in parts of the Middle East.  Students will have the opportunity to examine democratic waves in other regions (like Europe and Latin America as part of the third wave of democracy).   As the introduction above suggests, this class could not be more important and timely.

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Great Issues in Social Science
U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1945
HSP 151     CRN  2368
Monday & Wednesday  2:15pm – 4:05pm  -  Olin
Associate Professor of International Studies, Midori Yoshii

This course analyzes U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to present through documents. Students are required to participate in class discussions and write a research paper based on the State Department documents, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). They will learn how to read and interpret official documents and memoirs of policy makers. The class activities also include critique of contemporary media coverage and films related to American diplomacy. Special attention is paid to the policies by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in the 1960s and the Middle Eastern policies under Reagan and Bush Sr. in the 1980s and early 1990s.

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Great Issues in Humanities
Funny Women:  Irony, Humor, and Satire in U.S. Women’s Writing
HSP 131    CRN 2480
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 1:00-2:00pm  -  Vulgamore 302
Dr. Judy Lockyer

Bring your sense of humor to this class.  Some people seriously argue that women can’t be funny because women aren’t funny.  Not so, say the women we’ll be reading.

Students in this seminar will begin with discussion and analysis of texts, followed by individually designed research, about several crucial issues:  What is humor and why do women in particular need it?  What is satire and how do we know good satire when we read or hear it? To what ends do women use irony, wit and satire? Our subjects of study will come from film, poetry, fiction, essays, and editorials.  Included on the syllabus are the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848, Dorothy Parker’s stories, essays by Dorothy Allison and Katha Pollitt, and fiction by Flannery O’Connor, Sandra Cisneros, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Nanci Kincaid.

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SPRING 2016

SUBJ CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG RM INSTRUCTOR MDE
HSP 124H 1M 9050 G. I. in Science M W F 9:15 - 10:20 Putnam 253 Dale Kennedy MMA
HSP 124H 2M 9434 G. I. in Science M W F 10:30 - 11:35 Observatory Doug White MMA
HSP 124H 3M 9435 G. I. in Science M W F 11:45 - 12:50 Palenske 225 David Seely MMA
                   
HSP 131H 1T 9208 G. I. in Humanities M W F 1:00 - 2:05 Vulg 202 Kalen Oswald MTA
HSP 131H 2T 9221 G. I. in Humanities M W F 9:15 - 10:20 Vulg 202 Dan Mittag MTA
HSP 135H 2H 9077 G. I. in Humanities M T W F 11:45 - 12:35 Observatory Mark Bollman MHC
HSP 135H 1H 9227 G. I. in Humanities T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Vulgamore 301 Ron Mourad MHC
                   
HSP 154H 1M 9188 G. I. in Social Science T  R 2:15 -  4:05   Norris 100 Greg Saltzman MMA
HSP 155H 1H 9353 G. I. in Social Science T  R 10:30 - 12:20  Robinson 403 Patrick McLean MHC
HSP 155H 2H 9436 G. I. in Social Science M W 2:15 - 4:05   Observatory Carrie Walling MHC
                   
HSP 172H 1A 9425 G. I. in Fine Arts T  R 2:15 - 4:05 Observatory Maureen Balke MAC
HSP 172H 2A 9426 G. I. in Fine Arts M W F 2:15 - 3:20 Goodrich 145 Sam McIlhagga MAC
HSP 175H 2H 9431 G. I. in Fine Arts T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Goodrich 145 David Abbott MHC
HSP 175H 1H 9282 G. I. in Fine Arts M 2:15 - 5:00 Bohm Theatre    
          W 2:15 - 3:20 Rob 206 Geoff Cocks MHC
                   
HSP 397H 1 9427 Thesis Develpmnt T 7:00-8:00 pm Observatory Dale Kennedy  

Great Issues in Science - Animal Communication
HSP 124    CRN 9050       9:15 – 10:20 a.m.  Putnam 253
Observatory                     Instructor:  Dr. Dale Kennedy

In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication?   We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective.  Animal communication involves a minimum of three components:  a signaler (sender), a signal, and a perceiver (receiver).  We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile), and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species.   We will address a variety of other questions, including whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspective of the sender and the perceiver, whether signals work among different species (interspecific), and what (if anything) distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language.

This course fulfils the Modeling and Analysis mode. 

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 124H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

Great Issues in Science - The Natural History of Love
HSP 124   CRN 9434    MWF 10:30 - 11:35 a.m.
Observatory                 Instructor:  Dr. Douglas White

Exploration of the nature and function of love in humans from the perspectives of evolutionary biology, ornithology, brain science, anthropology, psychology, mythology, and the arts.  What is love?  Why do we love?  How is love important? 

Love is virtually absent from Albion’s catalog.  Yet, love is a topic of deep and universal personal and societal interest.  Love is systemic to many and disparate academic disciplines.  And, Albion needs love to flourish.  Here, we break through obscuring jargon, silos, and silence, first by considering the breeding biology of birds.  Can we see love there in revealing variety?  We move on to examine how modern sciences of neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology are being used to characterize human love.  Do they have it right?  Do people and birds pick mates in similar ways?  Next, we will see if love, in its expansive sense, relates to the human subconscious as revealed by comparative mythology.  Where is your bliss?  Finally, we will test our biologically-informed models of love against meditations on love prized in drama and music.

This course fulfills the Modeling and Analysis mode.  It is not intended to address directly sex education, sexual politics, or gender issues. 

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 124H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Science  -  The Quantum Enigma
HSP 124H   CRN 9435         MWF 11:45 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Science Complex, T.B.A.     Instructor:  Dr. Dave Seely

One third of our nation's economy is based on products that were developed using quantum mechanics.  For eighty years quantum theory has been proven repeatedly and is arguably the most successful predictive theory in the history of science.  Unfortunately, no one really understands it and its deeper implications for our sense of what is physical reality.  In this course we discuss the nature and practice of modern science which leads to a study of the essential mysteries of the "quantum" world. We look at quantum mechanics in non-technical, but physically accurate, terms in an effort to explore the bizarre physical and philosophical implications of the fundamental quantum nature of the universe.

This course fulfills the Modeling and Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 124H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Humanities - Don Quijote of La Mancha
HSP 131H   CRN 9208     MWF 1:00 – 2:05 p.m.
Vulgamore 202                Instructor:  Dr. Kalen Oswald

“The best novel in history: 100 renown authors select ‘El Quijote’ in a survey conducted by the Nobel Institute.” 

Thus reads the title of a full page article in El País from Wednesday, May 8, 2002. Very few would argue that Miguel de Cervantes’s work El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha is a masterpiece  of world literature. Virtually everybody has heard of  Don Quijote and Sancho, and most have seen some representation of their (mis)adventures, be it the Broadway hit “Man of La Mancha,” the more contemporary made for TV movie starring Jon Lithgow, or Mr. Magoo’s Don Quixote. The verb  phrase “tilting windmills” and the adjective “quixotic” are found in English dictionaries.  Nevertheless, the fraternity of humankind that  has actually read the entire book cover-to-cover  is still relatively small. It is about time we make that fellowship a little larger. Reading and  analyzing this work—the first great modern novel —will be a challenging, but life changing experience.   His imagination became filled with a host of  fancies he had read in his books.”

This course fulfills the Textual Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 131H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Humanities  -  Religious Disagreements
HSP 131H   CRN 9221     MWF 9:15-10:20 a.m.
Vulgamore 202                Instructor:  Dr. Dan Mittag

With religious diversity comes religious disagreement. Christians, for example, believe in the existence of a personal God. Buddhists don’t. Some believe that salvation is only attainable through the death of Jesus Christ. All non-Christians deny this. These are deep disagreements (and especially important ones to the religious). What is the best way to understand and respond to them? Can more than one view be correct or epistemically reasonable? Given that we all know of this diversity in religious belief, and given that we know other reasonable people

disagree with us, how can we be rational in continuing to believe as we do? Does such awareness mean that we have an intellectual obligation to abandon our religious views? In this course we will explore such questions as we investigate religious diversity from an epistemological perspective.

This course fulfills the Textual Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 131H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Humanities  -  Perspectives on Gambling
HSP 135H   CRN 9077       MTWF 11:45 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.
Observatory                       Instructor:  Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gambling, considering the topic from historical, philosophical, and mathematical perspectives for a balanced look at this multifaceted and increasingly important subject.  Evaluation will be based on 5-6 essays of varying lengths, computer laboratory work, and some mathematical exercises.  Students must be 18 years old no later than April 1, 2016.

Texts under consideration:
            History: Roll The Bones: The History of Gambling, David Schwartz
                        The Unfinished Game, Keith Devlin
            Mathematics: Practical Casino Math, Robert Hannum & Anthony Cabot
                                The Mathematics of Games and Gambling, Edward Packel
            Philosophy:   The Logic of Chance, John Venn
            Literature:    The Literary Companion to Gambling, Annabel Davis-Goff

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 135H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Humanities  -  Religion and Politics
HSP 135H   CRN  9227      TR 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Vulgamore Hall                  Instructor:  Dr. Ronney Mourad

This course will examine some of the institutional, legal, and ethical dimensions of the relationship between religion and politics.  In seeking to understand this relationship, we will draw on political theology, history, philosophy, and political science.  We will look at some classic Christian models for the relationship between church and state in their historical contexts, trace religious responses to the emergence of modern secularism, and examine some contemporary theological prescriptions regarding the role of religion in liberal democracies.  Class material will emphasize theoretical approaches to the topic, but student papers may apply these approaches to issues such as school prayer, the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance, or the display of religious symbols in government buildings.

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 135H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science  -  Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
HSP 154H   CRN 9188         TR 2:15 – 4:05 PM
Norris 100                           Instructor:  Dr. Greg Saltzman    

This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course? A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
        Lawyers                                    Human Services Professionals
        Managers                                  Community Group Leaders
        Public officials                           Environmental Advocates

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

This course fulfills the Modeling and Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 154H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Social Science  -  Canada: More than Snow, Hockey & Maple Syrup"
HSP 155H   CRN 9353         TR 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Robinson Hall, T.B.A.           Instructor:  Dr. Patrick McLean

This course is designed to introduce students to Canada and Canadian society from a range of vantage points.  We will examine the history, culture, politics, society, literature, arts and the strong regional differences within the country to our north through readings, discussions, guest lectures, film and travel.  We also will examine the highly asymmetrical relationship between Canada and the United States and the influence each has on the other.

Canada offers a convenient lens through which to view our own country.  Canada’s history parallels that of the US at times, but represents a very different response to colonial rule.  Canada retains a strong set of regional identities, including a linguistic minority that influences every facet of the country’s history.  Canada has developed through its Canadian content laws a vibrant arts, culture and literary scene.  Canada has followed a less assimilationist approach toward immigrants, resulting in a “Vertical Mosaic” compared to the American Melting Pot.

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 155H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

 Great Issues in Social Science  -  The Politics of Genocide
HSP 155H   CRN 9436       MW 2:15 – 4:05pm
Observatory                      Instructor:  Dr. Carrie Walling

In this course students will examine genocide using historical, interpretive and comparative methods.  The course will focus principally on two genocides: the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. We will use oral histories and written testimonies along with historical, political science and public policy texts, human rights reports, international law, and government documents.  We will examine the motives of perpetrators and the experiences of victims being attentive to the unique character of each genocide, as well as the similarities that exist between them.  Through our studies, we will confront extraordinary inhumanity by examining the causes of genocide and its methods of implementation but we will also learn about the strength of the human spirit by studying resistance, survival and rescue within the context of genocide. Students will have the opportunity to produce a major research report using oral testimony through the Shoah Digital Archives and other online sources. The course will include interaction with external speakers and a field trip to the Farmington Hills Holocaust Museum.  Students will be evaluated based on attendance and class participation, several short essays and a final research project using testimony.

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 155H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts  -  “From the Ballroom to Hell” – Schubert’s Vienna ca. 1815
HSP 172H   CRN 9425          TR 2:15 – 4:05 p.m.
Observatory                         Instructor:  Dr. Maureen Balke

This course will look at Vienna around 1815—its background of Napoleonic war, politics, censorship, secret police, and rapidly changing society, as well as the diversions young people sought out to “escape” from unpleasant reality.  These diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.  

To counter the horrors and chaos of war and the battlefield (where men reigned), the ballroom in particular became the dominion of the ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance.    In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed.  Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment and great hilarity.   Secret messages could be sent to a lover through glove and handkerchief flirtations.  All these activities were a form of “escape” within “safe” societal boundaries.

This class will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times developed.  We will study the Congress of Vienna and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier.  We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume and hairstyles.  We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and look at some of the poetry Schubert chose to set to music. 

We will present our findings in a combination Schubertiade/salon/ball in a public performance near the end of the semester.   The evening will contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute.  You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.  But if you have special interest or ability in any of these areas, that contribution will be welcome!

This course fulfills the Artistic Creation and Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 172H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts  -  Perspectives on Composer: Style and Expression in Music Composition
HSP 172H   CRN 9426           MWF 2:15 – 3:20 p.m.
Goodrich Chapel 145              Instructor:  Dr. Sam McIlhagga

This course will examine music composition through the lens of the composer, the performer, and the audience.  Further views by musicologists, philosophers, and psychologists will provide an interdisciplinary approach to the topic.  While music composition is the primary focus, relevant parallels in architecture, visual art, literature, and poetry will also be considered.  Historically established music traditions (e.g. concert music and jazz) are contrasted with new forms (e.g. techno, film music and rap) in search of the expanding role of music composition.  Course activities include artistic creation, readings, listening assignments, writing, concert attendance, field trips, class discussion, and presentations.

Student learning outcomes:
     Students will experience the compositional process first-hand through multiple composition projects on various topics.
     Students will prepare and perform select compositions from their portfolio of compositions in an end-of-semester recital.
     Students will accurately identify similarities and differences in musical genres, composers, compositions, and critical analyses through written assignments.

You DO NOT have to be a music major or play an instrument to take this class

This course fulfills the Artistic Creation and Analysis mode.Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 172H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts  -  Music and the Holocaust
HSP 175H   CRN 9431          TR 10:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Goodrich Chapel 145             Instructor:  Dr. David Abbott

This class will explore the role of music of European music between 1925-50, a time of immense social, political and cultural turmoil.  Students will study and learn about the conditions and climate for artistic expression, including music composed under socialist patronage as well as a reaction or resistance to government and social repression.  This will include works created and performed in ghettos and concentration camps in situations of extreme impoverishment, cruelty and terror.  These activities constitute artistic attempts at survival, witness and resistance. 

Students will be exposed to music and in some cases art, that is, the cultural “artifacts” created in a place and time that is significantly removed from the experience of American students in 21st century.  After studying the circumstances of music composed and performed during the period of the holocaust, students will be directed to investigate and reflect on how people in the present day are continuing to be uprooted from their culture and environment and in many cases be faced with extinction.

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 175H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts  -  Kubrick
HSP 175H   CRN 9282           Monday 2:15 – 5:00 p.m., Bohm Theatre
                                            Wednesday 2:15 – 3:20 p.m., Robinson 206
Instructor:  Dr. Geoffrey Cocks

An intensive and critical study of the cinema of Stanley Kubrick in the context of twentieth-century Western history and culture.  Students will view all thirteen of Kubrick's feature films and read three of the novels on which Kubrick based screenplays.  Required readings include:  Cocks et al., Depth of Field; Nabokov, Lolita; Burgess, A Clockwork Orange; Begley, Wartime Lies.

This course fulfills the Historical and Cultural Analysis mode.

Note:  If you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 175H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission from Dan Skean, Interim Director of Honors, before registration.

 

FALL 2015

CRS# SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
123 1S  8058 G.I. in Science M W  F   9:15 - 10:20 Putnam 253 V. McCaffrey
123L 1  8059 G.I. in Science LAB   2:15 -   4:35 Kresge 376 V. McCaffrey
124 1M  8257 G.I. in Science  MTWF 11:45 - 12:35 Palens 225 Mark Bollman
               
131 1T  8253 G. I. in Humanities M  W   2:15 - 4:05 Rob 403 Perry Myers
131 2T  8282 G. I. in Humanities T   R 10:30 - 12:20 Vulg 301 Judy Lockyer
               
154 1M  8188 G. I. in Social Science T  R   2:15 -   4:05 Norris 100 Greg Saltzman
151 1T  8430 G. I. in Social Science T  R   2:15 -   4:05 Observatory A. Grossman
155 1H  8116 G. I. in Social Science T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Observatory D. Chistopher
155 2H  8254 G. I. in Social Science M W F   2:15 -   3:20 Observatory Deborah Kanter
               
172 1A  8255 G.I in Fine Arts M W F 10:30 - 11:35 Goodrich 145 Sam Mcllhagga
172 2A  8256 G.I in Fine Arts M W F 10:30 - Noon Ceramic Annex Lynne Chytilo
172 3A 8488         G.I in Fine Arts T  R   2:15 - 4:05 Goodrich 145 L. Jensen-Abbott

 

Great Issues in Social Science

Black Swans and Everyday Life

HSP 155    CRN 8116     
Tuesday and Thursday     10:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m
Observatory
Dr. Drew Christopher

This seminar will examine how human beings typically process information about “black swans,” which are defined as events that are extremely rare, typically unpredictable, and have a visible, significant impact on everyday life. We will also discuss how human beings typically process information about “white swans,” which are defined as events that are common, predictable in the aggregate, and tend to have an unseen significant impact on everyday life. In this course, we will examine four historical events of a “black swan” nature: the rise of Nazi Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the Crash of 2008. In addition, we will examine at least one prospective black swan: the rise of the Islamic State and related extremist groups, and their potential impacts on American and global societies. We will also examine at least one issue of a “white swan” nature: drug abuse and addiction. Discussion will focus on the unfolding and aftermath of the black swan events, why experts tended to neglect the possibility of black swans, and how other supposed “experts” could explain them after they occurred. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP151 you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 ----------

Great Issues in Social Science
Negotiation and Dispute Resolution

HSP 154    CRN 8188
Tuesday & Thursday     2:15 – 4:05 PM     Norris 100
Dr. Greg Saltzman                                                                           

Course Description

This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?
A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:

    - Lawyers
    - Managers
    - P
ublic officials
    - 
Human services professionals
    - Environmental advocates
    - Community group leaders

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP154 you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

----------

Great Issues in the Social Sciences:
“Savage ‘Little’ Wars: Narratives of Counterinsurgency Warfare in Film and in Practice 1963-2013 

HSP151       CRN 8430
Tuesday, Thursday     2:15pm – 4:05pm
Observatory
Dr. Andy Grossman

This honors seminar is framed by a puzzle which is best considered as a question: How is it that a military strategy, “Counterinsurgency” (COIN) that has failed so often and so systematically can continue to be held in high regard by political and military elites in countries such as the United States?

In thinking about this question, we  will analyze how COIN has been viewed by national security and military elites (post-World War II generals in particular) as a long-term strategy to fight asymmetric wars:  that is, post-Colonial conflicts, conflicts that arise in “failed states,” and, finally, the  problematic “global war on terrorism”— i.e., the post 9/11 strategies for asymmetric war. 

We will take two approaches to the analysis in the seminar. 1). The consideration of how COIN tactics have been portrayed in film; that is, how narratives are used in film to establish a particular kind of thinking. 2). A careful and close reading of important academic literature in the national security, war-fighting, and policy history scholarship. This aspect to our seminar aims at a fuller understanding of how military strategy has adjusted to modern asymmetric warfare and why COIN regularly reemerges with a new gloss, as the “go to” tactic/strategy for countries such as the United States.

As regards the use of film, the seminar will examine how COIN has been portrayed  in popular film as a means to either support or raise questions about so-called “small wars” and the tactics associated with these types of conflicts. We will view films representing various points of view.   We will also consider questions about how the use of film narratives (drawing on the work of Hayden White and others) can reconstruct a particular context (opposing realities if you will) that lends support to counter-insurgency warfare or, undermines this strategy.

The second approach will be reading intensive referencing the literature on the military strategies of asymmetric warfare emphasizing the perspective of those on the “receiving end” as it were, of counter-insurgency operations.  I would like us to  focus specifically on why COIN tactics and strategies seem to continue to garner significant purchase among the military, even in light of its abject historical failure (save a few instances in modern history).  Why is this the case?  That is the what the seminar is about.

The course will entail both a close reading of two types of texts: film and literature. Short papers follow each film. One final paper for the course. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP151 , you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Social Science
After the Melting Pot: Issues in 20th-Century U.S. Immigration

HSP 155     CRN 8254
Monday, Wednesday, Friday     2:15 – 3:20pm
Observatory
Dr. Deborah Kanter

The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Readings (tenative list):
Ernesto Galarza, Barrio Boy
S. Mitra Kalita, Suburban Sahibs
Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake
Rubén Martínez, Crossing Over: a Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail
Israel Zangwill, “The Melting Pot”
Jane Ziegelman, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement

Films:
The Sixth Section
Hester Street
Today’s Special


Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP155, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration 

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Great Issues in Fine Arts

HSP 172     CRN 8488
Tuesday & Thursday
2:15 – 4:05pm
Dr. Lia Jensen-Abbott

This class will explore the relevance of all the arts in society, culture, and education.  As a microcosm of trends nationwide, the course will assess Albion's lack of funding for arts programs and perhaps try to come up with some ideas for this community.  The course will have three components:  1. individual exploration of students’ own needs, appreciation, etc. for the arts;  2. We will read/research aesthetic philosophy/theory as well as some statistical research and analysis, and bring in speakers.  The final component will involve working in this community—the class will brainstorm a project with the ultimate goal of putting into place some new arts initiative.  We may travel to see plays, museums, music performances, etc., along with speakers.  The course will involve different types of writing—journals, research based papers, and a final project.

Possible weekend class trip to Chicago or Detroit DIA to get some direct experience of the things we will be covering in class --- visit to the art museum, etc….

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 ---------------------------------

Great Issues Issues in Fine Arts
Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution

HSP 172   CRN 8256
Monday, Wednesday, Friday     10:30 - Noon
Ceramics Annex
Lynne Chytilo

Ceramics and the Industrial Revolution is an interdisciplinary course that engages students in producing handmade pottery while tracing the history and commerce of the ceramics industry from pre-industrial times to the 1920s. Students will learn to make and fire clay objects in the studio, starting with hand forming techniques and later using plaster molds, while taking part in discussions from readings about how the industrial revolution changed many aspects of the world. Each student will find a research topic related to cultural changes during the Industrial Revolution and present their findings to the class. Emphasis will be placed on student-facilitated learning, exploration, discovery, and collaborative processes.

NO CERAMICS EXPERIENCE NEEDED

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172 you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Fine Arts
Perspectives on Composer:  Style and Expression in Music Composition

CRN 8255
Monday, Wednesday & Friday     10:30-11:35am
Goodrich 145
Sam McIlhagga

Course Description:
This course will examine music composition through the lens of the composer, the performer, and the audience.  Further views by musicologists, philosophers, and psychologists will provide an interdisciplinary approach to the topic.  While music composition is the primary focus, relevant parallels in architecture, visual art, literature, and poetry will also be considered.  Historically established music traditions (e.g. concert music and jazz) are contrasted with new forms (e.g. techno, film music and rap) in search of the expanding role of music composition.  Course activities include artistic creation, readings, listening assignments, writing, concert attendance, field trips, class discussion, and presentations.

You DO NOT have to be a music major or play an instrument to take this class

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration. 

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Great Issues in Humanities
Working in America:  Perspectives from the Humanities

HSP 131   CRN 8282
Tuesday & Thursday     10:30 – 12:20pm
Vulgamore 301
Judith Lockyer

Americans are among the hardest workers in the world.  Our identities are in large part defined by the work that we do.  You are now academic workers who are preparing for many professions and for full, active citizenship.  We know that from our work comes, of course, money, but usually also our sense of self worth. We also know that work and socio/economic class are not regarded by all as equally “important.” Many of us do not have a full or even accurate knowledge of the working conditions of many people, the tensions between labor and management, poverty, and the class system in this country. This seminar offers an opportunity to learn more about the complexities of working in America. We will read, discuss, and write about essays, fiction, drama and film, poetry, and autobiography, each of which will increase our understanding of work in America.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP131, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

----------

Great Issues in Humanities

Science and the Soul: Science, Religiion & Literature in Germany After Darwin

HSP 131    CRN 8253
Monday & Wednesday     2:15 – 4:05pm
Robinson 403
Dr. Perry Myers 

Description: Since the German Enlightenment changes in the way we understand human life and how we evaluate that knowledge have created a breach in “empirical” views of human kind and “religious” modes of assessing the human being and human behavior. This course will explore, through secondary and original texts, how science has confronted traditional religious views of human beings, and literary portrayals of these conflicts that arose. By combining historical texts, scientific and literary texts in excerpt, we will seek a more in-depth look at how the conflicts between science and religion have been negotiated in Germany throughout the nineteenth century and up to World War II. The course is designed specifically for the student interested in the history of science, the history of religious thought or literature. The student will learn 1) how science and religion come into conflict in modern times; 2) how to approach interdisciplinary reading in cultural history, science, theology and philosophy; 3) and how literature interprets the conflicts between science and religion. No prior knowledge of these areas is necessary.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP131, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

----------

G.I. in Science
The Nobel Prize in the Sciences

HSP 123 & 123L     CRN 8058    CRN Lab 8059
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:15 – 10:20 - Discussion
Monday 1:00 – 4:35 - Lab 
Putnam 253 & Kresge 376
Dr. Vanessa McCaffrey

Course Description:
Every October, the world (or at least me!!) waits with bated breath for the announcement of the Nobel Prizes. The award goes to “those who had done their best to benefit mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.” (Nobel Website) In this class, we will be studying the legacy of Alfred Nobel and how it has impacted science and the world at large. We will be learning about Alfred Nobel and what lead him to establish this lasting award. We will be looking at several of the awards in great detail to understand the science behind the award and their benefits. I would also like to explore several controversies that surround the Nobel Prize, including Gender and Race in laureate selection, why certain fields were chosen to have awards, while others were not (Math and Biology for example) and what happens when the Swedish Academy of Sciences may have made an flawed selections.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP123, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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Great Issues in Science
8 Big Ideas That Shaped Science

HSP 124   CRN 8257
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday     11:45 – 12:35
Palenske 225
Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.

Astronomy: Big Bang theory
Biochemistry: DNA structure
Biology: Evolution
Chemistry: Periodic Law
Computer science: Information theory
Geology: Plate tectonics
Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry
Physics: Atomic structure

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry.  Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

The reading list will include:
        The Discoveries, Lightman
        The Canon, Angier         
        A Well-Ordered Thing, Gordin
        The Non-Euclidean Revolution, Trudeau
        The Double Helix, Watson     
        The Origin Of Species, Darwin
        Fortune’s Formula, Poundstone
        Plate Tectonics, Orestes

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP124, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

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SPRING 2015

HSP SEC CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
124 1M 7107 G.I. in Science M W F 10:30 - 11:35 Norris 104 Nicolle Zellner
124 2M 7412 G.I. in Science M T W F 11:45 - 12:35 Obsveratory Mark Bollman
               
131 1T 7171 G. I. in Humanities M W F   1:00 - 2:05 Observatory Kalen Oswald
135 1H 7202 G. I. in Humanities M W     2:15 -   4:05 Vulg 302 Sally Jordan
131 3T 7201 G. I. in Humanities T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Vulg 302 Mary Collar
135 2H 7414 G. I. in Humanities M W F   1:00 -  2:05 Vulg 301 Jeremy Kirby
               
155 1H 7413 G. I. in Social Science T  R 10:30 - 12:20 Rob 206 Trisha Franzen
154 1M 7422 G. I. in Social Science T  R   2:15 -  4:05 Olin 230 Suellyn Henke
               
175 1H 7274 G.I in Fine Arts   2:15 - 5:00 Film Ferg 111 Geoff Cocks
        W   2:15 - 3:20 Ferg 111 Geoff Cocks
172 1A 7428 G.I in Fine Arts T  R   2:15 - 4:05 Obsveratory Lia Jensen-Abbott
               
397 1 7415 Thesis Development  T  7:00 - 8:00pm Observatory Dale Kennedy

 

Great Issues in Science - 8 Big Ideas That Shaped Science –Dr. Mark Bollman
HSP 124   CRN 7412  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday  11:45 – 12:35
This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.

 

Astronomy: Big Bang theory
Biochemistry: DNA structure
Biology: Evolution
Chemistry: Periodic Law
Computer science: Information theory
Geology: Plate tectonics
Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry
Physics: Atomic structure

 

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry.  Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

 

The reading list will include:
        The Discoveries, Lightman
        The Canon, Angier                    
        A Well-Ordered Thing, Gordin
        The Non-Euclidean Revolution, Trudeau
        The Double Helix, Watson                     
        The Origin Of Species, Darwin
        Fortune’s Formula, Poundstone
        Plate Tectonics, Orestes

 

GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE - ORIGINS: A COSMIC PERSPECTIVE – Dr. Nicole Zellner
HSP 124    CRN 7107    Monday, Wednesday, Friday    10:30 – 11:35am

 

This multidisciplinary course covers topics in physics, astronomy, chemistry, earth sciences, and biology to understand the origin of life.  We will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective.  No specialized prior knowledge of these topics is assumed.

 

One of the fundamental goals in all of science is to understand the origin of life. This course will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective. The importance of this approach is demonstrated by recent research, such as astronomical observations that show that organic molecules are synthesized in the interstellar clouds from which new planetary systems are born;

 

         analyses of meteorites that fell to Earth that show that they contain amino acids and other biologically relevant molecules of extraterrestrial origin;

 

         experiments in prebiotic chemistry that show that important prebiotic molecules may not have been produced in sufficient quantities here on Earth at the time of life's origin; and

 

         the knowledge that many other stars have planetary systems and the upcoming technology to test whether or not they support life.

 

Throughout this course, we will read relevant articles and discuss them from a scientific perspective.  Several published results about the existence of first life on Earth, for example, are highly controversial: the ‘lunar cataclysm’ hypothesis that suggests first life was wiped out multiple times before it became established; the conflict between a ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ origin of life; and the ongoing dialogue about whether or not carbon isotope signatures at ~3.8 Ga are truly biogenic, to name a few.  These ideas, among others, will be discussed and students will be able to draw their own conclusions about how and when life started on Earth. 

Once we have established a model for life based on necessary ingredients and conditions, we will begin to speculate about the possibility for the existence of life on other planets in our own Solar System, as well as the possibility for life in other star systems.  One such predictor is the Drake Equation, which uses a variety of parameters to ascertain the number of civilized (i.e. communicating) civilizations that may exist in our Milky Way Galaxy.  We will also talk about how extrasolar planets are detected and the best ways to predict their masses, compositions, water content, and temperature.  Finally, we will discuss various NASA and ESA missions that are currently designed to look for biosignatures on distant planets.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts – KUBRICK – Dr. Geoffrey Cocks
HSP 175   CRN 7274    Mondays   2:15 – 5:00   Wednesdays 2:15 – 3:20pm 

 

An intensive and critical study of the cinema of Stanley Kubrick in the context of twentieth-century Western history and culture.  Students will view all thirteen of Kubrick's feature films and read three of the novels on which Kubrick based screenplays.  Required readings include:  Cocks et al, Depth of Field; Nabokov, Lolita; Burgess, A Clockwork Orange; Begley, Wartime Lies.

 

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts – Dr. Lia Jensen Abbott
HSP 172     CRN 7428          Tuesday & Thursday            2:15 – 4:05pm

 

This class will explore the relevance of all the arts in society, culture, and education.  As a microcosm of trends nationwide, the course will assess Albion's lack of funding for arts programs and perhaps try to come up with some ideas for this community.  The course will have three components:  1. individual exploration of students’ own needs, appreciation, etc. for the arts;  2. We will read/research aesthetic philosophy/theory as well as some statistical research and analysis, and bring in speakers.  The final component will involve working in this community—the class will brainstorm a project with the ultimate goal of putting into place some new arts initiative.  We may travel to see plays, museums, music performances, etc., along with speakers.  The course will involve different types of writing—journals, research based papers, and a final project.

 

 

Great Issues in Humanities - Mystery, Manners, Modernisms and me – Dr. Mary Collar
HSP 131    CRN  7201          Tuesday  -  Thursday            10:30 – 12:20

 

This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns.   Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good.    At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer.  Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify.  The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty. 

 

 

Great Issues in Humanities - The Literature of Horror – Dr. Sally Jordan
HSP 135   CRN 7202                        Monday & Wednesday         2:15 – 4:05pm

 

 Course Description:
In this class, we will read and analyze horror fiction from the late-eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century.  One issue we will examine closely is the connection between horror literature and social history.  For instance, the genre which inaugurated the literature of horror, the gothic novel, arose in England during the late eighteenth century.  Is it merely a coincidence that this genre exploded in popularity just as England was struggling with a major societal unraveling?  How did the real-life fears of riot and revolution intersect with the invented fears of crumbling castles and ghostly apparitions? 

 

Other questions we will consider include the making of monsters: from what or whom does a culture shape its monsters?  Why?  What is the function of monsters within the larger culture?  Is monster-making a way to police social norms, or does it allow a space for the forbidden to flourish and the repressed to return?  We will also study theories of the sublime to begin thinking about the aesthetics of horror.

 

The course work will include reading, discussion, written assignments, and research projects.  The texts we will read include the first gothic novel, Horace Walpole’s bizarre Castle of Otranto; another gothic work by the most popular writer of her day, Anne Radcliffe; Mary Shelley’s story of science gone wrong, Frankenstein; several stories by the ever-morbid Edgar Allen Poe; Sheridan Le Fanu’s intriguing tale of a female vampire, Carmilla; Robert Louis Steven’s meditation on the monster within, The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde; Bram Stocker’s tale of the fearsome foreigner, Dracula; Henry James’s uncanny story about possibly possessed children, The Turn of the Screw; some of H.P. Lovecraft’s deeply disturbing short stories; and Shirley Jackson’s comic yet creepy novel The Haunting of Hill House.

 

 

Great Issues in Humanities - Creationism and its Critics: Syllabus – Dr. Jeremy Kirby
HSP 135              CRN 7414             Monday, Wednesday, Friday           Time: 1:00 - 2:05pm

Description:  Herein we place the argument from design—the argument that concludes that the world’s structure can only be adequately explained with appeal to an intelligent designer—on trial.  For the Defense: Socrates, Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, William Paley, Michael Behe, Phillip Johnson, and Alvin Plantinga.  For the Prosecution: Epicurus, David Hume, Charles Darwin, Robert Pennock, Michael Ruse, Daniel Dennett, and Eliot Sober.  

 

 

 

 Great Issues in Humanities - Don Quijota of La Mancha – Dr. Kalen Oswald
HSP 131    CRN 7171           Monday, Wednesday, Friday           1:00 – 2:05

 

“The best novel in history: 100 renown authors select ‘El Quijote’  in a survey conducted by the Nobel Institute.”  Thus reads the title of a full page article in El País from Wednesday, May 8, 2002. Very few would argue that Miguel de Cervantes’s work El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha is a masterpiece of world literature. Virtually everybody has heard of Don Quijote and Sancho, and most have seen some representation of their (mis)adventures, be it the Broadway hit “Man of La Mancha,” the more contemporary made for TV movie starring Jon Lithgow, or Mr. Magoo’s Don Quixote. The verb  phrase “tilting windmills” and the adjective “quixotic” are found in English dictionaries.  Nevertheless, the fraternity of humankind that has actually read the entire book cover-to-cover  is still relatively small. It is about time we make that fellowship a little larger. Reading and analyzing this work—the first great modern novel —will be a challenging, but life changing experience.  

Great Issues in Social Science - FOOD STORIES, FOOD STUDIES – Dr. Trisha Franzen
HSP 155     CRN  7413                     Tuesday – Thursday             10:30 – 12:20

 

Heirloom tomatoes, Oaxacan-style cheese, Japanese sushi, from the local food movement through the benefits and problems of globalized food systems, how do we decide what to eat?  In the last fifteen years, food has become a central cultural issue in the United States.  While food writing has existed for centuries, if not millennium, for most of that time scribes have documented the culinary experiences of a society’s elite.  Today we not only have a greater variety of media through which to learn about foods, but scholars, researchers, practitioners, and artists from all disciplines within the academy and many positions outside academia are reconsidering the importance of everyday food traditions.  Students in this class will step into the world of food writing, food films and food studies. Each regional study will include historical, cultural, and intersectional (gender, race/ethnicity, class and sexuality) analyses.

 

Great Issues in Social Science - SCHOOLS, INDIVIDUALS & SOCIETY – Dr. Suellyn Henke
HSP 154    CRN 7422                       Tuesday – Thursday             2:15 – 4:05pm

What is the relationship between schools, the individual, and society? What is the purpose of schooling? Do schools serve as sites of social reproduction, maintaining the status quo, or do they have transformative potential? Should the focus of schooling be to re-invent society or to preserve it? In the course Radical Teaching and Normative Realities of Schooling: What are the Possibilities students will explore different models of schooling and analyze and discuss the assumptions/features embedded within each model. We will begin with the Plato’s allegory of the “cave” and discuss differing views about nature of knowledge and purposes and aims of education. This discussion will continue through an examination of divergent school models (pre-school, elementary, secondary, adult) such as Waldorf, Montessori, The Highlander Folk School, Summerhill Free School, Harvey Milk High School, Mexican American Studies program at Tucson High School, and Pre-Schools in Three Cultures -Japan, China and U.S.   Critical pedagogy, an international and interdisciplinary constellation of theoretical perspectives that raise questions about the relationship of schooling and capitalism, gender, race, sexuality, language, and literacy, will be used as analytical tool to explore implications (e.g., power, ethical, cultural) of each model. As a final project students will identify and analyze a contemporary educational model or topic and present to a public audience. 

 

 HSP SEC           CRN       COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
123 1S 2308       G.I. in Science M W F 11:45 - 12:35 Olin 230 Jeff Wilson
123L 1 2309            LAB for CRN 2308 R   9:15 - 11:05 Olin 234 Jeff Wilson
124 1M 2310       G.I. in Science M W F 10:30 - 11:35am Observatory Nicole Zellner
123 2S 2483       G.I. in Science M W F 10:30 - 12:20 Observatory Vanessa McCaffrey
123L 2 2484            LAB for CRN 2483 W   2:15 -   4:30pm   Vanessa McCaffrey
               
135 1H 2463       G. I. in Humanities M T W F 11:45 - 12:35 Observatory Mark Bollman
131 1T 2485       G. I. in Humanities M W F   1:00 -   2:05 Observatory Jess Roberts
135 3H 2486       G. I. in Humanities M W F   2:15 -   4:05 Vulg 301  Sally Jordan
               
155 1H 2311       G. I. in Social Science M W F 9:15 - 10:20am Observatory Deborah Kanter
151 1T 2312       G. I. in Social Science T  R   2:15 - 4:05pm Observatory Andy Grossman
155 2H 2464       G. I. in Social Science T  R 10:30 - 12:20pm Vulg 102 Carrie Walling
               
172 1A 2313       G.I in Fine Arts M  W   2:15 - 4:05pm Observatory Maureen Balke
172 2A 2500       G.I in Fine Arts T  R   2:15 - 4:05pm Bobbitt 202 Amy Rahn
               
397 1 2314       Thesis Development  T   7:00 - 8:00pm OBSERV Kennedy

 

 

Great Issues in Science - ORIGINS: A COSMIC PERSPECTIVE - Dr. Nicolle Zellner

This multidisciplinary course covers topics in physics, astronomy, chemistry, earth sciences, and biology to understand the origin of life.  We will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective.  No specialized prior knowledge of these topics is assumed. 

One of the fundamental goals in all of science is to understand the origin of life. This course will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective. The importance of this approach is demonstrated by recent research, such as  

  • astronomical observations that show that organic molecules are synthesized in the interstellar clouds from which new planetary systems are born;
  • analyses of meteorites that fell to Earth that show that they contain amino acids and other biologically relevant molecules of extraterrestrial origin;
  • experiments in prebiotic chemistry that show that important prebiotic molecules may not have been produced in sufficient quantities here on Earth at the time of life's origin; and
  • the knowledge that many other stars have planetary systems and the upcoming technology to test whether or not they support life.

Throughout this course, we will read relevant articles and discuss them from a scientific perspective.  Several published results about the existence of first life on Earth, for example, are highly controversial: the ‘lunar cataclysm’ hypothesis that suggests first life was wiped out multiple times before it became established; the conflict between a ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ origin of life; and the ongoing dialogue about whether or not carbon isotope signatures at ~3.8 Ga are truly biogenic, to name a few.  These ideas, among others, will be discussed and students will be able to draw their own conclusions about how and when life started on Earth. 

Once we have established a model for life based on necessary ingredients and conditions, we will begin to speculate about the possibility for the existence of life on other planets in our own Solar System, as well as the possibility for life in other star systems.  One such predictor is the Drake Equation, which uses a variety of parameters to ascertain the number of civilized (i.e. communicating) civilizations that may exist in our Milky Way Galaxy.  We will also talk about how extrasolar planets are detected and the best ways to predict their masses, compositions, water content, and temperature.  Finally, we will discuss various NASA and ESA missions that are currently designed to look for biosignatures on distant planets.
 

Great Issues in Science - NEUROPHYSIOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS - Dr. W. Jeff Wilson 

Everything that you do, feel, think, perceive… basically everything that matters to you… is the result of activity in your nervous system.  Individual cells called “neurons” communicate with one another to create your mind.  In “Neurophysiology for Beginners” we will learn about the activity of neurons: how they work, how they encode sensory information, how they control movement, perhaps how they produce emotions and mental activity.  The course will provide an overview of the history of our understanding of neurons, and will include many experiments and/or demonstrations that illustrate the concepts that we address.  You will also gain a basic understanding of simple instrumentation used to study the nervous system.  Because neurons are comparable across species, we can learn about your neurons by studying the neurons of simpler organisms like invertebrates; many of the lab experiences will focus on neurophysiology in cockroaches and earthworms, but we will also at times examine the neurons of students. 

A specific lab period is scheduled, but lecture time will also be devoted on occasion to laboratory-related experiences and discussion.  Students will be expected to maintain a lab notebook in which they record methodology and observations of each lab.  Students will also write up three of the labs (literature review, methodology, results, and discussion) according to APA style – these write-ups will be graded.  Finally, each student will design an individual experiment that extends one of the studies that we conducted in lab, ideally providing information about some as yet unanswered question in the literature.

Learning outcomes: By the end of the course students will be able to:
    Describe in detail the function of a neuron
    Describe the process by which neural activity is measured
    Explain how the nervous system encodes information about sensory stimuli
    Explain how electrical signals can cause muscles to move
    Explain how electrical signals can be used to examine sensory processing though the human nervous system
    Propose and conduct a well-controlled experiment addressing some feature of  neural activity and
    If all goes very well, propose an answer to the fundamental question of how neurons create mind.
 

Great Issues in Science - THE NOBEL PRIZE IN THE SCIENCES - Dr. Vanessa McCaffrey

Every October, the world (or at least me!!) waits with bated breath for the announcement of the Nobel Prizes. The award goes to “those who had done their best to benefit mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.” (Nobel Website) In this class, we will be studying the legacy of Alfred Nobel and how it has impacted science and the world at large. We will be learning about Alfred Nobel and what lead him to establish this lasting award. We will be looking at several of the awards in great detail to understand the science behind the award and their benefits. I would also like to explore several controversies that surround the Nobel Prize, including Gender and Race in laureate selection, why certain fields were chosen to have awards, while others were not (Math and Biology for example) and what happens when the Swedish Academy of Sciences may have made an flawed selections.
 

 Great Issues In Humanities -  PERSPECTIVES ON GAMBLING - Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gambling, considering the topic from historical, philosophical, and mathematical perspectives for a balanced look at this multifaceted and increasingly important subject.  Evaluation will be based on 5-6 essays of varying lengths, computer laboratory work, and some mathematical exercises.  Students must be 18 years old no later than November 1, 2014.
 

Great Issues in Humanities - THE LITERATURE OF HORROR - Dr. Sally Jordan

In this class, we will read and analyze horror fiction from the late-eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century.  One issue we will examine closely is the connection between horror literature and social history.  For instance, the genre which inaugurated the literature of horror, the gothic novel, arose in England during the late eighteenth century.  Is it merely a coincidence that this genre exploded in popularity just as England was struggling with a major societal unraveling?  How did the real-life fears of riot and revolution intersect with the invented fears of crumbling castles and ghostly apparitions? 

Other questions we will consider include the making of monsters: from what or whom does a culture shape its monsters?  Why?  What is the function of monsters within the larger culture?  Is monster-making a way to police social norms, or does it allow a space for the forbidden to flourish and the repressed to return?  We will also study theories of the sublime to begin thinking about the aesthetics of horror.

The course work will include reading, discussion, written assignments, and research projects.  The texts we will read include the first gothic novel, Horace Walpole’s bizarre Castle of Otranto; another gothic work by the most popular writer of her day, Anne Radcliffe; Mary Shelley’s story of science gone wrong, Frankenstein; several stories by the ever-morbid Edgar Allen Poe; Sheridan Le Fanu’s intriguing tale of a female vampire, Carmilla; Robert Louis Steven’s meditation on the monster within, The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde; Bram Stocker’s tale of the fearsome foreigner, Dracula; Henry James’s uncanny story about possibly possessed children, The Turn of the Screw; some of H.P. Lovecraft’s deeply disturbing short stories; and Shirley Jackson’s comic yet creepy novel The Haunting of Hill House.
 

Great Issues in HumanitiesMOBY DICK - Dr. Jess Roberts

In this course, we will set about the ambitious project of coming to understand the sense and nonsense, the portentousness and power, the history and wonder of what is arguably the most important novel ever written by an American—Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Class discussions as well as formal and informal writing will provide opportunities for us to discover what the novel has to teach us about language, form, history, intertextuality, truth, fate, our selves, and, yes, whales. Because coming to understand one text is always a matter of coming to understand many texts, we will also read and discuss some of Melville’s sources (the Bible and Macbeth, among others) as well as later revisions of his novel (such as Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou).

Course Goals. By the end of this course students will…

  1. have grappled with the form and content of what is arguably the most important novel ever composed by an American
  2. have come to a fuller understanding of the legacy of Melville’s work and what accounts for that legacy
  3. understand the nature of intertexutality and how it can help us generate increasing nuanced ideas about literary works and about ourselves
  4. be able to generate and explain insights regarding a piece of literature in compelling, cogently written, and logically sound literary analysis
  5. be able to recognize the difference between paraphrasing, summarizing, and analyzing
  6. be able to perform textual analysis; that is, identify the meaning(s) of a text and the strategies through which it creates that/those meaning(s)
  7. be able to engage in a reasoned exchange—that is, to articulate their own ideas clearly and logically, to listen attentively to others as they do so, to seek out the strengths and weaknesses in their classmates’ logic and their own, to ask real questions, and to emerge from an exchange not necessarily in agreement with the other person/people but with a better understanding of their classmates’ idea and their own
  8. be able to cite literary works according to the MLA format

 

Great Issues in the Social Sciences -  DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION - Dr. Carrie Booth-Walling

In 1942 only twelve countries in the world could call themselves democracies. Less than 70 years later, there are 117 electoral democracies globally. Democracies continue to emerge, elections continue to be held, and popular decision-making continues to take root. This is staggering given the challenges that we face globally today: religious extremism, political violence and terrorism, global poverty, conflict, war, devastating natural disasters, global health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, and increased strain upon the environment, to name only a few.

Despite this hopeful news, challenges remain for those countries undergoing democratic transitions. These new democracies are all but stable, their transitions far from certain. Even our own stable and prosperous democracy, often fails to live up to the ideals of popular sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and checks upon state power.  This is a class about democratization—in short, how countries become, and how they stay, democratic. We will examine the meaning and importance of democratic institutions, the ways in which democratic transitions emerge, and the challenges in “consolidating” democratic transitions—in short, ensuring that democracy (rather than violence, authoritarianism, or military rule) becomes “the only game in town.”

We will examine case studies of democratization from various regions of the world in order to better understand the causes of democratic transition and democracy’s consolidation.  We will focus on the third wave of democracy that swept large parts of Europe and Latin America beginning in the 1970s and we will explore the Arab Spring and prospects for democracy in the newly transitioning countries of the Middle East.  Each student will write a final paper examining the democratic transition of their choice.  This will introduce students to cultural and historical experiences different than their own and will also help them to make sense of the democratization process that is currently underway in parts of the Middle East – their own historical moment in time.  As the introduction above suggests, this class could not be more important and timely. I want to welcome you all to this course and I look forward to a challenging, exciting, and fun semester!
 

Great Issues in the Social Sciences - Dr. Andy Grossman
               “SAVAGE ‘LITTLE’ WARS: Narratives of  Counterinsurgency Warfare in Film and in Practice 1963-2013”

This honors seminar is framed by a puzzle which is best considered as a question: How is it that a military strategy, “Counterinsurgency” (COIN) that has failed so often and so systematically can continue to be held in high regard by political and military elites in countries such as the United States?

In thinking about this question, we  will analyze how COIN has been viewed by national security and military elites (post-World War II generals in particular) as a long-term strategy to fight asymmetric wars:  that is, post-Colonial conflicts, conflicts that arise in “failed states,” and, finally, the  problematic “global war on terrorism”— i.e., the post 9/11 strategies for asymmetric war. 

We will take two approaches to the analysis in the seminar. 1). The consideration of how COIN tactics have been portrayed in film; that is, how narratives are used in film to establish a particular kind of thinking. 2). A careful and close reading of important academic literature in the national security, war-fighting, and policy history scholarship. This aspect to our seminar aims at a fuller understanding of how military strategy has adjusted to modern asymmetric warfare and why COIN regularly reemerges with a new gloss, as the “go to” tactic/strategy for countries such as the United States.

As regards the use of film, the seminar will examine how COIN has been portrayed  in popular film as a means to either support or raise questions about so-called “small wars” and the tactics associated with these types of conflicts. We will view films representing various points of view.   We will also consider questions about how the use of film narratives (drawing on the work of Hayden White and others) can reconstruct a particular context (opposing realities if you will) that lends support to counter-insurgency warfare or, undermines this strategy.

The second approach will be reading intensive referencing the literature on the military strategies of asymmetric warfare emphasizing the perspective of those on the “receiving end” as it were, of counter-insurgency operations.  I would like us to  focus specifically on why COIN tactics and strategies seem to continue to garner significant purchase among the military, even in light of its abject historical failure (save a few instances in modern history).  Why is this the case?  That is the what the seminar is about.
 

Great Issues in Social Science - Dr. Deborah Kanter
                         AFTER THE MELTING POT: ISSUES IN 20th-CENTURY U.S. IMMIGRATION 

The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

 

Great Issues in Fine Arts - Dr. Maureen Balke
                          “FROM THE BALLROOM TO HELL” – SCHUBERT'S VIENNA ca. 1815 

This course will look at Vienna around 1815—its background of Napoleonic war, politics, censorship, secret police, and rapidly changing society, as well as the diversions young people sought out to “escape” from unpleasant reality. 

These diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.   

To counter the horrors and chaos of war and the battlefield (where men reigned), the ballroom in particular became the dominion of the ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance.    In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed.  Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment and great hilarity.   Secret messages could be sent to a lover through glove and handkerchief flirtations.  All these activities were a form of “escape” within “safe” societal boundaries.

This class will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times developed.  We will study the Congress of Vienna and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier.  We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume and hairstyles.  We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and look at some of the poetry Schubert chose to set to music. 

We will present our findings in a combination Schubertiade/salon/ball in a public performance near the end of the semester.   The evening will contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute.  You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.  But if you have special interest or ability in any of these areas, that contribution will be welcome!
 

 Great Issues in Fine Arts - THINKING AS DRAWING/THINKING ABOUT DRAWING - Dr. Amy Rahn

Drawing is an art form that reaches back to the earliest human civilizations, yet it continues to be relevant for contemporary artists working today. How can we understand the continued relevance of drawing as an artistic practice?  Starting with Milton Glaser’s assertion that “thinking is drawing,” this class will combine the practice of drawing with class discussions of readings on the history and practice of drawing. Thus, in its subject and structure, the course will combine dawing practice and analysis in a discussion-based seminar. Readings will range from artists’ writings on drawing to critical and art historical analyses of drawings, investigating drawing as both a mode of cultural production and a form of thought. 

Students who complete this course will be able to:
• Experience drawing as both a practice and a mode of inquiry
• Understand key artworks in their historical and cultural contexts
• Gain experience reading and interpreting art history
• Identify and analyze artists’ drawing practices, and interpret writings associated with drawings

 

SPRING 2014

CRS# CRN COURSE TITLE DAYS TIME BLDG INSTRUCTOR
123 5141 G.I. in Science M W F 11:45 - 12:35 Olin 230 Jeff Wilson
123L 5142  LAB for 5141 TH   9:15 - 11:05 Olin 234 Jeff Wilson
124 5459 G.I. in Science M W F   9:15 - 10:20 Putnam 253 Dale Kennedy
131 5251 G. I. in Humanities M  W   2:15 - 3:55 Observatory Dan Mittag
132 5249 G. I. in Humanities M  W   2:15 - 3:55 Rob 403 Helena Mesa
154 5177 G. I. in Social Science T  TH   2:15 - 4:05 Norris 100 Saltzman
155 5427 G. I. in Social Science M  W   7:00 - 9:00pm Observatory Chris Hagerman
172 5403 G.I in Fine Arts T  TH   2:15 - 4:05 Observatory Maureen Balke
172 5458 G.I in Fine Arts M W F 11:45 - 12:50 Bobbitt Bille Wickre
397 5306 Thesis Development  T   7:00 - 8:00pm OBSERV Kennedy

 

NEUROPHYSIOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS
HSP 123     CRN  5141 / Lab CRN 5142
Monday, Wednesday, Friday = 11:45 – 12:35  Olin 230
Thursday LAB = 9:15 – 11:05am  Olin 234
Dr. Jeff Wilson

Everything that you do, feel, think, perceive… basically everything that matters to you… is the result of activity in your nervous system.  Individual cells called “neurons” communicate with one another to create your mind.  In “Neurophysiology for Beginners” we will learn about the activity of neurons: how they work, how they encode sensory information, how they control movement, perhaps how they produce emotions and mental activity.  The course will provide an overview of the history of our understanding of neurons, and will include many experiments and/or demonstrations that illustrate the concepts that we address.  You will also gain a basic understanding of simple instrumentation used to study the nervous system.  Because neurons are comparable across species, we can learn about your neurons by studying the neurons of simpler organisms like invertebrates; many of the lab experiences will focus on neurophysiology in cockroaches and earthworms, but we will also at times examine the neurons of students. 

A specific lab period is scheduled, but lecture time will also be devoted on occasion to laboratory-related experiences and discussion.  Students will be expected to maintain a lab notebook in which they record methodology and observations of each lab.  Students will also write up three of the labs (literature review, methodology, results, and discussion) according to APA style – these write-ups will be graded.  Finally, each student will design an individual experiment that extends one of the studies that we conducted in lab, ideally providing information about some as yet unanswered question in the literature.

Learning outcomes: By the end of the course students will be able to:

      Describe in detail the function of a neuron,
      Describe the process by which neural activity is measured,
      Explain how the nervous system encodes information about sensory stimuli,
      Explain how electrical signals can cause muscles to move,
      Explain how electrical signals can be used to examine sensory processing though the human nervous system,
      Propose and conduct a well-controlled experiment addressing some feature of  neural activity, and
      If all goes very well, propose an answer to the fundamental question of how neurons create mind.

Reading assignments will be drawn from the primary literature on the function of the nervous system

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP123, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration Great Issues in Fine Arts

 

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
HSP 124   CRN 5459

Monday, Wednesday, Friday   9:15 – 10:20am
Putnam 253
Instructor: Dale Kennedy

Course Description:

In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication?   We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective.  Animal communication involves a minimum of three components:  a signaler (sender), a signal, and a perceiver (receiver).  We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile), and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species.   We will address a variety of other questions, including whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspective of the sender and the perceiver, whether signals work among different species (interspecific), and what (if anything) distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language. 

 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP124, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

THE NATURE OF RATIONALITY
HSP 131   CRN 5251
Monday and Wednesday  2:15 – 4:05pm
Dr. Dan Mittag

Observatory

Course Description :

Results in empirical psychology show that often we do not reason in conformance with the laws of probability and the laws of logic. If these divergences are due to our underlying reasoning competence, then one might wonder whether we are rational creatures, after all, since we reflexively think of rationality as being defined exactly in terms of these laws. Is it right, then, to question our rationality on the basis of these empirical results? How exactly do they bear on the status of our rationality? Can we learn anything about the nature of rationality by considering them? In this course we will explore such questions as we investigate the psychology of human reasoning and the nature of rationality.

A course packet, available for purchase in the philosophy department (Vulgamore 207).

Course Objectives:

     * To understand the psychological experiments central to the “heuristics and biases” literature, as well as the interpretive
        controversies that surround them.
     * To explore some philosophical issues relating to this literature.  
     * To better understand the nature of (theoretical) rationality.
     * To think and write carefully, clearly, and to the point.

Short Papers – 30%      Presentation – 15%     Final Paper – 35%      Participation – 20%

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP131, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

POETIC FORMS AND TRADITIONS
HSP 132H   CRN 5249
Mondays and Wednesdays 2:15-4:05pm
Helena Mesa, English

Poet Charles Simic writes, “Poems witness our existence in ways nothing else can.  There’s that moment in a great poem when time stops and the reader’s self is touched by someone else’s life.  The poem ascends, and so do we in its company.  In a long history of forgetting, poems make us remember what it means to stand naked before ourselves.”  But how do we go about writing poems that metaphorically stop time, poems that emotionally touch the reader, or poems that unexpectedly ascend? 

As an introduction to poetic forms and traditions, this course provides guidance, feedback, and practice on the craft of writing poetry.  Throughout the semester, we will approach poetry from a writer’s perspective, analyzing how writers craft their poems, and each discussion will serve as a model for students to write their own poems.  We will study both traditional and contemporary readings, examining the writers’ techniques and styles; that is, we will investigate various traditional subjects (such as ekphrasis, dramatic monologues, elegies, and poetry of witness) in addition to various traditional forms (potentially sonnets, villanelles, heroic couplets, and blues poems).  Furthermore, we will consider not only the tradition of a poetic form (subject, structure, expectations), but contemporary uses and adaptations of the form.  And in the process of exploring poetic forms and traditions, we will also discuss what elements make a poem a great poem—imagery, narrative, lines, line breaks, music, etcetera.

Thus, the main concentration of our class will consist of three major components: reading and analyzing published poems;  writing, revising, and editing; and learning to critique fellow student work.  We will workshop several of each poet’s poems, offering constructive criticism and due praise, which the poet will revise for one portfolio and one reinventions project. Since the workshop’s usefulness depends on student ideas and suggestions, everyone will participate in class and individually respond to fellow writers’ work.  Lastly, students will present one poetic tradition or form to the class.

One does not need to be a poet to take this course—the course is designed so that every writer will learn about poetic craft, and so that every writer will develop over the course of the semester.

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP132, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 


NEGOTIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
HSP 154H    CRN 5177
Tuesday & Thursday   2:15 – 4:05
Dr. Gregg Saltzman
Norris 100

 Course Description

This course will help you learn how to secure agreements between two or more interdependent parties in order to get things done.  It draws from theories and concepts related to negotiation developed in microeconomics (game theory, Pareto efficiency), psychology (cognitive biases), and labor relations (integrative bargaining).  Numerous role-playing exercises will enhance students' skills as negotiators, through repeated practice.  This course also should help students become more aware of their own ethical values and personality traits.

Who Should Take This Course?

A course on negotiation and dispute resolution is especially important for students preparing for future roles as:
        Lawyers
        Managers
        Public officials
        Human services professionals
        Environmental advocates
        Community group leader 

The principles of negotiation learned from this course should be broadly applicable to many contexts, such as law, business, international relations, and public policy.  I do not, however, emphasize the kind of intensely emotional interpersonal negotiations that a marital therapist or family therapist might facilitate.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 154H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

WE ARE MAKING A NEW WORLD
HSP 155H   CRN 5427
Monday & Wednesday
7:00-9:00pm
Dr. Chris Hagerman

Course Description:

The Great War did not inaugurate trench warfare, but it brought to such fighting an unheralded degree of industrial intensity.  The inevitable corollary of this evolution toward perfection was a four-year spasm of destruction, unprecedented in severity and scale - one that visited unspeakable horrors upon millions of soldiers.  None emerged unchanged. Taking as its focus the three great traumas of trench warfare manifest on the Western Front – the destruction of human life, of civilization, and of the environment - this course explores the Great War’s impact on individual soldiers and, through them, culture at large.  Our approach will be interdisciplinary, encompassing detailed studies of the physical environment, traditional historical documents such as, diaries, letters, memoirs, and trench maps, photographs, film, poetry, painting, novels, and music. 

European Trip*:  (Not mandatory but highly recommended)

We will leave on or about May 12th and return on or about May 19th, 2014.   Our aim will be to experience and discuss the Great War battlefields, museums, and memorials of Ypres (Belgium) and the Somme (France).  In Europe we will be travelling point to point in vans, but will otherwise be on foot most of the time. 

Estimated cost per student:  $1,800, (excluding transfers to and from DTW and spending money)

 

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP 155H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration.

 

“FROM THE BALLROOM TO HELL” – Schubert’s Vienna ca. 1815
HSP 172   CRN 5403
Tuesday & Thursday  2:15 - 4:05pm
Observatory
Maureen Balke

This course will look at Vienna around 1815—its background of Napoleonic war, politics, censorship, secret police, and rapidly changing society, as well as the diversions young people sought out to “escape” from unpleasant reality. 

These diversions ranged from grand public spectacle (major concerts, opera, the theatre, grand balls, celebrity virtuosos) to the intimate salon and Schubertiade, held in private homes and including poetry, song, and tableaux.   

To counter the horrors and chaos of war and the battlefield (where men reigned), the ballroom in particular became the dominion of the ladies, including the development of elaborate rituals and games concerning costume, etiquette and dance.    In tandem with dramatic and rapid changes in dress from the French aristocratic model to the more free and form-revealing “Josephine” style, new and scandalous dances (such as the Waltz—but not at all the sedate version we know today!) developed.  Ballroom “games” for choosing one’s dance partner, including “The Mirror” and “Whips and Reins”, frequently resulted in embarrassment and great hilarity.   Secret messages could be sent to a lover through glove and handkerchief flirtations.  All these activities were a form of “escape” within “safe” societal boundaries.

This class will study the political, social, and musical context in which all these reactions to the times developed.  We will study the Congress of Vienna and read the diary of a Napoleonic footsoldier.  We will read etiquette and dance manuals from the period, and look at historical costume and hairstyles.  We will listen to music of Schubert and his contemporaries, and look at some of the poetry Schubert chose to set to music. 

We will present our findings in a combination Schubertiade/salon/ball in a public performance near the end of the semester.   The evening will contain music, historical skits, dance, costume, games, and all will participate/contribute, each according to interests and abilities.

You do NOT have to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet, or musician in order to contribute.  You do NOT have to be a historian or a political scientist.  But if you have special interest or ability in any of these areas, that contribution will be welcome!

 Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

“ARTISTS AND WATER”
HSP 172    CRN 5458
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
11:45 – 12:50
Dr. Bille Wickre

Course Description:

    This course will explore the ways that artists respond to the worsening world water crisis in conceptual and visual ways.  In 2007 the United Nations Environment Program predicted that: “If present trends continue, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025, and two-thirds of the world population could be subject to water stress.” Artists from around the world are creating art that calls attention to or illustrates the crisis, or actually remediates polluted water.  Rather than being grim or depressing, many of the works are beautiful and poetic.

 

FOLD, FAN, AND FOLIOS:  Books as Art
HSP 172    CRN 5471
Monday/Wednesday 2:15 – 4:05pm
Anne McCauley

Students in this course will learn to make historical book forms from various cultures (Coptic, codex, accordion, and Japanese bound) and discover an appreciation of books in a new and wider context.   From there, students will apply newly learned techniques to the production of nontraditional artist books.

In creating your original work, whether text, imagery, or a combination of the two is employed, emphasis will be placed on the creation of books as visual objects. 

No art making experience required.  Class size is limited to 10 students.  Fulfills Artistic Creation Mode.

 

 

 

*FALL 2013 SCHEDULE*

CRS#    CRN      COURSE/TITLE             DAYS                 TIME                  BLDG                  INSTRUCTOR

124       4452     G. I. in Science               T R                    2:15 -  4:05          Observatory           Dale Kennedy

123       4430     G. I. in Science               M W F             11:45 - 12:35         Olin 230                Jeff Wilson

123L     4431     G. I. in Sci LAB               R                       9:15 - 11:05         Olin 234                Jeff Wilson

124       4450     G. I. in Science               M T W TH          1:00 -   1:50         Observatory          Mark Bollman

131       4211     G. I in Humanities           M W  R             1:00 -    2:05         Vulg 201               Mary Collar

131       4212     G. I in Humanities           T  R                 10:30 -  12:20        Vulg 202                Judy Lockyer

155       4432     G. I. in Social Science     M W                10:30 -  12:20        Putnam 253          Trisha Franzen

11:45 -  11:00        Observatory          Debraa Kanter

151       4433     G. I. in Social Science     T  R                 10:30 -  12:20        Observatory          Andy Grossman

172       4451     G. I. in Fine Arts             M W F             10:30 - 11:35         Observatory          Sam Mcllhagga

175       4434     G.I. in Fine Arts              M W                   2:15 -  4:05         Observatory          Clayton Parr

397       4435     Thesis Development        T                        7:00 -  8:00         Observatory          Dale Kennedy

 

Neurophysiology for Beginners HSP 123
CRN 4430 & 4431
Monday, Wednesday, Friday  11:45 – 12:35
Thursday LAB = 9:15 – 11:05am Dr. Jeff Wilson

Everything that you do, feel, think, perceive… basically everything that matters to you… is the result of activity in your nervous system.  Individual cells called “neurons” communicate with one another to create your mind.  In “Neurophysiology for Beginners” we will learn about the activity of neurons: how they work, how they encode sensory information, how they control movement, perhaps how they produce emotions and mental activity.  The course will provide an overview of the history of our understanding of neurons, and will include many experiments and/or demonstrations that illustrate the concepts that we address.  You will also gain a basic understanding of simple instrumentation used to study the nervous system.  Because neurons are comparable across species, we can learn about your neurons by studying the neurons of simpler organisms like invertebrates; many of the lab experiences will focus on neurophysiology in cockroaches and earthworms, but we will also at times examine the neurons of students.  A specific lab period is scheduled, but lecture time will also be devoted on occasion to laboratory-related experiences and discussion.  Students will be expected to maintain a lab notebook in which they record methodology and observations of each lab.  Students will also write up three of the labs (literature review, methodology, results, and discussion) according to APA style – these write-ups will be graded.  Finally, each student will design an individual experiment that extends one of the studies that we conducted in lab, ideally providing information about some as yet unanswered question in the literature. Learning outcomes: By the end of the course students will be able to: - Describe in detail the function of a neuron, - Describe the process by which neural activity is measured, - Explain how the nervous system encodes information about sensory stimuli, - Explain how electrical signals can cause muscles to move, - Explain how electrical signals can be used to examine sensory processing though the human nervous system, - Propose and conduct a well-controlled experiment addressing some feature of  neural activity, and - If all goes very well, propose an answer to the fundamental question of how neurons create mind.

Reading assignments will be drawn from the primary literature on the function of the nervous system

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP123, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration  

 

Animal Communication
HSP 124H   CRN 4452
Tuesday, Thursday   2:15 – 4:05pm
Observatory
Instructor: Dale Kennedy   

Course Description:

In Animal Communication, we will start with the question, what is communication?   We will examine some of the diverse systems of communication among animals from an evolutionary perspective.  Animal communication involves a minimum of three components:  a signaler (sender), a signal, and a perceiver (receiver).  We will explore different types of signals in animal communication (including acoustic, visual, chemical, and tactile), and ask how environmental factors and other features, such as signal reliability and signal cost, affect signal selection in non-human species.   We will address a variety of other questions, including whether signals are honest and accurate from the perspective of the sender and the perceiver, whether signals work among different species (interspecific), and what (if anything) distinguishes non-human animal communication from human language. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP124, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

8 Big Ideas That Shaped Science
HSP 124   CRN  4450
1:00 – 1:50pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Observatory
Dr. Mark Bollman

This course will examine eight major scientific ideas, each one of which has had a revolutionary impact on a particular area of science.

Astronomy: Big Bang theory Biochemistry: DNA structure Biology: Evolution Chemistry: Periodic Law Computer science: Information theory Geology: Plate tectonics Mathematics: Non-Euclidean geometry Physics: Atomic structure

In several cases, students will read the original papers that reported the discovery. Laboratory work with Geometer’s Sketchpad will be used to explore the world of hyperbolic geometry.  Evaluation will be based on a sequence of short papers, a collection of laboratory reports from Sketchpad, and a substantial final project.

The reading list will include:  The Discoveries, Lightman, The Canon, Angier, A Well-Ordered Thing, Gordin The Non-Euclidean Revolution, Trudeau, The Double Helix, Watson, The Origin Of Species, Darwin, Fortune’s Formula, Poundstone, Plate Tectonics, Orestes

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP124, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

The Literature of Equality:  Truth, Lies, and Ambiguity
HSP 131    CRN  4212
Tuesday, Thursday 10:30 – 12:20
Dr. Judy Lockyer

One of the most compelling ideas in Western culture is that people are or should be equal before the law and in each other’s eyes.  In this seminar we will look to literature, philosophy, and public documents to find the complex of beliefs and assumptions that make equality still just out of reach and often ambiguous.  We begin with Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest and Aimé Césaire’s revisionist play, Une Tempête to learn from one early source about the complexities of equality.  All of our reading offer specific and varied perspectives on power and equality; each text enriches and complicates ideas we generally believe are true and stable facts. Our reading will include The Declaration of independence and the Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls; and Ralph Ellison’s classic novel Invisible Man and Paul Beatty’s comic response White Boy Shuffle.  All papers will require approaches to textual analysis.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP131, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration  

 

Mystery, Manners, Modernisms and Me
HSP 131    CRN  4211
Monday, Wednesday , Thursday 1:00 - 2:05pm
Dr. Mary Collar

This course examines the response of thinkers, many of them literary artists, to the death of god, the idea that Nietzsche put at the center of thought for himself and for many of the moderns.   Even writers not directly influenced by Nietzsche have been haunted by the implications of such a philosophical orientation and have asked to what extent a death-of-God stance would necessarily reorient the artistic gaze away from Truth and towards the social good.    At mid-century, the American writer Flannery O'Connor uses the terms Mystery and Manners to designate these two realms; near the century’s end, the Indian writer Salman Rushdie contends that the conflict between the sacred and the secular poses the central aesthetic question for any modern writer.  Also in this late modern period, some thinkers use Nietzsche to undermine fundamental conceptions of human identify.  The goal of this HSP course is to expose and explore these tensions among competing and often contradictory visions, to provoke in students intelligent reflection upon some great issues surrounding truth, goodness, and beauty. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP131H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission of Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration  

 

Women, the Environment and Sustainability
HSP 155    CRN  4432
Monday, Wednesday 10:30-12:20
Dr. Trisha Franzen

Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, and Wangari Maathai head the list of women thinkers, writers and activists who have given us fresh views on the environment and sustainability. Starting with the works of these women and recognizing that the United States and other western countries have no monopoly on with environmental theory or activism, students will explore the breadth of global and local women’s work on all the issues relevant to sustainability. While the general public doesn’t often see the environment as a women’s issue, women’s ecofeminism developed with the contemporary women’s movement. In addition to reading, class discussions and short papers, students will conduct original research on an individual woman or women’s group. From that research, students will teach a section of the class and write a significant paper. Students will participate in Albion College’s Year of Sustainability events and develop a related class project. Outcomes: • Teach students to think critically about the connections between women’s issues and the environment; • Examine how place influenced the particular paths  of the three key women theorists and activists; • Consider the basic concepts, frameworks and debates concerning gender and the environment; • Explore how women’s studies and feminism have contributed to ecological and environmental theory;  • Foster creative thinking and original research on global and local efforts by women ion these issues; and • Link this class with the campus-wide sustainability theme. Process: Students will • Participate in and lead class discussions; • Write short reflection papers; • Conduct original research; • Teach a class based on that research; • Develop a group project related to Albion College’s Year of Sustainability

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP155, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

After the Melting Pot: Issues in 20th-Century U.S. Immigration
HSP 155     CRN 4278
Monday , Wednesday, Friday 11:45 – 12:50pm
Dr. Deborah Kanter

The role of immigrants in the U.S., a “nation of immigrants,” has been debated since the founding era. This seminar looks both at the experience and myths of immigration, as well as the debates over immigration’s place in the 20th-century U.S.

How has immigration changed since the arrival of the predominantly European “huddled masses” of a century ago?  Ellis Island holds a strong place in our national consciousness, but many American families first entered the U.S. in the past century at Angel Island, El Paso, JFK, or LAX. The U.S. population currently includes an all-time high number of foreign-born individuals, mostly from nations well beyond Europe: what does this hold for the future? How have attitudes toward immigration changed with the rise and fall of different notions of race?

The class will consider immigration through history, ethnography, demography, literature, film, and sociology. Amidst our general readings, the seminar will focus on three main immigrant groups: East European Jews, Mexicans, and South Asians. Students will have the opportunity to research other immigrant groups.

Readings (tenative list): Israel Zangwill, “The Melting Pot” Ernesto Galarza, Barrio Boy Rubén Martínez, Crossing Over: a Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake Vijay Prashad, The Karma of Brown Folk Jane Ziegelman, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement

Films: The Sixth Section Hester Street

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP155, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

“Savage ‘Little’ Wars: Narratives of  Counterinsurgency Warfare in Film and in Practice 1963-2013”
HSP 151    CRN  4453
Tuesday, Thursday 10:30 – 12:30
Dr. Andy Grossman

This honors seminar is framed by a puzzle which is best considered as a question: How is it that a military strategy, “Counterinsurgency” (COIN) that has failed so often and so systematically can continue to be held in high regard by political and military elites in countries such as the United States?   In thinking about this question, we  will analyze how COIN has been viewed by national security and military elites (post-World War II generals in particular) as a long-term strategy to fight asymmetric wars:  that is, post-Colonial conflicts, conflicts that arise in “failed states,” and, finally, the  problematic “global war on terrorism”— i.e., the post 9/11 strategies for asymmetric war. 

We will take two approaches to the analysis in the seminar. 1). The consideration of how COIN tactics have been portrayed in in film, specifically how narratives are used in film to establish a particular kind of thinking. 2). A careful and close reading of important academic literature in the national security, war-fighting, and policy history scholarship. This aspect to our seminar aims at a fuller understanding of how military strategy has adjusted to modern asymmetric warfare and why COIN regularly reemerges with a new gloss, as the “go to” tactic/strategy for countries such as the United States.

As regards the use of film, the seminar will examine how COIN has been portrayed  in popular film as means to either support or raise questions about small wars and the tactic of COIN.   Films representing both points of view will be used.   We will consider questions about how the use of film narratives (drawing on the work of Hayden White and others) can reconstruct a particular context (a reality if you will) that lends support or undermines COIN.

With respect to the second approach, we will read the literature on military strategy, consider the  issue from perspective of war-fighting, from the perspective of regular soldiers, and from the perspective of those on the “receiving end” as it were, of COIN.  I would like us to  focus specifically on why COIN tactics and strategies seem to continue to garner significant purchase among the military, even in light of its abject historical failure (save a few instances in modern history).  Why is this the case?  That is the what the seminar is about.

Preliminary: Films and  Books Films: The Battle of Algiers, Restrepo, Go Tell the Spartans, Full Metal Jacket, Walking with Bashir, The Lemon Tree Books: Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians, Orwell, Animal Farm, Orwell,  Collection of Essays, West,   The Village, Miller,  Tiger the Lurp Dog, Junger, War, US Marine Corp,  Small Wars Manual

The course will entail both a close reading of two types of texts: film and literature. Short papers follow each film. One final paper for the course. 

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP151 , you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Historic Parallels in the Arts
HSP 175   CRN  4434
Monday & Wednesday 2:15 – 4:05pm
Clayton Parr Music Department  (; (224)436-0415

The course will examine a number of points in European cultural history and look at how changing aesthetic ideals were manifested in music, painting and architecture.  Students will gain a basic historical familiarity with the important movements in Western artistic thought while developing the ability to compare examples of these ideas in different artistic genres.

Possible weekend class trip to Chicago for students to get some direct experience of the things we will be covering in class --- visit to the art museum, an architectural walking tour, the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park, take in a concert.

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration

 

Perspectives on Composer: Style and Expression in Music Composition
HSP172H CRN 4451
Monday, Wednesday & Friday   10:30-11:35am
Sam McIlhagga

Course Description: This course will examine music composition through the lens of the composer, the performer, and the audience.  Further views by musicologists, philosophers, and psychologists will provide an interdisciplinary approach to the topic.  While music composition is the primary focus, relevant parallels in architecture, visual art, literature, and poetry will also be considered.  Historically established music traditions (e.g. concert music and jazz) are contrasted with new forms (e.g. techno, film music and rap) in search of the expanding role of music composition.  Course activities include artistic creation, readings, listening assignments, writing, concert attendance, field trips, class discussion, and presentations.

Student learning outcomes: -Students will experience the compositional process first-hand through multiple composition projects on various topics -Students will prepare and perform select compositions from their portfolio of compositions in an end-of-semester recital -Students will accurately identify similarities and differences in musical genres, composers, compositions, and critical analyses through written assignments

You DO NOT have to be a music major or play an instrument to take this class

Note:  if you have taken or now are taking a section of HSP172H, you may not take this course unless you have written permission by Dale Kennedy, Director of Honors, before registration