Spring 2014 Honors Courses
HON 201, Perennial Questions (3 Hours Credit)
| HON 201 H Section B
|
What is a Good
Life? TH 3:30–4:45 Dr. Brian Carroll |
Course meets these requirements:
- Required course for all Honors
students
- Counts as the 200-level
literature requirement or the fifth free elective course in the Humanities
general education core (3 of 15 hours required)
Course
description:
What is a Good Life?: The course investigates the “perennial question” of what
makes a life “good” and how best one might understand and pursue that “good
life.” Readings from classical and contemporary philosophy, literature,
psychology, sociology, pop-culture, religion and education each provide
perspectives on the question of “What is a Good Life?” A selection of films
will provide further perspective on the basic issue of the good life.
HON 203 H, Democracy and
Its Friendly Critics (3 Hours Credit)
| HON 203 HA | Democracy and Its Friendly Critics MWF
10:00-10:50 Dr. McKenzie |
Course meets these requirements:
- Required course for all honors
students
- General Education core
requirement in Humanities--100 level for Philosophy.
- May also count as the fifth
humanities elective, if religion or philosophy course requirement has been
met by other means (e.g. AP credit).
Course description:
The motto “e pluribus unum” was inscribed on the United States National Seal,
created by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War Period. The
motto referred originally to the one nation arising from the many nations whose
settlers came to America and from the thirteen states which constituted the
original union. The idea that it would be possible to create a nation that
really is “one, from many” is a seminal idea of American history. As the phrase
comes to us, it stands more broadly for the dialectic of the one and the many
in American experience, reflected in a wide array of issues. This course
focuses on certain moments in this rich dialectic in which the tensions
inherent in the interplay of unity and diversity have come to full expression.
It explores early arguments related to state and nation from the discipline of
politics, cultural conflicts between Native-Americans and European settlers
from the disciplines of history and literature, persistent issues of race
relation from the disciplines of philosophy and Black studies, treatment of
immigrant populations from the disciplines of literature and sociology, the
long struggle for gender equality from the disciplines of history and women’s
studies, and arguments pertaining to religious identity and separation of
church and state from the disciplines of religious studies and politics.
HON 203 H, Democracy and
Its Friendly Critics (3 Hours Credit)
| HON 203 HB | Democracy and Its Friendly Critics TH
12:30 - 1:45 Dr. Daryl Charles |
Course meets these requirements:
- Required course for all honors
students
- General Education core
requirement in Humanities--100 level for Philosophy.
- May also count as the fifth
humanities elective, if religion or philosophy course requirement has been
met by other means (e.g. AP credit).
Course
description: America’s founders and leading statesmen
understood what we postmoderns have all but forgotten, if not ignored. They
knew that democratic popular government is difficult to sustain, that it is
does not automatically sustain itself, that it offers no guarantee of its own
survival, and that it requires the continual efforts of every generation to
renew its foundations. What are those foundations that support democratic
government and culture? In this course, three texts will serve as our guide as
we reflect on those foundations: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in
America, perhaps the most important book ever written on democracy; social
critic Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions, a penetrating and
remarkably accessible examination of the ideological roots of our political
differences; and Brendan Sweetman’s Why Politics Needs Religion, which
thoughtfully and thoroughly considers the rich texture of American
pluralism and the perennial issue of the place of religious arguments in
the public square.
AST 121HA, Discovery of Galaxies, Honors (4
Hours Credit)
| AST
121 H section A | Discovery
of Galaxies TH
9:30 – 10:45, Lab 2-4 on Fridays Dr. Todd Timberlake |
Course
meets these requirements:
- General Education core
requirement in Math and Natural Sciences (4 of 11 hours required)
Course
description:
The
Discovery of Galaxies: Galactic astronomy from the Seventeenth Century to the
early Twentieth Century. Examines changing ideas about the place of our solar
system within the Milky Way galaxy and the existence of other galaxies.
Emphasis the historical development of new theories and how those theories were
evaluated. Includes one or two night labs at the observatory.
COM 203, Rhetoric and Public Address, Honors (3
Hours Credit)
|
COM 203 H Section C | Political
Communication TH 2:00 – 3:15 Dr. R.
Richardson |
Course
meets these requirements:
- An HON 250 course (3 of 9
elective required hours for all Honors students)
- General Education core
requirement in Communication (3 of 9 hours required)
Course description: Political Communication: COM 203 H with an emphasis on political
communication engages students in the creation, development, analysis and
evaluation of public address in the political context. The course
challenges students with readings in communication theory and pragmatic
political discourse from across the US political spectrum. Rhetorical
analysis of contemporary and current political campaigns provides insight into
everything from a rhetoric of polarization to a rhetoric of apologia.
Honors 250HA/PSY 385IA, Psychology of Women (3 Hours Credit)
|
HON 250H Section A
|
Psychology of Women
MWF 12:00 - 12:50 Dr. Susan Conradsen |
Course meets these requirements:
- An HON 250 course (3 of 9
elective required hours for all Honors students)
- Counts as the psychology
course requirement in the Behavioral and Social Sciences general education
core (3 of 9 hours required)
- May count toward the major
with departmental approval
Course
description: This
course is an interdisciplinary investigation of the psychological, social,
emotional, and cognitive aspects of gender in our society. In particular,
the unique issues and challenges to women’s psychological well-being created by
the impact of society (both direct and indirect) and culture will be addressed.
Some of the specific topics we will cover include how gender identity is
formed, the preponderance of sexist stereotypes, how the media influences our
ideas of masculinity and femininity, the occupational and domestic challenges
women face, the culture of violence against women across their lives, the
experience of birth and mothering, love relationships, and other developmental
events unique to women’s development such as menstruation and menopause. Throughout the course the existence of sexism within American culture and
beyond will be covered such as inequity in political representation and
salaries, sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, and role
expectations. This class is a discussion oriented class. Students
take weekly quizzes, complete a group presentation on a topic of their choice,
and complete five writing assignments.
Honors 250HB/COM 416IA, Media Law (3 Hours
Credit)
|
HON 250H Section B | Media Law
MWF 8:00 - 8:50 Dr. K. Richardson |
Course meets these requirements:
- An HON 250 course (3 of 9
elective required hours for all Honors students)
- May count toward the major
with departmental approval
Course
description: Constitutional
and legislative foundations of freedom of speech and press, with special
emphasis on the law of libel, privacy, censorship, access and broadcast
regulation. Topics include discussion of the ways in which the interests of the
state, society and individuals have been balanced in such arenas as political
speech, commercial speech, sexual expression, student speech and technological
change. For example, examining the changes in the freedoms or restrictions
governing student speech require an examination of the purposes served by
public and private K-12 educational systems; the changes in both prompted by
social movements from the integration of the 1950s to the social conservative
movement of the 1980s, and the changes in technologies available to students
inside and outside the school environments. Honors students will be required to
complete an annotated bibliography as they prepare for the major research-based
essay required of all students. They will also complete a more detailed
writer’s workshop report and will respond to a different writing prompt on the
final exam.
Honors 250HC/REL 359/PHI 359, Environmental Ethics (3 Hours Credit)
| HON250HC
|
Environmental
Ethics MWF 9:00-9:50 Dean Thomas Kennedy
|
Course meets these
requirements:
- An HON 250 course (3 of 9
elective required hours for all Honors students)
- General Education core requirement
in Humanities -- 100 level for Religion or Philosophy (3 hrs credit)
- May count as one of the two
free electives, outside of major/minor, required for graduation; OR, as
the fifth humanities elective
Course description: Seminar on
the relationship between humanity and nonhuman nature. Discussion includes
current biological, political and economic conditions, the role of technology
and major philosophical perspectives. PR:
one introductory course in REL or PHI.
Honors 250HD/REL 345A, Mysticism East & West
(3 Hours Credit)
|
HON250 HD
|
Mysticism East &
West MW 2:00-3:15 Dr. Jeffrey Lidke
|
Course meets these
requirements:
- An HON 250 course (3 of 9
elective required hours for all Honors students)
- General Education core
requirement in Humanities -- 100 level for Religion (3 hrs credit)
- May count as one of the two
free electives, outside of major/minor, required for graduation; OR, as
the fifth humanities elective
Course description: This course seeks
to understand mysticism as a phenomenon common to all major religions. Through
a careful exploration of mystical tradition from the East (particularly
Hinduism) and West (particularly Christianity) we will investigate the impact
of mysticism on theology, politics, and cultural practice. Most class sessions
will begin by discussing different devotional practices and inviting the
students to participate in the practice under discussion for a few minutes. The
links with this experience/discussion to the larger themes of the course will
be explored.
Honors Thesis
Register
for HON 450H if you are starting your thesis.
Register for HON 451H if you completed HON 450H last semester.
To register for a thesis course, you will need an authorization form (available:
http://www.berry.edu/provost/honors/page.aspx?id=7879)
signed by your thesis director. Be
certain to have the other committee members’ names indicated on the form. Also
obtain a reasonably detailed description of the work to be completed during the
semester provided by your thesis director. Bring both the description and the
signed authorization form to Dr. Brian Carroll for his signature. Take the
signed authorization form to the Registrar’s window to have the course
added. (This process should be done during pre-registration.) After the
course is added to Viking Web, your thesis director will need to authorize you
to take the course before you can finally register for it on Viking Web.
Honorization of Courses
An
honors student may request to change a “regular” course within a major into an
honors course. Follow the procedure below. BEFORE you begin attending the
course, during registration, meet with the instructor. Print and take the form
with you (see Forms on the Honors web page); this form has guidelines for you
and your instructor. Discuss with the faculty member your interest in receiving
“honors” credit for a particular course. He or she will define the nature of
the honors work to be completed. Complete your part of the form and
return the form to Dr. Carroll.
Honorizing
any course is NOT permitted after the first week of classes.