HONORS CLASSES Fall 2017
Seminars
50:163:361:H1 (AAI); 50:525:121:01 (Childhood Studies)
Vallone: Young Adult Literature
TTh 9:35-10:55, BSB 107
Course note: General Education: Art and Aesthetic Interpretation;
Course Note: School of Nursing Literature and Fine Arts
YA literature class: This course is a survey of (primarily) American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries written especially for an adolescent audience. Book selections, both classics of the genre and very recent publications, will be discussed within the contexts of the history and development of young adult literature, American literary history and popular culture. The course requires careful reading, active discussion, critical thinking, and literary analysis (expressed in both formal and informal papers and assignments).
50:525:109:01 (English); 50:525:152:H1 (AAI)
Green: The African-American Novel
MW 2:05-3:25, CS 202
Course note: General Education: Art and Aesthetic Interpretation;
Course Note: School of Nursing Literature and Fine Arts
This course is an introduction to novels written by African Americans; it covers texts produced as far back as the mid-nineteenth century to those published in the early twenty-first century. The course’s objective is to be suggestive, not exhaustive; therefore, we will be reading from a wide array of authors with varying styles and interests. Representative authors include Charles Chestnut, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Percival Everett.
50:525:119:01 (Political Science); 50:525:155:01 (EAV) –
Shames: Dystopian Government
MW 9:35-10:55, BSB 108
Course note: General Education: Ethics and Values
Course note: School of Nursing Transcultural health
This course will examine nightmarish visions of government through the lens of futuristic fiction (both written and film), supplemented by social science theory. Ultimately our objective is to define “good government” by thinking about what “bad government” can look like. We will study Orwell’s classic vision of a totalitarian government (“1984”) and Collins’ “Hunger Games”, paired with Foucault; Huxley on a technocratic government (“Brave New World”) paired with Mansbridge, Andrea Schlesinger, and Gaventa; Atwood’s patriarchal and theocratic government (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) alongside Gayle Rubin and Andrea Dworkin; Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” next to Max Weber on bureaucracy; Pixar’s “Wall-E” and “Blade Runner” paired with Sen to analyze corporate-run governments; and Benthem’s views on utilitarianism paired with LeGuin.
50:525:120:01 (Psychology); 50:525:157:01 (PLS)
Duffy: Cosmos and Chaos: The Structures of Scientific Thinking
Fri 12:30-3:20, CS203
Course note: General Education: Physical and Life Sciences
Course note: School of Nursing Transcultural health
In this course we will be examining the issue of the popularization of science. We will take the example of three scientists: Carl Sagan (whose 1980 Cosmos series revolutionized science education for a generation), Bill Nye (who after Sagan educated a new generation about the role of science in society) and Neil DeGrasse Tyson (who revisited Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series several years ago and reissued a revised Cosmos series for a new generation). In general this course will examine the popularization of science and pose questions on how scientists can engage the public in discourse about the role of science in educating children in this day and age of controversy over the role of science in popular culture. We will use Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series as a starting point to discuss a number of topics that pertain to science education, the role of science in 21st century politics, and the new culture of the first generation to mature in the internet age. We will also discuss how we can better educate and inspire new generations of scientists and use tools of psychology to better educate the broader public about how science can empower our society into action about issues such as environmentalism, globalization, and multiculturalism. The course requirements will involve a creative final paper and presentation in which students will attempt to popularize an aspect of science, weekly quizzes, and discussion questions. The goal of assessments in this course will be fun and informative and will aim toward empowering students toward challenging the prevailing anti-scientific rhetoric that is part of the current political climate.
50:525:152:H2 (AAI); 50:525:128 (Urban Studies)
Danley, Social Movements and Graphic Novels
TTh 3:35-4:55, Fine Arts 217 (Digital Studies CoLab)
Course note: General Education: Art and Aesthetic Interpretation;
Course Note: School of Nursing Literature and Fine Arts
From John Lewis to #BlackLivesMatter and Superman to Black Panther, this class will examine the intersection between social movements and graphic novels. Students leave behind textbooks, learning history and theory through graphic novels, and they pursue creative expression by creating comics about modern social movements. Along the way, students are pushed intellectually and artistically to understand not just the nuts and bolts of the graphic novel art form, but also the ways in which it serves as a critical technique for widening our understanding of race, class and social movements in modern America.
50:525:128:01 (Urban Studies); 50:525:162:01 (XPL)
Hoffman: Making Social Change
T 2:00-4:50, CS 202
Course note: General Education: Engaged Civic Learning
Course note: School of Nursing Transcultural health
In this seminar we will examine the opportunities, strategies, and processes (governmental, organizational, etc.) for making social change on small and large scales and on various institutional platforms. We will take up a range of examples of efforts to make such change from the conception of an idea through its marketing and implementation, the so-called “how-tos.” Students will come to understand how others have made change and will have the opportunity to envision themselves as agents of change in areas such as education, health, poverty, public safety, and sustainability. The course includes an experiential learning component that will involve field work and research in the city of Camden.
50:830:101:H1 (PLS)
O’Donnell: Introduction to Psychology
MW 2:05-3:25, CS 203
Course note: General Education: Physical and Life Sciences
Psych 101: introduces students to some of the many methods, theories, facts, and concepts in the major fields of psychology. Topics covered include: the history of psychology, biological basis of behavior, learning, health, personality, psychological disorders, and psychological treatment. Students will also be required to either participate in psychological research or complete an approved alternative activity to receive credit upon completion of this course.
50:988:314:H1 (DIV)
Caputo: Masculinities –
TTh 11:10-12:30, CS 203
Course note: General Education: Diversity
Course note: School of Nursing Transcultural health
Masculinities: This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of masculinities. Moving past the conception of gender as a fixed biological category, the course explores the emergence and representations of multiple masculinities along intersections with race, class, sexuality, and other areas of difference. It introduces students to theory of masculinity and concepts like boyhood, gender role socialization, and gender policing. It examines the ways diverse formations of masculinities function at the individual and collective level in various domains, such as in sports, family, work, college, and war and explores masculinity and body, female, and queer masculinities, maleness, boyhood, and violence. The course also takes a look at global masculinities comparing how men in countries around the world express and interpret masculinity. Materials include academic and popular literature, film, and music.
52:620:317:H1 (EAV); 52:525:300:01 (Business Elective)
Schindler: Spirituality in Business: Balancing Head and Heart
TTh 3:35-4:55, CS 202
Course note: General Education: Ethics and Values
Course note: School of Nursing Transcultural health
Spirituality in Business: Balancing Head and Heart: In the business world, and often in the society at large, there is a persistent emphasis on our rational and material side (our “head”). There is much less attention to our spiritual side (our “heart”). The spiritual aspects of our experience – our imagination, our hopes and dreams, the feelings and impressions of our innermost thoughts – are commonly devalued, neglected, misinterpreted, and even suppressed. Gaining awareness and appreciation of our spiritual side helps restore a balance that can enhance our ability to manage ourselves and lead others. In this course, we study both scientific research and traditional wisdom to better understand our spiritual side. We apply these understandings to the everyday activities of dealing with customers, getting along with others in an organization, and keeping on the path toward achieving our career goals.
Heritages and Civilizations Classes
Note: All sections satisfy the Civilizations and Heritages requirement in the General Education Requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Nursing, and School of Business.
50:525:151 Honors Seminar: Heritages and Civilizations-
Westman,
MW 12:30pm -1:50pm
Students will examine the work of creative women (writers, composers, playwrights, artists) in western culture form Ancient Greece to the the present, and determine the material conditions that made it possible (or not possible) for women to be creative. In addition, they will analyze their works in terms of genre, design, and subject matter, and interrogate the relationship between gender and art.
50:350:238:H2
Vial, World Literature –
MW 2:05pm-3:25pm,
In concept, World Literature I covers great literature from the beginning of time through the (European) medieval period. That is a list impossible to condense into one semester of reading. Instead, we will read a handful of great works from around the globe to explore in some depth. Our readings will include religious texts such as the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Qur’an, heroic tales from ancient Greece and Africa, and poetry from Asia and the Middle East. Readings will be organized along thematic and genre lines—we will develop a sense of chronology and cultural context as we go. Grading for the course will be based on your engagement with the readings as demonstrated through lively class discussions and group activities. In addition, you will write two papers and a final exam.
50:510:101:H1
Garceau, Western Civilization I: Disease and Violence in the West
TTH 11:10am – 12:30pm
This course is meant to enable students to study a broad range of time periods and places through the lens of outbreaks of disease and violence, focusing on the rise of Western Civilization. We will study the social and cultural settings prior to the outbreaks as well as people’s responses, both as the plague/violence occurred and as people conceptualized it (and themselves) afterwards. Through studying episodes where people experienced, or wrote about, disease and/or violence, students will learn to explore other viewpoints and see how these glimpses into “extreme” moments reveal much about what is “normal” in a given society.
The course begins in Ancient Sumeria with the earliest known plague lament, written by Mursili II (ca 1327-1295 BC). As we move through the centuries, we cover topics including biblical plagues, leprosy, Jewish massacres, heresy, the Black Death, and Syphilis. The course ends with the discovery of the New World, whose plants, animals, and materials caused western Europeans to rethink completely their understanding of the world. Studying a variety of primary source material including music, art, legal texts, prayers, medical treatises, and letters, students will use moments of disease and violence to find insight into the everyday world of the past and, in particular, into the world of men and women whose history is often lost–the poor, the marginalized, the religious minority, and the female.
We will use a combination of primary and secondary literature, including history of science material. All texts will be in English.
50:840:270:H1 (HAC)
Charme, Women and Religion-
MW 12:30-1:50, Classroom TBA Registrar
Course note: General Education: Heritages and Civilizations
This class looks at the ways that women have been portrayed and treated in the myths, symbols and rituals of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (with options to explore other religions as well). We will examine how these traditions’ views of the body, nature, sexuality, the sacred, and the divine affected each others. We’ll look at the tradition of Goddess worship that was supplanted by the major western religions and why it has enjoyed a resurgence among some people today. We’ll discuss the question of whether elements of these religions are sexist and/or homophobic and whether they contribute to oppression of women and LBGT people. We will consider suggestions various sources about how to make religious stories and rituals more welcoming of people regardless of gender or sexuality.
50:840:363:H1
Banner, Magic and Ritual Power-
TTh 11:10-12:30,
Course note: General Education: Heritages and Civilizations
Contrary to expectation, magic is still with us–even in our technological society. It’s found in such varied places as popular literature (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings), television (Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer) or the personal spirituality of a student who is a solitary Wiccan, designing a spell. This course will begin with issues in defining the concept of “magic.” Is magic a form of religion? Are religious rituals magical? How do scholars approach ritual and the belief in supernatural power associated with it? We’ll then analyze examples of magical practices in the ancient world and the middle ages (including Jewish and Christian texts). Topics will include magical amulets, healing rituals, curses, rituals for having supernatural dreams and visions, divination, rituals for interacting with the dead, love/sexual spells, magical words and rituals for acquiring a “supernatural assistant” (daemons, demons, angels). After that we’ll explore modern expressions in religious traditions likes Vodou, Santeria, Charismatic Christianity, Kabbalah in Judaism and Wicca/Neo-Paganism as well as popular culture (literature, music, television, etc.)
Course requirements will include weekly reading assignments, participation in online class discussions, a term paper of 10-12 pages and an in-class presentation on a magical text.