CAS 300 Three Figures/Honors
CHE 109  Honors General Chemistry/Honors
ELE 231  Electrical Engineering Fundamentals I/Honors
ETS 145  Reading Popular Culture
ETS 153  Interpretation of Fiction/Honors
FIA 105  Arts and Ideas/Honors
FIA 200  Survey of Asian Art/Honors
FRE 201  French III/Honors
GEO 155 The Natural Environment/Honors
GEO 219  American Diversity and Unity/Honors
HST 200 American Slavery, Its Abolition and the Law/Honors
HST 210  The Ancient World/Honors
HST 221  Social History of American Education/Honors
ITA 101  Italian I/Honors
MAX 123  Critical Issues for the United States/Honors
MAX 132  Global Community/Honors
NEU 211  Introduction to Neuroscience/Honors
PAF 101  Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
PHI 109  Introduction to Philosophy/Honors
PSC 139  International Relations/Honors
PSY 209  Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
PSY 315  Drugs and Human Behavior/Honors
SPA 101  Intensive Spanish I/Honors
SPA 102  Intensive Spanish II/Honors
SPA 201  Intensive Spanish III/Honors
WRT 109  Writing Studio I/Honors
 
 

For courses that have honors discussion sections, honors students should register both for the lecture and for the honors discussion section, unless otherwise indicated.

CAS 300 Three Figures/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001: T 6:00-8:45pm, 113 Eggers, 21091
Professors Rogan Kersh and Holly Greenberg

Access to this course available by invited application only.  For more information students should contact Judy O'Rourke.

This is the first half of a general chemistry course for students with strong science interests.  The emphasis is on quantitative, physical and inorganic chemistry, with reference to application in current research.  Students should register for this Honors course and an Honors lab.  The course is worth four credits including lab.  High-school courses in chemistry and introductory calculus recommended, but not required.

An introduction to chemical laboratory techniques.  Experiments are designed to provide an understanding of physical measurements of chemical systems.  Topics include surface tension and viscosity, molecular weight determination, polymer synthesis, thermodynamics of gases and solutions, chemical equilibrium, biochemical isolation and molecular absorption spectroscopy.  General principles underlying the experiments are emphasized.

This course will deal with the analysis and simple design of electric circuits.  Circuits will consist of interconnected resistive and reactive elements together with both independent and dependent sources.  Loop and node methods of analysis will be used along with circuit reduction techniques and source transformations.  The course will include transient and sinusoidal steady state circuit analysis.  Power and energy considerations are dealt with in residential and other single-phase circuits as well as three-phase distribution systems.

Honors students will receive instruction and hands-on experience with circuit analysis and simple design using the circuit simulation tool, Electronics Workbench.  Students will learn to build and test circuits from assigned problems, thereby dealing with many key aspects of the electronics laboratory environment, with emphasis on instrumentation.  Note:  This course will count for credit in the College of Engineering.  It will not count as A&S credit.

Whether we're looking at stretch pants, "Friends," Britney Spears wannabes, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the Olympics, our political system, or the economy, popular culture is all around us, influencing how we think, act, choose, look, vote, and live our lives, perhaps now more than ever given the internet's reach.  Learning to think about it and analyze it critically may be one of the more important lessons you learn this year.  This course will serve as an introduction to central issues in and approaches to recent American pop culture.  The theoretical approaches used in the course will be semiotics, feminism, and cultural studies.  We will look at TV, film, public space, advertising, popular music, and cyberculture and examine how factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, and sexuality are controlled by and repackaged through these sites and why.  Pop culture is serious business.  We'll do it justice.

The class is capped at 20.  It meets during a time when most of us like to have a meal.  We'll eat at the break.  Popular culture may captivate us, but literally starve for it, we won't.

Texts:  Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers (Maasik and Solomon); Freaks Talk Back (Gamson); and a study of media representations of race and class to be decided.  When I assign a TV show or a film, it will be put on reserve in Bird Library or you may rent and watch.

Requirements:  Active participation (attitude counts! So does your presence).  Occasional quiz.  Three short papers (2-4pp each) and a final project.  Papers might well include analysis of an ad, a critical study of fan websites, a film or TV show review, analysis of two alternative culture sites, or a study of mall layout and content.  A final project could be a pop culture web page, a proposal to a press for a reader in popular culture, a zine of your own, or an extra cool comic series parodying the worst! in popular culture today.  Explicit guiding questions and instructions will be provided for all assignments.

Description: During the 90s the United States was a nation riven by apocalyptic anxieties.  The proliferation of apocalyptic narratives/rhetoric/visions/anxieties was easily documented in the popular culture: consider, for example, shows like The X-Files (and short-lived and unpopular Millennium), movies like Independence Day, Terminator 2, Twelve Monkeys, Virus; in the media and policy circles focus on genocides, ethnic cleansings, terrorism, threat analysis, environmental catastrophes and the break-down of the social fabric; in booming 'fringe' culture that considers UFOs, alien invasion, psychic abilities and government cover-ups credible phenomena; in communities of colors' charges that the government has unleashed a genocidal campaign of crack, AIDS and incarceration against them; in cult activity like the Heaven's Gate suicides and Aum Shinrikyo nerve gas attacks in Japan and David Koresh's millenarian last-stand in Waco; and in the rise of militant right-wing anti-government militia organizations which rely on fiercely apocalyptic (and deeply racist and anti-Semitic) narratives to describe themselves and their goals; a movement made infamous by the Oklahoma City bombing, which was supposed to have triggered a genocidal race war between Whites and people of color.

But were these (to quote Tricky) simply Pre-Millennial Tensions, no longer relevant now that the New Millennium has safely arrived?  Or do these apocalyptic anxieties have their roots in older narratives, in histories-both actual and imagined-which are not so easily dismissed?  How have past genocides, past apocalypses influenced our nation's present-day reality?  (What does the End of the World mean to those communities that have already experienced it?)  What do these narratives reveal about those of us who fear, imagine and maintain them?  And why is it that the United States, like its imagined antecedents Rome and Jerusalem, appears so susceptible to the virus of the apocalyptic imagination?

And then there is the question of 9/11.

In this course we will examine the apocalyptic vision in a selection of North American texts (with the inclusion of an occasional rouge English-language writer from abroad).  Our ultimate goal is (A) to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of these narrative impulses and (B) to explore their significance within the broader context of American literature, history and identity.  Issues of race, religion, gender, sexuality, self/other dichotomy, colonialism and genocide will be prioritized.

This course is primarily a survey of key concepts and works of painting, sculpture, and architecture from the prehistoric period through the High Renaissance and Mannerist periods. Emphasis is on art as a reflection of its historical context as well art as aesthetic object.  Works of music and literature that parallel major developments in art will be briefly considered. The course requirements consist of  three exams, occasional short writing/discussion assignments, and one paper based on the student's choice of a work from a mini-exhibition set up for us at Lowe Gallery.  There will be at least one excursion on or near campus.

The survey of Asian Art will cover major masterpieces of Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Art from prehistoric times to the present, bringing these ancient and traditional works "up to date" in the latter part of the course by considering both their relevance to the work of contemporary Asian artists as well as their influence on modern and contemporary artists in the West.  The French were among the first to appreciate Asian art- as evidenced by 18th-century chinoiserie and 19th-century japonisme.  The course will also consider the differences between Eastern and Western aesthetics.  There may be a day trip to Cornell University's Johnson Museum.

This is an advanced intermediate-level intensive language course for students who have completed the basic skills requirement in French or students placed into this level.  In addition to providing intense conversation practice and grammar review, it also serves as a transitional course between language and introductory literature courses.  The use of films, video, and guest speakers will augment regular assignments.

"A landscape...can best be understood and given human significance by poets who have their feet set in concrete -- concrete data -- and by scientists whose heads and hearts have not lost the capacity for wonder."  (-- E. Abbey, 1977)

In this class, we set out to combine some scientific knowledge with (hopefully) a sense of wonder about our natural environment.  The course will examine the major natural systems within the environment:  climate, vegetation, soils, water, and landforms.  The processes and environmental interactions that shape these systems will be stressed, and we will look at the varying processes and forms found in different environments.  We will be particularly interested in explaining the distribution of natural features around the earth.  Attention will be given to the problems that can arise in the interaction between human activity and "natural systems."  We will combine lectures, slides and films with discussions based on reading about examples of human-environment interactions.

Discussion of the ethnic and racial interactions which influenced American culture's present form, both visible [i.e., landscape] and invisible.  Study of contemporary sociocultural changes in three regions:  the Frontier/the West/Alaska; Southern California; the South.

The course focuses on the legal issues involving slavery in the thirty years leading up to the Civil War when the never ending stream of fugitive slaves kept things simmering as the courts from the United States Supreme Court right on down  struggled to resolve the irresolvable.  The slave revolts on the Amistad and the Creole were world news and the legal aspects of these cases stirred things up at home, as did the censure "trial" of John Quincy Adams before the House of Representatives. In the meantime the courts and legislatures in the southern states continued to construct and interpret the  criminal and civil law of slavery as if there were no questions as to its legitimacy.  Permeating the whole was the legal, political and very public debate as to the meaning of the subtle and not so subtle references to slavery in the Federal Constitution (which carefully avoided even mention of the word) .   Employing both primary and secondary sources, the law of slavery and its abolition will be studied in its historical context with an eye on the litigants, attorneys, judges, abolitionists and politicians so as to infuse the legal issues with the vitality they had a century and a half ago.

The course is taught by a practicing lawyer, former New York State judge and a long time Adjunct Professor at Syracuse Law School, who has lectured and written on the subject of American slavery and its abolition.

This course surveys the history of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, and explores the classical roots of modern civilization. We will begin with the first civilizations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the roots of western religion in ancient Israel; then proceed through the Bronze Age, archaic and classical Greece, the Persian wars, the trial of Socrates, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic world, the rise of Rome, and end with the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of Christianity. The course will treat political, social, cultural, religious and intellectual history. We will focus on issues that the ancients themselves considered important - good and bad government, the duties of citizens and the powers of kings and tyrants - but we will also examine those who were marginalized by the Greeks and Romans: women, slaves, so-called "barbarians." The course will emphasize reading and discussion of primary sources, in order to provide a window into the thought-worlds and value systems of past societies.

This course counts as Humanities Basic List and is also Writing-Intensive.  It may be combined with either HST 211 or HST 212 to form a sequence for purposes of Liberal Arts Core requirements and also for the History Major.

The Honors Section will meet for two hours a week (in addition to two hours of lecture) and will require more active participation and engagement from students.  Honors students will have some additional reading, covering both primary sources and major historiographical debates.  They will spend the last month of the course working on a research paper (15-20pp), the topic chosen in consultation with instructor.  syllabus for course   syllabus for honors section

This course investigates the institutions assigned to carry out the tasks of education as the economic and social orders and the population changed.  It will also assess the social and economic consequences of American educational choices and consider whether education is an independent or dependent force in society.  There is no required textbook.  Students will read original sources and historical interpretations.

This is an introductory course for students with no functional ability in Italian, recommended for students who have previously studied a foreign language other than Italian.  In this proficiency-based course, there will be ample opportunity to accelerate the acquisition of listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.  CLass activities are communicative and interactive and conducted in Italian.  Video and multi-media computer work are an integral part of this course.

The course is highly structured.  Classes meet Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for 75 minutes, class attendance is obligatory, and there is a two-hours per week lab requirement.  Testing consists of unannounced quizzes, chapter tests, a written and oral midterm, and a final.

This team-taught course considers significant, contemporary issues in American politics and policy from an interdisciplinary perspective.  Although our focus is current, the context for our consideration will be the timeless, enduring questions confronted by all societies and nations:  what is fair, what is effective, and how do we navigate inevitable trade-offs between competing values?  The issues we examine concern citizenship and the political process, the economy, education, and the distribution and uses of our national resources.  We will employ specific cases within these broad areas, and our readings will be based on these cases, in addition to more general overviews.

MAX 123 is a required course for the Policy Studies major.  For more information see:  http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/max123/maxindex.htm

MAX 123 and MAX 132 may be counted toward the Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum
divisional requirement in the Social Sciences.  These courses may be taken in sequence,
(either course may be taken first) or with other courses as listed in the Core Guidebook under
Interdepartmental Sequences in the Social Sciences.  Both courses also meet the Writing
Intensive and Critical Reflections requirements.

The course is designed to help you become informed about globalization and its consequences. Four units make up the course. The first begins with a general look at globalization and how it seems to be reshaping our world. We then examine the free trade notion that is so much at the center of disputes surrounding globalization. The second unit is concerned with globalization's impacts on everyday life, as represented by the workplace, domestic arrangements, and consumption habits. In the third unit we'll look at three case studies to see how globalization has generated responses that favor both wider political unity and disunity. The final unit is devoted to globalization and protest movements -- why it's spawned them and how they in turn use it to their advantage.

MAX 132 is a required course for the International Relations major.  For more information see:
http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/max132/

MAX 123 and MAX 132 may be counted toward the Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum
divisional requirement in the Social Sciences.  These courses may be taken in sequence,
(either course may be taken first) or with other courses as listed in the Core Guidebook under
Interdepartmental Sequences in the Social Sciences.  Both courses also meet the Writing
Intensive and Critical Reflections requirements.

This course will explore foundations of neurobiology beginning with cellular neurobiology, moving on to integrative systems and ending with higher brain functions. Emphasis will be on understanding of nervous system operation through lectures, discussion and demonstrations.  We will explore such questions as:  Can dogs see color?  Is there a cure for jet lag?  Can computers replace brains?  What causes a migraine headache?  Why are more men color blind than women?  Can you view the inside of the human brain as it works?  Do cats see better than you do?  Why does a bird change its song?  Is your eye like a camera?  Prerequisite:  high school biology and chemistry.

This course will focus on techniques widely used by government, business, and public communications to evaluate public policy as well as their application to a problem area selected from research activities of Syracuse faculty in social sciences and professional schools.  The Honors section will identify problems on campus and in the community and apply the skills in the course to ameliorate those problems.  They will complete the written work required for the non-honors portion of the course.  Work in the Honors section will include participation in the weekly meeting and working on action projects outside of class.

This will be a topical introduction to philosophy:  we will learn what a philosophical problem is, and what methods philosophers use to solve such problems, by attempting to answer several (three or four) philosophical questions.  The approach will be analytical rather than historical:  we'll be focused more on the truth of the matter than on what X, Y, or Z said about it.  Possible topics include:  personal identity over time, the mind-body problem, the existence of God, skepticism about the external world, and time-travel.

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of international politics.  In part one, we will explore a number of perennial debates concerning the role of power, order, and ethics in international relations.  In part two, we will look at global changes currently under way from a host of conventional and non-conventional approaches.  This will range from a radical critique of U.S. foreign policy to a primer on how to prepare for the twenty-first century.  Some of the questions we will entertain in this course are as follows:  How is order maintained in the contemporary nation-state based system?  Who benefits from it?  Are there any desirable and feasible alternatives to the present system?  Where (if at all) do norms for moral behavior fit in the relations among states?  Can the nation-states deal in an efficacious manner with present and emerging global economic forces and trends?  Will the global economy homogenize the world in the next century?

This course fulfills the introductory requirements for all additional coursework in psychology.  It is designed to give the student a comprehensive overview of the field of psychology, and will cover some of the following topics:  history of psychology, the human nervous system, learning and conditioning, emotion and motivation, developmental psychology, social psychology, perception, personality, and diagnosis and treatment of behavior disorders.  Course will include discussion and field-based observation.

This course is about drugs that affect behavior.  Everything about those drugs--their history, mechanisms of action, their effects on the nervous system, their uses and abuses, their objective and subjective effects, their short- and long-term effects, and their side effects--is covered.  These drugs include chemicals like alcohol, sedatives, minor and major tranquilizers, stimulants, narcotic analgesics, and hallucinogens.  The honors discussion group participates in individualized topical research projects.

Register for section M002, and section M003 will auto-enroll.

This is an introductory course for students with no functional ability in Spanish, recommended for students who have previously studied a foreign language, other than Spanish.  In this proficiency based course, there will be ample opportunity to accelerate the acquisition of listening, reading, writing and speaking skills.  Class activities are communicative and interactive and conducted in Spanish.  Video and multi-media computer work are an integral part of this course.

This is a continuing course for students who have successfully completed SPA 101 or students with several years of high school study of Spanish.  Small class size provides for ample opportunity to develop and reinforce listening, reading, writing and speaking skills at the Intermediate level.  Class activities are communicative and interactive and conducted in Spanish.  Video and multi-media computer work are an integral part of this course.

This is an intermediate level class which reinforces intermediate level skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking while moving students towards the Advanced level of proficiency.  All essential language structures are reviewed and recycled.  Authentic texts, both literary and informational, and sophisticated cultural materials serve as the context.  Class activities are communicative and interactive and conducted in Spanish.  Video and multi-media computer work are an integral part of this course.

This course is the Honors equivalent of Studio 1.  Student writers investigate and design writing processes and practice an array of informal writing strategies that strengthen learning and composing.  They sharpen their critical edges as readers, writers, and thinkers.  The studio classroom forms an active intellectual community collaboratively pursuing a common topic of inquiry by unraveling complex texts, arguing relevant issues, and researching key problems.  Born out of this work is students' keen sense of themselves as developing writers within the University, writers who are skilled at assessing and revising their writing both in and outside the studio classroom.