Spring 2005 Honors Courses

Spring 2005 Registration Information
Spring 2005 Seminars

CHE 119/139 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors - CHE 139 M001 CLOSED
ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors
ECN 310 Economics in History: Women 1920-1960/Honors
ETS 145 Reading Popular Culture/Honors - CLOSED
ETS 236 Classics of World Literature II/Honors
FIA 106 Arts and Ideas II/Honors
GEO 155 The Natural Environment/Honors
HNR 260/WSP 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement - CLOSED
HNR 260/PSC 200 Constitutional Democracy in America
HNR 340 Beginning Play Writing/Honors
HNR 340 Evolving Law and Contemporary Society/Honors
HNR 360/HST 382 Introduction to Law/Honors
HST 382 Introduction to Law/Honors
ITA 102 Italian II/Honors
LIT 227 Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn/Honors
MAX 123 Critical Issues for the U.S./Honors
MAX 132 Global Community/Honors
NEU 211 Introduction to Neuroscience/Honors - CLOSED
PAF 101 Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
PHI 109 Introduction to Philosophy/Honors
PHI 209 Introduction to Moral Philosophy/Honors
PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
REL 114 The Bible/Honors
REL 156 Christianity/Honors
SPA 201 Spanish III/Honors
SPA 202 Spanish IV/Honors
WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors - M060, M260, M300 CLOSED
WSP 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement

HONORS COURSES:

CHE 119 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors
3 credits
Lec M001: MWF 10:40-11:35, #31545
Professor Karin Ruhlandt-Senge

Chemistry 119 is a general chemistry course intended for honors students or students who expect to major in chemistry or a related discipline and for students with a strong background in science. Topics included this semester are physical aspects of chemistry. We will discuss in detail the differences between the different states of matter, gases, liquids and solids, talk about various aspects of equilibria, understand the speed of a chemical reaction when we discuss chemical kinetics, and end the semester with a short insight into descriptive chemistry, when we discuss the chemistry of the s and p block elements and look at some aspects of transition metal chemistry. Many aspects of the material discussed in CHE106/109 will be the basis for this course.

This class should be taken together with a laboratory class, Chemistry 139, a one credit course. Please note that grading for CHE 119 and CHE 139 are completely independent.

CHE 139 General Chemistry Lab/Honors
1 credit
Lab M001: W 2:15-5:15 pm, #31546 Closed
Professor Karin Ruhlandt-Senge
Lab M002: T 2:00-5:00 pm, #36509
Professor Karin Ruhlandt-Senge

CHE 139, taught concurrently with CHE 422/622, is a laboratory course accompanying the lecture, CHE 119. This course is an introduction into chemical laboratory techniques. Groups consisting of CHE 139 and CHE 422/622 (Advanced Inorganic Chemistry) students will be conducting original research. Activities will include a literature search, writing a research proposal, conducting the proposed research, and summarizing the results in a paper and a research presentation. Techniques will encompass modern synthetic methods (inert gas techniques), and a variety of analytical and physical methods typically not available to General Chemistry students such as IR, NMR, UV-Vis, X-ray crystallography.

ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors
3 credits
Section M001: MW 8:00-9:20, #37557
Professor Timothy Smeeding

This course has as its goal the understanding of the rudiments of economic theory and its application to public policy problems. As an introduction to the economic way of thinking and the tools of applied economics, this course applies the scientific method to the analysis of the question: How do individuals, firms and society, via government, make choices in the face of scarcity? The course develops a model of production, distribution and consumption in a modern society based on exchange through markets. It moves to an investigation of the economic rationale for government and public policy. The course reveals the workings of a market-oriented economy and illuminates economic policy debates in such areas as health care, inequality, poverty, discrimination, trade policy and education. There are no course prerequisites.

ECN 310 Economics in History: Women 1920-1960/Honors
3 credits
Section M001: MW 12:45-2:05, #39312
Professor Jerry Evensky

The course will be a research seminar. We will explore the question: How do economic forces relate to the unfolding human events? Do they drive those events - economic determinism?, or are they one dimension of a much more complex process? If the latter, what is the relationship of economic forces to those of the social and political dimensions of society? Women's experience during the period in question offers a wonderful case study within which to explore these issues. Prerequisite: ECN 101 and 102 or ECN 203 and consent of the instructor

ETS 145 Reading Popular Culture/Honors
3 credits
Section M002: MW 2:15-3:35, #36447 - Closed
Professor Mary Elizabeth Strunk

The outlaw woman has often served as a foil against which the law may assert both its own necessity and the boundaries of "normal" citizens' behavior. Like the female crime victim, the female outlaw may occupy a conflicted space in public memory - part fetish, part feminine exemplar, and part cautionary tale. This course will use popular culture artifacts to help unravel (or, at least, further illuminate) the complicated legacies of certain high profile women outlaws in the U.S. We'll study women whom the law hunted down and women who first encountered the law in court. We'll examine FBI records and official court transcripts and will compare them to stories that appeared in contemporary fiction, films, and the popular press.

This course will trace the cultural and legal legacies of a number of women, including Kate "Ma" Barker, Bonnie Parker, Kathryn Thorne Kelly, Evelyn Frechette, Caril Fugate, Ethel Rosenberg, Patty Hearst, Assata Shakur, Bernadine Dorhn, and Sara Jane Olson. It will also cover several court cases in which assumptions regarding womanhood, class, and race became integral to verdicts, including Bradwell v. United States, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire trial, the Patricia Hearst trial, the Assata Shakur trial, and the post-September 11th trial of surviving members of the 1970s Symbionese Liberation Army.

ETS 236 Classics of World Literature II/Honors
3 credits
Section M002: MW 3:45-5:05, #39156
Professor Harvey Teres

This course introduces students to a number of the most highly valued literary works from cultures around the world from the 7th century to the present. Texts will include The Koran; Dante's Inferno; the Epic of Son-Jara (from Mali); Montaigne's Essays; Cervantes' Don Quixote; Shakespeare's Othello; Moliere's Tartuffe; Goether's Faust; Austen's Pride and Prejudice; a selection of oral songs and stories from Native American, African-American, and Inuit traditions; stories by Chekhov and Borges; and selected poems by Ghalib, Baudelaire, Whitman, Dickinson, Tagore, Yeats, and Akhmatova. Each week students will hear a lecture delivered by a distinguished faculty member from one of several departments on a work related to his or her expertise. Professors Haxton and Teres will then meet twice with their individual sections to discuss the lectures and works in greater depth. They will lead students in the discussion of these readings to investigate the notion of literary merit in relation to historical context. Social and religious ramifications of these works will include questions about representations of social life, morality, and religious revelation, as well as standards of beauty and ideas about what art is and what it does. Careful attention to the interrelation of works from different cultural systems will help to elucidate the workings of cultural forces such as colonialism and imperialism in the production and reception of literature. Underlying the goals of the course is the belief that a vital part of any education must be the training of sensibility, the enlargement of the capacity for aesthetic experience, and the ability to make judgments regarding the quality of written and oral expression. We feel these must be the possessions of all citizens in a democracy, which depends upon articulate discourse by discerning participants. Moreover, as societies become increasingly interconnected on a global scale, familiarity with and appreciation for diverse histories and cultural achievements, in other words, worldliness, looms larger than ever as a vital part of an educated person's makeup.

FIA 106 Arts and Ideas II/Honors
3 credits
Honors Lec M018: TTh 2:00 3:45, #31827
Professor Sandra Chai

FIA 106 is a survey of key concepts and works of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Europe from the Baroque period through the twentieth century, and in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Emphasis is on art as a reflection of its historical context as well as aesthetic object. Works of music and literature that parallel major developments in art may be briefly considered. Course requirements include three tests, a short paper, and occasional short homework/discussion assignments. There will be at least one excursion on or near campus. Students need not have taken FIA 105.

GEO 155 The Natural Environment
3 credits
Honors Section M015: T-TH 12:30-1:50, #40008 ,Maxwell 110
Professor Jacob Bendix

This course will examine major components of our natural environment: climate; vegetation; soils; hydrology (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 also be given to the problems which can arise in the interaction between human activity and the "natural systems" that function in these environments.

HNR 260/WSP 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement
3 credits
M001: W 7:00-10:00pm, 306A Bowne, #38116 - Closed
WSP 200, Sec M001: #35938
Instructor: Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner

In the area where the woman's rights movement had its origin, we'll trace the history of its development. Field trips, videos, primary source readings and research, historical performance and story-telling/lecture will be the vehicles for our pursuit. One focus will be on tracing friendship and work networks among Central New York women and men: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Samuel J. May, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Smith Miller, James Caleb Jackson, Harriet Tubman (and others) with an attention to seeing how the interaction of these reformers shaped the movement. Another focus will be exploring the reality of the movement taking form in the land of the Haudenosaunee, the six nations of the Iroquois confederacy where women live with far greater status and authority. The legacy of radical reform in this region will provide context. Finally, we'll look for the passion of the movement. What inspired these women and their male allies to stand up to the dictates of church and state alike in their demand that the world be transformed; where did they get their courage? This course will include a visit to the Women's Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls.

HNR 260/PSC 200 Constitutional Democracy in America
3 credits
Lec M002: TTh 2:00-3:20, 113 Euclid, Room 200, #38149
Meets with PSC 200, M001, #40729
Professor Keith Bybee

This writing-intensive course examines principles and practices fundamental to the American constitutional regime. Readings include primary documents from the American founding; debates from the Civil War era; landmark Supreme Court decisions; and the work of Locke, Tocqueville, and Mill. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which theories of politics have informed the concrete controversies of American politics.

HNR 340 Beginning Playwriting
3 credits
Section M001, W F 2:15-3:35 304C Bowne # 37832
Professor Geri Clark

An introduction to playwriting for non-drama students. The course will begin with a brief study of dramatic structure, characterization, and dialogue. You will learn everything you need to write a short play. No previous drama experience required; many of the classes will be conducted as workshops.

HNR 340 Evolving Law and Contemporary Society
3 credits
Section M002, M W 3:45-5:05 # 38077
Professor Hannah Arterian, Dean of the College of Law

Law changes society and is profoundly influenced by society. In this course, several faculty members of the College of Law and other distinguished legal thinkers will approach a variety of topics related to the interaction between law and society. Dean Hannah Arterian will preside throughout the term. It is anticipated that the topics will be wide-ranging. The course will require in depth preparation and significant informed participation. In addition, a series of short papers based upon the material covered in class and the issues raised by the classroom experience will be required. Enrollment is limited. Students seeking additional information can contact Dean Arterian, at arterian@syr.edu.

HNR 360/HST 382 Introduction to Law/Honors
3 credits
Lec M002: TTh 11:00-12:20, RTBA, #38150
Meets with HST 382, M001, #57823, RTBA
Professor Christopher Kyle

This course will cover the history and traditions of English Common and Civil Law as well as elements of medieval and early modern jurisprudence. It will examine the development of the law in England , focusing upon such areas as the centralization of the legal system, the role of legal theorists (in particular, Bracton, Glanvile and Sir Edward Coke), the role of the jury in the legal process, and how common, civil and ecclesiastical law intersected with the political process. To this end we will also consider the importance of the legislature, the executive (in the form of the monarch), and the unwritten constitution of England . These aspects of legal history will allow us to explore not only significant legal cases and milestones in judicial thought, but how these events had an impact upon the thinking and institutions of American colonial society. This course is designed to be an introduction to the law from a liberal arts and historical perspective.

ITA 102 Italian II/Honors
4 credits
Lecture M005: TTh 11:30-12:50 pm in 210 Hinds and W 10:40-11:35, #37084
Instructor: Jacqueline Sorci

This is a continuing proficiency-based course which develops communicative abilities in speaking, listening, reading, and writiing in culturally authentic contexts. Activities are conducted in Italian. Prereq: ITA 101 or admission by placement testing.

LIT 227 Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn/Honors
3 credits
Lecture M002: TTh 7:00-8:20 pm, #40276, CH 321
Instructor: Patricia Burak

Two renowned Nobel Prize winners, Boris Pasternak and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, have explored the meaning of life in their great novels, Dr. Zhivago and The First Circle, the two main texts of LIT 227. In addition, students read biographies of both authors, and Solzhenitsyn's first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. We study the themes of revolution, war, communism, prison, love, family, and fidelity in the context of the life experiences of Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn and the characters of these novels. Pasternak's poetry, and Solzhenitsyn's own prison experience elevate these novels to the ranks of world famous literature. Students make oral presentations, write papers and do projects which thoroughly integrate the themes of these novels to the times in which they were written, and the reality of current times.

MAX 123 Critical Issues for the U.S./Honors
3 credits
Lec M001: M 9:00-10:25, #32264
Professor Robert McClure
Sec M004: MW 10:35-11:30, #38470 (HNR section)
Professor Pralle

MAX 123 is an interdisciplinary, team-taught course concerned with fundamental questions in American democracy. What is fair in a society dedicated to the equality of citizens? How can we effectively achieve the greatest good for the greatest number? How do we understand the relations between equality, liberty, and freedom? How do we adjust traditional concerns to accommodate for changing imperatives? What does it mean to be a citizen, both in terms of rights and responsibilities, and the creation of good public policy? These questions rest on deep historical traditions that demand our attention.
The specific occasion for our consideration of these questions is the condition of social and economic inequality in the United States. Over the past 30 years, the U. S. has been marked by a rise in economic inequality, and in comparison with most other advanced Western nations, the U. S. is more unequal. Our recent experience with inequality invites reconsiderations of economic and educational opportunity, political opportunity, access to health care, race relations, and more generally, the relations between inequality, liberty, and power. The course presumes that these questions and issues do not have obvious answers, that they are open to sustained debate and necessarily involve trade-offs, and that crafting specific policies to address social problems is the most difficult task of all.

Our method of engagement will rely in part on specific case studies embedded in broader topics, a well-established tool for learning and policy exploration. Citizenship, education, and race are the topics we will explore; the specific subjects of our deliberations are campaign financing; school choice in public education; admission to institutions of higher learning, with SU as the example; and affirmative action. Our primary resources will consist of readings of three principal types: those that delineate the cases and their issues; more general explorations of the policy areas; and broader theoretical and philosophical reflections.

More information is available on the web. MAX 123 is a required course for the Policy Studies major. 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.

MAX 132 Global Community/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001: W 9:30-10:25, Max Aud, 32274
Professor Tod Rutherford
Sec M008: MF 11:40-12:35, #32277
Professor Tod Rutherford

MAX 132 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. 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. More information is available on the web.

NEU 211 Introduction to Neuroscience/Honors
3 credits
Sec M002: TTh 3:30-4:50, #31087 - Closed
(Register for M002 only, but attend lecture T TH 11:00 - 12:20 .)
(cross-listed with BIO 211)
Professor Steven Chamberlain

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.

PAF 101 Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
3 credits
Lec M002: MWF 12:45-1:40, Maxwell Auditorium,
Honors discussion section: M003: 1:50-3:35, Maxwell 105
Register for M002 #32287 only. M003 will auto-enroll.
Professor William Coplin

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.

PHI 109 Introduction to Philosophy/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001:TTh 11:00-12:20, #37785, 304C Bowne
Professor McDaniel

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.

PHI 209 Introduction to Moral Philosophy/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001:TTh 9:30-10:50, #39319
Professor McClennan

This course will be devoted to the problem of the justification of moral beliefs (rather than a treatment of the varieties of moral theories, utilitarianism, deontological theories, etc.). We will start by looking at the early part of Plato's Republic, especially the exchange between Socrates and Glaucon, and then move through various other historical arguments, on into a consideration of the principal positions that have been defended in 20th Century Philosophy, including emotivism, skepticism, intuitionism, coherentism, and pragmatism.

PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
3 credits
Lecture M001: TTh, 5:00-6:20, 306A Bowne, #34321
Professor Gavan Duffy

This course introduces students to American politics and governance by examining the foundational principles, institutional structures, political processes, and policymaking patterns of the American system. We will evaluate the extent to which American political institutions and contemporary political processes foster or impede the efficiency and justice of political outcomes. Students will individually review and discuss in class exemplary research works that examine American politics. This course is the honors equivalent of PSC 121.

Readings will include Thomas Dye, Politics in America, and two additional volumes selected by each student with the approval of the instructor.

PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
3 credits
Section M001 TTh 8:00-9:20 a.m., 304C Bowne, #40225, Prof. Malikow
Section M002 TTh 2:00-3:20 p.m., 306A Bowne, #40226, Prof. Fontana

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.

REL 114 The Bible/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001, M-W 12:45-1:40
Register for Honors discussion section M008: F 12:45-1:40 , #39906; M001will auto-enroll.
Professor: James Watts

The Bible has been the most widely read literature in Western culture, influencing literature, law and politics as well as religious traditions. This survey of Jewish and Christian scriptures in their ancient Near Eastern and Hellenistic contexts will pay particular attention to the literary form of biblical books, their history of composition, and their role in the development of Western religions and cultures.

REL 156 Christianity/Honors
3 credits
Section M001: TTh 11:30-12:50, #39619, Room TBA
Professor: Eric Holzwarth

This course essentially asks a single question: what is Christianity? It will take us a full semester to begin to answer that question. The course is designed to help you gain a reflective understanding of the sources of the many Christian religious traditions, and of some of the pressing issues confronting those traditions. Our study will include Christian scripture, Christian thought, an examination of key moments in the history of Christianity, and an exploration of contemporary global Christianity. Christianity will not be presented as an essentially "Western" religion that has spread to many cultures. Rather, we will consider Christianity to be a constantly evolving religious phenomenon -- from its deep roots in Judaism, through the Greek and Latin origins of the church, to its European manifestations in medieval Europe, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Renewal, and its contemporary transformations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America . Throughout, we will attend to the relationship between Christianity and its cultural settings. The keystone of the course is Christianity's diversity: through an engagement with many sources within and proximate to its traditions, you will encounter the multi-dimensional nature of this important and fascinating world religion.

SPA 201 Spanish III/Honors
4 credits
Sec M008: MW 9:30-10:25 in 306A Bowne and TTh 9:30-10:50 in 306A Bowne, #34356
Instructor: Dennis Harrod

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.

SPA 202 Spanish IV/Honors
4 credits
Sec M001: TTh 9:30-10:50 and W 10:35-11:30, #32701
Instructor: Dennis Harrod

This course links the language-intensive lower division courses with the literature, culture and/or content-intensive upper-division courses of the Spanish curriculum. SPA 202 focuses on the systematic development of advanced level skills and prepares students for the increasingly diversified upper division courses. Students deal with authentic readings, both literary and informational, and with sophisticated cultural materials. SPA 202 is a pre-requisite for courses numbered 300 and above and is the first course that counts toward the major and minor.

WRT 209 WRITING STUDIO 2/HONORS
3 credits
Sec M060: MWF 11:40-12:35, 306A Bowne, #32824 - Closed
Sec M080: MW 12:45-2:05, 306A Bowne, #32825
Sec M240: TTh 11:00-12:20, 306A Bowne, #32826
Sec M260: TTh 12:30-1:50, 306A Bowne, #32827 - Closed
Sec M300: TTh 3:30-4:50, AG 210, #35145 - Closed

This course looks at the ways in which writing is rhetorical, and teaches students to use rhetoric as a writing tool. Students consider writing contextually, for particular audiences and purposes. Because Studio 2 deepens and expands the focus on college writing to various disciplines -- and even professional or cultural discourse communities outside the university -- the writing practices and interpretive skills gained in this course extend into spheres beyond the writing classroom.