Spring 2009 Honors Courses & Seminars

Honors Courses
Honors Seminars
Honors Capstone Project Seminars
Registration Information for Honors Students (reprinted from the Messenger)

Note: You may complete three one-credit 200-level seminars for a grade in lieu of one HNR course to count toward your "Breadth" requirement. (However, the seminar you use to complete the Orientation requirement cannot be one of the three.)

Courses with a HNR prefix are as follows: Humanities (x40), Natural Sciences (x50) and Social Sciences (x60).

Foreign language courses require permission from the Language Department in 340 HBC before registering.

Check start dates for seminars - many start in the second or third week of classes.

If you have other problems with registration for Honors Courses, please call our office at 443-2759 or stop by the Honors Program at 306 Bowne Hall.

Honors Courses:

CHE 119 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors
CHE 139 General Chemistry Lab/Honors
ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors FULL
ECN 310 Economics in History: Rosie the Riveter
FIA 106 Arts and Ideas II/Honors
HNR 240 Beginning Playwrighting FULL
HNR 240 Arts Without Borders
HNR 250 The Story of World Water: Sources to Sustainability FULL
HNR 255/PHY 207 Seeing Light
HNR 260/WSP 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement: Through the Letters of Matilda Joslyn Gage
HNR 260 Interrogation: Engine of Justice? FULL
HNR 260/SOL 260 Hospice Legacy Project
HNR 260/SOL 260 Elder Legacy Project
HNR 340 Performing Culture on a Global Stage FULL
HNR 340/360 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project NEW COURSE
HNR 340 Introductory Workshop in Creative Writing, Fiction FULL
HNR 340/SOL 345 Puppets and Community
HNR 340/HNR 360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display FULL
HNR 340 The Industrial Revolution and its Visual Culture NEW COURSE
HNR 350 The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome (Application Required!) NEW COURSE
HNR 360/340 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project NEW COURSE
HNR 360/HNR 340/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display FULL
HNR 360 Welcome to Your Future FULL
HNR 360/PSY 400 Toward a Physics of the Mind: Human Memory NEW COURSE
ITA 102 Italian II/Honors
LIT 227 Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn/Honors
LPP 255 Introduction to the Legal System/Honors
MAX 123 Critical Issues for the U.S./Honors
MAX 132 Global Community/Honors
PAF 101 Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
PHI 109 Introduction to Philosophy/Honors
PHY 207/HNR 255 Seeing Light
PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
PSY 393 Personality/Honors
PSY 400/HNR 360 Toward a Physics of the Mind: Human Memory
REL 101 Religions of the World
REL/JSP 114 The Bible/Honors
SPA 202 Spanish IV/Honors
WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors
WSP 200/HNR 260 History of Women's Suffrage Movement: Through the Letters of Matilda Joslyn Gage/Honors

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HONORS COURSES:

CHE 119 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors

3 credits
Lecture M001: MWF 10:35 - 11:30 a.m. #32335
Prof. Karin Ruhlandt-Senge

CHE 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, CHE 139, a one credit course. Please note that grading for CHE 119 and CHE 139 are completely independent.

CHE 119 (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

CHE 139 General Chemistry Lab/Honors
1 credit
Lab Section M001: W 2:15 - 5:15 p.m. #32336
Lab Section M002: T 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. #33595
Prof. Robert Doyle

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.

CHE 139 (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Collaboration

ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors
3 credits
Section M014: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m. #33782
Prof. Donald Dutkowsky

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 203/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

ECN 310 Economics in History: Rosie the Riveter
3 credits
Section M001: MW 12:45 - 2:05 p.m. #33989
Prof. Jerry Evensky

The objectives of this course are:

To understand two classic stories about values and choices: An economic story represented by Gary Becker's Economic Approach to Human Behavior and a social story represented by Berger and Luckmann's The Social Construction of Reality.

To thoughtfully address the following question: Do we learn to value/choose from our social context (are values/choices socially constructed?), do we determine what we value/choose based on utility maximization (are values/choices an economic optimization process?), or is value/choice determined by some combination of these?

To further develop your ability to research a topic and present your position in a persuasive paper by: Efficiently finding useful sources, taking effective and efficient notes, using the information you accumulate to imagine and develop your own representation of an answer to the question we are addressing, and developing a logical presentation of your representation.

To write a high quality research paper on values/choices using the values/choices of those women represented by image of Rosie the Riveter as your empirical base: What motivated these women to move into and then out of the traditionally male sectors of the labor market over the course of the World War II years?

ECN 310 Economics in History/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

FIA 106 Arts and Ideas II/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M018: TTh 3:30 – 4:50 p.m. #32424
Prof. 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. There will be at least one excursion on or near campus. Students need not have taken FIA 105.

FIA 106  Arts and Ideas II/Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

HNR 240 Beginning Playwrighting
3 credits
Honors Section M001: M 12:45 – 3:35 p.m. #34687
Prof. Gerardine Clark

An introduction to play writing 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; the class will be conducted as a writing workshop.

HNR 240 Beginning Playwrighting (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

HNR 240 Arts Without Borders
3 credits
Section M006: TTh 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. #35404
Instructor: William West
Course fee: $43

Syracuse can be deceptive to students whose immediate world is that of the university campus. What actually goes on in the cultural life of the community beyond? Students will answer that question by attending concerts, going to the theater, and visiting museums. This course not only opens the door to Syracuse's rich cultural life, but also suggests fresh possibilities for students who want to broaden their cultural horizons. In addition to the performances, there will be opportunities to attend rehearsals, go behind the scenes of a show or concert, and have visiting actors, directors and musicians address the class. The course is also designed to help students think and write critically about what they observe, and so become informed members of an audience and of the community in which they will eventually live. Some may aspire to become professional critics or see performance and art criticism as an avocation to be pursued alongside their professional careers. Students will attend the Symphony, Syracuse Stage, one Musical Theatre event, and the Everson Museum, and there will be various options with regard to other cultural activities both on and off campus, including Dance, Drama, Vocal and Instrumental Concerts (Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rock), Exhibitions (Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Photography, etc.), Ethnic Cultural Presentations (such as the Korean Dance and Drum Ensemble), and special Schine Center events. Course counts as Writing Intensive for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 240 Arts Without Borders (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

HNR 250 The Story of World Water: Sources to Sustainability
3 credits
Honors Section M002: MW 2:15 – 3:35 p.m. #41330
Prof. Don Siegel

This course deals with water in all its forms, permutations of use, and threats to its availability -- on a global scale. We will study all aspects of the world’s water: its origin, fundamental physics and chemistry; how it moves globally and locally in the hydrologic cycle, how humans and ecosystems use it, and how changing water availability and use in the future may impact economies, and legal and political systems.  The course provides a serious analysis of an emerging world and local societal problem: having enough water for humans and ecosystems both.

Students will also serve as jurors and mock reporters for the Post Standard at an all-day simulated trial on the last Saturday of the semester, an exercise which is the culmination of the work done by students in a Law School course on Environmental Trial Law and a graduate course on aqueous geochemistry. The “Civil Action” for the case involves contaminated water and who is responsible for it. 

Written work will include preparing scientific abstracts, letters to the editor of the New York Times, brief consulting reports, and a legal opinion.   Student presentations will be also be in multiple formats, including a15-minute presentation, and perhaps oral testimony in the simulated court hearing, or a debate on water resource allocation.

We will take at least one and probably two mandatory field trips related to water.  One may involve a trip on a Saturday or Sunday, perhaps with an overnight stay.  Trips may include sampling water for quality and chemical composition, visits to water supply and treatment facilities, tours of electric and possibly nuclear power generation facilities to look at non-consumptive use issues, and a wetland trip. There will, of course, be a water tasting event as well. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

No prerequisites.

HNR 250 The Story of World Water (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

• Interdisciplinarity

HNR 255/PHY 207 Seeing Light
3 credits
Honors Section M001: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m. #41024
Prof. Alan Middleton
Course fee:  $40

Can also be taken as PHY 207; see below.

This is an Honors course on the science of light. The goal is to change how students "see": they will think about light and vision in a deeper way after taking this course. The course will provide a broad overview of concepts of light, color, vision, and uses of light. The study of light ranges from our everyday experience of vision, to the more abstract, such as understanding light as both a wave and a particle. The audience can include students in any major or school and a broad range of students have taken this course: all that is required is an interest in color, vision, and light.

The course includes discussion sections, integrated lab work with simple equipment, and external activities. The external activities might include presentations on color by an expert in textiles, a visit to Syracuse Stage to discuss lighting, and a visit to Holden Observatory to use the telescope there.

The course starts with an historical look at theories of light and vision. It then addresses more modern theories and uses of light: waves, photons, and a bit of quantum mechanics. Applications of this knowledge could include understanding how computer monitors display color, explaining visual effects in nature (rainbows and mirages), color blindness, explaining the limits of spy satellites, and reviewing what light tells us about the history of the universe. The content includes a brief introduction to relativity: light is a central clue to demonstrating that time is closely related to space.

A central part of the course will be laboratory work. These laboratory experiments can be done in the classroom and as take-home assignments, and include pinhole cameras, mirrors, lenses, color mixing, prisms and diffraction gratings, polarizing filters, pinhole diffraction, and vision. These experiments will show how scientific theories evolve and are reinforced.

There are no science prerequisites, but we will use algebra and trigonometry. This course has been approved by the College of Arts and Sciences as a lab science. Some schools and colleges (e.g. Newhouse) may require that you file a petition with them to use it as a lab science. Check with your home school or college.

HNR 255/PHY 207 Seeing Light (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

HNR 260/WSP 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement: Through the Letters of Matilda Joslyn Gage
3 credits
Honors Section M001: W 7:00-10:00 p.m. #33814
Instructor: Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner

Can also be taken as WSP 200; see below

In the area where the woman's rights movement had its origin, we'll trace the history of its development.  Videos, field trips, readings, individual research, practical experience, web searches, and classroom lecture/ discussions will be the vehicles for our pursuit.  The foreground focus will be on Matilda Joslyn Gage, a woman equally important with her more recognized counterparts, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. She will be the lens through which we explore the backdrop, the standard historical analysis of 19th century U.S. feminism.  Students will learn about Gage through primary sources, primarily her correspondence, which has never been published.  Veteran feminist activist Dr. Wagner will provide contrasting reflections from her experience in the 1960-70’s second wave of feminism.  Requirements include a public presentation at the Matilda Joslyn Gage Home in Fayetteville based on a project to present the ideas and issues of Matilda Joslyn Gage to the world.  

We will explore:

• why Gage got written out of history by challenging religious fundamentalists and their effort to destroy religious freedom;
• the campaign of non-violent civil disobedience for the vote which Gage masterminded;
• her influence on her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum’s writing of his 14-volume Oz books;
• how the woman’s rights movement took form in the territory of the Haudenosaunee, the six nations of the Iroquois confederacy, where women live with far greater status and authority than in the non-native world.  

The legacy of radical reform in this region will provide a context for understanding the woman’s movement. 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?  How did they hold up under the ridicule, resistance and backlash?  What were they like personally?  Letters tell that story.

You’ll also have an opportunity to be part of the creation of history as, working in partnership with the other students, you will read and interpret the unpublished writings of Matilda Joslyn Gage.  Your work will be part of the process of preparing these writings for publication.  You will play an integral part in writing this woman back into history as you study about her.  

This course will include a visit to the Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetteville, the Women's Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls and the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core. Course counts as Writing Intensive for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 260 History of Women's Suffrage Movement (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Collaboration

• Public Presentation

HNR 260 Interrogation: Engine of Justice?
3 credits
Honors Section M003: Th 5:00 – 7:50 p.m. #35238
Instructor: Kevin P. Kuehner

This course will explore the impact of modern psychological interrogation to induce criminal confessions.  Students will critically analyze the role of confessions within the American criminal justice system.  Legal case studies will be used to facilitate discussion and students will interact with professionals in the field of criminal justice.   The course will begin with a brief examination of other forms of evidence and their relative merits, and will move into a deep exploration of the huge reliance of prosecutors on confessions. Students will discuss the “super evidence” status of confessions and the safeguards in American jurisprudence to ensure interrogation does not violate fundamental rights.  Topics covered in this course will include:  the judicial standards for identifying and prohibiting coercive interrogation; the distinction between physical and psychological coercion; and the implications of that distinction.  To succeed in the course students will need to be highly engaged in group discussion and class projects and presentations. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 260 Interrogation: Engine of Justice? (with a grade of “B” or better) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

HNR 260/SOL 260 Hospice Legacy Project
3 credits
Honors Section M005: MW 2:15 - 3:35 p.m. #34707
Instructor: Peter Sarver
This course has very limited availability.

Can also be taken as SOL 260 M001, #34445 (also counts as HNR course)

Would you like to use your artistic talents to create a family treasure? Hospice of Central New York provides quality care for people with a terminal illness. This project celebrates the lives of our patients. It will link students with patients and families. Students will work collaboratively with Hospice care team members to help patients document their life experiences and tell the stories that have shaped their lives to provide the gift of a "Legacy"; capturing and celebrating a life. Students will have the opportunity to spend time with patients and families, getting to know them in a unique way, to hear the events, experiences and reflections that have formed their life. Students will creatively capture this story via photographs, video, a written journal, memory books or collage. There's no limit to your imagination! This will truly be a life changing experience for both patients and students.

HNR 260 Hospice Legacy Project, and the SOL section with which it is cross-listed (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Collaboration

• Civic Engagement

HNR 260/SOL 260 Elder Legacy Project
3 credits
Honor Section M007: MW 2:15 – 3:35 p.m. #35372
Instructor: Peter Sarver
This course has very limited availability

Can also be taken as SOL 260 M005, #35369 (also counts as HNR course)

Students use their academic, writing, and/or artistic talents to create a family treasure and work with a unique group of people who have experienced life in many ways. Students work with elderly residents and families collaboratively to help them document their life experiences and tell the stories that have shaped their lives to provide the gift of a "Legacy"; capturing and celebrating a life. Students will have the opportunity to spend time with the elderly participants and families (depending upon circumstances). Students will creatively capture their stories via writings, photographs, videos, journals, memory books/collages, or in other fashions. The experiences are also enriched by a seminar series presented by professional with expertise in related fields.

HNR 260 Elder Legacy Project, and the SOL sections with which it is cross-listed (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Collaboration

• Civic Engagement

HNR 340 Performing Culture on a Global Stage
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 3:30 – 4:50 p.m. #35002
Prof. Carol Babiracki
 
The inspiration and point of departure for this seminar is the spring 2009 residency at SU of the dancer, visual artist, and choreographer (2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony) Shen Wei and his New York-based dance company.  Our exploration of his work and the cross-cultural experiences, thought, and creative choices that shape his artistic vision will lead us to larger issues of cultural representation, arts criticism, politics and diplomacy, sensory perception, and embodied knowledge.  Along the way, we will engage and challenge our own visual, verbal, musical, and kinetic sensibilities through a series of active, performative encounters across cultures and beyond.  There will be several opportunities to interact directly with members of the Shen Wei company. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 340 Performing Culture on a Global Stage (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Interdisciplinarity

• Global Awareness (Non-Eurocentric)

HNR 340/360 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project  
3 credits
Honors Section M002: TTh 11:00 – 12:20 p.m. #35005   
Prof. Karl Solibakke

Philosopher Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project is a landmark text of nineteenth century modernism that provides a fascinating window onto Paris as an emerging European urban culture in the late 19th century.  Transforming geographic space into a matrix of text, Benjamin explores the residue of early contemporary cityscapes and maps out an allegorical blueprint for bourgeois cultural memory. The arcades, glass-covered shopping and bourgeois recreation areas, become testimonies for a discernible moment in the continuum of European cultural history.  Their disappearance heralded the passing of 19th century collective memory as the 20th century began to reconfigure urban modernity.  

Benjamin’s wide-ranging interests include Freud and psychoanalysis, Marxist criticism, contemporary literature, and of course, philosophy.   His urban visions are a prime example of the intricate role that textual artifacts, dreams and cultural models can play as we re-think “the urban.”  In essence, the delusions of the Parisian bourgeoisie, its inclination to sink into a dreamlike stupor during the formative years of the capitalist social order, had catastrophic consequences for the twentieth century, made manifest by two world wars within the space of a generation as well as the ecological ravages wrought by rampant industrialization and squandering finite natural resources.

This course investigates the Arcades Project from the perspective of Benjaminian cultural commentary, reflecting on the philosophical, sociological, topographical, economic, and aesthetic implications of tracing urban modernity back to its nineteenth century roots. What emerges is the recognition that nineteenth century urban modernity stands at the core of today’s global network.   

HNR 340/360 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Interdisciplinarity

HNR 340 Introductory Workshop in Creative Writing, Fiction
3 credits
Honors Section M003: W 12:45 - 3:35 p.m. #35362
Prof. Phil LaMarche

“I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one.”
                        --Flannery O’Connor

In this course we will analyze the multiple ways a short story can be written. Although it is impossible to teach you to be a great writer, it is possible to teach you the ways in which published writers have organized their thoughts and ideas onto the page. I will challenge you to value the sentences in a story, not just the characters and plot. Fine writers take the time to sharpen every word.
 
We will read and study the elements of style that have become canonized and seek to understand particular values inherent in important writing. In addition to composing your own texts, you will also read and respond to other stories from The Art of The Short Story, edited by Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn, available at the S.U. Bookstore. You will write several short exercises and one longer story which will be turned in and discussed by the class as a whole.  This longer story will be revised and worked on throughout the course and at the end of the semester each student will resubmit a final draft of the piece.

You will also analyze and critique your peers’ work and published stories.  You will be required to write at least 350 meaningful/helpful/important words of feedback for each story we discuss. Remember that your writing will be shared and scrutinized—don’t turn in anything that you’re not prepared to discuss, change, or reconsider. Course counts as Writing Intensive for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 340 Introductory Workshop in Creative Writing, Fiction (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

HNR 340/SOL 345 Puppets and Community
3 credits
Honors Section M004: Th 2:00 - 4:45 p.m. #35402
Instructor: Geoffrey Navias

Can also be taken as SOL 345 M001, #34928 (also counts as an HNR course)

Puppets and Community” is an active hands-on course explores the role of art in the formation of community in human societies. This grassroots approach involves SU students with the internationally famous Open Hand Theater. Students will design, build and operate giant puppets.
 
This year’s collaborative project is working with the 5th grade of an inner city elementary school, creating and performing a large-scale puppetry pageant.

This class seeks to involve students from a wide range of disciplines. The willingness to experiment, be creative, and be involved are important attributes. Aspects of arts in education and professionally working with children and creativity will be explored. The Soling Program is a team-based collaborative, problem-based learning environment that emphasizes active learning. The program prepares undergraduates for both advanced study and future employment by encouraging them to develop problem solving, conflict resolution, presentation, and technical skills while working on a project for the University and the local community.

Times for working in the elementary school and rehearsals will be arranged.

HNR 340/SOL 345 Puppets and Community (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Collaboration

• Civic Engagement

HNR 340/HNR 360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival and Public Display
3 credits
HNR 340 M005: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m. #35453
Prof. Felicia McMahon

Can also be taken as SOL 360 M004, #34977 or HNR 360 M002, #35124

The goal of this interactive course is to design a community folk arts festival component for Mayfest 2009. Students begin by interviewing traditional artists and exploring aesthetics in everyday life, i.e. those group experiences created by humans that are regarded as aesthetically pleasing to a particular community. Our emphasis will be on the process of recontextualization and hands-on collaborative projects in which students work as teams to plan and implement a folk arts festival. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival and Public Display (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

• Collaboration

• Civic Engagement

HNR 340  The Industrial Revolution and Its Visual Culture
3 credits
Section M006: Th 5:00 – 7:45 p.m. #41737
Prof. Edward Aiken

In 1829 an event took place in England that we might consider modest, but which changed the course of human history:  a commercial railroad train ran successfully between two cities, Liverpool and Manchester. An employee of the railroad recognized the profound importance of this event and noted:

"The most striking result produced by the completion of this railway is the sudden and marvelous [sic] change which has been effected [in] our ideas of time and space. Notions which we have received from our ancestors, and verified by our own experience, are overthrown in a day . . . . Speed, dispatch, distance ­ are still relative terms, but their meaning has been totally changed . . . what was quick is now slow; what was distant is now near."

The railroad was but one of a host of extraordinary technological developments produced by the Industrial Revolution during the 19th Century. Drawing upon a wide range of material from the paintings of such artists as Turner, Whistler and Monet to the writings of such authors as Wordsworth, Dickens, Conrad and Conan Doyle, we will view the Industrial Revolution through the rich visual culture it produced.  Students will also be encouraged to look beyond the history of "high culture" production to consider such areas as photography, architecture and popular culture.  While this course will place a special emphasis on London, we will also examine selected works produced by artists working in and around Paris in the 19th Century.

The course will require group presentations and a research paper. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 340  The Industrial Revolution and Its Visual Culture (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Interdisciplinary

HNR 350 The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome (Application Required!)
3 Credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 9:30-10:50 a.m. #41173
Prof. Chris Johnson

The strength and durability of the Roman Republic and Empire were facilitated by the development of a sophisticated infrastructure.  The ability to move food, water, and treasure over large distances allowed the Romans to develop and sustain a quality of life that after their fall would not be duplicated for centuries.  The aqueducts that brought water to Rome and its many imperial outposts were an important part of this infrastructure, and many still stand as testaments to the skill of the ancient engineers.  In this course, we will use the aqueducts as a focal point to learn about life in the Roman Empire.  You will learn about the role of public works in sustaining quality of life, how major infrastructure projects like the aqueducts were financed and constructed in ancient times, and how they contributed to the economic and military power of Rome.  We will also discuss the technical concepts underlying water supply, and how the Romans, without advanced mathematics, were able to engineer systems that are strikingly similar to modern aqueducts. 

Midway through the course, during spring break, we will visit sites in and around Rome, Naples, and Nîmes (France), including Pompeii and the stunning Pont du Gard.

This class, limited to 12 students, is open to all Honors students.  Interested non-Honors students should contact Eric Holzwarth (443-2759; eholzwar@syr.edu) to petition to enroll.  Students must attend the field trip to earn credit for the course.

APPLICATION, SELECTION & PAYMENT PROCEDURES
Students will be expected to submit the short-term program application and a $60 non-refundable application fee to SU Abroad by October 15, 2008. All applications will be reviewed by an admissions committee made up of Professor Johnson and a SU Abroad representative. Students will be notified of their acceptance by October 25. Upon acceptance, a $450 non-refundable deposit is required to confirm your participation in the program. This is due within 10 days. Final payment will be due December 12, 2008.

HNR 350 The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Interdisciplinarity

• Global Awareness

HNR 360/340 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project  
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 11:00 – 12:20 p.m. #41372   
Prof. Karl Solibakke

Philosopher Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project is a landmark text of nineteenth century modernism that provides a fascinating window onto Paris as an emerging European urban culture in the late 19th century.  Transforming geographic space into a matrix of text, Benjamin explores the residue of early contemporary cityscapes and maps out an allegorical blueprint for bourgeois cultural memory. The arcades, glass-covered shopping and bourgeois recreation areas, become testimonies for a discernible moment in the continuum of European cultural history.  Their disappearance heralded the passing of 19th century collective memory as the 20th century began to reconfigure urban modernity.  

Benjamin’s wide-ranging interests include Freud and psychoanalysis, Marxist criticism, contemporary literature, and of course, philosophy.   His urban visions are a prime example of the intricate role that textual artifacts, dreams and cultural models can play as we re-think “the urban.”  In essence, the delusions of the Parisian bourgeoisie, its inclination to sink into a dreamlike stupor during the formative years of the capitalist social order, had catastrophic consequences for the twentieth century, made manifest by two world wars within the space of a generation as well as the ecological ravages wrought by rampant industrialization and squandering finite natural resources.

This course investigates the Arcades Project from the perspective of Benjaminian cultural commentary, reflecting on the philosophical, sociological, topographical, economic, and aesthetic implications of tracing urban modernity back to its nineteenth century roots. What emerges is the recognition that nineteenth century urban modernity stands at the core of today’s global network.   

HNR 360/340 Urban Modernity: Architecture, Economy and Cultural Memory in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Interdisciplinarity

HNR 360/HNR 340/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
3 credits
HNR 360 Section M002: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m. #35124
Prof. Felicia McMahon

Can also be taken as SOL 360 M004, #34977 or HNR 340 M005, #35453 (Humanities)

The goal of this interactive course is to design a community folk arts festival component for Mayfest 2009. Students begin by interviewing traditional artists and exploring aesthetics in everyday life, i.e. those group experiences created by humans that are regarded as aesthetically pleasing to a particular community. Our emphasis will be on the process of recontextualization and hands-on collaborative projects in which students work as teams to plan and implement a folk arts festival. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival and Public Display (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

• Collaboration

• Civic Engagement

HNR 360 Welcome to Your Future
3 credits
Section M003: T 5:00 – 7:50 p.m. #35125
Prof. Michael Nilan

Welcome to your future.  The entire world is currently in the midst of expansive change – financial crises, global warming, energy crisis, globalization of culture, etc.  All is not doom and gloom, however, there are terrific opportunities for innovative people to create solutions to many of humanity’s problems.  Along with the change in global conditions comes changes in the means or methods employed by successful people – what worked for your parents or grandparents probably won’t work for you – things continue to change and quite rapidly, too.  Among the skills that you will need to be successful are the skills of critical thinking, effective/ efficient information seeking, team building/ management, ability to generate winning arguments to present your ideas, as well as effective collaborating and negotiating skills.  For both personal and professional purposes, people who clearly understand their situation and who can create effective teams are more successful.

This course looks at change and potential change as a source of insight into the development of observation, communication and collaborative skills by course members.  Rather than teaching students "what" to think, this course is intended to help participants become more confident in their personal and professional endeavors through becoming better thinkers, better users of resources, and better collaborators.

Who says we can’t do this and have a bit of fun at the same time?  The course alternates between viewing current speculative fiction (Sci-Fi) movies in their entirety followed the next week with formal debates about the "theme" of the movie (i.e., the speculative part) - seven movies and seven debates – across the semester.  Speculative fiction movies are selected by consensus among the course participants based upon discussions of the theme of the movie (e.g., for Gattica, the speculative theme would be genetic engineering) and its pertinence for the participants’ future careers and lives.   The arguments that participants generate for the debates are “judged” by an objective panel of Masters students based upon the presentational force, rhetorical impact, and the effective use of resources.  Participants will work with a different team for each debate and each participant will have at least one opportunity to lead a debate team. 

Course participants emerge from this course feeling more confident about presenting their thoughts to others based upon sound evidence and exhibit a much more effective stance in collaborative situations.   Please come and join us next semester. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

HNR 360 Welcome to Your Future (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Public Presentation

• Collaboration

HNR 360/PSY 400 Toward a Physics of the Mind: Human Memory
3 credits
Honors Section M004: TTh 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. #35360
Prof. Marc Howard

Can also be taken as PSY 400; see below.

Psychology is the science of the mind.  The physical and biological sciences have developed quantitative descriptions of our natural world.  Mathematical psychology and theoretical neuroscience attempt to develop a similarly rigorous description of our internal world.  This course examines human memory from a quantitative perspective.  We focus on mathematical models of cognition with an emphasis on distributed neural networks.   Where possible, we connect these models both to cognition and also the brain activity believed to support cognition, representing a step towards a quantitative theory of cognition.

Precalculus required.  Calculus and PSY 373 recommended.   Necessary math beyond precalculus will be taught as necessary.

HNR 360/PSY 400 Toward a Physics of the Mind (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

ITA 102 Italian II/Honors
4 credits
Honors Section M003: TTh 11:00 a.m.-12:20 p.m. and W 10:35-11:30 a.m. #32614
Prof. Agata Pavone

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

ITA 102 Italian II/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Public Presentation (Honors section only)

LIT 227 Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M002: TTh 7:00-8:20 p.m. #34057
Prof. 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.

LIT 227 Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Public Presentation (Honors section only)

LPP 255 Introduction to the Legal System/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M003: TTh 3:30 – 4:50 p.m. #37226
Prof. Lisa Knych

This course will introduce you to law and the legal system. We will study how the law (in all its forms) and public policy affect business and society. We will focus on improving critical thinking skills when applying both procedural and substantive rules. In addition to emphasizing the importance of ethics throughout the course, we will specifically examine the law of contracts, torts, and employment. This course will promote clear and concise communication, written and verbal, in carrying out all course objectives. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

LPP 255 Introduction to the Legal System/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

MAX 123 Critical Issues for the U.S./Honors
3 credits
Lecture M001: M 9:30-10:25 p.m. #32716
Professor Robert McClure
Honors Discussion M015: MW 10:35 - 11:30 a.m. #34696
Prof. John Palmer

Register for Honors Section M015, #34696; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

This is an interdisciplinary, team-taught course that focuses on 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? How do we preserve the inheritance of the future while enjoying the present? In other words, what does it mean to be a citizen, both in terms of rights and responsibilities, and the creation of good public policy? These questions press upon us today, but they also rest on deep historical traditions that demand our attention.

Our method of engagement will rely in part on case studies, a well-established tool for learning and policy exploration. Civic participation, education, and the economy are the central topics we will explore. Our primary resources will consist of readings of three major types: those that delineate the cases and their issues; more general explorations of the policy areas; and broader theoretical and philosophical reflections.

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 123 Critical Issues for the United States/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Interdisciplinarity

MAX 132 Global Community/Honors
3 credits
Lecture M001: W 9:30-10:25 a.m. #32723
Prof. Alfonso Castro
Honors Section M012: MW 11:40 – 12:35 p.m. #32726
Professor Alfonso Castro

Register for Honors Section M012, #32726, Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

This course is designed to help students become informed about globalization and its consequences. The first unit begins with a general look at globalization and how it seems to be reshaping our world, then continues with an examination of the free trade notion that is so much at the center of disputes surrounding globalization. The other three units vary each year. They may include globalization's impacts on everyday life, as represented by the workplace, domestic arrangements, and consumption habits; how globalization has generated responses that favor both wider political unity and disunity; and why globalization has spawned protest movements and how they in turn use it to their advantage.

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 (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Interdisciplinarity

• Global Awareness (Non-Eurocentric)

PAF 101 Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M002: MWF 12:45-1:40 p.m. #32735
Professor William Coplin
Honors Discussion: M003: M 2:15 – 3:10 p.m. #40942
Prof. William Coplin

Register for M002 #32735 only. Discussion M003 will auto-enroll.

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.

PAF 101 Introduction to Analysis of Public Policy/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Collaboration

• Public Presentation

PHI 109 Introduction to Philosophy/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 12:30 – 1:50 p.m. #40849
Prof. Kevan Edwards

This course introduces students to philosophy by considering a selection of the most fundamental problems in metaphysics and epistemology. Such problems include free will vs. determinism, the existence of God, personal identity, the relationship between ideas and the 'external' world, and the mind-body problem. The approach will be topical: we will learn what philosophical problems are and what methods philosophers use to resolve them by working through the problems themselves.

PHI 109 (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

PHY 207/HNR 255 Seeing Light
3 credits
Section M001: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m. #40488
Prof. Alan Middleton
Course fee:  $40

Can also be taken as HNR 255; see above.

This is an Honors course on the science of light. The goal is to change how students "see": they will think about light and vision in a deeper way after taking this course. The course will provide a broad overview of concepts of light, color, vision, and uses of light. The study of light ranges from our everyday experience of vision, to the more abstract, such as understanding light as both a wave and a particle. The audience can include students in any major or school and a broad range of students have taken this course: all that is required is an interest in color, vision, and light.

The course includes discussion sections, integrated lab work with simple equipment, and external activities. The external activities might include presentations on color by an expert in textiles, a visit to Syracuse Stage to discuss lighting, and a visit to Holden Observatory to use the telescope there.

The course starts with an historical look at theories of light and vision. It then addresses more modern theories and uses of light: waves, photons, and a bit of quantum mechanics. Applications of this knowledge could include understanding how computer monitors display color, explaining visual effects in nature (rainbows and mirages), color blindness, explaining the limits of spy satellites, and reviewing what light tells us about the history of the universe. The content includes a brief introduction to relativity: light is a central clue to demonstrating that time is closely related to space.

A central part of the course will be laboratory work. These laboratory experiments can be done in the classroom and as take-home assignments, and include pinhole cameras, mirrors, lenses, color mixing, prisms and diffraction gratings, polarizing filters, pinhole diffraction, and vision. These experiments will show how scientific theories evolve and are reinforced.

There are no science prerequisites, but we will use algebra and trigonometry. This course has been approved by the College of Arts and Sciences as a lab science. Some schools and colleges (e.g. Newhouse) may require that you file a petition with them to use it as a lab science. Check with your home school or college.

PHY 207/HNR 255 Seeing Light (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
(Honors version of PSC 121)
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 5:00 - 6:20 p.m. #33183
Prof. Gavan Duffy

This course examines the processes and institutions of American politics and government. It explores the underlying aspirations and principles of American governance, assesses the extent to which the American polity serves these aspirations and principles, and examines the practical consequences of the political system for American citizens. Students read and discuss major scholarly works on American politics and government.

PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M002: TTh 11:00-12:20 p.m. #34051
Prof. George Gescheider

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.

PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

PSY 393 Personality/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M002: TTh 9:30 – 10:50 a.m. #34723
Instructor: Anne Fontana
 
According to one expert, an unabridged English dictionary contains 17,953 words that describe various human characteristics. For each of us, the combination of our numerous characteristics comprises our personality. Personality is an individual's characteristic pattern of acting, feeling, relating, and thinking. This course offers an opportunity for a careful study of the various theories of personality and how each of us came to be who we uniquely are.

PSY 393 Personality/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Public Presentation

PSY 400/HNR 360 Toward a Physics of the Mind: Human Memory
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. #41256
Prof. Marc Howard

Can also be taken as HNR 360; see above.

Psychology is the science of the mind.  The physical and biological sciences have developed quantitative descriptions of our natural world.  Mathematical psychology and theoretical neuroscience attempt to develop a similarly rigorous description of our internal world.  This course examines human memory from a quantitative perspective.  We focus on mathematical models of cognition with an emphasis on distributed neural networks.   Where possible, we connect these models both to cognition and also the brain activity believed to support cognition, representing a step towards a quantitative theory of cognition.

Precalculus required.  Calculus and PSY 373 recommended. Necessary math beyond precalculus will be taught as necessary.

PSY 400/HNR 360 Toward a Physics of the Mind (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

REL 101 Religions of the World
3 credits
Lecture M001: MW 9:30 – 10:25 a.m.
Honors Discussion M006: Th 2:00 – 2:55 p.m. #41718
Prof. Gareth Fisher

Register for Discussion Section M006; lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

This course will invite students to explore the lived religions of the world and their impact on culture, society, economics, and politics both historically and in the world today.  We will survey the large-scale institutionalized religions of Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism and also explore common spiritual practices such as shamanism and divination.  Emphasis will be placed on critical and personal reflection in encounters with the religious other.  Through the honors section, students will engage in a semester-long field project on lived religions in Syracuse culminating in an individual term paper and group presentation.

REL 101 Religions of the World (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Global Awareness (non-Eurocentric)

REL/JSP 114 The Bible/Honors
3 credits
Lec M001, M-W 11:40 – 12:35
Disc M008, #40939 Friday 11:40 – 12:35
Register for Recitation M008; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.
Prof. 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 114/JSP 114 The Bible/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

SPA 202 Spanish IV/Honors
4 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 9:30-10:50 a.m. and W 10:35-11:30 a.m. #33038

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.

SPA 202 Intensive Spanish IV/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Global Awareness

WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors
3 credits
Section M240: TTh 11:00 - 12:20 p.m. #33137
Section M260: TTh 12:30 - 1:50 p.m. #33138
Section M300: TTh 2:00 - 3:20 p.m. #33375 Service Learning Section

WRT 209 is the Honors substitute for WRT 205.
This course builds on the skills and practices of WRT 109 by doing critical research and emphasizing composing in conversation with sources from the library and online as well as from interviews and experience. Students do individual and collaborative researched writing projects, and they use writing and research to explore the world, make claims, and persuade audiences.

One section (see above) will include service learning opportunities. Service learning sections require 20-25 hours of community work at local not-for-profit agencies, many of which are located on or near campus (a car is not a requirement for community service). The Writing Program works with the University's Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service to provide placements that are both interesting to the students and meaningful to the work of the writing course. The community work students do is part of the course work, not "extra work," and is fully integrated into reading assignments and class discussions, as well as the writing that students do for the course. This will count toward the "civic engagement" requirement for students admitted in Fall '04 or later.

WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (other honors course)

• Civic Engagement (if you take a Service Learning Section)

WSP 200/HNR 260 History of Women's Suffrage Movement: Through the Letters of Matilda Joslyn Gage/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M001: W 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. #34714
Instructor: Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner

Can also be taken as HNR 260; see above

In the area where the woman's rights movement had its origin, we'll trace the history of its development. Videos, field trips, readings, individual research, practical experience, web searches, and classroom lecture/ discussions will be the vehicles for our pursuit. The foreground focus will be on Matilda Joslyn Gage, a woman equally important with her more recognized counterparts, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. She will be the lens through which we explore the backdrop, the standard historical analysis of 19th century U.S. feminism. You will learn about Gage up-close and personal, through working with her correspondence, which has never been published.
We will explore:

• why Gage got written out of history by challenging religious fundamentalists and their effort to destroy religious freedom;
• the campaign of non-violent civil disobedience for the vote which Gage masterminded;
• her influence on her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum's writing of his 14-volume Oz books;
• how the woman's rights movement took form in the territory of the Haudenosaunee, the six nations of the Iroquois confederacy, where women live with far greater status and authority than in the non-native world.

The legacy of radical reform in this region will provide a context for understanding the woman's movement. 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? How did they hold up under the ridicule, resistance and backlash? What were they like personally? Letters tell that story.

You'll also have an opportunity to be part of the creation of history as, working in partnership with the other students, you will read, data enter and interpret the letters and writings of Matilda Joslyn Gage. Your work will be part of the process of preparing her papers for publication. You will play an integral part in writing this woman back into history as you study about her. Counts as Critical Reflections for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.

WSP 200/HNR 260 History of Women's Suffrage Movement (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

• Breadth (HNR course)

• Collaboration

• Public Presentation
  

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Honors Seminars:

HNR 100 Orientation Seminar:
Say Yes to Education
Love in Any Culture: An Exploration of Amorous Relationships Around the World and Through Time
Aging: It's About Your Life!
Life Stories: Autobiography, Memoir, and Self-Portraits
Inside the Words and Music
Intellectual Voyeurism
Anatomy of a Street: A Look at the Changing Business Life of Salina Street
Elizabeth I: Image and Film

HNR 100 starts in the second week of classes.
Each section is 1 credit. The seminar provides intellectual enrichment and an introduction to the Honors program, and explores the world of ideas. It is required for all first-year students who are newly admitted to the Honors Program in the spring semester.

Honors 200-Level Seminars:
HNR 210 Arts in Society
HNR 220 Introduction to Political Culture and Practice
HNR 230 Scientific Issues and Practice

 The 200-level seminars are intended to expose you to the cultural and civic life in the wider Syracuse community, using a hands-on approach so you will have a more informed basis for participation later in life. They consist of HNR 210, HNR 220 and HNR 230.

These seminars are optional; however, you may combine three 1-credit HNR seminars (in which you received a "B" or higher) to count as one required HNR course toward the Breadth requirement. For those of you with tight schedules, this may be an efficient way to fulfill a three-credit requirement over multiple semesters.

Say Yes to Education
Section M001, Tuesdays 3:30 – 4:50 p.m., #33162 (Four sessions)
Instructor: Rachael Gazdick
Meets in Bowne 306A for four sessions; for eight sessions in an elementary school of your choice, depending on which day (Monday-Friday) you can commit (Details available at first class meeting).
Students must commit to one afternoon per week for 8 sessions in a local elementary school, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., including travel time. Transportation is provided.
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Tuesday, January 27, 2009)

In 2008, a coalition of partners catalyzed by the Say Yes to Education Foundation and Syracuse University created a project to alter the life course of students in an entire urban school district by dramatically increasing the rate at which they go to college. Building on a track record of remarkable success in several urban schools in Harlem (NY), Philadelphia (PA), Hartford (CT), and Cambridge (MA), the Say Yes to Education model has demonstrated that the well-documented “achievement gap” between urban and suburban students is not an accurate measure of students’ abilities or potential, but an “opportunity” or “access” gap. Too many urban students have not had the opportunity to take full advantage of the academic and social experiences and supports that their more privileged peers are afforded and that lead to success in higher education. Now, Syracuse Say Yes to Education will scale up this success to the level of an entire school district--the first program of this size in the nation.

This seminar will give you the opportunity to understand public policy issues that surround urban education and to gain hands-on experience working with students in grades K-3 in one of our after-school programs. These programs are designed to tap into and cultivate the intellectual gifts and talents of young people through hands-on activities, mentorship opportunities, creative thinking and positive social interaction. The first meetings of the seminar will provide training that will prepare you for your placement. By saying ‘Yes’ you will not just enroll in a seminar; you will be part of a national movement to dramatically change urban education.
Counts toward your Civic Engagement requirement in Honors.

*******

Love in Any Culture: An Exploration of Amorous Relationships Around the World and Through Time
Section M002, Wednesday 5:15 – 6:35 p.m., #33163
Instructor: Elane Granger, Ph.D.
Meets in 304C Bowne Hall
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)

This is a highly participatory course based on short writings, film, art, and theatre performances to stimulate discussion as we explore people, places and ideas about love and romance in our immediate community and around the globe. Activities may include making our own video, sharing and maybe publishing our own scribbles or sampling international cuisine together. Many of you will be studying abroad or traveling at some point. Here's a fun and creative way to start preparing yourself for love in any language.

Students can make suggestions; we may travel down other roads; we may re-arrange things and decide to focus on some personal interests students have in the class. We will also meet outside of class on particular dates to be announced. It is my hope that this class will be one of discovery: of yourself, of others and of your world at SU and beyond.

*******

Aging: It’s About Your Life!
Section M003, Tuesdays 3:30 – 6:00 p.m., #33164 (Includes travel time; transportation provided)
Instructor: Prof. Eric Kingson
Students will meet in front of SIMS HALL and ride together to the seminar.
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)

COURSE THEME: It is 2060. America is older and more diverse racially and ethnically. Have you and the nation made the right decisions?

Syracuse University honors students will explore the implications of their and the population's aging -- for you personally, for your parents', grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations and for your children, your community and society. Along with the 8-10 older participants in this seminar, you will be asked to discuss in class what it means to get older, how decisions made early in life will affect you in later years, how people prepare for old age, and how different generations work and relate to each other. You will discuss major events and ideas that have shaped the lives of the elders, and that are shaping the world we live in today and that you will inhabit in 2060. You'll have a chance to discuss what some of the elders experienced at your ages -- the Great Depression, the Second World War -- later, the Civil Rights Movement, the changing roles of men and women.
You will also have opportunities to compare and contrast your views on a range of issues -- war, peace, higher education, family, social commitments and health. You’ll debate ethical questions such as whether health care should be rationed based on age and whether assisted suicide should be legalized. And you will discuss what the role of Social Security and Medicare should be in the future. When this course is completed, you should have a better appreciation of what you, your family members, and the nation can do to prepare for old age and the Aging of America. Equally importantly, you will have met and exchanged views on a regular basis with older residents of the Oaks, ranging in age from their 70s to their 90s and possibly older.
Counts toward your Civic Engagement requirement in Honors.

*******

Life Stories: Autobiography, Memoir, and Self-Portraits
Section M004, Mondays 3:45 – 5:05, #34702
Instructor: Jolynn Parker
Meets in Bowne 304C
First class meeting: Third Week of Classes (Monday, January 26, 2009)

In this seminar, we’ll think about how people construct and represent their life stories in prose, poetry, film, plays, painting, photography, music, and other media. We’ll also get some practice telling our own stories. Along the way, we’ll consider the risks and rewards involved in the act of representing the self. How do autobiographers balance between disclosure and privacy? Between truth and imagination? How do they narrate themselves as unique, but also as representative of a larger group? How do literary and artistic conventions shape their presentations of themselves? We’ll read, view, and listen to some excerpts from compelling life stories in works by Benjamin Franklin, Anne Frank (at Syracuse Stage), painter Chuck Close, photographer Cindy Sherman, graphic novelist Alison Bechdel, filmmaker Jonathan Caouette, and Eminem, among others. We’ll also consider the phenomenon of on-line self-presentation on Facebook and in blogs. Short assignments will ask students both to respond to these texts and to share some of their own life stories.

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Inside the Words and Music
Section M005, Tuesdays 12:30 – 1:50, #34703
Instructor: Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Meets in Bowne 309
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)

This seminar peers inside the creative process of some of the world’s best songwriters to explore larger questions about creativity in any medium. Where do ideas come from? How does personal experience translate into great stories that anyone can relate to? How do artists find an original style? These kinds of questions have been my preoccupation for 20 years—as a songwriter (a recent grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest), music journalist (Acoustic Guitar magazine, NPR’s All Things Considered), and author (Rock Troubadours, which includes my conversations with Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Ani DiFranco, Dave Matthews, and more).

We’ll read about writing and music, listen to and discuss songs (your favorites as well as mine), hear clips from my interview archive, and discover some top-notch live local music as well as food. You will keep a weekly journal responding to our conversations and shared experiences. Active musicians are welcome in the class, but all that is really required is a love of music and a curiosity about the mix of inspiration and perspiration (to steal a phrase from Thomas Edison) that makes great art possible. Ultimately, I hope our time together will stoke your own creativity—whatever form it takes.

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Intellectual Voyeurism
Section M006, Wednesdays 3:45 – 5:05, #34704
Instructor: Sean Quimby
Meets in Bird Library Room 600
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)

The goal of this class is to encourage students to think critically about how the creative process works by considering the most personal of sources: original letters, diaries, photographs, and more, all housed in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), Syracuse University Library. The university collects these materials to support scholarly inquiry, but they document not only profound moments of genius, but also more mundane moments of everyday humanity. SCRC is home to more than 2,000 such collections, including the personal papers of artists, writers, intellectuals, activists and more. In this course, students will become intellectual “voyeurs”; they will be asked to look beyond the polished finished product, and consider the intimate world of the creator, their quirks and peccadilloes, with an eye towards better understanding their own creative process.

In addition to special collections, students will have the opportunity visit the University Art Gallery, Light Work, the Onondaga Historical Association, Community Folk Arts Center, and attend “The Diary of Anne Frank” at Syracuse Stage–all in an effort to both understand and empathize with the creative processes of themselves and others. On the first day of class, each student will be randomly paired with a figure and an associated “finished” piece from SCRC’s collections. Over the semester, they will immerse themselves in other original documents left by that individual. Students will then consider questions like: How did the person work? What were the influences on them–intellectual and emotional, individual and social? In the final three class sessions, each student will give a 15 minute presentation of his or her findings.

Some of the individuals with whom students will be paired include:
Joyce Carol Oates (Contemporary Writer), John Humphrey Noyes (Oneida Community), Grace Hartigan (Artist), Margaret Bourke White (Photojournalist), Gerritt Smith (Abolitionist), Marcel Breuer (Architect), Albert Schweitzer (Doctor, Humanitarian), Dorothy Thompson (Journalist), Hal Foster (Cartoonist), Arna Bontempts (African American writer, librarian, activist), Robert S. Hillyer (Poet), Aleister Crowley (Occultist), James A. Pike (Clergyman), Mary Edwards Walker (Civil War Doctor, Suffragist)

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Anatomy of a Street: A Look at the Changing Business Life of Salina Street
Section M007, Wednesdays 2:15 – 3:35, #35584
Instructor: Prof. Craig Watters
Meets in Bowne 306A
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)

One can tell a lot about Syracuse by chronicling the business life along one of its major streets, Salina Street. This course will trace the changing face of Salina Street by mapping the old and new businesses along this route through printed business advertisements, product announcements, photographs, audio tapings, sketches, drawings, etc. You will use materials from the historical collections of Bird Library, Onondaga Historical Association, Erie Canal Museum, Onondaga County Library System, as well as materials you will gather from our own exploratory trips around the city, to put together a multimedia account of entrepreneurship in the city, as told to you by one street, from the days of the Erie Canal in 1825 to exodus of business from the city in the 1990s to the planned rebirth of business life downtown today. And, in doing this, you will come to appreciate this city, its interesting past and present, and its myriad of residents - all through your own research, insights, and creativity.

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Elizabeth I: Image and Film
Section M008, Tuesdays 11:00 – 12:20, #42417
Instructor: Christopher Kyle
Meets in Bowne 309
Start Date: Second Week of Classes (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)

Elizabeth I: Cultural icon? Virgin queen? ‘Father/Mother’ of the nation? This seminar will examine the images and personality of one of the most important monarchs in English history. How did Elizabeth manage to negotiate her rule of a patriarchal society as a ‘weak-willed woman’? Did she exploit her considerable political skills to benefit the country or simply to maintain her position on the throne? Using both early modern and modern iconography in portraits, TV series, and films we will explore the images and representations of Elizabeth to unravel her life and examine how she sought to portray herself and how others have seen her through the years.

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HNR 210 Arts in Society
Each section is 1 credit, graded. These seminars explore the arts in Syracuse.

Theatre in Syracuse
Section M001: Mondays 3:45-5:05 p.m., #41402
Start Date: Third week of classes (Monday, January 26, 2009)
Instructor: William D. West
Course fee: $43 to cover cost of tickets.

This seminar is an experience-based introduction to theatre in the City of Syracuse. Students will attend productions at Syracuse Stage (an Equity theatre), the SU Drama Department, and several local theatre companies. Background information is presented in class prior to each event. Students write reviews of each event afterwards and discuss the performances in class.

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HNR 220 Introduction to Political Culture and Practice

Each section is 1 credit, graded. The various sections of this seminar will focus on the exploration of civic life in the wider Syracuse community, through several different approaches:

Islam
Sec M001:  Mondays 2:15 – 3:35 p.m. #32545
Start Date:  Third week of classes (Monday, January 26, 2009)
Instructor:  Ahmed Kobeisy

Islam is one of the largest and fastest growing religions of the world. It is followed by approximately 1.5 billion people around the world, including 8 million here in the United States. Islam and Muslims have been the center of political events and debates in many circles, particularly since 9/11.

This course will explore major events in Islam and Islamic history and the development of its institutions, along with the seamless interaction of religion and culture which forms a great diversity within the Muslim world, and which is rarely recognized. Furthermore, the course will discuss the lives and experiences of Muslims in some countries in the Middle East and the world, as indicators of contemporary and future trends in Muslim societies.

The history and demographic structure of Muslims living in the United States will also be explored, as will the effects of world political events and the process of globalization.

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Flaunting it! The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights and Culture
Sec M002: Wednesdays 3:45-5:05 p.m. #32546
Start Date: Second week of classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)
Instructor: Harry Freeman-Jones

This seminar examines the roots and growth of the gay and lesbian rights movement from a state of fearful invisibility to its present status as a provocative force upsetting assumptions about the nature of society's mythic values. Material will explore how this very personal yet political and cultural struggle challenges society to embrace the inherent diversity of its minority citizens. Sessions will include recorded and in-person accounts from gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people who have survived the challenges of manifest prejudice to create lifestyles, relationships, and families on their own terms.

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Culture of Violence
Sec M006: Thursdays 3:30-4:50 p.m. #33662
Start Date: Second week of classes (Thursday, January 22, 2009)
Instructor: Mark Muhammad

This seminar will provide an overview of the issue of gangs and juvenile gun violence. We will discuss the problem in Syracuse and examine some of the efforts to curb violence in our community. The seminar is designed to increase students' knowledge about, and reduce the fear of, organized youth groups (gangs) in urban areas, particularly Syracuse.

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HNR 230 Scientific Issues and Practice

Each section is 1 credit, graded. These seminars explore scientific issues and practices in Syracuse and the wider region of Central New York. Methods of inquiry and exploration differ between sections.

Wonders of Weather
Sec M001: Thursdays 12:30-1:50 p.m. #34046
Start Date: Second week of classes (Thursday, January 22, 2009)
Instructor: Tom Hauf

We will explore all things weather this semester-from a fast-paced run through all the basics of Meteorology to more advanced discussions on wild weather events both here in the United States and around the world. Special emphasis will be placed on our shared environment and how our changing world of weather may affect us and our environment in the future.
Information will be presented in ways that will be challenging, entertaining, and above all else, unforgettable. For more information, please see the course website: http://www.tomhauf.com.

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Community Health Care FULL
Section M002, Wednesdays 5:15 – 6:35 p.m. #33385
Start Date: Second week of classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)
Instructor:  Joel Potash, M.D.

This seminar will consider how health care is provided in the greater Syracuse Community. We will have speakers from various health care sites such as free clinics, the Syracuse Community Health Center, the Onondaga Nation Health Center, Syracuse University Student Health Center and Counseling Services, and Hospice of Central New York among others. Students are expected to stay current on health care topics by reading a newspaper or watching the news. One student will present a brief topic to the class at the beginning of each seminar. Students will write 2 journals a week re: their response to class or other health care topics of their choice. There is no final paper or exam.

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Creating a Green Campus
Section M003, Tuesdays 12:30-1:50 p.m. #41400
Start Date: Second week of classes (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)
Instructor: Dr. Rachel May, Office of Environment and Society

A university campus functions like a small city, with all the flows of energy, people, and materials into and out of campus. All around you, creative, dedicated people are working to make your temporary home as "green" as possible, by conserving energy, reducing waste, making wise purchasing and construction decisions, and thinking of the campus as an environmental system. Learn how they are making your world better, and how you can be part of the solution as well. Each class will feature a meeting with a campus expert, and often a tour or hands-on demonstration, on topics like energy conservation, renewable energy, food services, purchasing and recycling, transportation, or building design. Students will also have the opportunity to develop creative solutions to campus environmental issues.

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Honors Capstone Project Seminars:

BIO 419 Junior and Senior Thesis Seminar
1 credit, pass/fail grading.
Section M001: Junior & Senior Thesis Seminar, T 5:00-6:00 p.m. #32264
Prof. John Belote
Section M002: Junior & Senior Thesis Seminar, T 5:00-6:00 p.m. #32265
Prof. John Belote

Juniors and seniors majoring in biology meet together weekly in this seminar. Honors students from other majors such as chemistry and psychology, who are doing biological research, are accepted into this seminar with permission of instructor only.

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HNR 309 Capstone/Thesis Project Planning Seminar
1 credit, pass/fail grading.
Section M002: W 5:15-6:35 p.m. #32547
Start Date: Second week of classes (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)

The purpose of HNR 309, the Capstone Project Planning Seminar, is to help you understand what a Capstone Project is, to understand what personal resources are necessary for successful completion of the project, to identify a topic for your project and a faculty member who will advise you, and to develop a timeline to complete it. During the first half of the semester, there will be a series of seminar meetings, assignments, and exercises designed to meet these goals. During the second half of the semester, you must meet with your instructor at least twice to discuss the progress you have made on your project.

HNR 309 is not required, and there are other ways to get started on your capstone project. See http://honors.syr.edu/CapstoneProject/GettingStarted.htm for a full overview of your options.

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