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:

ANT/HST 145 Historical Archeology/Honors
ANT 300/HNR 340/360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
ARC 500/HNR 340/360 1960s Utopias FULL
BIO 465 Molecular Biology Lab/Honors
CHE 119 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors
CHE 139 General Chemistry Lab/Honors
CRS 225 Public Advocacy/Honors

ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors
ECN 310 Economics in History: Rosie the Riveter/Honors
FIA 106 Arts and Ideas II/Honors
GEO 155 The Natural Environment/Honors
HNR 240 Beginning Play Writing
HNR 240 Health Care
HNR 240 Arts Without Borders
HNR 250 The World of Weather

HNR 250 The Story of World Water: Sources to Sustainability
HNR 255/PHY 207 Seeing Light/Honors

HNR 260/WGS 200 History of Women’s Suffrage
HNR 260 Interrogation: Engine of Justice? FULL
HNR 340 Defining a Good Life: A Perspective From the Legal Profession (But Not for the Legal Profession Alone)
HNR 340 Cultural Memory
HNR 340 Poetry Workshop FULL
HNR 340 Inside the Words and Music FULL
HNR 340/360/SOL 360/ANT 300  Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display

HNR 340  The Industrial Revolution and Its Visual Culture
HNR 340/SOL 345 Puppets and Community
HNR 340/360/ARC 500 1960s Utopias FULL
HNR 360/340/SOL 360/ANT 300 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
HNR 360 Welcome To Your Future FULL
HNR 360/340/ARC 500 1960s Utopias FULL
HST/ANT 145 Historical Archeology/Honors
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 the Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
PHI 209 Introduction to Moral Philosophy/Honors

PHY 207/HNR 255 Seeing Light/Honors
PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
PSC 139 International Relations/Honors
PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
PSY 393 Personality/Honors
PSY 395 Abnormal Psychology/Honors FULL
SPA 201 Intensive Spanish III/Honors
SPA 202 Intensive Spanish IV/Honors
WGS 200/HNR 260 History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement/Honors

WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors

ANT/HST 145 Historical Archeology/Honors
3 credits
ANT 145 Honors Discussion M002: W 2:15 – 3:10 p.m., #37277
Lecture M001: MW 12:45 – 1:40 p.m., #37275
Professor Douglas Armstrong

Register for Honors Discussion M002; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.
Can also be taken as HST 145; see below.

This course explores the role of history and archaeology in our understanding of the material record of the recent past (last 500 years) with a focus on diverse cultural contexts in the Americas. It examines historical archaeology as a mechanism to critique perceptions of the past. Archaeology is explored as a means to learn about initial cultural contacts and interactions among Indigenous, European, African, and Asian populations in the Americas. The class uses a case study approach examining contexts from the impact of early Spanish colonialism in the Caribbean and South America, Native and European interactions in early British colonial settlements in North America (including Jamestown and Plimoth), a variety of contexts associated with the African Diaspora-addressing issues of enslavement and the struggle for freedom, and even the archaeological lessons from mid-20th century Japanese American internment camps.
ANT/HST 145 Historical Archeology/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other honors course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Public Presentation (Honors section only)

ANT 300/HNR 340/360/SOL 360 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
3 credits
Honors Section M003: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m., #42298
Instructor:  Faye McMahon

Can also be taken as HNR 340, HNR 360 (see below) or SOL 360 M004, #40310.

Public folklore is central to the concept of cultural democracy.  In this course students will learn about recontextualization of folk arts for public audiences.  Public folklore involves the re-presentation of expressive behaviors learned as part of the cultural life of a community. Members of a particular community share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. Their traditions, shaped by the aesthetics and values of a shared culture, are passed on from generation to generation. This cultural transmission most often occurs within family and the community through informal learning such as observation, conversation, and practice. Throughout the semesters we will work together to address several issues: how do groups claim 'authenticity' if they are performing outside of the "natural context?" How do groups make their worlds intelligible to new audiences? For relocated groups, do they keep their folk arts 'separate' or do they try to create ‘new’ traditions by mixing them? From attendance at community festivals in Syracuse as well as from articulations of  the folk artists who reside in our city students will gain insight into these processes. Counts as a critical reflections course for the Art & Sciences liberal arts core.
HNR 340 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

ARC 500/HNR 340/360 1960s Utopias
3 credits
Section M002: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #39178
Professor Susan Henderson

The 1960s was a time of speculation and experimentation, and its communes, lifestyle and music have become fixed in the American imagination.  The events and experiments of the counter culture were many and various.  Drop City and Whiz-Bang Quick City exemplify 1960s utopias that took built form as their primary concern; on the other hand American communes in cities, San Francisco’s Diggers and the Cockettes, for example, engaged alternative lifestyles as their primary terrain.  Many others, like Twin Oaks, Virginia, retreated to the countryside to reinvent a back-to-the-land economy that emerged as a nascent environmentalism.  There were also ‘instant’ communities, event-based and ephermeral; be-ins, political demonstrations and concerts, like famed Woodstock, that functioned as exemplary utopian moments, suggesting a “situationist” social order.   The purpose of the seminar is to forward the history and interpretation of these phenomenon.

This is an advanced seminar in which students will research a topic in consultation with the professor.  Students can shape their chosen topic in a number of ways:  by investigating a particular community, a document, or event, or by studying an aspect of utopian life, literature or theory across various events and places.  An important aspect of their work will be to trace the subsequent history of their topic into the post-1960 era.  
ARC 500 1960s Utopias (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Public Presentation

BIO 465 Molecular Biology Lab/Honors
3 credits
BIO 465 Honors Section M002: T 12:30 – 1:25 p.m.; TH 12:30 – 4:30 p.m., #38577
Professor Ramesh Raina

This laboratory course will teach basic experimental techniques including DNA isolation, restriction endonuclease cleavage of DNA, gene cloning, tissue culture techniques, construction of transgenic plants, gene expression analysis, and other techniques central to Molecular Biology.  While learning basic techniques in recombinant DNA technology, students will learn to apply the scientific method to address questions in molecular biology. 
Prerequisites:  BIO 326 & 327

Honors students will have priority registration for this section. Please put yourself on the wait list via MySlice and you will be contacted about how to add the class.

 *This course fulfills the communication skills requirement for Biology Major.
BIO 465/Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other Honors course)
  • Public Presentation

CHE 119 General Chemistry/Honors & Majors
3 credits
Section M001: MWF 10:35 – 11:30 a.m., #35751
Professor 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. If time allows we will discuss thermochemistry.  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
Section M001: W 2:15 – 5:15 p.m., #35753 or
Section M002: T 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., #37991
Professor Robert Doyle

CHE 139, taught concurrently with CHE 422/622, is a laboratory course accompanying the lecture, CHE 119. This course is an introduction to 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

CRS 225 Public Advocacy/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M010: T TH 12:30 – 1:50 p.m., #52281
Professor Amardo Rodriguez

The objectives of this course are to understand fundamental mechanics, processes, and techniques of communication that make for superior presentations and richer public communication experiences. Through various readings, many presentation sessions, and constructive criticism and discussion, this course enhances our capacities to respond appropriately to a variety of presentation situations. This mission includes understanding the origins of the different anxieties, insecurities, and fears that often undercut our presentational experiences. Ultimately, the goal of this course is to introduce students to the different relational demands that make for superior presentations and the communication practices that build the constitution to meet such demands.
CRS 225 Public Advocacy/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other honors course)
  • Public Presentation

ECN 203 Economic Ideas and Issues/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M014: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m., #38335
Professor 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/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M001: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m., #38621
Professor 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: T TH 3:30 – 5:15 p.m., #35895
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. 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)

GEO 155 The Natural Environment/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M008: T TH 12:30 – 1:50 p.m., #51952
Professor Jacob Bendix

“A landscape... can best be understood and given human significance by poets who have their feet set in concrete--concrete data--and by scientists whose heads and hearts have not lost the capacity for wonder.  Any good poet, in our age at least, must begin with the scientific view of the world; and any scientist worth listening to must be something of a poet, must possess the ability to communicate to the rest of us his [/her] sense of love and wonder at what his [/her] work discovers.”
 (Edward Abbey, The Journey Home)

In this class we will explore how the landscapes that make up our natural environment come to look the way they do. We will examine major components of the 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’ll be concerned with the geographic distribution of natural features – not as simple memorization exercises, but as the reflection of how the processes we study shape the surface of our globe.  We’ll also discuss some of the problems that can arise in the interactions between human activity and the natural systems that we are studying, including some issues that are currently in the news.

Please note that the Honors section (M008) of GEO 155 is a SEPARATE course from the “regular” GEO 155 (M001), so you should NOT sign up for both.  The honors section is much smaller, allowing us to incorporate more discussion, more interesting reading, and more interesting assignments.  Those assignments also qualify the Honors section as a writing intensive course for the Arts and Sciences Liberal Arts Core.
GEO 155 The Natural Environment/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other honors course)

HNR 240 Beginning Play Writing
3 credits
Section M001: W 12:45 – 3:30p.m., #39902
Professor 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 Play Writing (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)

HNR 240 Health Care
3 credits
Section M002: T TH 9:30 – 10:50 a.m., #52810
Professor Ned  McClennen

The focus will be on a specific issue in public policy—on legal, historical, and philosophical perspectives regarding  health care. The focus will be on what public stance should be taken on this issue, when one looks at not just what moral philosophers have had to say about it, but also what can be learned from the history of this issue, and its place in Constitutional debates regarding the commitment of the government to the promotion of public welfare. There is no text for the course: the class will be asked, in effect, to begin the process of creating such a text. Students will be expected to do extensive research (especially via the internet), write up and present their findings to the class, and write two papers of approximately 10 pages (doubled spaced) each.
HNR 240 Health Care (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: T TH 5:00 – 6:20 p.m., #40676
Instructor: William West

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 World of Weather
3 credits
Section M001: T TH 11:00 – 12:20 p.m., #51957
Instructor:  Tom Hauf

Weather is the only thing that affects everyone, every single day.  This course will serve as a unique ride through the world of weather.  We will cover all of the meteorology basics but the larger focus of this class will be on a more eclectic mix of weather issues and ideas.  We will be get our hands dirty with areas researchers studying Central New York’s most diverse and important lakes, Onondaga and Oneida.  We will take a worldly view in discussing climate change, global weather phenomena, forecasting techniques, and weather broadcasting.   Students will work in pairs to develop a cause and effect term paper and subsequent oral presentation.  Ample time will also be given to divert from our scheduled work to discuss current weather events and hot topics. 
HNR 250 The World of Weather (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 (4 credit option)
Section M002: T TH 9:30 – 10:50 a.m., #42092
Professor 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 in Contaminant Hydrogeology. 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, a legal opinion and a research paper.   Student presentations will be also be in multiple formats, including a 15-minute presentation, and debates on international or national water-resource allocation. There will, of course, be a water tasting event as well.  

One additional credit (HNR 400) will be available to engage in investigating a major world water problem first hand by traveling to China for about 10 days the week after graduation day in May. This experience will involve visiting cultural, political, and scientific places related to water.

Counts as Critical Reflections and Writing Intensive 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/Honors
3 credits
Section M001: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #41802
Professor Alan Middleton

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. It 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/WGS 200 History of Women’s Suffrage
3 credits
Section M001: W 7:00 – 10:00 p.m., #38383
Instructor:  Sally Roesch Wagner

Can also be taken as WGS 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 feminist.  Requirements include a presentation 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? 
 
You’ll also have an opportunity to be part of the creation of history as, working in partnership with the other students, you will use your knowledge and skills to bring awareness of Matilda Joslyn Gage.

This course will include a visit to the Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetteville, the Women's Rights National Historic Park and the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls and the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester.
Counts as Critical Reflections  and 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
Section M003: TH 5:00 – 7:50 p.m., #40504
Instructor:  Kevin 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 340 Defining a Good Life: A Perspective From the Legal Profession (But Not for the Legal Profession Alone)
3 credits
Section M001: MW 2:15 – 3:35 p.m., #40342
Instructor:  Gary Pavela

How do our career choices affect our chances of defining and leading "a good life?" The initial focus in this seminar is on careers in law, but readings and discussion apply more broadly to the range of career choices college students typically make. First we examine how the practice of law affects practitioners in the United States. What are the rates of suicide, alcoholism, and depression among lawyers, compared to the general population? Hint: The answer isn't encouraging. Then we undertake the timeless task--not limited to the legal profession alone--of considering how a "good life" might be defined. Our primary guides will be Plato and Aristotle, but we'll also consider views from Camus, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky. Finally, we'll study the life example of Abraham Lincoln. Did the practice of law contribute to or alleviate Lincoln's "melancholy" (depression)? Did he lead a "good life" in spite of the tragedies he encountered and the frequent sadness he felt? Is a "good life" the same thing as a "happy" life? This seminar is open to all Honors students, not only pre-law students. 
HNR 340 Defining a Good Life (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Presentation
  • Interdisciplinarity

HNR 340 Cultural Memory
3 credits
Section M002: MW 5:15 – 6:35 p.m., #40344

Instructor:  Karl Solibakke

Every culture conveys to the next generation a version of its past -- its history, its memory.  Cultural memory involves, in part, selecting the important data that should be saved and the surplus data to be discarded, so that cultural artifacts and normative modes of cultural memory can be constituted.  The term “cultural memory” can also refer to the construction of the past in literature, art, history, architecture, philosophy and public discourse.  But this is contested territory: because the past is socially constructed, people remember and honor the past differently, as individuals and groups.   Different “stakeholders” have different versions of the same cultural memory.  So as William Faulkner remarked, “the past is not dead.  In fact, it’s not even past.”  
 
First introduced by Jan and Aleida Assmann in the late 1980s, the term cultural memory has become a focal point of a “memory turn” in the humanities. In particular, memory studies defines itself as an interdisciplinary field of research that seeks to examine this rich set of approaches to the past, and to establish a dialog among disciplines that deal directly or indirectly with the study of the human past and/or the scientific, social or artistic means by which the past is (re-)produced.  
 
This course aims to investigate the development of cultural memory by discussing and assessing a variety of memory models. We will read excerpts from the key texts that have helped shape the notion of cultural memory in Western civilization: Plato, Augustine, Rousseau, Schiller, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Proust, Maurice Halbwachs, Heidegger, Derrida and Giorgio Agamben.       

This course will touch on a wide variety of topics and disciplines, including liberal arts and the canon of Western civilization, anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, sociology, cognitive psychology and neurosciences.
HNR 340 Cultural Memory (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Interdisciplinarity

HNR 340 Poetry Workshop
3 credits
Section M003: M 12:45 – 3:35 p.m., #40638
Instructor:  Sarah Harwell

Dylan Thomas said, “You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick.... You're back with the mystery of having been moved by words.  The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps... so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.”

A poem is a rendering of feeling and thought through craft, skill and some luck or magic.  In this class I will help you learn the craft and skill of poetry by requiring you to write poems weekly, read extensively from contemporary and historical poets, comment constructively on the poems of your peers, revise at least four of your poems during the semester and present one memorized poem.   We will explore the various schools of poetry with a focus on generating imitations from a variety of poems.
 
The class text will be the Norton Anthology of Poetry and Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook, both available at the SU bookstore.  
HNR 340 Poetry Workshop (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)

HNR 340 Inside the Words and Music
3 credits
Section M004: T TH 11:00 a.m – 12:20 p.m., #40674
Instructor:  Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

This course 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).

In this class we will read and write about music, listen to and conduct interviews, discover the back stories behind songs (your favorites as well as mine), attend a local songwriters’ workshop, and collaborate on producing a student songwriter showcase on campus.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.
HNR 340 Inside the Words and Music (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Collaboration
  • Public Presentation

HNR 340/360/SOL 360/ANT 300  Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
3 credits
Section M005: MW 12:45 – 2:05p.m., #40712
Instructor:  Felicia McMahon

Can also be taken as HNR 360 (see below), ANT 300 (see above) or SOL 360 M004, #40310.

Public folklore is central to the concept of cultural democracy.  In this course students will learn about recontextualization of folk arts for public audiences.  Public folklore involves the re-presentation of expressive behaviors learned as part of the cultural life of a community. Members of a particular community share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. Their traditions, shaped by the aesthetics and values of a shared culture, are passed on from generation to generation. This cultural transmission most often occurs within family and the community through informal learning such as observation, conversation, and practice. Throughout the semesters we will work together to address several issues: how do groups claim 'authenticity' if they are performing outside of the "natural context?" How do groups make their worlds intelligible to new audiences? For relocated groups, do they keep their folk arts 'separate' or do they try to create ‘new’ traditions by mixing them? From attendance at community festivals in Syracuse as well as from articulations of  the folk artists who reside in our city students will gain insight into these processes. Counts as a critical reflections course in the Arts & Sciences liberal arts core.
HNR 340 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Presentation
  • Collaboration
  • Civic Engagement

HNR 340  The Industrial Revolution and Its Visual Culture
3 credits
Section M006: TH 5:00 – 7:45 p.m., #42264
Professor 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 340/SOL 345 Puppets and Community
3 credits
Section  M007: TH 2:00 – 4:45 p.m., #52539
Instructor: Geoffrey Navias

Can also be taken as SOL 345 (also counts as an HNR course), M001 #40248.

Puppets and Community  is an active hands-on course that 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 projects are:

  • Working with the 5th grade of an inner city elementary school in the creation of a large-scale puppetry pageant.
  • Creation of a large puppet procession for Syracuse Showcase. 

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 340/360/ARC 500 1960s Utopias
3 credits
Section M008: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #52564
Professor Susan Henderson

The 1960s was a time of speculation and experimentation, and its communes, lifestyle and music have become fixed in the American imagination.  The events and experiments of the counter culture were many and various.  Drop City and Whiz-Bang Quick City exemplify 1960s utopias that took built form as their primary concern; on the other hand American communes in cities, San Francisco’s Diggers and the Cockettes, for example, engaged alternative lifestyles as their primary terrain.  Many others, like Twin Oaks, Virginia, retreated to the countryside to reinvent a back-to-the-land economy that emerged as a nascent environmentalism.  There were also ‘instant’ communities, event-based and ephermeral; be-ins, political demonstrations and concerts, like famed Woodstock, that functioned as exemplary utopian moments, suggesting a “situationist” social order.   The purpose of the seminar is to forward the history and interpretation of these phenomenon.

This is an advanced seminar in which students will research a topic in consultation with the professor.  Students can shape their chosen topic in a number of ways:  by investigating a particular community, a document, or event, or by studying an aspect of utopian life, literature or theory across various events and places.  An important aspect of their work will be to trace the subsequent history of their topic into the post-1960 era.
ARC 500 1960s Utopias (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Public Presentation

HNR 360/340/SOL 360/ANT 300 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display
3 credits
M002: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m., #40428
Instructor:  Felicia McMahon

Can also be taken as HNR 340, ANT 300 (see above) or SOL 360 M004, #40310.

Public folklore is central to the concept of cultural democracy.  In this course students will learn about recontextualization of folk arts for public audiences.  Public folklore involves the re-presentation of expressive behaviors learned as part of the cultural life of a community. Members of a particular community share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. Their traditions, shaped by the aesthetics and values of a shared culture, are passed on from generation to generation. This cultural transmission most often occurs within family and the community through informal learning such as observation, conversation, and practice. Throughout the semesters we will work together to address several issues: how do groups claim 'authenticity' if they are performing outside of the "natural context?" How do groups make their worlds intelligible to new audiences? For relocated groups, do they keep their folk arts 'separate' or do they try to create ‘new’ traditions by mixing them? From attendance at community festivals in Syracuse as well as from articulations of  the folk artists who reside in our city students will gain insight into these processes. Counts as a critical reflections course for the Arts & Sciences liberal arts core.
HNR 340 Folk Arts, Festival, and Public Display (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Presentation
  • Collaboration
  • Civic Engagement

HNR 360 Welcome To Your Future
3 credits
Section M003: T 5:00 – 7:50 p.m., #40430
Professor 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 360/340/ARC 500 1960s Utopias
3 credits
Section M004: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #40636
Professor Susan Henderson

The 1960s was a time of speculation and experimentation, and its communes, lifestyle and music have become fixed in the American imagination.  The events and experiments of the counter culture were many and various.  Drop City and Whiz-Bang Quick City exemplify 1960s utopias that took built form as their primary concern; on the other hand American communes in cities, San Francisco’s Diggers and the Cockettes, for example, engaged alternative lifestyles as their primary terrain.  Many others, like Twin Oaks, Virginia, retreated to the countryside to reinvent a back-to-the-land economy that emerged as a nascent environmentalism.  There were also ‘instant’ communities, event-based and ephermeral; be-ins, political demonstrations and concerts, like famed Woodstock, that functioned as exemplary utopian moments, suggesting a “situationist” social order.   The purpose of the seminar is to forward the history and interpretation of these phenomenon.

This is an advanced seminar in which students will research a topic in consultation with the professor.  Students can shape their chosen topic in a number of ways:  by investigating a particular community, a document, or event, or by studying an aspect of utopian life, literature or theory across various events and places.  An important aspect of their work will be to trace the subsequent history of their topic into the post-1960 era.
ARC 500 1960s Utopias (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Public Presentation

HST/ANT 145 Historical Archeology/Honors
3 credits
HST 145 Honors Discussion M002: W 2:15 – 3:10 p.m., #36181
Lecture M001: MW 12:45 – 1:40 p.m., #36179
Prof. Douglas Armstrong

Register for Honors Discussion M002; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

Can also be taken as ANT 145; see above.

This course explores the role of history and archaeology in our understanding of the material record of the recent past (last 500 years) with a focus on diverse cultural contexts in the Americas. It examines historical archaeology as a mechanism to critique perceptions of the past. Archaeology is explored as a means to learn about initial cultural contacts and interactions among Indigenous, European, African, and Asian populations in the Americas. The class uses a case study approach examining contexts from the impact of early Spanish colonialism in the Caribbean and South America, Native and European interactions in early British colonial settlements in North America (including Jamestown and Plimoth), a variety of contexts associated with the African Diaspora-addressing issues of enslavement and the struggle for freedom, and even the archaeological lessons from mid-20th century Japanese American internment camps.
HST/ANT 145 Historical Archeology/Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other honors course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Public Presentation (Honors section only)

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. #36257
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. #38709
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 M002: TTh 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. #46162
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
MAX 123 Honors Discussion Section M006: WF 9:30 – 10:25 a.m., #36437
Lecture Section M001: M 9:30 – 10:25 a.m., #36431
Professor Robert McClure

Register for Discussion M006; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

This course examines democratic citizenship and its obligations, public education in an era of new demands and increased disparities, health care access and outcomes, and the modern wave of immigration.   In this examination, the following questions will keep popping up: How do we sustain a decent and caring society in an increasingly pluralistic environment?  How do we remain secure and prosperous in an increasingly “borderless” world?  How do we advance democracy’s prime values—equality and liberty—when these goals sometimes come into conflict?  How do we shape effective public policies that remain respectful of both these values, while also obtaining the consent of the governed? What other tradeoffs between highly sought after “good things” are involved in effectively responding to the hard realities presented by contentious, complicated societal and global problems that finally work their way onto the nation’s public agenda for democratic action?

This is a course about a citizen’s duty to think broadly, fairly, deeply, and pragmatically about questions that do not have obvious answers and are open to sustained debate.  Although as citizens we all start with the same obligation to think seriously about societal issues, in the end, we will not all share the same considered judgments about what society needs to do.   Political differences, tempered and clarified by deliberation, are the stuff of democratic politics.  Unanimous agreement is the false promise of utopian authoritarianism, of both the right and the left.     

With respect to each of the issues taken up by the course, you will be asked to examine how your own thinking honors America’s lofty, shining ideals, and simultaneously how it takes into account the grubby, pesky facts.  You will be challenged by classmates and instructors alike to answer other questions as well, such as: Is your position fair to all, or only advantageous to some?  Will your proposal work if tried, or is it merely pie-in-the sky?   Can we afford such an expensive public program?   Can we tolerate the costs of the status quo?

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 U.S./Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) will count toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other Honors course)
  • Interdisciplinarity

MAX 132 Global  Community/Honors
3 credits
Honors Discussion M016: MW 10:35 – 11:30 a.m., #40470
Professor James Newman
Lecture M001: W 9:30 – 10:25 a.m., #36445
Professor A. Peter Castro

Register for Honors Discussion M016 ; Lecture M001 will auto-enroll.

This course examines debates about the nature and consequences of globalization. The first unit explores ideas about what globalization and global community might mean and why it matters. Unit II deals with the politics of the emerging global economy from a variety of perspectives. Unit III focuses on trends and debates about globalization's cultural consequences, including whether societies worldwide are becoming homogenized or polarized through increased interaction. Finally, Unit IV considers global challenges such as climate change and the depletion of oil supplies and asks whether we are able to achieve “global community” to a degree sufficient to meet these emerging global challenges.

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) will count toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other Honors course)
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Global Awareness (non-Eurocentric)

PAF 101 Introduction to the Analysis of Public Policy/Honors
3 credits
Honors Lecture M002: MWF 12:45 – 1:40 p.m., #36469
Honors Discussion M003: M 2:15 – 3:10 p.m., #41726
Professor William Coplin

Register for Honors Lecture M002; 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 (honors section only)

PHI 209 Introduction to Moral Philosophy/Honors
3 credits
Honors section M001: MW 10:35 – 11:55 a.m. , #52001
Professor Samuel Gorovitz

This course will consider problems of ethics such as fairness in criminal justice, abortion policy, world hunger, economic justice, and personal moral issues such as integrity and self-respect. These topics will be discussed in the context of various historically important moral theories.  There will be writing assignments, quizzes, oral presentations in class, and a final exam. This course is the honors equivalent of PHI 191.
PHI 209 Introduction to Moral Philosophy/Honors (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/Honors
3 credits
Section M001: MW 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #41288
Professor Alan Middleton

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. It 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)

PSC 129 American National Government and Politics/Honors
(Honors version of PSC 121)
3 credits
Honors Section M001: TTh 3:30 – 4:50 p.m., #37225
Professor 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. Academic credit is given for PSC 121 or PSC 129, but not both.
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)

PSC 139 International Relations/Honors
(Honors version of PSC 124)
3 credits
Section M001: MWF 10:35 – 11:30 a.m., #52270
Professor Francine D’Amico

This course explores diverse world views and theoretical perspectives on issues in contemporary international relations, including foreign policy, international conflict and cooperation, international law & organizations, and global economic, health, and environmental issues.   Lectures, readings and case studies, analytic writing, and group discussion.  Academic credit is given for PSC 124 or PSC 139, but not both.
PSC 139 International Relations/Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth  (other Honors course)
  • Global Awareness (non-Eurocentric)

PSY 209 Foundations of Human Behavior/Honors
(Honors version of PSY 205)
3 credits
Section M002: T TH 9:30 – 10:50 a.m., #38697
Instructor:  Anne Fontana

This course is the Honors equivalent of PSY 205. It 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. Academic credit is given for PSY 205 or PSY 209, but not both.
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)
  • Public Presentation (Professor Fontana section only)

PSY 393 Personality/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M002: T TH 8:00 – 9:20, #39948
Instructor:  Max Malikow

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)

PSY 395 Abnormal Psychology/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M003: T TH 2:00 – 3:20 p.m., #52580
Instructor:  Max Malikow

It is one thing to entitle a course, “Abnormal Behavior.” It is quite another thing to define and characterize various forms of human conduct as abnormal. In this course, those behaviors and conditions that are classified as disorders by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual will be studied. Each category of disorder addressed in this course will be subjected to a consideration of why it is considered abnormal. In other words, according to what criteria is a behavior or condition determined to be abnormal. In addition to diagnosis, attention will be given to treatment modalities.

Course Objectives
As a result of engagement in this course's material, it is intended that students will understand (cognitive component) and appreciate (affective component) the following:

  1. the complexity and ambiguity associated with categorizing abnormal behavior;
  2. the history of diagnosing and treating psychopathology;
  3. the various methodologies for conducting psychological research;
  4. the difficulty of behavioral change and the necessity of a strategy for accomplishing it;
  5. the acquisition of information and material that will be of personal benefit;
  6. the diversity of behaviors and conditions that have been classified as abnormal;
  7. the mastery of terminology associated with psychopathology;
  8. the increasing role of biology in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses and developmental disorders;
  9. the diversity of schools of psychotherapy;
  10. the career opportunities available in academic, clinical, and research psychology;

PSY 395 Abnormal Psychology/Honors (with a grade of “B” or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (other honors course)

SPA 201 Intensive Spanish III/Honors
4 credits
Honors Section M008: MW 9:30-10:25 a.m.; T TH 9:30-10:50 a.m., #37249
Instructor: TBA

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

  • Breadth (other honors course)
  • Global Awareness (non-Eurocentric)

SPA 202 Intensive Spanish IV/Honors
4 credits
Honors Section M001: T TH 9:30-10:50 a.m.; W 10:35-11:30 a.m.
Instructor: TBA

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 (non-Eurocentric)

WGS 200/HNR 260 History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement/Honors
3 credits
Honors Section M001: W 7:00 – 10:00 p.m., #51594
Instructor:  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.  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 feminist.  Requirements include a presentation 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?
  
You’ll also have an opportunity to be part of the creation of history as, working in partnership with the other students, you will use your knowledge and skills to bring awareness of Matilda Joslyn Gage.

This course will include a visit to the Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetteville, the Women's Rights National Historic Park and the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls and the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester.
Counts as Critical Reflections  and Writing Intensive for Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core.
WGS 200 History of Women's Suffrage Movement/Honors (with a grade of "B" or higher) can be used toward the following Honors requirements:

  • Breadth (HNR course)
  • Collaboration
  • Public Presentation

WRT 209 Writing Studio 2/Honors
3 credits
Section M080: MW 12:45 – 2:05 p.m., #52396
Section M240: T TH 11:00 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., #37139
Section M300: T TH 3:30 – 4:50 p.m., #37587 (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. Academic credit is given for WRT 205 or WRT 209, but not both.
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)

Honors Seminars

HNR 210
HNR 220
HNR 230
Capstone Project Seminars

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

Theatre in Syracuse
Section M001: M 3:45 – 5:05 p.m., #42154
Start Date: Second week of classes (Monday, January 25, 2010)
Instructor: William D. West

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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Close Listening: How to Unravel the Mysteries of New Music FULL
M002: T 3:30 – 4:50 p.m., #52765
Start Date: Second week of classes (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)
Instructor:  Ian Hartshough

Music has an endless potential, and tendency, to grow.  This is true of most art forms, but is often overlooked in the case of music.  Somehow we, as a society, have both leaned in the direction of more concrete, definite forms of art and retracted from the abstract (more time-consuming) business of musical literacy.  People go in droves to museums like the MoMA, Pompidou, Guggenheims, etc.  The appreciation of beauty in the abstract comes naturally to imaginative human minds.  However, it seems that we have stopped cultivating channels of engaging with it.  Color, shape, proportion, and form, all of which are accessible terms in film, sculpture, painting, etc., become foreign, frightening words; we recoil in horror (and embarrassment?) at the very thought of their musical application. 
 Why can’t we train our ears to engage in a capacity that is on par with our eyes?  We can!  This class aims to just that through a cultivation of aural cues, applicable in any aural medium, that give the listeners access to a world of meaning previously undiscovered by students who don’t study music formally.  Rhetoric and debate are the tools of communication and we will explore how they are put to use in music. Through the study and comparison of works in diverse media (films, video art, radio, and especially music) we can find our way to a hearing of music that yields the same proportional and linear effect as many more familiar pieces of art or discourse.  Through this understanding we may now be more free to appreciate the color and timbre music, providing a window into a completely new and heightened aural experience.  Given our new enhanced and tempered ears we may now be able to listen to anything or anyone more carefully and with greater understanding. 

We’ll also do a little composing ourselves in Syracuse University’s electronic music studio.  Come explore these ideas in a fun, non-threatening musical environment!

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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:

Navigating the Unfamiliar: Working with Diverse Communities
Section M001:  T 11:00 .m.– 12:20 p.m., # 36119
Start Date:  Second week of classes (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)
Instructor:  Hayley Marama Cavino

This seminar will provide an overview of the issues, challenges, and responsibilities related to collaborating in environments that are racially, ethnically, and/or culturally diverse. The course content will be explored through facilitated class discussions and will draw heavily on student reading, personal experiences and reflection, and film and television media. Our work together will provide opportunities to explore our own identity, and our relationship with places we call ‘home’ as well as places that may be unfamiliar or unknown to us. Key questions that we’ll explore together include: What are our knowledge and belief systems in comparison to others? What are our needs? How might they be different from the needs and aspirations of others? What questions does collaborating in diverse spaces raise for us?  What might we need to know in order to partner effectively in diverse spaces?  How and why is this relevant to your discipline? What are the possible expectations and approaches specific to our disciplines? The instructor will share practical research experiences with ethnic and racially diverse communities—particularly indigenous communities in Aotearoa/New Zealand and ethnically diverse communities in New York State. The content and examples shared will be drawn from a variety of disciplines including: education, health and wellness, architecture, engineering, criminal justice, and psychology.

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Flaunting it! The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights and Culture
Sec M002: W 3:45-5:05 p.m., #36121
Start Date: Second week of classes (Wednesday, January 27, 2010)
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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Islam
Sec M003:  M 5:15 – 6:35 p.m., #52766
Start Date:  Second week of classes (Monday, January 25, 2010)
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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Living With Dying
Section M005: T 2:00 – 3:20 p.m., #52767
Start Date:  Second week of classes (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)
Instructor:  Peter Sarver

The title of this seminar seems to be a paradox.  How can we talk about dying and living in the same breath?  We believe that the personal recognition of our mortality is a step toward engaging life to the fullest.  Death anxiety is a barrier consciously or unconsciously that prevents us from making the most of opportunities in our work and family life.  Unresolved grief over previous losses is an active element of such anxiety.  Living with Dying may be the process that helps unlock more of your potential.  This series is oriented toward “experiential learning,” using your personal experience and that of others to explore various concepts and techniques that may be helpful in your journey.

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Culture of Violence
Section  M006: TH 3:30-4:50 p.m., #38113
Start Date: Second week of classes (Thursday, January 28, 2010)
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.

HNR 230 Scientific Issues and Practice

The Challenges of Zoo Management
FULL
Section M002: W 5:30 – 6:50 p.m., #37607
Start Date:  Second week of classes (Wednesday, January 27, 2010)
Instructors:  Adrienne Whiteley and Ted Fox, Burnett Park Zoo

This seminar course will provide students with an overview of all the elements required to manage exotic animals in a zoo. The course will culminate in a trip to the zoo where students will have an opportunity to test behavioral enrichment projects they have designed. Occasionally, zoo animals will visit the seminar. Possible seminar topics include: Animal Behavior; Collection Planning; Exhibit Design; Record Keeping; Veterinary Care; Nutrition; Population Management; Animal Training; Safety; Animal Enrichment.

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.,  #35655
Professor John Belote & Professor Larry Wolf

Section M002: Junior & Senior Thesis Seminar, T 5:00-6:00 p.m.,  #35657
Professor John Belote & Professor Larry Wolf

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: TH 5:00-6:20 p.m., #36123
Start Date: Second week of classes (Thursday, January 28, 2010)
Instructor: Eric Holzwarth

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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