Honors College Courses for Fall 2009
A rich array of course topics will be offered to Honors College students in fall semester 2009. The list will be updated frequently, so please check back often.
To make an Honors advising appointment, please visit the Honors College office in Honors Hall, or call 509-335-4505.
IMPORTANT: Your course requirements depend on when you joined the Honors College.
- If you were in Honors prior to Fall 2008, consider courses in the Former Curriculum section.
- If you entered Honors in Fall 2008 or later, look at the course information in the New Curriculum section.
Former Curriculum
These courses meet the requirements in the former Honors curriculum that was in place prior to the start of fall semester 2008.
ECONS 198 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 12:10-1:00, CUE 216
Principles of Economics
Instructor: Pat Kuzyk
This is an introductory course that covers principles
of both micro and macroeconomics. My goal is for
the student to learn, rigorously, the concepts that are
crucial for them to understand how our
political-economic system works. An organizing theme of
the course is the question ‘under what
circumstances are individual self-interest and the
public good aligned, and when are they in
conflict?’ Economic theory offers numerous
insights into these important questions.
Students will be introduced to the methodology of
economic research, and they will learn to apply
economic principles to real-world examples.
Required Texts:
Survey of Economics by O'Sullivan and Sheffrin
ECONS 198 (2) (3 credits)
MWF 1:10-2:00, CUE 216
Principles of Economics
Instructor: Pat Kuzyk
This is an introductory course that covers principles
of both micro and macroeconomics. My goal is for
the student to learn, rigorously, the concepts that are
crucial for them to understand how our
political-economic system works. An organizing theme of
the course is the question ‘under what
circumstances are individual self-interest and the
public good aligned, and when are they in
conflict?’ Economic theory offers numerous
insights into these important questions.
Students will be introduced to the methodology of
economic research, and they will learn to apply
economic principles to real-world examples.
Required Texts:
Survey of Economics by O'Sullivan and Sheffrin
ENGL 298 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 12:00-1:15, Thompson 19
Honors English Literature
Instructor: Linda Kittell
By the end of Honors English 298, students will understand research and writing as interrelated tasks requiring both creative and analytical thought. More specifically, students will understand the uses of writing as a critical thinking tool, be more critical evaluators of information (considering not just basic content but also matters of presentation and purpose), and be able to research and present arguments as a means of active engagement, social inquiry, and collaborative as well as individual problem solving.
In this course, we will research the American fascination with sports. Why do we love the sports we do? What does our attachment to sport reveal about us as people? How does our passion with sport relate to our chosen major?
Through various shorter research tasks and reading assignments, we will begin a dialogue between ourselves and other writers to investigate our sports obsessions. Later in the course, each student will choose a specific sport (wide open here---baseball, basketball, equestrian sports like rodeo or three-day eventing, wrestling, swimming---your choice) on which to focus his or her attention. Students will come up with a large working bibliography on their sport as well as a series of questions which will work as prompts for their research and writing.
We will learn techniques for doing both primary and secondary research, as well as approaches to various tasks involved in writing and presenting the Honors thesis project and other types of writing students do while at the university. Students will write a larger, final research essay.
Required Texts:
A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of Bill Bradley
at Princeton by John McPhee
The Last Go Round by Ken Kesey and Ken
Babbs
The Joy of Sports: End Zones, Baskets, Bases and
Balls and the Consecration of the American Spirit
by Michael Novak
The Curious Researcher, 6th ed. by Bruce
Ballenger
Recommended Text:
Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, Basketball Champions of the World by Linda Peavey and Ursula Smith
ENGL 298 (2) (3 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, Thompson 105
Write for Your Life!
Instructor: Bill Condon
For at least two decades, psychologists have known that what rhetoricians think of as rhetorical invention techniques can have positive effects on writers’ well-being. James Pennebaker has demonstrated (without referencing Peter Elbow or anyone else from rhetoric and composition) that a limited amount of freewriting about trauma actually improves the health of the writer. Similarly, Robert Emmons, Christopher Peterson, Sonia Lyubomirsky, and others have connected a small set of invention techniques (again, without being aware that these ARE invention techniques) with improving both the levels of happiness and physical well-being of their subjects. This course makes an effort to close the circle, engaging students in active research on themselves, their classmates, and fellow students outside the class. The co-teachers (Bill Condon and guest teacher, Beth Waddel) are, respectively, a rhetoric and composition specialist and a PhD-level psychologist and life coach. They will lead the class in a collaborative exploration of the effects of practicing rhetorical invention techniques, from Aristotle to Burke to Elbow, on the health, well-being, and life practices (e.g., regular exercise, time management, study habits, etc.) of college students. The study will track existing research on the topic and extend that research to cover a full range of invention techniques. We will connect rhetoric with psychology in ways that have not yet been attempted. We expect not only to identify an expanded notion of the role rhetoric can play as an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but also to explore the implications of this research for the composition curriculum and for engaging students in interdisciplinary research projects.
Assessment will be by course portfolio, using a grading
rubric developed and field tested by the class
members.
Required Texts:
The Bedford Researcher by Michael
Palmquist
A Primer in Positive Psychology by Christopher
Peterson
ENGL 298 (3) (3 credits)
MWF 12:10-1:00, Thompson 119
Where Do You Get Your News?
Instructor: Andy Dephtereos
The last decade has seen either an explosion or an implosion of media outlets, depending upon one’s point of view. Talk radio, the Internet, Drudge and his ilk, The Daily Show and the likes of Daily Kos and YouTube have left traditional news gatekeepers scrambling. Not long ago, the major newspapers and television networks had great control over who and what was considered news and how that news was reported; today, control has been ceded to anyone with cable channel access or a broadband connection. Or has it? Even as this apparent democratization of the news is taking place, media consolidation and corporatization have concentrated control of the major news organizations into a very few hands.
This section of Honors Writing and Research will explore the threat or promise of the brave new world that makes and reports our news. This class allows students to create research projects in their individual areas of interest as they pay close attention to the medium as well as the message. Students will carefully consider purpose and audience before embarking on their writing; they will explore a variety of sources as they work to master the processes of researching; they will recognize that effective academic writing is the result of a recursive process of drafting and reflecting.
Required Texts:
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research, 2nd ed. by Elaine Maimon and Janice
Peritz
Censored 2009: The Top 25 Censored Stories of
2007-8, ed. by Peter Phillips and Andrew Roth
ENGL 298 (4) (3 credits)
TTh 1:25-2:40, Thompson 5
Examining the American West
Instructor: Bryan Fry
This is a research-based course that focuses on a variety of themes including environmental, political, historical, and literary studies of the American West. We will begin the course looking at the current trend of research that redefines pre-Columbian America. This research has granted scholars a new, valuable lens; re-examining the discourse of “discovery” allows for more clarity of the encounters of diverse groups in the American frontier. Articles and books are coming out every which way with fascinating stories to explore: the ship of orphans and nuns who brought smallpox inoculations, body by body, across the Atlantic; the migration of the horse; the pre-Lewis and Clark West; the nature of native nutrition, and the chance to explore it right in our own backyard, at an uncultivated 30-acre prairie slope (Virgin Palouse Prairie) just south of Pullman.
In addition, we will study the major literary and critical essays of the American West and visit the library archives to view the original frontier photographs of Edward Curtis and Frank Matsura, as well as the artifacts of L.V. McWhorter.
By the end of this course, each student will comprehend academic, exploratory research--using primary and secondary sources--as well as analyzing texts and synthesizing information. They will also demonstrate effective academic prose--with attention to structure, critical thinking, rules of citation, and correctness--by providing a portfolio of thoroughly revised work.
Required Texts:
Literature of the American West by Greg
Lyons
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research Elaine Maimon and Janice Peritz
ENGL 298 (5) (3 credits)
MWF 2:10-3:00, Thompson 19
Where Do You Get Your Food?
Instructor: Andy Dephtereos
Few controversies seem more important to the future of humans on this planet than the debate over how and where we get our food. The choices we make in the grocery store—or in the garden or at the farmer’s market—have taken on a tremendous significance, as genetically modified foods, monocultures, and agribusiness raise challenges to food safety and security. More and more, people look to locally sourced, organic, and “slow” foods in response, but the recent controversy at WSU over The Omnivore’s Dilemma illustrates how charged these issues may be.
This section of Honors Writing and Research will explore the sources of the foods we eat. While the focus for many class discussions, team projects, and presentations will be on the world food supply, students will create major research projects in their individual areas of interest. Students will carefully consider purpose and audience before embarking on their writing; they will explore a variety of sources as they work to master the processes of researching; they will recognize that effective academic writing is the result of a recursive process of drafting and reflecting.
Required Texts:
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research, 2nd ed. by Elaine Maimon and Janice
Peritz
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of
Four Meals by Michael Pollan
MATH 182 (1) (4 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, AND MWF 9:10-10:00, Carpenter 101
Honors Calculus II
Instructor: David Watkins
PREREQUISITE: EXCELLENT WORK IN CALCULUS I OR HIGH SCHOOL CALCULUS AND INSTRUCTOR'S OR DEPARTMENTAL PERMISSION
This is the second semester of calculus for motivated
students who are ready to develop a deep conceptual
understanding of the subject. Calculus is an
indispensable tool for understanding the environment we
live in. My objective is to help each student take
possession of this tool. This means much more than just
memorizing the computational techniques.
Topics covered include techniques of integration,
applications of integration, infinite series,
parametric equations, and polar coordinates.
TO ENROLL DURING ALIVE! (summer orientation), you must speak to the Math Department representative.
Required Texts:
Essential Calculus, Early Transcendentals by James Stewart
PHYS 206 (1) (5 credits)
MWF 11:10-12:00, Webster 11
Lab 1: Tu 6:10-9:00; Th 5:00-7:00, Webster 232
Instructor: Fred Gittes
Required Texts:
SCI 298 (1) (4 credits)
MWF 9:10-10:00, Todd 234
with Lab 1: Monday 12:10-3:00, Easlick 166 OR
Lab 2: Monday 3:30-6:20, Eastlick 166
The Sciences: Origins
Instructor: Lisa Carloye
This course is specifically designed for non-science majors who have been admitted to the Honors College. I use an integrated approach that emphasizes the nature of science as a unique way of understanding the natural world and how science differs from other ways of knowing. Over the course of two semesters SCI 298 and 299 develop theories from an array of scientific disciplines (including geology, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and physics) in a way that emphasizes the role of empirical evidence and argumentation in advancing our understanding of natural processes. The theme of the Fall semester (SCI 298) is “Origins” in which we explore the empirical evidence underlying scientific theories of the origins of the universe, our solar system, the Earth, and the origins of life itself. By taking an historical approach, students will come to appreciate the dynamic role that theories play in the process of scientific inquiry and how the development of new technologies spawns new questions which, in turn, lead to modifications and improvements in our theoretical models. Because science and the technology it spawns often lead to social and cultural controversy, we will finish the semester by exploring the origins of our fossil fuel-based society as we discuss the ongoing controversy of climate change.
Required Texts (subject to change):
The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate
Change, and Our Future by Richard Alley
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill
Bryson
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
UH 300 (1) (2 credits)
Monday 3:10-5:00, Honors 141
The Sagas of the Vikings
Instructor: Kim Andersen
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
In A.D. 793 the Vikings entered the annals of history with the attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne, England. The following 300 years, approximately, have been known as "the Viking Age." During these years the peoples of Scandinavia put their cultural imprint on the British Isles, Normandy, Paris, Russia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and North America, not always to the delight of locals. However, they were not only pirates and conquerors but also trade-partners in a vibrant world of commerce and exchange. The Norse were quick to settle and become locals. Yet, who were they? Were they all pirating Vikings or also farmers and poets? How did they live when they weren't on the longboats? Were law and order part of their societies? What were their beliefs, myths, and legends before they converted to Christianity? Did they, indeed, discover America? It is the purpose of this seminar to study a selection of their literary legacy, the results of centuries of oral traditions, the Icelandic sagas, in order to gain insights into a human culture seemingly distant from our own. We'll read and discuss some of the vivid tales of love, sex, violence, of defending rights, and of practical and supernatural uncertainties. We will make use of movies and short films. Final grade to be determined by active participation, written assignments, and an in-class presentation.
Required Texts:
The Vinland Sagas by Magnusson
Njal’s Saga by Magnusson
Saga of the Volsungs by Byock
Egil’s Saga by Magnusson
Historical Atlas of the Vikings by Haywood
UH 300 (2) (2 credits)
Tuesday 2:50-4:40, Honors 141
The Intricacies of a Globalized World
Instructor: Jessica Cassleman
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
Poverty, climate change, wars, and religious differences are some of the leading topics in international news. The pace of immigration and cultural movement intensifies daily, but the interaction of cultures is not a new term of the 2lst century. The controversies and challenges this constant movement brings continue to evolve and we need to respond to them at a faster rate and with a deeper level of understanding due to the demands of world trade, the concerns for the environment, and the advancement of technology. This class will analyze social issues such as family structure, levels of education, religion, and poverty in different parts of the world, and we will make an attempt to discover how globalization affects different social groups. With this information as background, we will explore ways in which we can make a difference locally and globally.
Class discussions will be based on readings, presentations offered by visiting lecturers, video clips, and film analysis as we aim to understand how the local affects the global, and how the global influences the local in a world that might seem “flat.”
Required Texts:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Vision to Promote
Peace…One School at a Time by G. Mortenson
and D.O. Relin
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the
Twenty-first Century by Farrar, Straus, and
Giroux
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael
Pollan
Periodicals: The Economist and The
New York Times among others
Other suggested
readings:
Collapse: How Societies
Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty Not
Affluence Is the Environment’s Number One
Enemy by Jack M. Hollander
UH 330 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 9:10-10:00, Honors 142
Development of Western Civilization: Dwelling on the Palouse
Instructor: Jeff Sanders
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
In this course, tentatively subtitled “Dwelling on the Palouse,” students will explore the linked history of sustainability, sense of place, and regionalism in American history, and especially the US West over the last 200 years. Beginning with an overview of how historians, planners, utopians, and fiction writers-—among others-—have sought to define an elusive “sense of place,” we will then examine the microcosm of the Palouse in order to understand challenges and successes in our own efforts to define a more sustainable future in the region. In the process of exploring these ideas regarding specific places, we will always also reach toward an understanding of how local places, such as the Palouse, rarely stand alone as islands. We seek to understand how the local is always a part of a larger global context that often circumscribes possibility. Students will leave this class with critical tools for understanding the history and politics of sustainability in the different places they now call home and the places they may call home in the future.
Required Texts:
The primary text for this class will be a reader containing essays and primary sources.
UH 350 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 12:00-1:15, Honors 142
The United Nations and Global Diplomacy
Instructor: Bill Smith
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
UN and Global Diplomacy focuses on the United Nations system as it pertains to peace and security, health and humanitarian issues, economics, resources and development, and culture. The course also considers the perspectives of various regions/nations (according to student interest) on such issues using modeling. Speaking and writing skills will be particularly emphasized.
This course tracks the development of a global, multilateral system that takes into account what developing nations “want” alongside the aims of the developed world. Students should retain the framework of this throughout their life and understand something about multilateral issues.
Enrolled students have the option of joining the Spring 2010 Honors College delegation to the National Model United Nations Conference in New York City.
Required Texts:
The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power by James Traub
UH 350 (2) (3 credits)
TTh 10:35-11:50, Murrow 55
Chinese Civilization
Instructor: Fred Peterson
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
This is an introduction to Chinese history and culture. Included will be overviews of geography, languages, historical development, philosophy, literature, fine arts, and material culture. There will be a special focus upon concepts developed in ancient times (particularly Confucian and Daoist thought) that have continued to influence Chinese and other East Asian cultures. In addition to lectures, class discussions, readings, etc., students will have opportunities to pursue problem-based learning projects on aspects of Chinese history and civilization that particularly interest them. The course will be taught at both the Pullman and Spokane campuses utilizing the WHETS system. The professor will teach from Pullman at least once per week, from Spokane the other times, and will hold office hours at both campuses.
Required Texts:
Students will choose from among a list of books focused upon great ideas or related to specific aspects of Chinese culture and thought.
UH 398 (1) (1 credit)
Monday 6:10-8:00 p.m., Honors 142
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Lisa Carloye
STRONGLY ENCOURAGED PREQUISITE IS 45 SEMESTER HOURS. STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, MATH, AND OTHER TECHNICAL MAJORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENROLL IN THIS SECTION
This is a seminar-style class with emphasis on class participation (including posts to our MyClass electronic course space), independent research, oral presentation, and individual development of a thesis proposal. Students will learn how to identify a thesis advisor, generate an Honors thesis topic, prepare an Honors thesis proposal, and initiate Honors thesis research. To learn how to formulate a thesis question/topic/hypothesis, and how to access and utilize the scholarly literature, students will work together for the first two weeks on a mock thesis question. After this, students will identify an advisor, meet with the advisor, and then: (1) perform a literature search on their chosen area of study; (2) evaluate and use information pertinent to their thesis topic (primary, secondary, and other scholarly sources); (3) examine assumptions, methodology, data, and conclusions in the scholarly literature; (4) draw their own valid inferences and conclusions; (5) engage in class discussions and feedback regarding their thesis proposal; and (6) submit a proposal (3-5 pages, excluding bibliography) and give a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation on their thesis topic.
The end product of this course is a thesis proposal ready to submit for evaluation by the Honors College (per stated guidelines on the Honors College Web site). Upon successful completion of this course, the Honors student will be ready to undertake Honors thesis research (U H 450).
Required Texts:
The Clockwork Muse by E. Zerubavel
Optional Texts (will be useful for UH 450):
The Craft of Research by W. C. Booth, G. G.
Colomb, and J.M. Williams
How to Write a BA Thesis by C. Lipson
UH 398 (2) (1 credit)
TTh 12:10-1:00, Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Kim Andersen
STRONGLY ENCOURAGED PREQUISITE IS 45 SEMESTER HOURS. STUDENTS MAJORING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS, OR HUMANITIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENROLL IN THIS SECTION
This is a seminar-style course with the purpose of assisting and supporting each participant in completing his/her Honors thesis proposal. By the end of the course you will submit your Honors thesis proposal for approval and be ready to initiate your thesis research. In the course, you will learn how to generate an Honors thesis topic, how to formulate a thesis question, how to identify a thesis advisor, and how to prepare the thesis proposal. In addition, we will discuss ways to structure your thesis, how to perform a literature search, and how to evaluate the information you obtain in relation to your chosen topic. During the course we will discuss and constructively support and critique projects as they develop in the proposals. Each student will submit a complete proposal including title, introduction, research question, methodology, preliminary annotated bibliography, as a final product, and will give a 10-minute oral presentation on their proposal in class. S/F grading.
Required Texts:
How to Write a BA Thesis by Charles Lipson
UH 430 (variable credits)
Arrangement
UH 440 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 10:35-11:50, Murrow East 242
Domain of the Arts: St. Petersburg
Instructor: Birgitta Ingemanson
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
This course studies the image and role of the city of St. Petersburg in Russian literature and art, and the special nature of a city that has inspired world-class writers and other artists. Because of its dual function as Russia’s “Window to Europe” and the Tsar’s political stage, Petersburg has served both as a model of classical (Western) architecture and progressive thought and as the home of autocratic (Eastern) policies and orthodoxy. Many Russian writers have used this conflict as a background for stories about human beings torn between two opposing poles: between East and West, repression and enlightenment, censorship and liberal ideas, the aims of the state and the ideals of the people. Such complex characteristics have made of St. Petersburg both a hero and an anti-hero in Russian literature; we will also study the city’s imagery in selected paintings and music. It is a place of lost dreams as well as one of new hope, and, in a sense, a mirror of Russia as a whole.
Components of final grade:
In-class work 25% (attendance, participation,
preparation)
Leading a class discussion 25%
A research presentation 20%
A written report on the research 30%
Required Texts:
The Bronze Horseman “The Queen of
Spades,” by Alexander Pushkin
Petersburg Tales (“The Overcoat,”
“Nevsky Prospect,” “The
Portrait,” and “The Nose”) by Nikolay
Gogol
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (best
translation: Pevear and Volokonsky)
Poetry by Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Olga
Bergholtz, and others (available through my Course
Notes in the Bookie)
UH 440 (2) (3 credits)
MWF 1:10-2:00, Honors 142
Art and Art Theory
Instructor: Kim Andersen
ONLY STUDENTS WHO ENTERED WSU PRIOR TO THE FALL OF 2008 MAY TAKE THIS COURSE
For a good 30,000 years, at least, humans have produced images, tales, spectacles, and much more which we now call art. Cave paintings, graffiti, fetishes, drama, sitcoms, literature, performance, pottery, painting, architecture, jewelry, music, country western, medieval cathedrals, tattoos, rap twist, hip funk, bop and American Idol—we call it all art, we call them all artists! Does it make sense?
In this course we will seek enlightenment on the nature of art. We will investigate theories of art (a selection, from Plato onwards) to try to determine what it is we appreciate about art. We will discuss art theories that offer particular discriminating viewpoints on the nature of art as we assess the possibilities for obtaining an all encompassing theory of art. We will contrast those theories of art by most importantly experiencing and discussing artworks, in particular painting, literature, and film. We will make use of videos and required excursions to local museum exhibits or theatre performances. Final grade to be determined by active participation, written assignments, and an in-class presentation.
Required Text:
But Is It Art? by Cynthia Freeland
UH 450 (variable credits)
Arrangement
UH 499 (variable credits)
Arrangement
New Curriculum
These courses meet the requirements in the new Honors curriculum that began in fall semester 2008 for students entering the program at that time.
ECONS 198 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 12:10-1:00, CUE 216
Principles of Economics
Instructor: Pat Kuzyk
This is an introductory course that covers principles
of both micro and macroeconomics. My goal is for
the student to learn, rigorously, the concepts that are
crucial for them to understand how our
political-economic system works. An organizing theme of
the course is the question ‘under what
circumstances are individual self-interest and the
public good aligned, and when are they in
conflict?’ Economic theory offers numerous
insights into these important questions.
Students will be introduced to the methodology of
economic research, and they will learn to apply
economic principles to real-world examples.
Required Texts:
Survey of Economics by O'Sullivan and Sheffrin
ECONS 198 (2) (3 credits)
MWF 1:10-2:00, CUE 216
Principles of Economics
Instructor: Pat Kuzyk
This is an introductory course that covers principles
of both micro and macroeconomics. My goal is for
the student to learn, rigorously, the concepts that are
crucial for them to understand how our
political-economic system works. An organizing theme of
the course is the question ‘under what
circumstances are individual self-interest and the
public good aligned, and when are they in
conflict?’ Economic theory offers numerous
insights into these important questions.
Students will be introduced to the methodology of
economic research, and they will learn to apply
economic principles to real-world examples.
Required Texts:
Survey of Economics by O'Sullivan and Sheffrin
ENGL 298 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 12:00-1:15, Thompson 19
Honors English Literature
Instructor: Linda Kittell
By the end of Honors English 298, students will understand research and writing as interrelated tasks requiring both creative and analytical thought. More specifically, students will understand the uses of writing as a critical thinking tool, be more critical evaluators of information (considering not just basic content but also matters of presentation and purpose), and be able to research and present arguments as a means of active engagement, social inquiry, and collaborative as well as individual problem solving.
In this course, we will research the American fascination with sports. Why do we love the sports we do? What does our attachment to sport reveal about us as people? How does our passion with sport relate to our chosen major?
Through various shorter research tasks and reading assignments, we will begin a dialogue between ourselves and other writers to investigate our sports obsessions. Later in the course, each student will choose a specific sport (wide open here---baseball, basketball, equestrian sports like rodeo or three-day eventing, wrestling, swimming---your choice) on which to focus his or her attention. Students will come up with a large working bibliography on their sport as well as a series of questions which will work as prompts for their research and writing.
We will learn techniques for doing both primary and secondary research, as well as approaches to various tasks involved in writing and presenting the Honors thesis project and other types of writing students do while at the university. Students will write a larger, final research essay.
Required Texts:
A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of Bill Bradley
at Princeton by John McPhee
The Last Go Round by Ken Kesey and Ken
Babbs
The Joy of Sports: End Zones, Baskets, Bases and
Balls and the Consecration of the American Spirit
by Michael Novak
The Curious Researcher, 6th ed. by Bruce
Ballenger
Recommended Text:
Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School, Basketball Champions of the World by Linda Peavey and Ursula Smith
ENGL 298 (2) (3 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, Thompson 105
Write for Your Life!
Instructor: Bill Condon
For at least two decades, psychologists have known that what rhetoricians think of as rhetorical invention techniques can have positive effects on writers’ well-being. James Pennebaker has demonstrated (without referencing Peter Elbow or anyone else from rhetoric and composition) that a limited amount of freewriting about trauma actually improves the health of the writer. Similarly, Robert Emmons, Christopher Peterson, Sonia Lyubomirsky, and others have connected a small set of invention techniques (again, without being aware that these ARE invention techniques) with improving both the levels of happiness and physical well-being of their subjects. This course makes an effort to close the circle, engaging students in active research on themselves, their classmates, and fellow students outside the class. The co-teachers (Bill Condon and guest teacher, Beth Waddel) are, respectively, a rhetoric and composition specialist and a PhD-level psychologist and life coach. They will lead the class in a collaborative exploration of the effects of practicing rhetorical invention techniques, from Aristotle to Burke to Elbow, on the health, well-being, and life practices (e.g., regular exercise, time management, study habits, etc.) of college students. The study will track existing research on the topic and extend that research to cover a full range of invention techniques. We will connect rhetoric with psychology in ways that have not yet been attempted. We expect not only to identify an expanded notion of the role rhetoric can play as an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but also to explore the implications of this research for the composition curriculum and for engaging students in interdisciplinary research projects.
Assessment will be by course portfolio, using a grading
rubric developed and field tested by the class
members.
Required Texts:
The Bedford Researcher by Michael
Palmquist
A Primer in Positive Psychology by Christopher
Peterson
ENGL 298 (3) (3 credits)
MWF 12:10-1:00, Thompson 119
Where Do You Get Your News?
Instructor: Andy Dephtereos
The last decade has seen either an explosion or an implosion of media outlets, depending upon one’s point of view. Talk radio, the Internet, Drudge and his ilk, The Daily Show and the likes of Daily Kos and YouTube have left traditional news gatekeepers scrambling. Not long ago, the major newspapers and television networks had great control over who and what was considered news and how that news was reported; today, control has been ceded to anyone with cable channel access or a broadband connection. Or has it? Even as this apparent democratization of the news is taking place, media consolidation and corporatization have concentrated control of the major news organizations into a very few hands.
This section of Honors Writing and Research will explore the threat or promise of the brave new world that makes and reports our news. This class allows students to create research projects in their individual areas of interest as they pay close attention to the medium as well as the message. Students will carefully consider purpose and audience before embarking on their writing; they will explore a variety of sources as they work to master the processes of researching; they will recognize that effective academic writing is the result of a recursive process of drafting and reflecting.
Required Texts:
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research, 2nd ed. by Elaine Maimon and Janice
Peritz
Censored 2009: The Top 25 Censored Stories of
2007-8, ed. by Peter Phillips and Andrew Roth
ENGL 298 (4) (3 credits)
TTh 1:25-2:40, Thompson 5
Instructor: Bryan Fry
Examining the American West
This is a research-based course that focuses on a variety of themes including environmental, political, historical, and literary studies of the American West. We will begin the course looking at the current trend of research that redefines pre-Columbian America. This research has granted scholars a new, valuable lens; re-examining the discourse of “discovery” allows for more clarity of the encounters of diverse groups in the American frontier. Articles and books are coming out every which way with fascinating stories to explore: the ship of orphans and nuns who brought smallpox inoculations, body by body, across the Atlantic; the migration of the horse; the pre-Lewis and Clark West; the nature of native nutrition, and the chance to explore it right in our own backyard, at an uncultivated 30-acre prairie slope (Virgin Palouse Prairie) just south of Pullman.
In addition, we will study the major literary and critical essays of the American West and visit the library archives to view the original frontier photographs of Edward Curtis and Frank Matsura, as well as the artifacts of L.V. McWhorter.
By the end of this course, each student will comprehend academic, exploratory research--using primary and secondary sources--as well as analyzing texts and synthesizing information. They will also demonstrate effective academic prose--with attention to structure, critical thinking, rules of citation, and correctness--by providing a portfolio of thoroughly revised work.
Required Texts:
Literature of the American West by Greg
Lyons
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research Elaine Maimon and Janice Peritz
ENGL 298 (5) (3 credits)
MWF 2:10-3:00, Thompson 19
Where Do You Get Your Food?
Instructor: Andy Dephtereos
Few controversies seem more important to the future of humans on this planet than the debate over how and where we get our food. The choices we make in the grocery store—or in the garden or at the farmer’s market—have taken on a tremendous significance, as genetically modified foods, monocultures, and agribusiness raise challenges to food safety and security. More and more, people look to locally sourced, organic, and “slow” foods in response, but the recent controversy at WSU over The Omnivore’s Dilemma illustrates how charged these issues may be.
This section of Honors Writing and Research will explore the sources of the foods we eat. While the focus for many class discussions, team projects, and presentations will be on the world food supply, students will create major research projects in their individual areas of interest. Students will carefully consider purpose and audience before embarking on their writing; they will explore a variety of sources as they work to master the processes of researching; they will recognize that effective academic writing is the result of a recursive process of drafting and reflecting.
Required Texts:
A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing
and Research, 2nd ed. by Elaine Maimon and Janice
Peritz
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of
Four Meals by Michael Pollan
MATH 182 (1) (4 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, AND MWF 9:10-10:00, Carpenter 101
Honors Calculus II
Instructor: David Watkins
PREREQUISITE: EXCELLENT WORK IN CALCULUS I OR HIGH SCHOOL CALCULUS AND INSTRUCTOR'S OR DEPARTMENTAL PERMISSION
This is the second semester of calculus for motivated
students who are ready to develop a deep conceptual
understanding of the subject. Calculus is an
indispensable tool for understanding the environment we
live in. My objective is to help each student take
possession of this tool. This means much more than just
memorizing the computational techniques.
Topics covered include techniques of integration,
applications of integration, infinite series,
parametric equations, and polar coordinates.
TO ENROLL DURING ALIVE! (summer orientation), you must speak to the Math Department representative.
Required Texts:
Essential Calculus, Early Transcendentals by James Stewart
PHYS 206 (1) (5 credits)
MWF 11:10-12:00, Webster 11
Lab 1: Tu 6:10-9:00; Th 5:00-7:00, Webster 232
Instructor: Fred Gittes
Required Texts:
SCI 298 (1) (4 credits)
MWF 9:10-10:00, Todd 234
with Lab 1: Monday 12:10-3:00, Easlick 166 OR
Lab 2: Monday 3:30-6:20, Eastlick 166
Instructor: Lisa Carloye
This course is specifically designed for non-science majors who have been admitted to the Honors College. I use an integrated approach that emphasizes the nature of science as a unique way of understanding the natural world and how science differs from other ways of knowing. Over the course of two semesters SCI 298 and 299 develop theories from an array of scientific disciplines (including geology, biology, astronomy, chemistry, and physics) in a way that emphasizes the role of empirical evidence and argumentation in advancing our understanding of natural processes. The theme of the Fall semester (SCI 298) is “Origins” in which we explore the empirical evidence underlying scientific theories of the origins of the universe, our solar system, the Earth, and the origins of life itself. By taking an historical approach, students will come to appreciate the dynamic role that theories play in the process of scientific inquiry and how the development of new technologies spawns new questions which, in turn, lead to modifications and improvements in our theoretical models. Because science and the technology it spawns often lead to social and cultural controversy, we will finish the semester by exploring the origins of our fossil fuel-based society as we discuss the ongoing controversy of climate change.
Required Texts (subject to change):
The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate
Change, and Our Future by Richard Alley
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill
Bryson
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
UH 270 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 10:10-11:00, Thompson 24
Women of Power in Chinese History
Instructor: Lydia Gerber
In this class we will explore the contributions of exceptional women to Chinese civilization: What, for example, were the abilities and circumstances that allowed Wu Zhao to rule as an emperor during the Tang dynasty? What made the poetry of Li Qingzhao famous? How did Ban Zhao become the final editor of the History of the Han Dynasty?
We will discover what traditional and modern doctrines in China have to say about women in general and their role in society. We will use a variety of texts (in English translation) to explore the role famous women have played against this background of traditional expectations. What does this tell us about Chinese cultural values, and their transformation?
Required Texts:
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China by
Patricia Ebrey
Wu Zhao: China’s Only Woman Emperor by
Harry Rothschild & course package
UH 270 (2) (3 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, CUE 416
Introductory Honors Sociology
Instructor: Monica Johnson
This course introduces Honors students to sociology, the scientific study of society. We will examine the social influences on human behavior, drawing on examples of crime and deviance, inequality, particularly of race/ethnicity, class, and gender; recent changes in the institutions of family and work; and youth’s transitions to employment and career. Students will become familiar with the major conceptual and methodological tools used in sociology and other social sciences, begin developing a “sociological imagination,” and improve their quantitative and symbolic reasoning, information literacy, and communication skills. The course is organized around student participation and presentation.
Required Texts:
Course packet containing various sociological articles and book chapters
UH 280 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 3:10-4:00, Honors 142
The Topography of Culture: Intersections of Time, Place, Space, and Structure in Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic
Instructor: Rachel Halverson
This course will use a case-study framework to examine how the intersection of architecture, art, film, and literature can be examined to define the cultural, political, and social landscape of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic. A case study of Nazi Germany’s cultural topography will give greater depth and definition to the society responsible for the Holocaust, an act of genocide that defines Germany to this day. A case study of East Germany, a country literally built on the ruins of Nazi Germany, will document how the Socialist Unity Party programmatically strove to create a model Communist society, traces of which still are visible in today’s united Germany. Guest speakers will provide additional models of current research in this area of cultural studies. Using the methodology modeled in the course, students will conduct their own examinations of unique intersections of culture, place, space, and time.
Required Texts:
Address Unknown by Katherine Kressmann
Taylor
The Architects by Stefan Heym
Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi
Germany by Marion A. Kaplan
Excerpts from:
The Divided Nation: A History of Germany
1918-1990 by Mary Fulbrook
Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich by
Alison Owings
The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in
the Urban Landscape by Brian Ladd
Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin
Wall by Anna Funder
Films:
Die Architekten
The Harmonists
Das Leben der anderen
Triumph of the Will
UH 280 (2) (3 credits)
MWF 10:10-11:00, Honors 142
Music and Expression
Instructor: Erich Lear
In the tradition of the Honors College, this course will combine both disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning. In the discipline of MUSIC, we will cover an overview of western music history, learning the characteristics of music prior to 1600 and then the four major style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary. We will explore the trends, dates, composers, forms, and countries that were most salient in the development of western music. From an interdisciplinary view, we will examine the vocabulary used to describe expressivity in western music. From the “doctrine of ethos” in early modal music through the system of keys in tonal music to the multi-faceted bases of the wide variety of 20th and 21st Century music, we will hear and discuss the application of theories of expressivity applied to performers and composers. While we will focus on classical music, we will also observe application of the theories of expressivity to popular styles, especially in contemporary music, and to a lesser extent the expressivity of non-western music. Throughout the course, we will incorporate students’ individual responses to music as well as the relationship of “knowing about music” to those responses. The course has no examinations. Grading is based on written assignments that announce upcoming concerts, review those concerts, and present individual students’ responses to music they select. These latter assignments, called “Context Papers,” highlight the complementary aspects of the composer’s intent, the performers’ choices, and students’ individual reactions to the music.
Required Texts:
History of Western Music, 5th ed, by Hugh M. Miller and Dale Cockrell
UH 280 (3) (3 credits)
TTh 1:25-2:40, Honors 142
American Pragmatism in Education, Community, and the Arts
Instructor: David Shier
Pragmatism, known as America’s special contribution to philosophy, is unique in its view that ideas, institutions, and practices are to be justified not by being grounded in abstract principles, but rather by their capacities to fundamentally improve our lives. Three of the domains of discourse most strikingly influenced by Pragmatism are education theory, political-legal theory, and aesthetics.
This course explores the central concepts of Pragmatism and their applications to these domains both through the works of classical Pragmatists such as C.S. Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jane Addams, and John Dewey, and through the works of Neo-Pragmatists such as Richard Rorty, Richard Shusterman, Richard Posner, and Cornel West. We will also read and discuss critics of Pragmatism, as well as authors to whom the Pragmatists were responding. Dewey will be a focal point of the course, for in his work we see the themes of education, community and the arts interwoven in crucial ways.
In addition to the contours of Pragmatism and its philosophical commitments, some of the issues to be discussed are the function of education in fostering democracy, the role of context and social impact in interpreting the law, the function of art in democratic communities, and the extent to which the social dimensions of artworks contribute to their merit as art. Students will learn specific philosophical content, but will also learn to identify and critically analyze philosophical arguments. Students will develop an argumentative research paper and make a presentation to the class.
Required Texts:
Pragmatism: A Reader by Louis Menand
Pragmatist Aesthetics 2e by Richard
Shusterman
Plus various public domain readings assigned from the
Web
Recommended Texts:
Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard
Rorty
The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menand
UH 290 (1) (3 credits)
MWF 10:10-11:00, Wilson 6
Science as a Way of Knowing: Interdisciplinary Biological Science
Instructor: Linda Cook
PREREQUISITE: SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING MAJORS
In U H 290, students cultivate scientific habits of mind and make corrections between biology and their everyday lives. They explore the historical foundations of modern biological science and methodology, and comprehend that science produces and requires empirical evidence. Students also cultivate an interdisciplinary knowledge of biology, integrating the scientific content of the course across various disciplines (e.g., other sciences as well as music, architecture, the visual arts) and contexts (e.g., religious, ethical, political, legal). The course comprises three main units:
Unit I: Students study the emergence of the biological and medical sciences from their ancient roots, learning how modern methodology evolved over time. Students gain experience with methods and approaches commonly employed by today’s researchers in the natural sciences (e.g., scholarly literature search; acquisition/evaluation of sources; observational/experimental design; null hypothesis generation/testing; data representation and interpretation; research models; probabilistic and statistical reasoning; correlation vs. causation; uncertainty and types of errors).
Unit II: Students examine science as a process by studying the development, advancement, and modern integration of two major biological disciplines: 1) evolutionary biology and 2) genetics.
Unit III: Students develop a multidisciplinary perspective of complex, biologically relevant issues in society by collaborating on a culminating case study. Students work in small groups to research the pertinent literature, discuss various aspects of the case, and present their findings to the class.
This course cultivates interdisciplinary learning,
critical thinking, application of knowledge,
communication, and cooperative learning skills.
Students should be curious and self-motivated, and
interested in engaging in class discussions and with
various readings. Use of Sharepoint electronic space
facilitates the course.
Required Texts:
Science as a Way of Knowing: The Foundations of
Modern Biology by John Moore
Reading Primary Literature: A Practical Guide to
Evaluating Research Activities in Biology by
Christopher M. Gillen
Evolution: A Very Short Introduction by Brian
Charlesworth and Deborah Charlesworth
UH 370 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 1:25-2:40, CUE 407
Globalization and Economic Management: the End of Liberalism?
Instructor: Andrew Appleton
PREREQUISITE UH 270
This course will look at the way that states manage their economies in the contemporary world. The central question that we will examine through the course of the semester is: Do governments still have the capability to determine economic outcomes within their territories? We will begin with an historical overview of (a) the rise of the nation-state, and (b) the relationship between the state and economic management. We will read about and contrast the traditional theories of economic management (“laissez-faire” or neoliberalism, Keynesianism, state planning) and look at the ways in which these credos have been applied through the late 20th century. In the final part of the course, we will turn to an analysis of globalization and the challenges it has posed for each of these models of economic management, and we will assess the extent to which states and governments find themselves with reduced leverage to control their own economic fortunes.
Required Texts:
UH 380 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, Honors 142
Literature and Culture of Ancient Greece
Instructor: Robin Bond
PREREQUISITE: UH 280
This course is an introduction to the literature and culture of Ancient Greece that focuses on issues and ideas emerging from the Greeks’ interactions with other peoples through travel, colonization, and warfare. Ancient Greeks over time formed their Greek identity around their common language, legends, customs, and worship, often in response to their encounters with, and in contrast to, non-Greeks-—“barbarians.” We will study Greek literature through the fifth century, looking in particular at how Greek views of non-Greeks, often influenced by historical events, were reflected in their literature, art, and philosophy.
Required Texts:
Homer’s Iliad translated by R.
Lattimore
Homer’s Odyssey translated by R.
Fagles
Herodotus’ History translated by
Grene
Greek Tragedies, v 1 translated by Grene and
Lattimore
Greek Tragedies, v 3 translated by Grene and
Lattimore
Euripides, v 1 translated by Grene and Lattimore
UH 380 (2) (3 credits)
MWF 2:10-3:00, Honors 142
Music: Science, Art, Healing
Instructor: Sheila Converse
PREREQUISITE: UH 280
In this class we will examine music from a number of different perspectives. We will begin with the science by reading This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levin in which he explains the elements of music in scientific terms, investigates the role of music in human evolution, and the neuroscience of perception of music in the human brain. Next we will examine how music is integral to different cultures and can be a vehicle through which we can learn about people of this global community. The Healing Drum by Yaya Diallo and Michael Hall will introduce us to the Minianka tribe of West Africa. We will choose other cultures to investigate based on the interests of the class. Another area of discussion will be what Barbara Ehrenreich calls “the desire for collective joy” in her book Dancing in the Streets which uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture. “In recent centuries the tradition has been repressed, cruelly and often bloodily, but….the celebratory impulse is too deeply ingrained in human nature ever to be completely extinguished.” The final section of the class will look at the therapeutic aspects of music in institutional settings such as hospitals as well as its use by individuals for relaxation and stress relief.
Grading will be based on class participation, presentations and a paper.
Required Texts:
The Healing Drum by Yaya Diallo
Dancing in the Streets by Barbara
Ehrenreich
This is your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levin
UH 390 (1) (3 credits)
TTh 9:10-10:25, Murrow East 229
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Lori Carris
PREREQUISITE: UH 290 or Sci 299
U H 390 uses a case study framework to examine the intersection between science and global society. In this course we will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how environmental factors have influenced modern societies, what factors have contributed to global issues; and how science and society are addressing those issues. Topics include climate change, infectious disease, biodiversity and extinction, renewable energy, cloning, and genetic engineering. The course will begin with a broad overview of how geography and biogeography have shaped global societies-—such as the impact of human migrations and the consequences of plant and animal domestication—-to provide context for addressing current issues. We will investigate key environmental topics such as deforestation of the Amazon and use of highly productive cropland to produce bioethanol crops from the perspective of different stakeholders. We will consider scientific literacy and the politics of information as they relate to these topics and the broader issue of global climate change. This course is designed for both science and non-science majors, and will require student collaboration to understand the complex, interdisciplinary nature of global issues.
Required Texts:
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
UH 398 (1) (1 credit)
Monday 6:10-8:00 p.m., Honors 142
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Lisa Carloye
STRONGLY ENCOURAGED PREQUISITE IS 45 SEMESTER HOURS. STUDENTS IN SCIENCE, MATH, AND OTHER TECHNICAL MAJORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENROLL IN THIS SECTION
This is a seminar-style class with emphasis on class participation (including posts to our MyClass electronic course space), independent research, oral presentation, and individual development of a thesis proposal. Students will learn how to identify a thesis advisor, generate an Honors thesis topic, prepare an Honors thesis proposal, and initiate Honors thesis research. To learn how to formulate a thesis question/topic/hypothesis, and how to access and utilize the scholarly literature, students will work together for the first two weeks on a mock thesis question. After this, students will identify an advisor, meet with the advisor, and then: (1) perform a literature search on their chosen area of study; (2) evaluate and use information pertinent to their thesis topic (primary, secondary, and other scholarly sources); (3) examine assumptions, methodology, data, and conclusions in the scholarly literature; (4) draw their own valid inferences and conclusions; (5) engage in class discussions and feedback regarding their thesis proposal; and (6) submit a proposal (3-5 pages, excluding bibliography) and give a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation on their thesis topic.
The end product of this course is a thesis proposal ready to submit for evaluation by the Honors College (per stated guidelines on the Honors College Web site). Upon successful completion of this course, the Honors student will be ready to undertake Honors thesis research (U H 450).
Required Texts:
The Clockwork Muse by E. Zerubavel
Optional Texts (will be useful for UH 450):
The Craft of Research by W. C. Booth, G. G.
Colomb, and J.M. Williams
How to Write a BA Thesis by C. Lipson
UH 398 (2) (1 credit)
TTh 12:1:0-1:00, Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Kim Andersen
STRONGLY ENCOURAGED PREQUISITE IS 45 SEMESTER HOURS. STUDENTS MAJORING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS, OR HUMANITIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENROLL IN THIS SECTION
This is a seminar-style course with the purpose of assisting and supporting each participant in completing his/her Honors thesis proposal. By the end of the course you will submit your Honors thesis proposal for approval and be ready to initiate your thesis research. In the course, you will learn how to generate an Honors thesis topic, how to formulate a thesis question, how to identify a thesis advisor, and how to prepare the thesis proposal. In addition, we will discuss ways to structure your thesis, how to perform a literature search, and how to evaluate the information you obtain in relation to your chosen topic. During the course we will discuss and constructively support and critique projects as they develop in the proposals. Each student will submit a complete proposal including title, introduction, research question, methodology, preliminary annotated bibliography, as a final product, and will give a 10-minute oral presentation on their proposal in class. S/F grading.
Required Texts:
How to Write a BA Thesis by Charles Lipson
UH 430 (variable credits)
Arrangement
UH 450 (variable credits)
Arrangement
UH 499 (variable credits)
Arrangement