Courses in the Honors College
Please note: this list may be incomplete and will be updated with new information as it is received. If you have questions about the following courses, please contact honors@wsu.edu.
A wide variety of course topics are available to Honors College students. Please check back often, as changes may occur until the semester begins. Need an appointment with an Honors College advisor? Stop by the Honors College main office in Elmina White Honors Hall 130 or phone 509-335-4505.
Course descriptions are intended to provide general information about the scope of the class, the name of the faculty member teaching it, credits, and texts. All descriptions are posted as soon as possible the semester preceding so students can consider their options and plan accordingly. Listings from previous semesters are located at the bottom of this page.
Fall 2022
HONORS 211.1
Introduction to Community Engagement
Meetings: Tu 2:55-4:10pm
Instructor: Jessica Perone
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
This course is required for HONORS students in the Mindfulness Emotional Social Intelligence (MESI) Certificate program. Students will be introduced to community engagement and the importance of it in their own work and life. Over 10 weeks, the class will meet once per week for 7 weeks and 3 weeks will be dedicated to participating in community engagement projects.
This is a seminar-style class. Seminars are often defined as small, discussion-based courses. There will also be guest speakers and interactive workshops during class. Students’ complete readings and assignments before the class and discuss major themes or topics during class. We emphasize knowledge and conceptual gain through peer-to-peer dialogue and active learning.
Communities are diverse and interconnected. This course surveys critical concepts of community engagement, including but not limited to, equity, citizenship, human rights, advocacy and activism, civic leadership, social justice, civil discourse, social capital, education, environment, health care, immigration, socioeconomic status, discrimination. Students will use an interdisciplinary approach to analyze and actively engage in principles and practices of community engagement through a local lens. This course also serves as an introduction to the MESI Certificate within the Honors College. This course gives the student the opportunity to grow academically, professionally, personally and civically through participation in a transformational service-learning experience.
Required Course Materials:
Donahue, D. & Plaxton-Moore, S. The Student Companion to Community-Engaged Learning, D.M. Donahue and S. Plaxton-Moore, Sterling, VA, Stylus (2018)
This class contains a service-learning component.
HONORS 270.1
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Meetings: Tu, Th 2:55-4:10pm
Instructor: Season Hoard
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
This course introduces students to the principles and research methods used in the social sciences with a focus on political science. Students will learn and apply research methods used by political scientists to understand a variety of political phenomena, including why people vote the way they do, why policies are effective or ineffective, how public opinion shapes politics, and more. Students will identify the research questions political scientists ask and understand the different methods utilized to answer these questions. Students will apply these research methods to answer their own research questions.
ECONS 198.1
Economics Honors
Meetings: M,W,F 1:10-2:00pm
Instructor: Mark Gibson
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Enrollment in ECONS 198 is not allowed if credit has already been earned for ECONS 101 and 102.
Principles of Economics
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 her 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.
ECONS 198.2
Economics Honors
Meetings: M,W,F 12:10-1:00pm
Instructor: Timothy Nadreau
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Enrollment in ECONS 198 is not allowed if credit has already been earned for ECONS 101 and 102.
Principles of Economics
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 her 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.
HD 205.8
Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills
Meetings: Tu, Th 1:30-2:45pm
Instructor: Mary Kay Patton
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
MESI Communication and Life Skills: Creating a rich, full, and meaningful life
Why study communication and life skills? We all have hopes and dreams, goals and aspirations, values and visions for our lives. HD 205 is designed to support you in creating a life that is rich, full, and meaningful as you move toward what is most important to you. When asked what they are looking for in new university graduates, an overwhelming majority of employers emphasize the importance of transferable skills, such as flexibility in response to change, self-awareness, self-management, effective communication, and teamwork ability. In this course, you develop skills to assist in successfully navigating a college career, building long-lasting relationships, and creating clarity about what is possible for your future.
Course Overview: HD 205 is an interpersonal communication course that utilizes experiential learning to develop effective communication and life skills through a Mindful Emotional and Social Intelligence (MESI) framework. With activities designed to enhance self-awareness and self-management, we will explore who you are and how you want to be both personally and professionally. By engaging in and reflecting on real-life communication experiences you will develop empathy and put compassion in action. This highly interactive course utilizes a workshop format where students practice communication in an active learning model. We will meet twice a week with the collective group and you will also meet with a smaller cohort of your peers in a weekly lab session. The labs will be offered at a time that works with your schedule and will be set up during the first two weeks of class.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
This course satisfies the Honors 270 requirement
HONORS 280.1
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: M,W,F 10:10-11:00am
Instructor: Lauren Westerfield
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Let’s Get Weird: Experimental Creative Writing
“Let’s Get Weird” will be a semester of creative experimentation, investigation, and rebellion. We will explore how and why writers subvert genre expectations, what it feels like to write with all the tools in the kit and no prescribed instruction manual. Say we take the pieces for an Ikea dresser and build a magic carpet. Say we take the road atlas and rip it to shreds, collage the scraps across the dashboard, then follow whatever meaning the new image makes for us instead.
Students will read complete works and excerpts from authors and artists including Gloria Anzaldúa, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Maggie Nelson, Renee Gladman, Bhanu Kapil, Kazim Ali, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Jenny Boully, Arianne Zwartjes, Kate Zambreno, and Claudia Rankine. We will also write, draw, play Charades, cut and paste, and spend at least a handful of class periods in alternative spaces (on the lawn, in the museum, in the library, taking photographs, etc.).
To paraphrase the editors of Bending Genre, “once upon a time, the novel was truly ‘novel,’ too.” By reading widely, observing with curiosity, drafting boldly and without concern for correctness, asking many questions and unpacking motivation, structure, strategy, and subversive intent, students will not only create their own genre-crossing work but gain historical, political, and sociological context for avant-garde movements in contemporary literature.
HONORS 280.2*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
August 24 – December 11
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Creative Writing: Fiction, The Short Story
This is a creative writing course that introduces students to the art and craft of short-form fiction writing. We will read, analyze, and discuss award-winning short stories, complete writing exercises, and write two short stories while working to explore and develop short-story craft elements including characterization, point-of-view, dialogue, plot, scene and summary, setting, and the use of metaphorical language and themes. Throughout the semester, each student will have one of their short stories workshopped with written peer reviews and instructor feedback provided. No previous creative writing experience is necessary, although strong general writing abilities are required to do well in this course.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Materials:
Method and Madness: The Making of a Story, Alice LaPlant. ISBN#: 9780393928174
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Tu, Th 10:35-11:50am
Instructor: Colin Criss
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Creative Writing: The Contemporary Sonnet
In this course, we’ll survey the history of a particular poetic form, the sonnet, with an eye towards its expression in contemporary American poetry. The development of this form reflects the development of poetry more broadly. We’ll begin with sonnets of the Renaissance, and read Shakespeare’s work. We’ll glance across the intervening 400 years before focusing on two contemporary collections that reinvent the form for the poets’ own sensibilities.
This is also an introductory creative writing course—we will be learning about the sonnet partly by learning how to write our own sonnets along the way. Initially, we’ll imitate, thinking about common craft elements and poetic techniques. Then, we’ll begin to experiment and innovate. We’ll think about what the sonnet is—what it can do—for us as people and beginning poets. By the end of the semester each student will have written and revised a short collection of sonnets that are unmistakably their own.
HONORS 280.4*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: M,W,F 9:10-10:00am
Instructor: David Shier
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
The Good Life
By a “good life” we might mean either a desirable life or a morally good life – or both. This class is a philosophical investigation into what it means to live a good life, as discussed by selected classical and contemporary writers and also as examined in selected films and videos.
We will emphasize ancient Greeks and Romans such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics, but we will also consider other thinkers including Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Jean Paul Sartre, David Foster Wallace, Rebecca Solnit, Emily Esfahani-Smith, and Todd May. Our primary text will be the recent ethics book _How to be Perfect_ by Michael Schur (yes, THAT Michael Shur, the co-creator of The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, etc.) but we will also read a dozen or so short (or short-adjacent) readings from other authors.
The main project in this course is, well, YOU. For much of the course, you’ll work on refining your own view of “the good life” through our class discussions, the short essays you’ll write on films, and other short assignments. In the later part of the semester, you’ll design and complete a “theory to practice” project in which you adopt a life-improvement practice of your choice and do a presentation to the class discussing the impact of these changes.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Materials:
How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question_ by Michael Schur (2022), plus 4 feature films that can be rented via streaming
HONORS 280.5
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Tu, TH 12:05-1:25pm
Instructor: Kristin Becker
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Inside-Out: The Art Museum as Interdisciplinary Classroom
What might we learn about ourselves and others through the lens of contemporary art? How do the visual arts enrich our lives and contribute to our understanding of the world? Why do artists do what they do? And how do curators make sense of it? Most importantly, how do we as viewers make sense of it? How do the resources we see and study inside museums impact our daily lives and the many disciplines we study?
In this course—with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU as a classroom—you will utilize current exhibitions, permanent collections, visiting artists, and other related resources to gain an appreciation of the world of contemporary art, as well as some art history. Coursework includes: Learning about materials and processes used by artists, archivists, and curators to tell and preserve stories; Researching and writing a deep analysis of an artwork; Planning and executing a customized tour in the museum galleries; Writing or making a creative artwork of your own; and Curating your own mini-exhibition as it relates to an area of personal interest.
In Fall 2022, the galleries at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will showcase “Keiko Hara: The Poetics of Space, Four Decades of Paintings and Prints” and “Our Stories, Our Lives: Irwin Nash Photographs of Yakima Valley Migrant Labor,” so these exhibitions will play an integral part of the course this semester.
Required Course Text:
Printmaking Supplies:
Carving Tools: $12
Linoleum Block: $5
Thai Kozo Paper: $10
HONORS 290.1
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: Tu, Th 1:30-2:45pm
Instructor: Valipuram Manoranjan
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
Science & Quantitative Models
In this course, we’ll develop ideas to describe certain real-life phenomena quantitatively. We’ll show how simple mathematical models can be constructed to study these phenomena. Such models can help us in making predictions and management decisions. In particular, because of the current pandemic, we’ll focus more on Covid-19. You’ll have the opportunity to explore the impacts of the pandemic at the local, national and global levels.
Required Course Text:
None
HONORS 290.2
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: Tu, Th 9:10-10:25pm
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
The Hungry Plague
Two bestselling novels by MR Carey, the first in the “The Hungry Plague Series, “ depict the following: a future dystopian Earth caused by a worldwide plague due to a highly infectious fungal pathogen, resulting in the total demise of Homo sapiens as we define our species. We will examine how near human extinction occurs and evolution/natural selection operates in this post-apocalyptic environment.
In this course, we will use shared inquiry/the Socratic Method to assess the bridge between MR Carey’s bestselling novels, “The Girl With All The Gifts” and “The Boy on the Bridge” and the evolutionary processes driving the fungal pathogen, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which at its core, is the fundamental element in the novel and the primary force behind the downfall of our species.
We will spend the first third of the term examining evolutionary patterns and processes in an in-class discussion format reading essays from Stephen J. Gould’s “Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History” as you read the novels. Subsequently, we will break into Shared Inquiry/Socratic Method for the remainder of the term. Two students will develop a “Basic Question” based on an evolution/natural selection/biological topic derived from the novel, which you will present to your peers by facilitating a discussion. The two student facilitators can only ask questions to maintain the discussion, as the remainder of the cohort discuss the facilitators’ questions originating from the basic question.
This course requires oral discussion as a major portion of your grade, which is derived from your in-class contributions. You will be challenged to develop creative and critical thinking, information literacy, and oral communication. If you are not comfortable in this type of learning environment, you should not enroll in the course.
Black Box Warning: The novel contains language that might be offensive to some students (R-rated).
Required Course Text:
Required Course Text:
“The Girl With All The Gifts”, MR Carey, Publisher: Reprint Edition. 2015.
ISBN-10: 0316334758
ISBN-13: 978-0316334754
“The Boy on the Bridge”, MR Carey, Publisher: Orbit Reprint Edition. 2018.
ISBN-10: 031600349
ISBN-13: 978-0316300346
“Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History”, Stephen J. Gould, Publisher W.W. Norton and Company. 1993.
Free pdf download:
https://www.docdroid.net/wx3my2U/eight-little-piggies-stephen-jay-gould-pdf
HONORS 290.4
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: M, W, F 2:10-3:00pm
Instructor: David Makin
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
Technology, Crime, and Criminal Justice
| The exponential development of technology undeniably shapes society. An inherent challenge with innovation is a reluctance or inability to consider the direct and indirect impact of technology on society. Through the backdrop of the cult television and cultural phenomenon program “The Black Mirror”, this course examines the development, integration, and evolution of technology within society and the challenges and opportunities relevant to crime, the criminal justice system, and public safety more broadly. As technology is interdisciplinary, this course takes a broad approach to the study of technology by examining the social, cultural, legal, organizational, and individual influence of current technology and what future technology integration may bring.
This is an active learning course, with an applied team-based project (3-5 students). Working in a collaborative team environment, with in-class activities, and homework assignments, teams will identify a science or technology they want to translate to the public, conduct background research, develop a storyboard, draft a script, complete a consultation with the writing center to improve audience targeting and messaging, and produce a 10-15 minute educational news segment video. Specific course outcomes include: |
HONORS 370.1
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: Tu,Th 10:35-11:50am
Instructor: Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
The Global Food System
Raj Patel notes, “Global hunger and obesity are symptoms of the same problem.” The “stuffed and starved,” he maintains, “are also linked through the chains of production that bring food from fields to our plate.” Barry Estabrook points out, “the life expectancy of a migrant worker in the United States is only forty-nine years, about the same as that of a person living in equatorial Africa.” And regarding access to clean water, Anna Clark conveys, “Monthly water rates [in Flint] were among the most expensive in the country, and yet 42 percent of residents lived below the federal poverty level.” Using a case study framework, we will examine the modern global food system (including access to the world’s water supply) to understand the various issues and inequalities embedded within it.
Required Course Text:
Patel, Raj. 2012. Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Revised and Expanded Edition. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House. (ISBN# 978-1-61219-127-0) paperback
Estabrook, Barry. 2018. Tomatoland: From Harvest of Shame to Harvest of Hope. Third Edition. New and Revised. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing. (ISBN# 978-1449489533) paperback
Clark, Anna. 2018. The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books. (ISBN# 978-1250181619) paperback
HONORS 370.2
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: Tu,Th 12:05-1:20pm
Instructor: Bill L. Smith
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
The UN and Global Issues
Each section of UH 370 takes a social science-based look at a particular issue. In this section, we will focus on the international system in which non-western nations strive to deal with the west on an even footing. Because the United Nations (and its myriad sub-agencies) serves as the main venue for such interaction, we will use the UN as the primary (but not only) lens through which to view global problem solving throughout the fall semester.
Required Course Text:
Hanhimaki, Jussi The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford UP, 2015). (The cost is about $12.)
HONORS 370.3*
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: Tu, Th 2:55-4:10pm
Instructor: Kathleen Rodgers
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
Examination of Poverty Causes and Consequences
Why Does Poverty Exist and What Can be Done About It?
In all nations and across time, a proportion of families live in poverty. The severity of this poverty varies depending on the historical, social, economic, and cultural context within which individuals and families live. Psychologists, sociologists, economists, historians, and policy analysts each provide unique perspectives to explain this complex social problem. In this course, we will take an in-depth cross-cultural look at the causes and consequences of poverty, and efforts to help poor families and individuals. Students will examine poverty-related issues (e.g., equity in education, access to clean water, homelessness) in the US and in third-world nations. We will examine the conditions and causal factors, the potential effect on residents, and how or if efforts to address the issue are effective. We will also examine the resiliency of individuals, families, and communities who face economic hardship.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
HONORS 380.1
Case Study: Global Issues in Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Tu,Th 10:35-11:50am
Instructor: Vilma Navarro-Daniels
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
Women’s Agency: From Subalternity to Empowerment
| HONORS 380-01, Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities, is a course which interweaves analysis of cinematography and culture in film to reveal how societies respond to contemporary issues in a global context.
HONORS 380-01 is taught in the discipline of Film Studies, an interdisciplinary field that integrates knowledge of cinematography, visual arts, history, literature, music, theater, politics, economics, gender, and race to promote a greater understanding of film as a cultural product. In this course students broaden and deepen their knowledge of film by exploring cinematic traditions outside of the United States. Through the study of ten films from a variety of cinematic traditions, students will develop a “cinematic vocabulary” to discuss film and gain a sense of film as a text with visual, auditory, and semantic elements key to comprehend its deeper meaning. By applying these analytical and interpretative strategies to the movies studied in this course, students will understand film as a medium which embodies the culture in which it was produced. This course focuses on ten films, each one of them produced in a different country. This allows students to learn about the complexities of social, cultural, and political changes experienced in a variety of countries. Through the eyes of a group of female characters of diverse age, race, nationality, language, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, social class, culture, and ideology, students are invited to look at other societies in a totally new way, letting the film protagonists “take” them to their homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, towns, and cities, places where students will “meet” the characters’ families and friends, but also the potential enemies and dangers that surround them. Through these fictitious personas, students are introduced to realities that, perhaps, they do not even suspect may exist. Students learn about the interaction between the social and the individual, the public and the domestic realm, the historical and the transcendental, political constraints and the intimacy. In brief, students are invited to witness the lives of others, their struggles and fears, but also their dreams and hopes. Students will become active participants in the film viewing experience, rather than mere spectators, by developing the skills to achieve a more discerning “reading” of films produced outside their own cultural context, exploring the familiar in otherness (and vice versa). Students will be able to differentiate and value the cultural diversity represented in these films, and, therefore, re-interpret the place of the self as an identity culturally situated. They will study and analyze representative films from different cinematic traditions, considering the historical, social, and political context in which they were produced, and how this context is represented in these films. |
HONORS 380.2
Case Study: Global Issues in Arts and Humanities
Meetings: MWF 11:10-12:00pm
Instructor: Robin Bond
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
Introduction to the Literature and Language of Ancient Greece – MESI
This course is an introduction to the literature and language of ancient Greece that focuses on the epic poems of Homer – the Iliad and Odyssey – in an exploration of the human experience. Greek poets depicted the human condition as an existence apart from, and contrary to, the leisure enjoyed by the gods. Human life, in the Greek mind, was at its core suffering, toil, and death. In Homer’s poems this vision of humanity appears in the struggles of the individual hero. The study of ancient Greece allows us the opportunity to appreciate a culture very distant in time from our own and to understand the cultural legacy of the past to the modern world, but it also challenges us to explore and evaluate our own perspectives on being human.
Ancient Greek literature is not easy and will require slow and careful reading. Much of the class will be devoted to close readings and discussion of the poems as a window into broader Greek culture. In order to deepen our connection with the works, we will devote regular class time to the introductory study of ancient Greek language. No previous familiarity with Greek literature or language learning is required or expected, but you must have a willingness to grapple with difficult texts and ideas and be open to learning an unfamiliar alphabet, vocabulary, and grammatical constructions. Additionally, as this section is part of the MESI (Mindfulness-based Emotional and Social Intelligence) program, we will incorporate regular short mindfulness practices and other MESI-related activities into our class sessions.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Text:
The Iliad, translated by Caroline Alexander. Harper-Collins Publishers, 2015.
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson. W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.
The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles, translated by Barry Powell, UC Press, 2017
Honors 380.3
Case Study: Global Issues in Arts and Humanities
Meetings: asynchronous/online only
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
Creative Writing: Memoir & Creative Nonfiction
In this creative writing course we will examine the role of memoir and personal narrative in shaping and defining how we see and experience the world. Through readings and analysis, discussion, and a variety of in-class writing exercises and essay/memoir writing work, we will explore the following questions: As global citizens, how can we represent our own experiences and stories through creative writing in a way that is universally understood and felt? How do we (and the authors we read) define/explore/write about the issues that trouble or fascinate us? What are we (and the authors we read) struggling to make sense of or understand about our own lives and the world around us? Throughout the semester, we will work on developing the basic craft elements of creative nonfiction and each student will have one of their essays “workshopped” with written peer reviews and oral feedback provided. No previous creative writing experience is necessary, although strong general writing abilities are required to do well in this course.
Required Course Text:
Tell it Slant, Third Edition, Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola, ISBN#: 9781260454598
Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, Judith Kitchen, ISBN#: 9780393326000
Now Write! Nonfiction, Sherry Ellis, ISBN #9781585427581
Case Study: Global Issues in Sciences
Meetings: Tu, Th 1:30-2:45am
Instructor: Lisa Gloss
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
Proteins: Opportunities for Nature’s Nanotechnology
Proteins are biological macromolecules with an amazing array of functions and beautiful, intricate structures. As catalysts for all chemistry essential for life, transducers of signals in cells, and the building blocks of cellular architecture, proteins represent the finest nanotechnology that Nature has evolved. This course will begin with a discussion of the history of protein science (Nature’s Robots, Tanford & Reynolds required text). The goal is to provide an introduction to protein structure and function for a general science audience, but also to highlight the history of scientific method in action – the successful, intentional approaches, as well as the serendipitous observations and lucky accidents that were necessary to decipher key aspects of protein structure, function and design. In the second half of the course, we will discuss current research that explores: 1) the opportunities for protein nanotechnology in biotechnology and genetic engineering, and 2) the opportunities in medicine for impairing protein function (e.g. blocking viral infection or enhancing immunity to infection) or repairing protein malfunction (e.g. treating amyloidogenic diseases). The course format will be a blend of discussion (in class and discussion boards) and short essays that encourage creative imagining of protein nanotechnology inventions in biotechnology and medicine.
Required Course Text:
For general reading: “Nature’s Robots: A History of Proteins” by Charles Tanford and Jacqueline Reynolds Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780198606949 Available to read online via WSU Libraries.
HONORS 390.2
Case Study: Global Issues in Sciences
Meetings: M, W, F 11:10am-12:00pm
Instructor: Raymond Quock
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
Drug Abuse—A Global Perspective
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States in the 12-month period between May 2020 and April 2021. This is an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths recorded during the same period the year before. The number of deaths due to opioid overdose during the same time numbered 75,673. In 2020, there were more than 93,000 overdose fatalities, the highest number ever recorded in a 12-month period. The increase is driven mainly by the misuse and abuse of prescription pain killers. The 2021 World Drug Report also notes an explosion in the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) which pose a significant health threat to drug users and, at the same time, increase the demand for treatment programs for drug abuse. The topics in this course will 1) provide a scientific background in the psychopharmacology of drugs of abuse; 2) analyze trends in global illicit drug use; and 3) discuss the societal impact of drug abuse.
Case Study: Global Issues in Sciences
Meetings: Tu, Th 12:05-1:20pm
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
The Catastrophe of Man
Imagine living in a future dystopian Earth following the consequences of cataclysmic climate change, disease, food shortages, extinction, de-extinction, bioterrorism, GMOs, and class stratification. The world is reliant on genetic/bio-engineered products, including foods, human organs, medicines, genetically engineered plants and animals, and even beauty treatments generated and marketed by large corporations, who employ scientists and all the required personnel necessary to market these products. These employees live well in secure, guarded compounds. The remainder of the human population persists outside these pristine, fenced areas at various income levels in the Pleeblands at personal risk. A bio-engineered worldwide plague breaks down the entire infrastructure, killing most Homo sapiens. One man remains, who believes he is the last human and he becomes guardian to a new, genetically engineered, human species known as the Crakers, engineered to succeed under Earth’s hostile conditions. In this course, we will explore many issues raised by Margaret Atwood in “Oryx and Crake”, with genetics/bio-engineering and climate change at the core of our discussions, all at the scientific, economic, social, and ethical levels.
We will be using an approach called Shared Inquiry/the Socratic Method. Two students will develop a “Basic Question” based on a topic derived from the novel, which you will present to your peers. The two student facilitators can only ask questions to maintain the discussion, as the remainder of the cohort discusses the facilitators’ questions originating from the basic question.
This course requires oral discussion as a major portion of your grade, which is derived from your class participation. You will be challenged to develop creative and critical thinking, information literacy, and oral communication skills in this course. If you are not comfortable in this type of learning environment, you should not enroll in this course.
Black Box Warning: The novel contains language that might be offensive to some students (R-rated).
Required Course Text:
“Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood. 2004.
Publisher: Anchor, Reprint Edition
ISBN-10: 0385721676
ISBN-13: 978-0385721677
HONORS 390.4*
Case Study: Global Issues in Sciences
Meetings: Tu 5:30-8:00
Instructor: Lydia Gerber
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
The Practice, Science and History of Mindfulness
Mindfulness, defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,” is an inherent human capacity, cultivated throughout history. Mindfulness training enhances one’s ability to cope with anxiety and stress, decreases the likelihood of burnout in challenging professions, and has a beneficial effect on overall health. Among mindfulness training programs Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, stands out as a program that has been rigorously researched for its safety and effectiveness. This class invites students to explore the practice (following the program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn) and the growing field of published research on MBSR in academic disciplines ranging from Psychology and Education to Neuroscience and Cell Biology.
The instructor has received her training in MBSR through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has been teaching classes in the Pullman community and at WSU since 2012 and is looking forward to working with you! Please feel free to contact her at lgerber@wsu.edu if you have questions about the class!
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Text:
There is no textbook for this course. We will rely on journal articles made available without charge through the WSU Library system.
HONORS 398.1
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Meetings: W 1:10-2:00pm
Instructor: M. Grant Norton
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; sophomore standing.
This is a seminar with the purpose of assisting and supporting each participant in completing his/her Honors thesis proposal. By the end of the course you will be ready to submit your Honors thesis proposal for approval and 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. S/F grading.
HONORS 398.2
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Meetings: W 9:10-10:00am
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; sophomore standing.
This seminar-style course is designed to assist and support you in the development and completion of your Honors College thesis proposal. The course prepares you to successfully complete your final thesis research and presentation requirements of the Honors College. We will perform a step-wise process in the completion of your proposal, from generating preliminary ideas, finding suitable thesis advisors, submitting a thesis draft, which I thoroughly edit from Introduction through Conclusions to assist in your successful completion and submission of a quality proposal. During the course, each thesis proposal will be constructively criticized during collaborative peer review sessions. You will give a 10-minute formal presentation on your proposal in class. Your peers will provide feedback on your proposed research following the presentation. At the end of class, your final thesis proposal will include a Title, Introduction, Research Question/Hypothesis (or Creative Project), Materials and Methods (Methodology), Expected Results derived from your preliminary literature review, Conclusions, and Bibliography/References. You are graded as S/F in this course.
HONORS 398.3
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Meetings: asynchronous/online only
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; sophomore standing.
This is a seminar-style course with the purpose of assisting and supporting each participant in completing his/her Honors thesis proposal. In the course, you will generate an Honors thesis topic, formulate your thesis question, identify a thesis advisor, and prepare you thesis proposal. We will discuss ways to structure your thesis, perform research, and 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 present their proposal to the class, and submit a complete proposal—including title, introduction, research question, methodology, and annotated bibliography—as a final product. S/F grading.
ENGL 298
Writing and Research Honors
Multiple Sections, see courses at schedules.wsu.edu