Courses in the Honors College
SPRING 2024 COURSES ARE LIVE
We are having technical issues getting the Spring 2024 courses page on the website menu, so please access the list of Spring 2024 courses here. Note that a few classes are still being updated.
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 2023
(See link to Spring 2024 above)
HONORS 211.1*
Compassion in Action: Introduction to Community Engagement
Meetings: T 2:55-4:10
Instructor: Jessica Perone
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
| Students will develop their academic, personal, and professional skills through community engagement and critical reflection. 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. There will be class discussions, guest speakers, and interactive workshops during class. Students’ complete readings and assignments before the class and discuss major themes or topics during class. We discuss how students can create positive social change and discuss topics including but not limited to reciprocity, equity, human rights, advocacy and activism, civic leadership, social justice, civil discourse, environmental justice, socioeconomic status, and discrimination.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate. |
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)
HONORS 212.1*
Active and Immersive Community Engagement
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
Instructor: Jessica Perone
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student, Must have taken Honors 211
Students will engage in 45 hours of community service (approximately 3 hours per week) to understand critical issues facing society and gain a deeper understanding of social issues they are passionate about. Students will work with the instructor to establish an ongoing relationship with a suitable community partner(s). Students will gain a heightened sense of social responsibility, greater inter-cultural understanding, and the ability to work well with others to build leadership and communication skills. This course fulfills one credit of the Community Engagement requirement for Honors students in the Mindfulness-based Emotional and Social Intelligence (MESI) certificate program.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
HONORS 270.3*
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
Instructor: Sergey Lapin
Prerequisite: Must be an Honors Student
Data science and modern society: an introduction
Data and data analytics are playing an increasing role in our day-to-day life. In modern society, the amount of data available and processed increases every year. We all are affected by these new approaches to data analysis, directly or indirectly. Thus, data literacy, including knowing the basics of data analytics, has become a fundamental skill everyone needs.
For those seeking to understand and influence the world around them, the ability to understand, manage and communicate using data is an essential skill. Social scientists analyze data about human behavior to explain and predict various social phenomenon, leading to pragmatic solutions to societal problems. Such inquiry-driven analyses give meaning and purpose to the vast amounts of available information, making a positive social impact. This course intersects data science and social science. Data science provides the tools to better understand and address longstanding and emergent social problems.
This class introduces the field of data science in a practical and accessible manner. It utilizes a hands-on approach with real world social applications and assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. This class will teach basics of data and data processing and social analysis. We will also cover implications of the use of data in areas such as privacy and ethics. We will critically examine use of data science in a broad range of modern society’s activities: such as politics, healthcare, public safety, finance and more. Students will apply the skills they learn.
*ECONS 198 can be substituted for HONORS 270. Please see the schedule of courses for the two sections of that course. Honors students can self-enroll into this course.
*There is a special section of H_D 205 (Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills) open only to Honors students that can be substituted for HONORS 270. Please check the schedule of courses for section #6 of H_D 205. To request enrollment in this class, please email honors@wsu.edu.
HONORS 280.1
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: MWF 10:10-11AM
Instructor: Lauren Westerfield
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Breaking Form: Experimental Creative Writing
| “Breaking Form” will be a semester of creative experimentation, investigation, and rebellion. We will explore how and why literary writers and artists challenge genre expectations, unpack our preconceived notions of what genre actually is, and then attempt experiments against those notions to make new forms of our own.
Students will read complete works and excerpts from authors and artists such as 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, 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.). By reading widely, observing with curiosity, drafting boldly and without concern for correctness, asking many questions and embracing confusion, students will not only create their own genre-crossing work but gain historical, political, and sociological context for avant-garde movements in contemporary literature. This is a process/discussion based creative arts and writing course that borrows from the studio arts model and privileges experimentation and curiosity over set rubrics & rules. Recommended for anyone interested in reading and writing towards new meaning and unmaking/remaking the status quo. Required Course Material:
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HONORS 280.2*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
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 is also a MESI course where you will keep a mindfulness journal that is meant to correlate to you creative work.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Materials:
1. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway, ISBN#: 9780226616698
2. Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: 50 North American Stories since 1970, 2nd Edition, Michael Martone, ISBN#: 9781416532279
3. I Am Here Now: A Creative Mindfulness Guide and Journal, The Mindfulness Project, ISBN#: 9780399184444
HONORS 280.3*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: MWF 11:10-12:00
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 is an applied philosophy class investigating 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 by Michael Schur (yes, THAT Michael Shur, the creator of The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, etc.) but we will also read a dozen or so shorter readings from other authors.
The main project in this course is YOU. For much of the course, you’ll work on refining your own view of “the good life” through our class discussions, two short papers, and other assignments. In the later part of the semester, you’ll design and complete a “theory to practice” group project in which you and your team adopt a life-improvement practice of your choice and make a presentation to the class discussing the impact of these changes.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
| Required course materials |
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HONORS 280.4*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: MWF 9:10-10:00
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 is an applied philosophy class investigating 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 by Michael Schur (yes, THAT Michael Shur, the creator of The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, etc.) but we will also read a dozen or so shorter readings from other authors.
The main project in this course is YOU. For much of the course, you’ll work on refining your own view of “the good life” through our class discussions, two short papers, and other assignments. In the later part of the semester, you’ll design and complete a “theory to practice” group project in which you and your team adopt a life-improvement practice of your choice and make a presentation to the class discussing the impact of these changes.
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
| Required course materials |
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HONORS 280.5*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Tu/Th 12:05pm-1:20pm
Instructor: Kristin Becker
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
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 and curators to tell and preserve stories; Learning about activities used by museum educators; Relating art to other disciplines; Researching and writing about art; Making an artwork of your own; and Curating a mini-exhibition or publication with your fellow classmates using the museum’s permanent collection.
This course provides a wonderful opportunity to engage with original works of art and living artists on a weekly basis. That said, one of your most important resources in this class is your fellow students: Listening to the reactions and voices of others helps us see the multitude of ways in which art informs and impacts our lives.
In Fall 2023, the galleries at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will showcase the work of Jeffrey Gibson, an artist of Cherokee and Choctaw lineage who draws influence from popular music, fashion, literature, cultural theory, and his own individual heritage. Additionally, there will be an exhibition inspired by WSU’s Common Reading book for 2023-24, “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Required Course Material
“Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
$25 will be spent on art supplies for a studio-based project
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: T/TH, 10:35 – 11:50 am In Honors 142
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 “ depicts 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 postapocalyptic 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 material:
- “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
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: TTH 9.10-10.25 am
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 “ depicts 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 postapocalyptic 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 material:
- “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
Science as a Way of Knowing
Meetings: M,W,F 11:10-12:00
Instructor: Julie Menard
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment
HONORS 370.1
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: TU,TH 10:35-11:50
Instructor: Shawna Herzog
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
Inequity in World History
The concepts of social egalitarianism and “universal human rights” are relatively recent historical phenomena. Since the emergence of the world’s first civilizations societies have used religious, political, and/or cultural ideologies to justify and enforce social and cultural hierarchies. Some argue these hierarchies are basic ‘human nature,’ or unavoidable consequences of modern mass society while others have asserted that they reinforce oppressive systems of inequality and were strategically constructed for a utilitarian purpose. This course examines the foundations of class, gender, and racial hierarchies in World History to better understand current societal divisions and inequalities around the world. In addition to a thorough and critical analysis of the current scholarship, students in this course will make substantive use of primary source material to develop an independent research project focused on a particular component or aspect of the theme. The reading materials, class discussions, and the final research project are all designed to challenge students to analyze the components of these internal structures, draw comparisons between systems, and investigate their impact on modern society.
HONORS 370.2
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: TuTh 12:05-1:20
Instructor: Bill Smith
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
The United Nations
| The 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 2024 Honors College delegation to the National Model United Nations conference in New York City. |
HONORS 370.3
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: TU,TH 2:55-4:10
Instructor: Kathleen Rodgers
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
Causes and Consequences of Poverty
| 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 take an in-depth look at conditions and causal factors associated with poverty, efforts to help poor families and individuals, and the resiliency of individuals and families who face economic hardship. Students will examine contemporary poverty-related issues with a central focus on global and domestic displacement (e.g., homelessness from forced immigration, economic displacement and homelessness), the effects on families, children, and communities, and strategies currently being used to address this issue. |
| Required course materials: |
| Elliot, Andrea (2022). The invisible child: Poverty, survival, and hope in an American city. NY: Random House. ISBN 9780812986952 Students are encouraged to purchase this book in the way it best meets their needs (e.g., used, rented, paperback or electronic). Additional course readings and materials will be available through the LMS platform Canvas at no cost. |
HONORS 370.4
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
Meetings: MWF 11:10-12
Instructor: Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
Becoming an Adult in contemporary Western Societies
This course will examine what it means to become an adult in contemporary Western societies and some of the key processes involved in the transition to adulthood. These often include the formation of romantic and sexual relationships, moving away from parents, and transitioning from school to work. Students will be introduced to the life course perspective, an interdisciplinary orienting framework concerned with understanding how lives are lived in historical time and place. Using this perspective we will examine how the pathways young people take in becoming adults, as well as transitional experiences embedded within these pathways, are shaped by a society’ institutions (including families, schooling, labor market, and government [policy and law]) and culture.
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Tu/Th 10:35-11:50 AM
Instructor: Vilma Navarro-Daniels
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
21st-Century Latin American Women Filmmakers
| 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. The specific topic for Fall 2023 is “21st-Century Latin American Women Filmmakers.” Students will learn about film made by women from Nicaragua, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Peru. They will learn to analyze films within a variety of cultural, linguistic, historical, political, and social contexts. Students will be critically and theoretically introduced to topics such as post-colonialism, sexual tourism, post-memory, intersectional discrimination, urban violence, drug cartels, contract-killings or murder-for-hire, neoliberalism, Southern Cone dictatorships, phenomenology of torture, gender identities, sexual orientation, representations of the aging body, Shining Path (Peru), stolen babies, resocialization, aboriginal nations, Brazilian Modernism, social mobility, among other themes. Besides learning about the aforementioned contents, students will greatly develop their skills and abilities to communicate in a persuasive way in both written and spoken language. There is no textbook but a set of scholarly articles available on Canvas. |
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: TU,TH 1:30-2:45
Instructor: Colin Criss
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
Introduction to Poetic Translation
| “Translation of poetry is a utopian project.” -Charles Simic “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” -Robert FrostCan you translate poetry? No. Poetry is inseparable from the language and culture that submerge its composition. On the other hand, we must translate poetry if we are to recognize and understand other people and their lives, particularly those who do not share our language. This understanding will motivate our course: translation of poetry is both impossible and necessary. Poetry exists in all parts of the inhabited world. People, wherever they are, make poetry. I believe this adamantly—though we will argue over the definition of “poetry.” In this course, we’ll read widely across modern and contemporary international poetry in translation, and think carefully about the cultural contexts of those poems. At the same time, we’ll think about the translation of poems. We’ll do this through practice—each student will begin learning a language that is new to them, and begin to recognize and grapple with, in poems from that language, the impossible choices a translator has to make.We will read translation theory. We’ll read multiple translations into English of the same poem from another language. Students will purchase a book, during the semester, made up of poems in the language they are beginning to learn. From these resources, students will make initial translations of a few poems, and formulate their own theory of poetic translation. |
Required course material:
- Into English: Poems, Translations, Commentaries.
- One book of poetry in another language, to be determined during the course.
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
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. This is also a MESI course where you will keep a mindfulness journal that is meant to correlate to you creative work. |
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
Required Course Text:
1. Tell it Slant, Third Edition, Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola, ISBN#: 9781260454598
2. Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, Judith Kitchen, ISBN#: 9780393326000
3. Now Write! Nonfiction, Sherry Ellis, ISBN #9781585427581
4. Into Nature: A Creative Field Guide and Journal, The Mindfulness Project, ISBN#: 9781615194803
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Meetings: Wed 1:30-4:00
Instructor: Phil Gruen
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280
The Global Palouse
Our Palouse region is popularly imagined as a remote landscape of rolling hills embedded with rich soils that permit the seasonal growth of wheat and lentils. It is indeed this. But too often, the image stops there; the Palouse is broadly understood for its picturesque attributes but rarely for its emergence following conquest; its people (and those who have been historically excluded); its natural systems; its political landscape; its extractive economies, its processes of production and distribution (and their environmental consequences), and its global impact.
This course will cover the Palouse in a variety of manifestations: from campus to town to city; from hills to rivers to streams, from dams to energy to fish, from culture to place to race. In effect, we will learn to read the Palouse as a landscape that is global as well as local, helping us better understand this remote region we call home—if only for a few years.
The Global Palouse will be a seminar-style, discussion-based “flipped classroom” course. Active student participation and presentations (individual and group) will accompany topic previews or research-oriented lectures by the professor, often within the same class session. Informed and energetic involvement by the students will account for the majority of the semester grade; students also will be encouraged to consider Palouse-related topics for a individual final project tailored to their future goals, ambitions, careers, or professions.
A selection of articles, chapters, videos, podcasts, and/or documentaries will accompany weekly themes or topics, and every effort will be made to ensure that course materials are provided free of charge. The fall 2023 course may include a civic engagement component.
HONORS 390.2
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Meetings: M,W,F 11:10-12:00
Instructor: Tekla Schmaus
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
Heredity, Science, & Society
This course examines the different ways societies have engaged with scientific research on heredity and genetics, and whether those relationships have changed through time. We begin in the late 19th century by considering how early anthropologists discussed heredity and kinship. We then discuss the American eugenics movement, and how it interfaced with race “science” and the Progressive movement. Next, we’ll jump halfway across the world to learn about the ways the Soviet Union promoted the pseudoscience of inheriting acquired traits, and how that contributed to massive famines. Finally, we’ll arrive in the current day, and we’ll discuss the consequences of sequencing the human genome. This new technology has allowed for scientific advances in fields ranging from medicine to archaeology. But are we using these advances responsibly, or do we risk entering a new era of eugenics and scientific racism? Was there something to Soviet pseudoscience? Students will have the opportunity to conduct library research on a topic of their choosing related to heredity and society.
Students will demonstrate fluency in the application of science to problem solving. Students will be required, in written and oral formats, to display literacy in diverse science disciplines and transfer the skills gained in Honors 290 to understand how scientific habits of the mind are applied to global issues.
HONORS 390.3
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Meetings: TTH 1:30-2:45pm in Honors 142
Instructor: Grant Norton
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206.
What a Load of Rubbish
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris that extends for more than 1.6 million square kilometers. The majority of the debris is plastic waste that finds its way from land-based activities into the ocean. In this course, we will look at the following questions:
1. What is plastic?
2. Why does so much of it end up in the ocean or in landfills?
3. Why doesn’t plastic biodegrade?
4. How can we reduce our consumption and disposal of plastic?
By completing a “plastics inventory” at the beginning and at the end of the course students will identify how much plastic they use and what might be some possible alternatives. A group project performed throughout the semester will examine how cities in the United States and around the world deal with waste.
The course will also look at issues related to the extraction of critical minerals such as Coltan (a source of tantalum), which is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo and fueled a vicious armed conflict, and nickel, which is mined in Guatemala creating an environmental nightmare in the surrounding Mayan villages. These metals, and many others, are essential components of our modern technology. We will look at why we need these materials, are there more sustainable alternatives, and what role, if any, recycling plays.
HONORS 398.2
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Meetings: W 10:10-11.00 am
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
(online course through WSU Global Campus)
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. |