Courses in the Honors College
Please note: this list may be incomplete and will be updated as new information 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? Schedule an appointment here.
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.
PLEASE NOTE: THESE SUMMER ONLINE COURSES CAN BE FOUND ON THE GLOBAL CAMPUS SUMMER SCHEDULE (NOT THE PULLMAN CAMPUS SCHEDULE). ALL HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE THESE COURSES.
Summer 2025
HONORS 270
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Colin Criss
Dates: June 16th – July 25th
Prerequisite: Must be an Honors Student
In this course, students will select and analyze a contemporary social movement through the lens of foundational social movement theories. They will apply micro-, meso-, and macro-level theories to contemporary movements, and suggest, given their analysis, possible future directions for the movement at hand. This is an introductory sociology course—there is no need for prior sociological knowledge—that will require students to think critically and systematically about our world.
HONORS 280*
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Dates: May 5th – June 15th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
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 short fiction, working to explore and develop craft elements including characterization, point-of-view, dialogue, plot, scene and summary, setting, and the use of metaphorical language and themes. Each student will have 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 your creative work.
Required Texts:
- Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway, ISBN#: 9780226616698
- Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: 50 North American Stories since 1970, 2nd Edition, Michael Martone, ISBN#: 9781416532279
- I Am Here Now: A Creative Mindfulness Guide and Journal, The Mindfulness Project, ISBN#: 9780399184444
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
HONORS 290
Science as a Way of Knowing
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Dates: May 5th – June 15th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
Dog Tales
This summer you will have the opportunity to examine the many attributes of Canis lupus familiaris, the domestic dog. Researchers state this is the most exciting time ever to study the domestic dog. I am a “dog person”, but as an evolutionary biologist, the wealth of research on domestic dog evolution and artificial selection for the over 200 AKC recognized dog breeds fascinate me. Therefore, you will examine the domestic dog precursors, the multiple origins of domestic dogs, and the ancient and recent breeds. You will also investigate the areas of research important to understand our close relationship with dogs and why this species has evolved to be humans’ favored “best friend.”
You will read and discuss the following topics: C. lupus familiaris’ (the domestic dog’s) diversification from Canis lupus (the grey wolf), which is the domestic dog’s closest relative, human — dog co-evolution, cognitive function and behavior in the domestic dog, artificial selection for phenotypic traits in modern breeds, genetic consequences of breeding, and other topics. According to one researcher, without the human–dog relationship, our society would never have advanced to its current levels. The course will use the Canvas Discussion Board Forum. You will be assigned readings from peer reviewed literature as well as popular press and various media, including films and videos, and engage in peer discussion.
ENGLISH 298
Writing and Research Honors
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Lauren Westerfield
Dates: May 5th – July 25th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
Writing Fan (Non)Fiction
This course will explore the art of research-driven pop culture and media criticism, drawing upon our individual and cultural obsessions and loves—favorite bands, artist, celebrities, TV series’, video games, action film franchises, athletes, and more—to uncover compelling research questions and unique ways of looking at and understanding the world around us.
Students will read a selection of personal and critical essays in which art critics, rock critics, superfans, gamers, sports journalists, TV and film critics, and creative writers explore the personal and cultural impact of work they love (or love to hate or can’t quite make sense of). They will then complete generative writing exercises and discussions inspired by their own art and media obsessions, as well as two major assignments—one creative/critical essay, and one research-focused essay—about topics of their choice.
This is an introductory but rigorous course designed to introduce students to college-level writing, research methods, and critical & creative thinking. Minor assignments will be low-stakes and generative in nature, helping students to brainstorm ideas for compelling research topics and practice various modes of academic and personal writing.
Required Course Materials:
Huber, Sonya. The Backwards Research Guide for Writers: Using your Life for Reflection, Connection, and Inspiration. Equinox, 2011. ISBN 9781845534424
HONORS 370
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Sciences
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Tekla Schmaus
Dates: May 5th – June 15th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 270 or ECONS 198.
The “roof of the world” sounds mystical, exotic, and distant – it’s one of the last places on earth. Who lives there, and what is it like? What draws foreigners to it? This class will use an anthropological lens to examine Central Asia in the popular imagination, and to understand the history and current events behind those perceptions. We will discuss Mongols and other nomads, the Silk Road, and religious diversity in the region. We will also discuss Central Asia’s place in contemporary discourse about globalization. And of course, we won’t neglect food, drink, music, and art. Why has a place that is so poorly understood by outsiders played such a central role in world history and modern geopolitics? By the end of this course, you will be familiar with central themes in the anthropology of Central Asia, and you will also have thought critically about issues facing the world today.
HONORS 380 *
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Dates: May 5th – June 15th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; HONORS 280.
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. 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.
Required Texts:
- Tell it Slant, Third Edition, Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola, ISBN#: 9781260454598
- Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, Judith Kitchen, ISBN#: 9780393326000
- Into Nature: A Creative Field Guide and Journal, The Mindfulness Project, ISBN#: 9781615194803
*This course qualifies as credit for the MESI Certificate.
HONORS 390
Case Study: Global Issues in Sciences
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Dates: June 16th – July 25th
Welcome to the Anthropocene
The geologic record clearly documents five major extinction events throughout Earth’s history. We are now undergoing a “Sixth Extinction”, caused by anthropogenic impacts. This summer, you will examine these six extinctions, with particular attention to the ongoing Anthropocene extinction events, its causes, rates, implications, and similarities and differences with past extinction events. You will also investigate anthropogenic extinctions vs. background extinction rates, climate change (causes), biodiversity (loss vs. what can be done), alternative energy sources, natural resources (exploitation vs. needs), sustainable living, government policies, hope or a grim future, among other topics.
Course readings will reflect course content and will be chosen from two excellent non-fiction book sources. You will engage in discussion via the Canvas Discussion Board Forum and watch documentary films and videos on a range of topics.
Required Course Materials:
- “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future” by Elizabeth Kolbert (2021) Crown Publishing, New York ISBN 9780593136270, ISBN e-book 9780593136294
- “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life” by EO Wilson (2016) Liveright Publishing ISBN-10: 9781631490826 ISBN-13: 9781631490828
HONORS 398
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
(Online course – register through WSU’s Global Campus Summer 2025 Schedule)
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Dates: May 5th – June 15th
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student; sophomore standing.