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Washington State University

Courses in the Honors College

Please note: this list is 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. NOTE: Advising will be offered by email or telephone ONLY to students currently studying abroad.

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 with their Honors College academic advisor. Listings from previous semesters are located at the bottom of this page.


Fall 2016


ECONS 198.1 – 3 units
MWF 1:10-2:00pm CUE 216
Economics Honors
Instructor: Pat Kuzyk

Prerequisite: Admitted to the Honors College. Enrollment in ECONS 198 is not allowed if credit has already been earned for ECONS 101 and 102. Introduction to economic theory and policy issues.

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.


ENGLISH 298.1 – 3 units
MWF 1:10-2:00pm Avery 102
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: TBA

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


ENGLISH 298.2 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00am Thompson 105
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: TBA

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


ENGLISH 298.3 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00 Thompson 119
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: Brian Fry

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

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 small pox 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:
A Pocket Guide To Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla


ENGLISH 298.4 – 3 units
TuTh 10:35-11:50pm Thompson 105
Writing and Research Honors

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


ENGLISH 298.5 – 3 units
TuTh 1:25-2:40pm Thomson 105
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: Robert Eddy

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

My approach to English Honors 298 helps us see and practice how engaging cross-cultural rhetorics and understanding language diversity are crucial to our work as professionals and informed citizens in a twenty-first century multi-racial democracy. The course focuses on the writing of academic research, and the rhetoric of academic discourse. A “discourse” is the formal or official conversation of a group. Academic writing is “rhetorical” in that it cannot be objective or unbiased because writers are not machines. Writers have points of view; we have world views that influence our perceptions and judgments. We must certainly try to be fair, and remember that academic discourse is collaborative: a team sport. The more voices the better. College writing is a contact zone where students have to deal with changing selves “being formed and reformed” (Min-Zhan Lu) in response to changes in language and definitions. Doing research is entering a new culture by carefully considering a different argument. Being a fair reader of a different argument involves overcoming “a colonial unconscious which repeatedly shuts down the possibilities for the content and terms of debate” (Damian Baca). If we finish the research project – finish our time in the new community, or in the new discourse – we will have been changed by the experience, however subtly or substantially. If we listen to “others” with engagement, if we engage researchers with points of view different from ours as equals in a contact zone, exciting possibilities for change and growth are opened


ENGLISH 298.6 – 3 units
MWF 10:10-11:00am Thompson 119
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: Brian Fry

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

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 small pox 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 text:
A Pocket Guide To Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla


ENGLISH 298.7 – 3 units
TuTh 12:00-1:15pm Thompson 105
Writing and Research Honors
Instructor: Aaron Oforlea

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


ENGLISH 298.8 – 3 units
TuTh 9:10-10:25am Thompson 105
Writing and Research Honors

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


ENGLISH 298.9 – 3 units
MWF 1:10-2:00pm Thompson 24
Writing and Research Honors

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.


HONORS 270.1 – 3 units
TuTh 2:50-4:05pm, Todd 202
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Lidia Gerber

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Powerful Women in Chinese History
To this day, few women have played a significant role in Chinese public life. Yet stories abound in Chinese history and literature of women who caused the ruin of individual men, families and entire states through their powers of seduction. Evil empress dowagers, goddesses and women immortals, female fox-spirits, beautiful concubines, women moralists and talented poets and artists – Chinese culture offers a wealth of intriguing female subjects. Moreover, Chinese traditions, such as Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism had often surprising views of women and their roles and options in life.

In this class, we will engage with Chinese history and culture by exploring rules and expectations for appropriate female behavior from ancient times to today, and by investigating the record of those women who defied both rules and norms of womanly conduct. Among such exceptional women were some who received high praise for their contributions, and others who have been vilified.

Required texts:
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, by Patricia B. Ebrey, Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-66991X
Wu Zhao: China’s only Woman Emperor, by Harry N. Rothschild, Longman. ISBN: 0321394267
A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (8th edition), by Mary Lynn Rampolla. ISBN: 978-1-4576-9088-4


HONORS 270.2 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00am CUE 412
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: S. Hoard

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student


HONORS 270.3 – 3 units
MWF 10:10-11:00am, CUE 412
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Karen Phoenix

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

US Cultural Diplomacy in the 20th Century
When we think of US “foreign relations,” we tend to think of diplomats, treaties, and embassies—the formal ways that the United States interacts with the rest of the world. Yet this involves a relatively small group of people, who, while their actions may be very influential, have a relatively limited reach. In contrast to this formal diplomacy, this class will examine informal foreign relations, or cultural diplomacy. We find cultural diplomacy in non-governmental organizations (including medical groups like the Rockefeller Foundation, religious groups like the Young Women’s Christian Association, global governance like the United Nations), in the expansion of US commerce, and in popular culture media such as film and television. Over the course of the semester, and in your independent research papers, we will explore the way that the US not only expanded militarily and politically, but also spread out across the globe culturally and socially over the course of the 20th century. In the process, US ideas and ideals influenced a variety of developments abroad, including: the consumption of products like Coca-Cola; technological development; public health policy; and cultural mores found in music, television, and film.


HONORS 270.4 – 3 units
MWF 8:10-9:00am Honors 142
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: B. Walker

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student


HONORS 280.1 – 3 units
MWF, 3:10-4:00pm, Thompson 201
**Film Screenings: M, 6:00-8:00pm; T, 5:00-7:00pm
Film Streaming Available in the LLRC (Thompson 210)
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Rachel Halverson/Colonel Glen Downing

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Representing War: An Intercultural Approach to Portrayals of War in Germany and the United States
In this course, students will study the historical, philosophical and contemporary underpinnings of war in an American and German context. Co-taught by a 26-year veteran of the United States Air Force and an expert in 20th- and 21st-century German culture and film, this course offers students the unique opportunity to reflect on war from a myriad of perspectives. Course readings, examinations of representative cinematic, literary, artistic treatments of war, and class discussions will encourage students to think thoughtfully, critically and in a well-informed manner about war, to understand national security policy, its implementation and dissemination, to examine the portrayals of war and the memorialization of war in the United States and Germany through an intercultural lens, and to identify the culture-specific and universal parameters of war.

Required Films:
Stalingrad (1993), Enemy at the Gates (2001), Die Brücke (1959), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Paths of Glory (1957)

Required texts:
War and Existence: A Philosophical Inquiry by Michael Gelven (Penn State UP, 2005).

(Additional course readings will be made available to students in Blackboard Learning.)


HONORS 280.2 – 3 units
MWF 11:10-12 noon, Honors 142
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Pamela Lee

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Exploring the Art of Portraiture
An oft repeated adage states that before twenty you have the face that you were born with, after that you have the face you deserve. The adage may stem from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.”

Character is revealed in the face. Can we shape our character, and thus the face we wear through life? We anticipate, consider, and expend considerable effort when planning our education, careers, families, and the acquisition of material possessions. Can we look ahead and anticipate who we might be at fifty, sixty, or eighty? Or, are we simply batted about and patted into shape by family, economics, culture, and by the vicissitudes of fate? In this increasingly global era, do we retain a national identity communicated through the human visage? Or, is “face reading” universally understood? We will ask these underlying questions as we encounter and explore the art of visual portraiture, dipping across time, continents and cultures to investigate painted, sculpted, and photographed faces. We will question the various applications of portraiture, past and present, considering how life’s large human themes – love, mortality, disability, beauty, power, joy, sadness –affect the human countenance and the art portrait. What lies behind the faces artists have portrayed? How do their lives critically compare to ours? We will practice critical and speculative analysis, research and information literacy. We will communication in written form and through engaged discussion as we investigate the lessons and ideas that portraits reveal.

Required text:
Selected articles and films will be provided; purchase of text is not required.


HONORS 280.3 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00am, Honors 142
Contextual Understanding in the arts and Humanities
Instructor: David Shier

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Science Fiction and Philosophy
Because of its highly speculative nature, science fiction provides us with a dynamic setting for thought experiments that challenge our core ideas about human nature, artificial intelligence, time travel, social justice, and the ethics of technology, among many others.
In this course, we will use science fiction films and literature, along with philosophical readings, to frame a discussion of core philosophical ideas and of the ways in which the sci-fi genre empowers us to explore them.
Graded activities include several short assignments (in and out of the classroom), a midterm exam, and a group project/ presentation (ranging anywhere from writing a standard research paper to making a short film).

Required texts:
• Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Superintelligence (2nd ed.) by Susan Schneider (purchase through Bookie or outside source).
• Additional readings (both sci fi and philosophy) provided free online.
• Several easily-obtainable (by renting or streaming) films to be viewed outside of class (we will often view and discuss excerpts from films in class)


HONORS 280.4 – 3 units
TuTh 2:50-4:05pm, Honors 142
Contextual Understanding in the arts and Humanities
Instructor: Annie Lampman

Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student

Fiction: The Short Story
This course is an introduction to the art and craft of short fiction writing. We will read, analyze, and discuss award-winning short stories, complete weekly writing exercises, and write two short stories (employing research/annotated bibliography), working to explore and develop the craft elements of the short story including characterization, point-of-view, dialogue, plot, scene and summary, setting, and the use of metaphorical language. Throughout the semester, each student will have one story workshopped with written peer reviews and instructor feedback provided.

Required texts:
Method and Madness: The Making of a Story, Alice LaPlant. ISBN#: 9780393928174


HONORS 290.1 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00am, CUE 209
Science as a Way of Knowing
Instructor: Raymond Lee

Course Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.

In Honors 290, students will learn to view the world from a scientific perspective and make connections between biology and their everyday lives. Modern approaches to understanding the natural world have become increasingly interdisciplinary. Consequently, the course will emphasize how science today integrates information from molecules and cells to natural history to global cycles. The ocean world and animal biology is fertile ground for discovery and student investigation, and will serve as a springboard for scientific exploration in this course.

In addition, students will learn how to use resources for gathering scientific information including researching the primary literature.

Required texts:
(Optional) Marine Biology by Castro & Huber (2010) 8th edition or (2012) 9th edition


HONORS 290.2 – 3 units
TuTh 9:10-10:25
Science as a Way of Knowing
Instructor: Starla Meighan

Course Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.

Death Defining
Death Defining is a spacious, scientific and philosophical exploration of what it means to die and how medicine and science are changing the boundaries of death. The class surveys an array of topics in order to assign a modern definition to death: a historical perspective on medical science and death, perceptions and experiences with death and what brain scans tell us about grieving, the basic physiology of life, the biology and physiology of death—physiological mechanisms for how trauma, disease and aging challenge life—resuscitation and life support, what happens to a body when it dies, brain death, organ and body donation, the scientific prospects for immortality, and a critical look at near-death experiences. We explore these subjects through readings, classroom discussion, classroom presentation and prompted reflective journaling.


HONORS 290.3 – 3 units
W 2:00-5:00pm TBA
Science as a Way of Knowing
Instructor: Stephanie Hampton

Course Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.

Dimensions of Environmental Change
Increasing pressure is being placed on the environment to provide food, water, energy and space for humans as populations continue to grow. Balancing human well-being with environmental sustainability is therefore a critical, global challenge. This interdisciplinary seminar course is organized around the CEREO seminar series and explores a broad range of coupled human-natural systems issues as well as the current research underway to address these problems. Students will be responsible for attending CEREO seminars and participating in a structured discussion centered on the seminar topic each week. Students will also receive guidance in presenting environmental research in the form of grant proposals and oral presentations, and the course will conclude with an oral presentation of a final project by each student.


HONORS 370.1 – 3 units
TuTh 1:25-2:40pm, Sloan 38
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: Monica Johnson

Course Prerequisite: 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.

Required texts:
Shalet, Amy T. 2011. Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex. University of Chicago Press.

Newmann, Katherine S. 2013. The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition. Beacon Press.

Additional selected readings.


HONORS 370.2 – 3 units
TuTh 12:00-1:15pm, Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: Bill Smith

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 270 or ECONS 198

While class members will determine the specific focus the course will take, it will broadly track the development of a global, multilateral system that takes into account what developing nations “want” alongside the aims of the developed world. Governmental actors, intergovernmental groups, and nongovernmental organizations all factor into the framework as we consider how various entities “act and interact” in the global sphere.

Enrolled students have the option of joining the Spring 2017 Honors College delegation to the National Model United Nations conference in New York City.

Required texts:
None


HONORS 370.3 – 3 units
MWF 9:10-10:00am, TBA
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: William Brecher

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 270 or ECONS 198

Social Problems in Modern Japan
In an effort to capture the richness and complexity of modern Japan, this course provides an introduction to Japanese society and culture from the mid-20th century to the present. Throughout this period the country has grappled with an ongoing and perplexing process of self-reinvention. From the strains of military defeat, to the bewildering effects of rapid modernization, to the anxieties of recession and environmental crisis, modern Japanese experience is a portrait of transformation.

Within the international community, postwar Japan has also been an important archetype of both modernity/industrialism and post-modernity/post-industrialism. This course begins with a study of those paradigms within the Japanese context. Precisely where Japan falls on these two axes is a matter of debate and, for our purposes, less important than understanding these paradigms as frameworks for interpreting modern life. Our attention then turns to a sampling of controversial issues that have exerted formative influences on the modern Japanese experience. These include the ANPO riots of the 1960s, changing gender roles, environmental crises (industrial pollution), social crises (suicide and bullying), youth crises (hikikomori; shut-ins), and the “lost decade” (the 1990s). Collectively, these phenomena have come to define modern and contemporary Japanese life. The course concludes by considering the “triple disaster” (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation leak) of March 2011, watershed events that may well have set Japan on a new course of self-reinvention. Each of these topics will be juxtaposed with analogous phenomena in the U.S. or elsewhere. No prior knowledge of Japanese language or culture is required.


HONORS 380.1 – 3 units
TuTh 10:35-11:50am Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Robin Bond

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280

Being Human: An Introduction to Greek Literature and Culture
This course is an introduction to the literature and culture of archaic and Classical Greece that focuses on the question of what it means to be human. 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. Yet, being human also meant being civilized, which for the Greeks meant being Greek: honoring Greek gods and observing Greek customs. Overtime the literature, poetry, and philosophy of the ancient Greeks reflect how some of their most basic cultural assumptions about the human experience were challenged often as a result of their interactions with other peoples through travel, colonization, and warfare.

Required texts:
The Iliad of Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore
Homer’s Odyssey, translated by Robert Fagles
The Poems of Hesiod, translated with Introduction and Comments by R. M. Frazer
Herodotus’ History, translated by David Grene


HONORS 380.2 – 3 units
MWF 1:10-2:00pm Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Kim Andersen

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280

What Art Tells Us
If you approach fine art with the expectation that somehow it is related to the time of its conception, in addition to potentially addressing universal values, which we as spectators are invited to understand – then a work of art becomes a puzzle we must decode.

Achieving such understanding is not straightforward. The historical reference may to a certain extend be obvious such as in ‘historical painting’ of a particular event but in other cases the understanding to be gained must be teased out from contextual study and only through such investigations will a connection between the art work and its thematic and historical contexts make sense. The notion of universal values present its own problems.

In this course we will examine great works of art spanning from the ancient Greeks to contemporary art. As we become familiar with the art works themselves we will also gain an understanding of the progression of ideas as expressed in the history of art, in our case Western art. Each work of art will be presented by two students in a group presentation that focuses less on technical or aesthetic formalities (unless significant to the proposed meaning) and more on the art work’s relation to its theme. It is the statement on that theme – as suggested by the presenters – that take center stage! Thus, the presentations will lead to discussion of both the art works themselves and the themes they engage. The studies of art works will engage themes such as religiosity, society, politics, war, psychological-aesthetic interests, abstraction, and contemporary tastes.

As we develop our contextual understanding of the art works created in the flux of individual human creativity and social norms, we will also develop an appreciation for the function, methods, and value of research and scholarship in the Humanities. Final grade to be determined by active participation, written assignments, and an in-class presentation.

Required texts:
Art of the Western World: From Ancient Greece to Post Modernism – by Bruce Cole
Other texts handled in class, available on Blackboard.


HONORS 380.3 – 3 units
TuTh 1:25-2:40pm Honors 142
Case Study-Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Ray Sun (Associate Professor, Department of History)

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280

“Memory, Memorials, and Commemoration: Fashioning the Collective Memory of War and Trauma”
Finding and representing meaning in the aftermath of extreme societal stress and trauma (war, genocide, terrorism, or natural disaster) goes to the heart of the human condition. In “Memory, Memorials, and Commemoration,” we will study the concept of collective memory and learn to deconstruct the political, cultural, and social messaging of common means of remembering the past such as memorials, museums, exhibits, art, music, and literature. Students will explore case studies drawn from the world wars, genocides, and traumatic events like 9/11 before embarking on research projects on a particular site or symbol of collective war/trauma memory. This class will draw upon multiple disciplines such as history, art, architecture, music, literature, and digital humanities.


HONORS 380.4 – 3 units
MWF 10:10-11:00am Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Annie Lampman

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280

Creative Nonfiction: Voices of the World
This course will examine the role of the personal voice in shaping and defining how we see and experience the world. Through reading, class discussion and analysis, presentations, and a variety of essay writing assignments we will explore the following questions: As global citizens, how can we represent our own personal experiences 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? We will work on developing the craft elements of nonfiction writing from a variety of nonfiction genres, and throughout the semester each student will have one essay workshopped with written peer reviews and instructor feedback provided.

Required text:
• Creating Nonfiction: A Guide and Anthology, Becky Bradway & Doug Hesse, ISBN#:9780312447069
• Tell it Slant, Second Edition, Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola, ISBN#:9780071781770
• Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, Judith Kitchen, ISBN#:9780393326000


HONORS 390.1 – 3 units
MWF 2:10-3:00pm Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Raymond Quock

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206

Mental Health—A Global Perspective
Mental health is a state of psychological well-being in which people realize their own potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and are able to contribute to their communities. Mental disorders interfere with these functions. The topics in this course will 1) provide a scientific background in mental disorders and the psychopharmacology of drugs used in their treatment; 2) discuss the societal impact of mental illness; and 3) analyze trends in addressing the burden of mental disorders.


HONORS 390.2 – 3 units
MWF 12:10-1:00pm, Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Sergey Lapin

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206

Interdisciplinary Research: Past, Present, and Future
It is evident that our society is embedded in an international context that has undergone significant changes in recent decades and will undergo even more transformations in the future. Understanding the interdisciplinary nature of modern sciences has become increasingly important.

The main goal of this course is to help students see the real-world relevance of the various academic disciplines and their comparative strengths and weaknesses by looking at the history of several scientific inventions. It is well known that many famous scientists of the past were known as homo universalis, being able to work successfully in very diverse fields. We will then turn to modern society and look at several cases where scientists from different disciplines join forces to address complex global issues, such as environmental, ecological, and global health problems. We will also discuss the cultural and social impacts of scientific research and relations between the liberal arts and sciences.


HONORS 390.3 – 3 units
TuTh 9:10-10:25am Honors 142
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Lawrence Fox

Course Prerequisite: HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206

Livestock Production: Past and Current Impact on Society
Agriculture transformed through millennia hunter gather societies into our current civilization. Livestock production was part of that process. The course will describe the general processes of modern livestock production with some discussion of its history. With this foundational background, some impacts of modern livestock production and its products on current society in the United States will be discussed. Students will contribute to the discussion in various styles that may include general classroom discussion, seminar presentations, panel discussions, debates and other formats.


HONORS 398.1 – 1 unit
F 12:10-1:00, Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Kim Andersen

Course Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing; 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 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.

Required text:
Writing A Successful Research Paper: A Simple Approach by Stanley Chodorow. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Co., ISBN: 978-1-60384-440-6


HONORS 398.2 – 1 unit
W 12:10-1:00pm, Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Robin Bond

Course Prerequisite: 45 semester hours. Students majoring in the social sciences, arts, or humanities are encouraged to enroll in this section.

Required text:
None


HONORS 398.3 – 1 unit
M 2:10-3:00pm, Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Pamela Lee
Course Prerequisite: 45 semester hours. Students majoring in the social sciences, arts, or humanities are encouraged to enroll in this section.

The purpose of this seminar style course is to assist each student with the inception and completion of his or her Honors College senior thesis proposal. We will engage with each step of your thesis proposal, including the formulation of a successful thesis question, the selection of the thesis advisor, how to conduct an academic literature search, information literacy, critical analyses skills, appropriate methodology, the organization of your bibliography and strategies for organizing your research notes. You will be working on your individual thesis proposal with the support of your advisor, the instructor, and constructively critical peer review sessions. At the end of the class, you will prepare your proposal, offer a 10-minute presentation to peers, and then submit your thesis proposal for approval. Pending Honors College approval, at the completion of our seminar, you will start down the path of your senior research venture! S/F grading.

Required text:
How to Write a BA Thesis, by Charles Lipson. ISBN # 0226481263 (Paperback)


HONORS 398.4 – 1 unit
Tu 1:10-2:00pm Honors 141
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Annie Lampman

Course Prerequisite: 45 semester hours. Students in science, math, and other technical majors 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 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 research, 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, and annotated bibliography—as a final product. S/F grading.


HONORS 430 – units vary
Education Abroad Research
By Arrangement
Instructor: Kim Andersen

Special assignments and research related to education abroad. Read about The Certificate of Global Competencies on this website: http://honors.wsu.edu/studyabroad/index.html

Students interested in completing Honors 430 should meet with an Honors advisor.

**An approved contract is required before Honors staff can register you for this course.


HONORS 450 – units vary
Honors Thesis or Project
By Arrangement

All students are required to complete a 3-unit Honors Thesis in order to fulfill their Honors requirements. The Honors thesis is an in-depth reading and writing project directed by a student’s major department. Students can choose to complete original research or a creative project. Detailed guidelines on the thesis and the proposal approval process are available on the Honors College website. Final grades for Honors 450 are entered by the Honors College when the thesis is satisfactorily completed and an oral presentation has been given. Oral presentation dates vary throughout the year; please check with the Honors College or watch the FLASH for dates.

**An approved Honors Thesis Proposal is required before Honors staff can register you for this course.


HONORS 499 – units vary
Special Problems (Independent Study)
By Arrangement

Students interested in completing an independent study requirement should meet with an Honors advisor.

**An approved contract is required before Honors staff can register you for this course.


Current and Previous Semesters

Information about courses from previous semesters is also available: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Fall and Summer 2020, Spring 2020,Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2016.