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 2017
ECONS 198- 3 units
Economics Honors
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.
Section 1: MWF 1:10pm-2:00pm Instructor: Pat Kuzyk
Section 2: MWF 12:10pm-1:00pm Instructor: TBA
**For more information on these sections, please contact the instructor directly.
ENGLISH 298 – 3 units
Writing and Research Honors
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Critical thinking, research, and advanced writing for Honors College students.
Section 1: MWF 1:10pm-2:00pm Instructor: A. Plemons
Section 2: MWF 9:10am-10:00am Instructor: TBA
Section 3: MWF 11:10am-12:00 (Noon) Instructor: TBA
Section 4: TuTh 10:35am-11:50am Instructor: R. Eddy
Section 5: TuTh 1:25pm-2:40pm Instructor: A. Oforlea
Section 6: MWF 10:10am-11:00am Instructor: TBA
Section 7: TuTh 12:00(Noon)-1:15pm Instructor: TBA
Section 8: TuTh 9:10am-10:25am Instructor: K. Burwick
Section 9: MWF 1:10pm-2:00pm Instructor: TBA
**For more information on these sections, please contact the instructors directly.
HONORS 198 – 1 unit
First-Year Experience
Prerequisite: Must be an Honors student.
Making a successful transition to college including advising, schedule planning and undergraduate research opportunities.
(Some sections restricted)
Section 1: M 10:10am-11:00am (Restricted Section)
Section 2: M 3:10pm-4:00pm (Restricted Section)
Section 3: Tu 3:10pm-4:00pm
Section 4: W 10:10am-11:00am
Section 5: W 11:10am-12:00 (Noon)
Section 6: W 1:10pm-2:00pm
Section 7: W 3:10pm-4:00pm
Section 8: Th 1:25pm-2:15pm
Section 9: Th 3:10pm-4:00pm
Section 11: (??) Th 9:10am-10:00am (Restricted Section??)
HONORS 270.1 – 3 units
MWF 2:10pm-3:00pm
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Lydia 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 women who became famous in spite of their gender. Among such exceptional women were some who received high praise for their contributions, and others who have been vilified. You will learn and practice to carefully examine and analyze primary and secondary sources. Based on your exploration and evaluation of available information and data, you will formulate your own argument about a topic of interest to you and also related to the focus of our class. At the end of the semester you will present your findings in a research paper conference and submit a research paper reflecting your contribution as a creator of new knowledge in this field. Your progress will be guided through a series of smaller steps throughout the semester. Previous exposure to, or knowledge of Chinese culture is appreciated, but not required to be successful in this class.
Required Texts:
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China by Patricia B. Ebrey (2nd ed. 2010) will present the background to the themes and topics we will explore in the classroom.
Harry Rothschild’s monograph Wu Zhao: China’s Only Woman Emperor (2007) will serve as an example of critical analysis of one powerful woman’s record.
A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla will guide you through the process of research and writing within the discipline of History.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 270.2 – 3 units
MWF 9:10am-10:00 am
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Season Hoard
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
This three-unit course is designed to introduce students to research methods and methodological issues in Political Science. With all sides of the political spectrum utilizing scientific arguments and statistics to bolster their points, understanding and evaluating scientific claims is increasingly important. This course is designed to give students the introductory skills to conduct research and evaluate empirical claims made in politics. Students will learn both qualitative and quantitative methods utilized in political science, and conduct their own research projects using these methods. We will discuss the sub-fields in political science, and major research topics in the field, including onset of civil wars, democratic transition, public policy, gender and politics, and political behavior. The breadth of political science research will be explored, as well as methods specific to sub-fields within the discipline. We will devote considerable attention to the application of research methods, in particular survey and observation research, and students will have the opportunity to utilize these methods to examine a research question in political science. This class will help students develop their research skills, encourages critical and creative thinking, and provides opportunities to improve both written and oral communication skills. Finally, this class promotes research evaluation, and provides the opportunity for students to better understand political claims.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 270.3 – 3 units
MWF 11:10am-12:00pm (noon)
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Shawna Herzog
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
This three-unit course is structured to introduce students to the process of research and writing in the discipline of History. Using the lens of empire, students will gain a better understanding of History as an academic field and the important methodological differences that have shaped the discipline since the nineteenth century. At the same time, we will use the lens of imperialism and colonialism to understand the ways in which imperial and colonial relationships have influenced and shaped societies, states, global economies, and ideologies from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the present. Using historical analysis, literary interpretation, political theory, anthropological evidence, and primary documents this class explores a variety of national imperialisms, colonial responses to imperialism, and the issue of neo-colonialism in a ‘post-colonial’ era. Finally, this class will help students develop their critical and creative thinking abilities, fosters information literacy, provides opportunities to hone written and oral communication skills, and promotes the development of a new sense of self and society.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 270.4 – 3 units
TuTh 9:10am-10:25am
Principles and Research Methods in Social Science
Instructor: Brendan Walker
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
The objectives of this course are to familiarize the students with both an historical and contemporary perspective on the field of psychology. This will be achieved by evaluating the genetic, biological, and environmental contributors to the behavior of both humans and animals in a manner designed to promote critical/creative thinking, quantitative/symbolic reasoning, information literacy, communication, and a sense of self in society. By striving to embrace these course goals, the students should depart with an enhanced level of disciplinary knowledge that should translate into effective long-term strategies for the evaluation of information over their life span. The course will begin by identifying important historical ideologies and theories that have been instrumental in shaping the way we now view the field of psychology and introducing the concept of psychology as a science. This will be followed by an exploration of the various sub-domains of psychology that will provide a solid understanding of the many systems designed to assist us in navigating through the trials and tribulations of our daily existence. The course will also have a generalized sub-theme in which different aspects of the substance abuse research field will be applied to different sub-fields of psychology that are presented during the course as a means to enrich the learning experience and allow for a more in-depth exposure to experiment-based methodologies.
Required texts:
Introduction to Psychology, by Wayne Weiten, 8th ed., ISBN978-0-495-60197-5
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 280.1 – 3 units
MWF 2:10pm-3:00pm
Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Leah Benedict
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Boots, Boats, and Air Balloons: Technologies of Travel in Early Literature
Pirates storming the seas on mechanical ships, explorers conquering space in hot air balloons, and coaches powered by animal electricity call to mind modern Steampunk fantasy, but these images of travel and exploration emerge from a much earlier era. Throughout the eighteenth century, technological advancements drove fictional exploration, from fabulous tales of underwater voyages to mundane accounts of slogging through fields in muddy shoes. In this course, we will explore the literary life of travel technologies from 1660 to 1800, considering treatises on new inventions, personal accounts of grand tours, and marvelous fictions of traveling over skies and under seas. Texts will include Thomas Heyrick’s The Submarine Voyage and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, along with pamphlets, children’s stories, songs, and images from the period.
Coursework consists of a digital project, a creative work, one short essay, and reading responses.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 280.2 – 3 units
TuTh 1:25pm-2:40pm
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 from and through engaged discussion as we investigate the lessons and ideas that portraits reveal.
Selected articles and films will be provided; purchase of text is not required.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 280.3 – 3 units
MWF 1:10pm-2:00pm
Contextual Understanding in the arts and Humanities
Instructor: Clif Stratton
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
Race and Resistance in African American History
This course introduces students to the relationship between racism and resistance in African American history during the long twentieth century. Students will investigate these histories through primary source analysis (the voices, writings, ideas, movements, and cultural practices of African Americans themselves) and through the interpretations of contemporary scholars of African American history and of race in America. In doing so, students will be able to recognize the reciprocal importance of white racial politics in the realms of law, economy, family, science, imperialism, and social interaction that have shaped myriad black experiences in important ways. Major historical developments addressed include: constructions of black masculinity and femininity in cultural discourse and popular representation, black cultural forms and popular appropriation, Jim Crow violence and the long struggle for civil rights, Black Power and interracial/interfaith solidarity movements, debates over Affirmative Action, the prison-industrial complex, and the historical and contemporary limits of desegregation.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 280.4 – 3 units
TuTh 4:15pm-5:30pm
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 both in and out of class, and write two full-length short stories (employing research/annotated bibliography), 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 story workshopped with written peer reviews and instructor feedback provided.
Required Text:
Method and Madness: The Making of a Story, Alice LaPlant. ISBN#: 9780393928174
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 280.5 – 3 units
MWF 10:10am-11:00am
Personhood – Me, Myself, and AI
Instructor: David Shier
Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student
This course investigates the concept of personhood. It is primarily a philosophical investigation, but it has implications for psychology, medicine, computer science, morality, law, religion, and other fields.
What makes you a person and why does personhood matter? What makes each of us a particular person with a distinctive individual identity that persists over time and across changes? What do we learn about the nature of personhood by considering amnesia, brain bisection, multiple personalities, and sci-fi thought experiments? Could a suitably-programmed computer be a person? As we increasingly integrate technology into our bodies and our lives (cyborgs?!) what does this mean for personhood? As we project our selves into virtual realities, what are the implications for us as persons?
We will investigate these issues primarily through films (such as Her, Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation), short readings (provided free online), and novels (TBA in July but likely Vonnegut’s Mother Night and the common reading book, Ready Player One). Several of the films will be screened free in evenings (though students can obtain and view on their own without attending night screenings). We will also frequently use scenes from films in the classroom.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 290.1 – 3 units
MWF 9:10am-10:00am
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.
This section will focus on marine biology. In U H 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.
Optional Text:
Marine Biology by Castro & Huber (2010) 8th edition or (2012) 9th edition
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 290.2 – 3 units
TuTh 9:10am-10:25am
Science as a Way of Knowing
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Course Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
How is a bestselling novel about a dystopian future on Earth, a fungal pathogen resulting in worldwide plague, and the total demise of Homo sapiens related to evolution?
In this course, we will use shared inquiry to examine the bridge between MR Carey’s bestselling novel, The Girl With All The Gifts and the evolutionary processes driving the fungal pathogen, Ophiocordiceps unilateralis, which at its core, is the fundamental element in the novel and the primary force behind the downfall of our species.
I will spend the first third of the term introducing you to evolutionary patterns and processes in a lecture/discussion format as you read the novel. Subsequently, we will break into shared inquiry for the remainder of the term. For each remaining class meeting, two students will develop a “basic question” based on evolution from the novel, which you will present to your peers during the class period. The two student facilitators can only ask questions to maintain the discussion, as the remainder of the students discuss the facilitators questions derived from the basic question.
Black Box Warning: The novel contains language that might be offensive to some students (R-rated).
(If you plan to take the course, you might consider reading the novel over the summer.)
Required book:
The Girl With All The Gifts, MR Carey, Publisher: Orbit First Edition (2014)
ISBN-10: 0316278157
ISBN-13: 978-0316278157
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 290.3 – 3 units
W 2:00pm-4:30pm
Science as a Way of Knowing
Instructor: Stephanie Hampton & Julie Padowski
Course Prerequisite: Must be a current Honors student. Any B, BSCI, P, PSCI, or SCI lab or concurrent enrollment.
Dimensions of Environmental Change
Balancing human well-being with environmental sustainability is a critical, global challenge. This interdisciplinary course is organized around the CEREO seminar series and explores a broad range of environmental issues as well as the research currently 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. In addition, students will also develop their own environmental research proposals, culminating in a final, written proposal and a short oral presentation of the proposal by each student. This course will be especially useful to students interested in pursuing an Honors Thesis with an environmental focus.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 370.1 – 3 units
TuTh 10:35am-11:50am
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: Kathleen Rodgers
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 270 or ECONS 198
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. Using a case-study approach, students will examine poverty-related issues (e.g., equity in education, access to clean water, homelessness) in selected communities 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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 370.2 – 3 units
TuTh 12:00pm (noon)-1:15pm
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: Bill Smith
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 270 or ECONS 198
“Working with, in, and through the International Community”
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 2018 Honors College delegation to the National Model United Nations conference in New York City.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 370.3 – 3 units
MWF 1:10pm-2:00pm
Case Study: Global Issues in Social Science
Instructor: R. Charles Weller
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 270 or ECONS 198
This course engages in comparative critique of major world historical interpretations, particularly the modern period (19th-21st centuries), with a special view to the implications and impact which those interpretations have on inter-human relations in various form – religiously, culturally, socially and politically. The importance of this is grounded in the fact that an individual’s or, likewise and relatedly, an entire ethnic, cultural, religious, political, gender, sexual or other social group’s understanding of world history significantly shapes their response to and, thus, course of action within the world (i.e. their impact on human history). This includes their (perceived) relation to and relations with all ‘others’ who share in that history. Issues of culturally-conditioned language choice in representing human history, both past and present, in close connection to debates over ‘comparative approaches’ to human society are of central concern.
Required Text:
R. Charles Weller, ed., 21st-Century Narratives of World History: Global and Multidisciplinary (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), along with other readings and videos.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 380.1 – 3 units
MWF 9:10am-10:00am
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Yvonne Berliner
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280
Cultural Impact of the Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a cataclysmic event that shook Mexico to the core and had a deep impact on its people, as well as the rest of the western hemisphere. In order to understand this revolution, in the first part of the class we will examine the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and some theoretical frameworks that historians use in order to make sense of past events, like balance of power in societies, class struggle and agency, particularly in the case of women and indigenous peasants in Mexico. In the second part of the class we will examine the effects of the Mexican Revolution in the Arts (1920-1940), with an emphasis on paintings and murals. Students will be expected to engage in discussion, research essay writing and source analysis, as well as in designing and producing their own research work reflecting the significant historical period after Mexican Revolution. This will take the form of evaluating the creative activities or accomplishments of artists of this historical period. There will be reading from class texts, as well as images, films and some lecture material. The class will also observe murals on campus. Access to Blackboard is essential, as class requirements, assignments, announcements and criteria for assessment will be posted there. The expectations are high.
Required Text:
Benson, Phillip and Berliner, Yvonne. Access to History for The IB Diploma: The Mexican Revolution 1910-1940. Philadelphia, PA:
Trans-Atlantic Publications, 2014 ISBN 10: 144418234X
Coffey, Mary K. How a Revolutionary Art Became Official Culture: Murals, Museums, and the Mexican State. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012 ISBN 10: 0822350378
Deffebach, Nancy. María Izquierdo and Frida Kahlo: Challenging Visions in Modern Mexican Art. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2015 ISBN 10: 0292772424
Rochfort, Desmond. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1998 ISBN 10: 0811819280
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 380.2 – 3 units
TuTh 10:35am-11:50am
Case Study: Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Kim Andersen
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280
Art & Theory of Art
For a good 30,000 years humans have produced images, tales, spectacles, and much more which we now call art. Cave paintings, graffiti, murals, fetishes, drama, sitcoms, literature, performance, pottery, painting, architecture, jewelry, carvings, music, country, western, medieval cathedrals, tattoos, rap, twist, hip, funk, bop, American Idol, and The Blue Heart—we call it all art, we call them all artists! Does it make sense?
In this course we will seek enlightenment on the nature of art. We will investigate theories of art (a selection, from Plato onwards) to try to determine what it is we appreciate about art. We will discuss art theories that offer particular discriminating viewpoints on the nature of art as we assess the possibilities for obtaining an all-encompassing perspective on art. Simultaneously, we will actively experience, review, evaluate, discuss, and present artworks, in particular painting, literature, and film. We will make use of videos and excursions to local museums and exhibits.
As we develop our contextual understanding of art – as art is 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 text:
But Is It Art? by Cynthia Freeland
Other texts handled in class, available on Blackboard
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 380.3 – 3 units
MWF 3:10pm-4:00pm
Case Study-Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Nathan Nicol
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280
Food Ethics
In this class we will examine food in its ethical dimensions. More generally we will consider how we experience food, the social roles it plays, how it is associated with wicked problems, and how we judge it to be delicious or repulsive. And in particular we will analyze (1) the nature of food and how it is different from other edible things, (2) how we understand food (scientifically, culturally, personally), (3) what eating is and how it affects human experience (as nourishment, celebration, spirituality), (4) several ethical issues in agriculture and food (genetically-modified food, animal welfare, vegetarianism), (5) several political issues in agriculture food (corporate responsibility and political governance, consumption and social inequality, hunger and food rights), and (6) what taste in food has to do with taste in music and other arts.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 380.4 – 3 units
TuTh 2:50pm-4:05pm
Case Study-Global Issues in the Arts and Humanities
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 280
Creative Nonfiction: Writing the Personal Narrative
This course will examine the role of the creative personal voice in shaping and defining how we see and experience the world. Through reading, class discussion and analysis, presentations, and a variety of full-length essay writing assignments we will explore the following questions: As global citizens, how can we represent our own personal experiences 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? We will work on developing the craft elements of creative 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 Texts:
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
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 390.1 – 3 units
TuTh 10:35am-11:50am
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Course Prerequisite: HONORS 290, SCIENCE 299, CHEM 116, MATH 182, PHYSICS 205, or PHYSICS 206
Fall term, we will examine the history of forensic science, from its first documented application beginning by the use of fingerprinting in the 700s by the Chinese to our advanced 21st century technology using DNA fingerprinting. I will divide the semester into thirds and spend the first third of the semester introducing history and methodology; the second third of the semester we will read the current forensic science literature and engage in discussion forums; and finally we will conduct a mock murder trial. For the trial, students will be assigned roles and to the best of our ability, majors will be considered when assigning roles. For example, a student majoring in biology with an emphasis in molecular biology will serve as an expert witness in DNA profiling; a psychology student can act as the expert in suspect profiling; a pre-med student will be the medical examiner; criminal justice or criminology majors will be our law enforcement witnesses; pre-law students will serve as prosecuting and defending attorneys; and of course, a student must volunteer to be our suspect. We will also have a jury. These specific student majors are under ideal circumstances, i.e. we have these majors in our class, but no matter the majors, we will have a novel and dynamic experience that demonstrates the application of forensic science in the courtroom. Overall, students should gain an understanding of the strengths and limitations of forensic evidence and how this affects all those directly involved in the case.
Topics we will explore (this is not a comprehensive list):
- FingerprintsBlood type
- Blood splatter analysis
- Microscopic analysis, compound to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
- Hair, fibers, etc.
- Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
- Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)
- DNA Databases
- CODIS (Combined DNA Index System)
- Gathering and collecting evidence
- The courts
- The Innocence Project
I will arrange guest speakers, as experts are available. Finally, we will visit the Washington State Crime Lab in Cheney. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn how forensic evidence is processed.
Required Text:
Stuart, JH, JJ Nordby, and S Bell, Eds. 2014, Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques, 4th Edition, Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL
ISBN: 978-1-4398-5383-2
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 390.2 – 3 units
MWF 11:10am-12:00pm (Noon)
Case Study: Global Issues in the Sciences
Instructor: Ray 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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 390.3 – 3 units
MWF 12:10pm-1:00pm
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
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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 398.1 – 1 unit
W 2:10pm-3:00pm
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Kim Andersen
Course Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (45 semester hours recommended)
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 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
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 398.2 – 1 unit
W 9:10am-10:00am
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Joanna Schultz
Course Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (45 semester hours recommended)
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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 398.3 – 1 unit
Th 10:35am-11:25am
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Pamela Lee
Course Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (45 semester hours recommended)
The purpose of this seminar style course is to assist each student with the inception and completion of her or his 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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
HONORS 398.4 – 1 unit
Tu 10:35am-11:25am
Honors Thesis Proposal Seminar
Instructor: Annie Lampman
Course Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (45 semester hours recommended)
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.
**For more information on this section, please contact the instructor directly.
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.