The course analyzes the visual representation of male characters in feature films, from John Wayne to Johnny Depp. Emphasis is on the impact of those images on our concepts of masculinity. We will explore how specific cinematic images relate to our cultural history, and consequently what implications those images hold for forming, perpetuating, or changing attitudes and perceptions of men, women, and masculinity today. Films viewed in or outside of class include many of the following: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; A Streetcar Named Desire; Casablanca; Play It Again, Sam; Dirty Harry; Tootsie; Eyes Wide Shut; The Crying Game; Philadelphia; What Women Want; Don Juan DeMarco; 500 Days of Summer; Her; In and Out; Midnight Cowboy; sex, lies, and videotape; Brokeback Mountain; High Fidelity; Rocky; Oleanna, and others.
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Honors Seminar: Suicide in American Film and Culture
Examination of suicide, from ideation to aftermath, from the perspectives of the suicidal individual, mental health practitioners, and affected or bereaved loved ones. Focus on representations of suicide in film and other cultural productions. Process-oriented writing culminating in portfolio.
Continue reading "Honors Seminar: Suicide in American Film and Culture"Honors Seminar: What’s the big idea?
What’s the big idea?- A N Boundary Thinking Approach to addressing complex social challenges. Every time we offer this course, we delve into different sticky, troubling issues for which we use our collective expertise to address. In the process, we learn to face the discomfort associated with learning things outside of our primary discipline, working with diverse peers, and meticulously framing and solving issues. Spring ’19 we will tackle Mental Health and College Students. Pre: 3.40 or better overall GPA.
Continue reading "Honors Seminar: What’s the big idea?"Honors Seminar: Global Challenge: Infectious Disease
Biological concepts are integrated using real-world public health problems. The theme of globalization and emerging infectious diseases will incorporate significant ideas and issues from the life sciences as well as from a variety of other disciplines, including the social sciences, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, psychology, and theatre. Pre-med, Pharmacy and Health Studies students preferred.
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(Independent Study) Pre: permission of the director of the Honors Program, and overall GPA of 3.40 or better.
Continue reading "Honors Project"Honors Project
(Independent Study) Pre: permission of the director of the Honors Program, and overall GPA of 3.40 or better.
Continue reading "Honors Project"Writing as Practice
This course will explore techniques for approaching and developing your writing from a practice perspective. You will learn techniques for generating and delivering polished and thoughtful work. We will focus on the importance of point of view, context, individual experience, bias, and clarity of language and grammar. Writing exercises will be both creative and academic and will reflect the interests and areas of study of course participants. There will also be a movement component (yoga, stretching, warm ups) that we will incorporate into our writing. We will work as a class to help each student access and refine their unique voice.
Continue reading "Writing as Practice"Honors Seminar: Government and Ethics
The title of this course is government and ethics, not ethics in government. However important laws and rules about ethics are (and they are very important), when ethical consideration only focus on things like financial conflicts of interest it is insufficient for what most of us understand by good government. For instance good government must, at a minimum, be effective in addition to being well intentioned and ‘clean’. In this course we will explore what we understand by good government.
Continue reading "Honors Seminar: Government and Ethics"Losses of Addiction in Literature and Life
Interdisciplinary study of literary and scholarly representations of addiction. Focus on effects of addiction on persons suffering from addiction, their loved ones, helping professionals, and communities. Treatment of addiction as a biopsychosocial phenomenon culminating in traumatic losses. Process-oriented writing culminating in portfolio.
Continue reading "Losses of Addiction in Literature and Life"Honors Seminar: Transcend Nationalism?
This course explores four current European crises: an unstable Euro, migration, Brexit, and the Trump presidency. Are they harbingers of a new age of nationalism or inspiration for a deepening of European integration? We will use scholarship from history, political science, economics, and migration studies to seek our answers.
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