Courses
Fall 2014
HONR 260H-H1 – Honors Colloquium
After an initial meeting together early in the semester, students choose at least three events from an approved list and send Dr. Pitelka a written response by D2L within one week of the event. Events occur at various days and times during the semester.
ADAH 200H-H1 – Decoding the Artist Mind
Instructor: Dr. Evan Bronstein When: T/Th 6:00-7:15 PM (Fulfills Fine Arts or Elective Requirement) Artists offer us a unique perspective on life and living. Often unrestrained, their visions raise questions that many are afraid to ask, and principally, ill-prepared to answer. A world without boundaries emerged for the artist in the modern era, and this course will trace topics affecting humanity as seen by artists, architects, and industrial designers. Their outlook helped us see our world for what it is, and pushed the envelope for what it could be. Visionaries are at the core of shaping our world. Astute leadership comes from seeing beyond the tangible to find that unique passage into a new reality- the one we create. Picasso has told us that, “art is a lie that helps us see the truth…” Let’s find out why.
ENGL 204H-H1 – Writing and American Rhetoric
Instructor: Professor Bebe Nickolai When: T/Th 12:15-1:30 PM (Fulfills Communication Skills or Elective Requirement) This honors seminar develops students’ skills in persuasive writing and critical thinking. Students examine the American rhetorical tradition in texts ranging from sermons of the Great Awakening to recent Presidential addresses and discuss how great writers strategically persuade their audiences. These discussions heighten students’ awareness of the relationship each writer builds with a particular audience. Through a variety of written assignments, students discover their own most effective voices as writers.
ENGL 204H-H2 – Writing and American Rhetoric
Instructor: Dr. John Marino When: M/W 9:25-10:40 AM (Fulfills Communication Skills or Elective Requirement) This honors seminar develops students’ skills in persuasive writing and critical thinking. Students examine the American rhetorical tradition in texts ranging from sermons of the Great Awakening to recent Presidential addresses and discuss how great writers strategically persuade their audiences. These discussions heighten students’ awareness of the relationship each writer builds with a particular audience. Through a variety of written assignments, students discover their own most effective voices as writers.
ENGL 204H-H3 – Writing and American Rhetoric
Instructor: Dr. John Marino When: T/TH 10:50-12:05 PM (Fulfills Communication Skills or Elective Requirement) This honors seminar develops students’ skills in persuasive writing and critical thinking. Students examine the American rhetorical tradition in texts ranging from sermons of the Great Awakening to recent Presidential addresses and discuss how great writers strategically persuade their audiences. These discussions heighten students’ awareness of the relationship each writer builds with a particular audience. Through a variety of written assignments, students discover their own most effective voices as writers.
HIST 203H-H1 – Civil War Era
Instructor: Dr. Linda Pitelka When: M/W 2:15-3:30 PM (Fulfills History or Elective Requirement) Students in the seminar will examine the era of the American Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1868) with emphasis on the years from 1861-1865. The course combines readings, slides, handouts, music, website, and films to study the causes of the war, the war itself, and the aftermath, known as Reconstruction. Students are exposed through primary source materials and media to the sheer drama and tragedy of the conflict. By this method, they appreciate emotionally, and intellectually, exactly how the war affected both ordinary and prominent Americans living in the period. The objective is to help students learn about the vast scope and the long-lived consequences of this bloody conflict in all of its dimensions social, cultural, military, political, and economic.
HIST 208H-H1 – Witches & Vampires in W. History and Culture
Instructor: Professor Kathryn Weber When: T/TH 1:40-2:55 PM (Fulfills History or Elective Requirement) What strikes fear in your heart in the dead of night? Could it be the witches’ sabbat? Or the eternal embrace of the undead? These figures are feared and loved throughout many popular television series, novels, and films, though few see them as more than fictional characters or metaphors for other more primal fears that have been present since the ancient world.
In this course we will examine the historical events in Western society concerning witches and vampires including witch burnings, the Salem Witch trials, and the brutality of the historical Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. After grasping the history, we will then look at the larger cultural issues concerning the ideas and attitudes about witches and vampires by using a variety of sources from history, literature, and popular culture. What do those beliefs say about our past and present ideas about gender? Sex? Foreigners or other outsiders? Students will determine how those ideas appeared in evidence as diverse as the demographics of the witches who were executed, to the vampire myths of the Balkans, to the portrayals of vampires and witches in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
HIST 220H-H1 – Carthage Must Be Destroyed!
Instructor: Professor Nathan Perz When: T/Th 3:05-4:20 PM (Fulfills History or Elective Requirement) In this seminar we will examine the rise and fall of the city of Carthage and its empire. We shall examine the Phoenician origins of Carthage, aspects of Punic culture and civil organization, Carthaginian exploration and economic expansion, and (of course) the three wars with Rome and the exploits of Hannibal.
HUM 201H-H1 – Architecture and Power
Instructor: Dr. Gail Hook When: M/W 12:50-2:05 PM (Fulfills Humanities or Elective Requirement) Architecture has always been the most visible expression of power and authority. New regimes built monumental architecture or confiscated the previous regime’s architecture to express their new authority. Egyptian power was demonstrated in its pyramids. Greek power was demonstrated in monumental temples such as the Parthenon in Athens. Roman Imperial power was seen in its aqueducts, coliseums, triumphal arches, and the Pantheon. Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, the largest church ever seen before, and the power of the medieval Church itself was expressed in its huge cathedrals.
In modern times, the monumentality and classical themes of ancient architecture was appropriated by Mussolini and Hitler, as well as Benjamin Henry Latrobe in his design of the United States Capitol. The industrial age also led to tall buildings that scraped the sky, expressing the power and wealth of their corporate owners. In the age of globalization, skyscrapers gave identity to cities from New York and Chicago to Dubai and Bangkok. And when terrorists wanted to attack a symbol of American power, they chose the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Additionally, public spaces and whole cities have been designed and built by governments to express wealth and power, and to influence and control the public. Some of these spaces have been used by the people to resist power and authority, with such political contests at Tiananmen Square, Tahrir Square, and Taksim Square in Istanbul.
This course examines the role of architecture and public space in the expression and resistance of power and authority throughout the history of western civilizations. We will read and analyze primary documents, important literary works and recent scholarship, and film related to architecture and power in the history of western civilizations. Then students will write a research paper about how these themes are challenged and reaffirmed in contemporary times and the potential for the future. A field trip or extra credit project may include a visit to Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in downtown St. Louis.
PSYC 202H-H1 – Thinking Like a Social Scientist
Instructor: Dr. Peter Green When: T/TH 9:25-10:40 AM (Fulfills Social Science or Elective Requirement) Psychology is a fascinating area! Because it deals with human behavior, a number of people believe that they already know psychology, so why take a course. After all, one is human and knows a quite a few other humans! But psychology, as a social science, approaches human behavior is a specific way, through theory and then testing of those theories. In this class, we learn about those methods and see what biases may enter the research process. Once research is completed, however, the information is reported in the popular media, such as the print media, TV, and websites. But how accurate and credible are these reports and interpretations? In this seminar, we learn how to become more educated consumers of all the psychological information that comes our way every day. Through written assignments and class discussions, student practice evaluating information and thinking like a social scientist. Hopefully, students learn that there are no simple solutions for complex social problems.
SCI 131H-H1 – Nutrition
Instructor: Dr. Kristen Bruzzini When: T/TH 8:00-9:15 AM (Fulfills Science or Elective Requirement) The course introduces students to the biology, chemistry and biochemistry disciplines by learning about the applications to nutrition in all three subject areas and discussing how they apply to everyday life. In addition to an introduction to the human body the course covers carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fluids. Understanding alcohol consumption, physical activity levels and healthy body weights will also be discussed. The goal is to teach students how to apply the logic of science to their own nutritional concerns. The course includes three student projects: a dietary assessment and a paper involving a current nutritional topic and a presentation on some aspect of nutrition.
Bascom Honors students may also take honors courses by Independent Study and by Contract. Please contact Dr. Pitelka about this option. (lpitelka@maryville.edu)