Honors Program

Fall 2010

Honors Courses

Neuroethics
Rudy Garns

HNR 301-002/PHI 394 TR 10:50-12:05

Description: In this seminar we will explore the following questions: What can science, specifically neuroscience, tell us about our moral judgments, moral reasoning and moral behavior? What affect might a scientific explanation of our decision-making and actions have on our notions of free will and moral responsibility? How have our moral capacities evolved? Do empirical discoveries that explain how we do behave and reason support claims about how we ought to behave and reason? This new field of neuroethics promises to have important practical consequences for moral education and the future of the legal system, as well as interesting philosophical consequences for our understanding of human nature, free will and moral value.

Texts: To be determined.

Assignments: Presentation of research for a paper or creative project; additional writing assignments

Confronting the Holocaust
Professor Nancy Kersell

HNR 302-002 MWF 1:00-1:50

Description: This seminar using an interdisciplinary approach examines the causes and consequences of the Holocaust. Through reading and discussion, we will focus on numerous topics such as anti-Semitism, Nazi censorship of the arts, Nazi medicine and racial hygiene policies, Jewish resistance, the role of the Protestant and Catholic churches in Nazi-occupied Europe; Nazi propaganda, and conditions after 1945. Assignments include a portfolio with a long research paper, a creative project, and an annotated bibliography. Students also conduct one class session over an assigned reading.

Texts:

  • Fritzsche, Peter. Life and Death in the Third Reich (LD)
  • Hochstadt, Steve, ed. Sources of the Holocaust (SH)
  • Kaplan, Marion. Between Dignity and Despair (BDD)
  • Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz (SA)

Assignments: Conducting one class discussion, a formal seminar paper, a creative project, and an annotated bibliography.

Drug Policy
Perilou Goddard

HNR 302-003/PSY 494 MW 2:00-3:15
Prerequisite:  PSY 100 (and permission of instructor or Honors Program director)

Description: This course will involve a comparative examination of many aspects of historic and contemporary drug policies in the U.S. and in other countries worldwide.  Political, economic, social, and psychological effects of drug policies will be covered, with emphasis on empirical evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of the policies.  Issues such as the "War on Drugs," the legalization debate, and harm reduction will be covered.  The course format will combine lecture, discussion, and student-directed presentations. Come learn about controversial stuff like needle exchange programs, supervised injecting centers, and heroin prescribing programs--Become the next U.S. Drug Czar!

Texts:

  • An assortment of Reading for Drug Policy
  • Ryder, D., Walker, N., & Salmon, A. (2006). Drug use and drug-related harm (2nd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: IP Communications.

Assignments: Include (a) 3 quizzes covering lectures, class discussion, and readings; (b) a group presentation (with accompanying PowerPoint slides) on a specific drug policy issue not already covered in class; and (c) a major policy paper. In the paper, each student assumes the role of U.S. drug czar and recommends a new drug policy for our country, drawing on material learned during the course. The paper addresses a variety of issues, including:

  • Shortcomings of our current drug policy.
  • What drugs, if any, should be legalized or decriminalized, and why.
  • What the policy should be with regard to reduction of supply of drugs.
  • What treatment options should be available to drug users.
  • What the policy should be with regard to alcohol and tobacco.
  • At least two of the issues covered during the class presentations.

This paper is not simply an opinion statement; students are required to support their arguments with empirical evidence. Students are given plenty of latitude with regard to the form of their policy paper. One former student submitted her paper in the form of a screenplay for “South Park.” Another organized his paper according to the first books of the Old Testament.

The Pre Columbians
Judy Voelker

HNR 306-001/ANT 352 TTR 12:15-1:30

Description: This course is a survey of the prehistoric and early historic cultures of Mesoamerica, with particular focus on the first peoples in Mesoamerica, emerging agricultural traditions, early writing, and the civilizations of the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayans, and Aztecs. We will study the history and development of pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas from an archaeological perspective and examine the origins of states to the beginnings of empires, ending with the Spanish Conquest as a prelude to the modern era. In this course we will explore the content and meaning of the development of civilization in the Americas, and gain some new understanding of our own society and today's world as a result. The course format will include lecture, discussion, and student-directed presentations.

Texts: TBA

Assignments: TBA

Road Films and Literature
Jodi Ferner

HNR 307-001  TR 1:40-2:55

Description: Whether it is the desire to “live deliberately” in the woods or “light out for the territory,” the impulse to explore is an integral part of American mythology. Through the study of film and literature we will consider inspired wanderers who hear the call of the wild in its myriad forms and venture off the beaten path in search of a landscape where they can live the life they’ve dreamed.  We will also consider those for whom the dream becomes a living nightmare.

Texts:

Films:

  • A River Runs Through It
  • Badlands
  • Easy Rider
  • Thelma and Louise
  • The Straight Story
  • Brother Where Art Thou?
  • Little Miss Sunshine

Assignments:

  • Section I--options
    • 4-Shorter Response Papers (10% each)
    • 2-Longer research or creative papers (20% each)
    • Total for section one must equal 40% of total grade
  • Section II—required of each student
    • Leading Class Discussion 15%
    • Journal 15%
    • Major Project 20%
    • Major Project presentation 10%

Arts for Social Change
Daryl Harris

HNR 308-001 TTR 12:15-1:30

Description: Arts for Social Change is a project-driven, discussion-fueled, seminar-styled course that explores the role of the arts (visual, performing, literary) in looking at and effecting thought and/or change in our society—both historically (the ‘60s) and today. Contrary to what the title of the textbook implies, the course will explore all forms of artistic expression (Shank includes expressions like art installations as “theatre.”) In addition to activities created to conform with the dynamics of this specific class, as a Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project course, the class will have additional innovative service learning opportunities that will challenge us to put our money  where our “mouth” ((and heart, and eyes, and hands and  feet and…) is. The ideal class will be made up of visual artists, performers, designers, technicians, writers, critics, philosophers, and, YOU. Again, based on the make-up and the dynamics of the class, the course will explore issues as minor as adequate toilet paper in public restrooms, and as major as global warning.

Text: Beyond the Boundaries; American Alternative Theatre, Theodore Shank

Assignments: There will be multiple individual, small-group and full class “public” projects. The text and assorted supplemental internet sources will serve as fodder for classroom discussions about the role of arts for social change.  In addition, a reflective journal and one final comprehensive essay will be required. There will be no traditional quizzes or exams. As part of the Mayerson Project requirements, students will establish hands-on relationships with selected arts organizations in the area. Because of the collective and participatory nature of the class, regular attendance is required.

Jazz, Blues, and Poetry
Ernest Smith

HNR 394-001/ENG 384 MW 2-3:15

Description: This course will explore the artistic, aesthetic, thematic, and theoretical connections between jazz, blues, and poetry. We will read about the history of jazz and blues; read and listen to poems inspired by jazz and blues; write about jazz, blues, and poetry; attend jazz and blues concerts; look at visual art inspired by jazz and blues; and discuss and articulate (in various ways) our own jazz, blues, and poetry. Students interested in conducting research on jazz and blues in Kansas City may have the opportunity to travel to Kansas City for the NCHC (National Collegiate Honors Council) conference in October, if NKU's preliminary proposal for the conference is accepted. Musicians studied will include: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bessie Smith, Joe Turner, and others. Poets studied will include Langston Hughes, Robert Hayden, Michael S. Harper, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, and others.

Texts:

  • Moment's Notice: Jazz in Poetry and Prose
  • Everyman Library Pocket Series--Jazz Poems
  • Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop
  • Various essays via handouts.

Assignments: Students will write papers; lead class discussion; develop individual and group presentations; as well as creative responses to course material.