HONS 110-01/02 (Professor Anna Lonon)
MWF 9-9:50; M 10-10:50 (Section 01)
MWF 11-11:50; W 10-10:50 (Section 02)

Regardless of our different educational backgrounds, most of us understand what academic writing is and can effortlessly replicate it when asked to for evaluation. But, is that the type of writing that professors really want in college? And, is it the type of writing that will prepare us for the “real world”? Will these academic writing skills ever transfer to a job? And, if so, which ones? In this course, we will write with these questions in mind, learning concepts that can be applied to writing in any academic or real-world situation. As we practice these concepts through reading and writing, we will do so within a secondary frame: how to be happy. We will be exploring how our understanding of happiness (and well-being, joy, resilience) is addressed in your life as well as in society, at large. We will also look at the ways popular culture and media regard happiness and what it teaches us to believe. I cannot think of a better time to explore these themes than now, and I hope this class will serve as a point of learning and of personal growth, that will ultimately result in you becoming more confident writers and happier people.

HONS 110-03/04 (Professor Jesslyn Collins-Frohlich)
TR 10:50-12:05; fourth hour asynchronous (Section 03)
TR 12:15-1:30; fourth hour asynchronous (Section 04)

What does it mean to engage a community, to serve the people in it? How are our ideas of service and citizenship shaped by public rhetoric or narratives of power? How do community organizations negotiate the rhetoric about social issues and the people they serve? Where do you, as an Honors student, fit into this larger discussion? This course uses reflection, and research to begin to answer these questions and understand your own Honors Engaged experience. Class readings and discussions provide critical frameworks and analytical skills, and direct engagement with a community partner or issue gives valuable opportunities for service learning. These frameworks and experiences will be synthesized in several essays, a multimodal project, and reflective activities. For example, you will begin the semester by writing your own engagement narrative, which interrogates how you came to your current understanding of civic engagement and service. In the second half of the semester, you will take on written assignments that ask you to synthesize class discussions, research, community engagement and personal reflection for a number of different audiences and modalities.

HONS 110-05/06 (Professor Susan Farrell)
MWF 11-11:50; M 12:12:50 (Section 05)
MWF 1-1:50; W 12-12:50 (Section 06)

This course is intended to help you become a better writer, a careful reader, and a critical thinker. It will prepare you for the kind of reading, writing, and thinking that will be expected of you in your college classes. Our topic for this semester is the individual and the public good. We will read and analyze essays and stories that examine the rights and responsibilities of individuals and that explore how these rights and responsibilities may be balanced against the needs of larger groups or of society as a whole. The course, unlike most of your other classes, meets four hours a week. The fourth hour (scheduled from 12-1 on Wednesday afternoons), will mostly serve as a lab session, in which we will focus very specifically on student writing. In these labs, students will often read and comment on each other’s work, and we will focus on the nuts and bolts of good writing.

HONS 110-06/07 (Professor Julia Eichelberger)
TR 1:40-2:55; fourth hour asynchronous

An accelerated introduction to the practices necessary for successful college writing at the quality expected of Honors College students. Taken during a student’s first year.