***Prerequisite(s) for ALL Honors Colloquia Courses: Honors College Student, HONS 100, HONS 110, and one additional HONS course of at least 3 credits (excluding HONS 115 and HONS 216).
HONS 225 Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Their Discontents (Professors Richard Bodek and Joseph Kelly)
Three Credits
Nationalism and its presumed opposite, cosmopolitanism, have been staples of Western political and cultural discourse at least since the French Revolution. They became among the most salient points of contention, though, in the interwar era. This course will analyze cultural artifacts of each in the American, Irish, British, and German cases in the 1920s and 1930s, seeing how they both reflected and shaped both self-understanding and politics. As we will see, American nationalism in this era tended to reflect constitutional ideals and in many parts of the country avoided overt discussions of race. Irish nationalism emerged from a subaltern position, at least in part as a direct rejection of English norms. British nationalism tended to be woven into the question of empire and world power. German nationalism veered ever more toward racism and Antisemitism. Cosmopolitanism, though, as will emerge, although apparently uniform across the west, had its own national ticks, ticks that will be in conversation with local nationalisms. Students will practice a range of analytical skills—literary and historical interpretation especially, but also others such as new historicism and a more interdisciplinary cultural criticism. Students will also produce approximately 4000 words of informal and 4000 words of formal writing.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 227 Foundations of Western Civilization – Modern History (Professor Chris Boucher and Professor Bryan Ganaway)
Three Credits
This interdisciplinary colloquium examines the development of Western civilization from the scientific revolution to the contemporary world. It relates the arts, literature and philosophy of the Western world to their political, social and economic contexts. This course counts towards the College’s General Education History requirement.
Prerequisite(s): Honors College Student, HONS 100, HONS 110, and one additional HONS course of at least 3 credits (excluding HONS 115 and HONS 216).
Anticipated Teaching Format: HONS 227-01 and HONS 227-02 will be taught mostly online (synchronous), with the potential for some in-person meetings, as able; HONS 227-03 will be taught In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 230 Issues in Artistic and Cultural Heritage (Professor Brooke Permenter)
Three Credits
This course examines the negotiation of cultural heritage and wealth resulting from art forgery, destruction, theft, and repatriation. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we will examine some of the most famous cases of art crime as a means of understanding the intersection of identity and economics in the art world. Regardless of the circumstances, changing a work of art’s cultural context changes its meaning. Given the associated risks, why do humans steal and destroy works of art? What are the advantages and disadvantages of cultural appropriation? How do we determine the necessity and processes for the restoration of artistic and cultural heritage?
Anticipated Teaching Format: Two sections of this course will be offered, one taught in an In-Person/Hybrid format, as able, and one taught synchronously online
HONS 230 The Writer in Community (Professor Marj Wentworth)
Three Credits
The Writer in Community focuses on creative writing and service learning. Texts and writing prompts are focused on the ways in which writing and literature can restore our humanity, create empathy, and create a more just and equitable society. Students develop service learning sensitivity, creative writing competency and craft, as well as develop original pieces and age-appropriate interdisciplinary creative projects for partners in the schools.
More specifically, however, this class is an introductory creative writing and upper level service learning class in which we examine how our experiences and those of our students influence our creative writings. Together we look at how writers have broken the silences that render many of our experiences, and those of our students, invisible or marginalized. Through class discussions, self-reflective journal work, creative writings, and public presentations we join a global community of writers who speak out against social injustice. We will tackle what it means to be a writer in the community, and what the writer’s role is when tied to community engagement.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 240 Value and Tradition in Asian Civilization (Professor Zeff Bjerken)
Three Credits
This course will explore the visions, values, and practices that inspire the religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism and Christianity practiced in South and East Asia. The course is designed around major themes, including discerning between illusion and reality; meditation and the diversity of religious experiences; pilgrimage and spiritual quests; death, the afterlife, and ancestor worship; religion, gender and sexuality; monasticism and the hermit’s life; the transformation of foreign traditions to fit native worldviews; and the effects of globalization on religions today. The course will follow an easterly route, beginning in India and moving to China and Japan, at the same time as we move from ancient times down to the present day. We begin with the ancient Indian civilization that appeared some 3,000 years ago and end with religious debates over the topics of abortion and organ transplant in Japan today. We will see that Asian religiosity tends to have different emphases than the Judeo-Christian traditions. The course will call into question our common distinctions in the West between self & society, church & state, and religion & spirituality.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 245 The Ecology of War (Professors Christopher Freeman and Bryan Ganaway)
Three Credits
How have human conflicts and wars impacted ecosystems and biodiversity across the globe? This is an enduring question in modern times, especially as increasing human population size drives our species into new regions of the world. Human history has been intimately tied to climate and the environment, but the expansion of humans has also resulted in conflicts and major wars that have had lasting environmental impacts. This interdisciplinary course introduces major events in human history from both a historical and ecological perspective, with the goal of highlighting the complex interplay between human conflict and the environment.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 250 Zip Code or Genetic Code: What decides our health? (Morgan Hughey)
Three Credits
This course will critically examine how individuals living in neighboring cities, towns, zip codes, and neighborhoods can have disparities in life expectancy and various health conditions. We will explore the intersection of genetic, social, and environmental determinants of health and discuss current and future solutions to these ongoing issues.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 250 Psychology of Social Change (Professor Jen Wright)
Three Credits
In a world struggling with a number of serious environmental and social justice issues, how do we affect social change? How do we create a healthier, cleaner, safer, more compassionate world? And how do we, as individuals, become better people? In this class, we will select and closely examine several environmental and social justice issues and then explore the theoretical and empirical perspectives on how our beliefs, reasoning, and emotions, as well as our goals, desires, and fears, influence our attitudes and actions with regards to these issues—in positive and negative ways. We will review the literature on habit formation and how/when people can effectively change their attitudes and behaviors, both as individuals and as societies. In the process, we will tackle the applied problem of actually enacting change in our own lives.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 250 The Climate is Changing, Why Aren’t We? (Professor Kate Mullaugh)
Our climate is changing -why aren’t we? Despite decades of research about the risks of climate change to humanity, the recommendations of researchers have largely been ignored. Students in this course will investigate the technical, societal, economic and ethical obstacles to tackling climate change. We will discuss how capitalism, racism, energy infrastructure, politics, and the media can hinder the broad systematic changes climate change demands. Students will critically evaluate policies for their effectiveness in terms of not only the mitigation of climate change, but also increasing economic and social equity. The challenges presented by climate change are daunting, but students will be encouraged to find hope in the opportunities to reshape a more just and sustainable world.
Anticipated Teaching Format: Online (Synchronous)
HONS 250 Black Religion and Black Nationalism from Slave Rebellions to #BlackLivesMatter (Professor Matthew Cressler)
Three Credits
This course introduces students to the religious ideas and practices from across the African diaspora that gave rise to the political tradition now known as “Black nationalism.” While the tradition is often imagined to be secular (even anti-religious), this course explores the deep religious roots of Black struggles to create a new nation—from slave rebellions to the Black Power revolution to #BlackLivesMatter. Students will survey Black religion and Black nationalism as well as examine the emergence of “religion” and “nationalism” as modern categories. They will also discuss and debate the ways the contemporary Movement for Black Lives both inherits the legacy of and departs from the Black (religious) nationalist tradition.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 255 Philosophy without Borders (Professors Sheridan Hough and Christian Coseru)
Three Credits
Cosmopolitanism, when interpreted literally, simply means ‘citizen of the world.’ This course will focus on the metaphysical, moral, and social questions of what it means to be a person in our globalized world. We will draw on sources from both Western and Eastern philosophy. Some of the questions we will pursue include: what is the nature of reality? Is there a persistent soul or self at the heart of human nature? How do we come to know ourselves, others, and the world around us? What is right or good, and what is the best way to live? What role does sex and gender play in the way that we see ourselves? We will explore these questions using a host of classical and contemporary readings, including, from the West, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Christine de Pizan, Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, de Beauvoir, Foucault, and Bernard Williams; from the East, the Upaniṣads, the Buddha, Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, Śāntideva; Lao-tzu, Zhuangzi, Confucius, Mencius, Lady Murasaki, Dōgen, Sun Yat-sen, Gandhi, Keiji Nishitani, and the Dalai Lama. We will be particularly sensitive to the rewards and challenges of thinking across cultural boundaries. By examining how these philosophers have addressed these questions (as well as their methods of inquiry and proposed solutions), the course will provide students with a variety of perspectives on the human situation.
*Scheduling note: This class is team taught, with group lectures taking place on Monday and Wednesday; On Friday, Section 01 will meet from 9:00-9:50 a.m. for group discussion, while Section 02 will meet from 10:00-10:50 a.m.
Anticipated Teaching Format: Online (Synchronous)
HONS 260 Applied Women’s Health Research and Advocacy (Professor Beth Sundstrom)
Three Credits
The purpose of this course is to investigate health issues specific to women and girls through interdisciplinary research collaborations, and communicate research findings and health-related information to empower women and girls in our community, South Carolina, and beyond. This course will incorporate multiple methodologies to better understand women’s health, including reproductive health. Students will conduct praxis-oriented research that bridges the gap between theory and practice, informing the development of community-based public health interventions. This course draws on the robust research and advocacy of the Women’s Health Research Team (WHRT) and its mission to Collaborate. Innovate. Advocate.
Anticipated Teaching Format: Online (Synchronous)
HONS 260 Data Visualization and Storytelling (Professor Lancie Affonso)
Three Credits
How do we tell compelling stories with our data? For thousands of years, storytelling has been an integral part of our humanity. The human drive for understanding the universe underlies the knowledge-generating, transformational process that is constantly at work in our everyday lives. Even in our “big data” digital age, stories continue to appeal to us just as much as they did to our ancient ancestors. Data visualization and storytelling with data changes the way we interact with data, transforming it from a dry collection of statistics to something that can be entertaining, engaging, thought-provoking, and even inspirational. In this interdisciplinary course, students will be introduced to the theory and practice of designing effective visualizations of data from multiple sources. A broad overview to the data visualization field will be provided, covering principles, methods, and techniques that are foundational to both information and scientific visualization. Students will learn how to detect and articulate the stories behind data sets and communicate data findings in visual, oral, and written contexts for various audiences.
Anticipated Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
HONS 260 Understanding How Cognitive Measures of Attention, Working Memory and Emotional Well Being relate to Academic Achievement (Professor Mindy Hong)
Three credits
Why do some students succeed and others struggle when the conditions for learning seem equitable? What role does environment, temperament, and leadership play in the complex learning system? In this course, students will study how cognitive science can help us to understand and to maximize our learning potential. We will explore how factors of emotional well-being influence the way we learn.
Teaching Format: In-Person/Hybrid, as able
*course offerings and teaching formats subject to change; students should refer to the course syllabus for more details about each course’s teaching format