Honors Courses

This hybrid class is for Honors and non-Honors students. Students enrolled in the Honors section of BIOL 3114 will, in addition to completing requirements for the General Microbiology course, participate in a laboratory research project. Students will work in groups to generate questions and to conduct research to address their questions.

This hybrid class is for Honors and non-Honors students. Students enrolled in the Honors section of DANC 3792 will, in addition to completing requirements for the Dance History I course, complete research papers and present orally/visually on a dance topic of historical significance.

The first course traces the history of primitive dance through ballet and modern dance. The second course concentrates on the development of American musical theater dance. For dance majors only. Prerequisite: ENGL 1113 & 1213.

Honors Composition I shares the goals and principles as ENGL 1113. Designed to accommodate the variety of writing abilities of honors students, ENGL 1113H functions as a community of learners who work collaboratively to become more perceptive and capable writers.

Honors Composition II builds on the concepts and experiences of Honors Composition I and shares the same goals and principles as ENGL 1213. Taking a rhetorical approach to thinking and writing, students explore writing applications beyond academics. This course may include service learning or collaborative research.

Introductory course in U.S. history emphasizing the development of American ideas to 1876. Topics include colonial development, American nation-building and exceptionalism, slavery, economic development, and the Civil War.

A required orientation course for first-year honors students. Introduces students to the academic enrichment opportunities provided by the program and the requirements for active participation and completion. Explores the liberal arts tradition of interdisciplinary thinking and problem-solving.

A discussion-based course focused on a specialized interdisciplinary question or theme. Topics vary. Can be repeated for credit.

For Fall 2025:

Sacred and Profane: The Intersection of Art and Religion

This discussion-based course explores both classical and modern texts to explore several facets of art and religion. The large question with which we will grapple is: How is our cultural sense of morality shaped, challenged, and refined as we interact with art in its myriad forms? We will explore landmark musical compositions such as Igor Stravinsky's controversial Rite of Spring (1913) and study some of the most influential paintings through The Paintings that Revolutionized Art (Prestel, 2015). Throughout the semester, we will discuss what it means for a thing to be deemed "sacred" or "profane," based on definitions from The Bible and scholars like Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade, and others. Class discussions will cover issues such as "cancel culture" as we unpack the "reluctant Nazi" composer Richard Strauss and the recent #MeToo movement. We will examine music and film rating systems, the history of holidays, and our ever-evolving catalogue of "curse words."

A variable-topic seminar that is the capstone course for all Honors students.

For Fall 2025:

Ethics of Communication H01

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of the study of ethics using a narrative approach and then apply those fundamentals to ethical issues in human communication, especially lying.  We will examine the roots of lying and engage in a wide-ranging exploration of the consequences of deception in all areas of human life.  We will address such questions as:  Can we sustain anything of value without a shared commitment to truth-telling?  Can nations as well as individuals perish when the truth becomes impossible to find, or cannot be measured by any objective standard?

Students learn the basic elements of music: scales, intervals, triads, seventh chords, Roman numeral function, and two-voice counterpoint. In addition, four-part voice leading, cadences, phrase structure and figured bass will be covered. Students will also demonstrate competence of basic harmonic patterns on the keyboard. This course contains a significant writing component. The course is to be taken concurrently with a corresponding Aural Skills course that is taught by the same instructor. Prerequisite: Music Theory Diagnostic Exam or completion of MUS 1102 with a grade of C or better.

Students learn diatonic harmony, voice-leading patterns, melodic embellishments, secondary functions, and modulation through voice-leading and analysis examples, as well as learning to harmonize melodies with appropriate keyboard accompaniments. Students will also demonstrate competence of harmonic patterns on the keyboard. All students are required to write an analysis paper as part of this course. The course is to be taken concurrently with a corresponding Aural Skills course that is taught by the same instructor. Prerequisite: Successful completion of MUS 1112.

Students continue studying diatonic harmony through melodic and harmonic dictation, and through sight singing examples. Rhythmic dictation includes simple and compound meter. The course is to be taken concurrently with a corresponding Theory course that is taught by the same instructor. Prerequisite: Successful completion of MUS 1122.

Following completion of the second unit (covering sonata form), we will meet once a week to discuss movements that contain “problems.” These examples will come from the Classical and Romantic eras, and one movement/piece will be assigned each week, excluding the Thanksgiving week. The primary objective of these meetings is to deal with the language used by Caplin in his book and to see how/where his terminology suffers. Additional objectives include discussion of how sonata form evolves/devolves during the nineteenth century, and how the complete form becomes “loose-knit,” relative to the “tight-knit” Classical era model. As the final project/paper for this class concerns sonata form in the early twentieth century, you will choose a sonata form movement from the nineteenth century to present to your fellow Honors students as the capstone to this course. The presentation will be audio-visual, and certainly enhanced with a handout, as the other students and professor will not want/need to print out up to seventy-five pages of score. These presentations will last approximately 15-20 minutes.

Focus on human communication theory with emphasis on effective public speaking.

Seminar-type class that describes, analyzes, and evaluates American government and politics including the Constitution and its philosophical origins, federal-state relations, political parties, interest groups, Congress, the presidency, and current public policy issues.

An introductory course examining fundamental psychological principles with emphasis on increased self-understanding so that students can better understand themselves, significant others, and the influence of the social environment on their psychological lives.

A phenomenologically based survey of patterns of life and thought in the world's religions, with major attention to representative indigenous religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese religions, Judaism and Islam.

An introduction to the history, thought and literature of ancient Israel before the time of Jesus; the life and teachings of Jesus; and the history, thought, and literature of early Christianity.

This course focuses on how scientific knowledge is acquired, interpreted, and disseminated. It also focuses on some selected science topics and misperceptions and on their impact on today’s society. This Honors section will require research in scientific readings. Students will also practice using the scientific method, identifying scientific controversies and possible pseudoscience for evaluation, analyzing current science news, and exploring how science is thought of in the general culture. Class time will be spent in discussion and evaluation of case studies. Students will write short papers, lead class discussion, and participate in the Undergraduate Poster Contest.

Examines points of intersection between literary and philosophical texts from different historical periods and cultures. Explores how literature and philosophy, in similar and divergent ways, analyze, interrogate, and illuminate the human condition. This course fulfills both the literature and the philosophy/ethics requirements of the general education curriculum and the cross-cultural requirement.