Fall 2018

Fall 2018

Non-Honors students with a 3.0 GPA are invited to email honors@weber.edu for an override to register for an Honors course.

Room guide:
BC = Browning Center
EH = Elizabeth Hall
KA = Kimball Visual Arts
LI = Library
TY = Tracey Hall
WB = Wattis Building

Course # Course Title CRN Description Times Days Room Instructor(s)
ENGL 1010

Introduction to
College Writing:

Women Artists and the Western American Landscape

 

 

22470 This class will focus on our relationships with various landscapes and cultures of the American West through the lens of women artists.  Through seminal essays by Mary Austin and Terry Tempest Williams, landscape paintings by Georgia O’Keefe, and contemporary poetry by Joy Harjo and Lesie Marmon Silko, we’ll examine the complexities of ecology and conservation as well as  our cultural and personal responses to our western home. Overall, we'll consider what it means to be human in this “land of little rain.”  We’ll also hike and snowshoe in Ogden’s foothills to experience for ourselves what makes us so passionate about place.  5:30 - 8:10 pm R LI 325 Sunni Wilkinson
(English)
HNRS 1110 
HU

Introduction to Honors:

The  Construction of Knowledge

20859 This course examines how knowledge is produced, what it is used for, and what it means. Specifically, it looks to compare different forms of knowledge, their bases and purposes. In our society–even within our own university–we separate and distinguish different ways of making sense of the world. Thus, English departments remain separate from departments of physics; an art studio is across campus from a mathematics building. Although such distinctions might seem obvious, if we think of all different disciplines as representing the learning of some set of ideas and/or skills, the obvious distinction can become more blurred. In this course, you will consider where the edges between different ways of knowing exist, and even where the boundaries of knowledge itself must be. We will look specifically at science, literature, and culture systems to understand how each of these produces unique understandings, how they interact with one another, and how they contrast. 9:00 am - 10:15 am TR LI 325 Christy Call (English) &
Sue Harley (Botany)
HNRS 1500
PS 

Perspectives in the Physical Sciences:

The Co-Evolution of Life and Earth

20860 Geoscience has begun to recognize that the processes that shape the surface of our planet and our planet’s chemistry cannot be understood without also understanding the influence and evolution of life. At the same time, changes in our planet--both dramatic and subtle--shaped the evolution of life on our world and have left permanent records in our DNA. This course explores the intimate co-evolution of life and Earth from the first cells through the modern era of human influence. 11:30 am - 12:20 pm MWF LI 325 Carie Frantz
(Geoscience)
HNRS 1510
LS

Perspectives in the
Life Sciences:

Your Microbial You

20861 By now, you have probably learned that our bodies contain a vast diversity of microorganisms. Estimates suggest that a human adult carries between two and six pounds of microorganisms in and on their bodies. These organisms play a role in our development, health, and even our evolution as a species. However, the interactions between microorganisms and their human hosts are poorly understood. In this course, we will consider what is known, and unknown, about the human microbiome. We will ask questions like: Should I take a probiotic? How do antibiotics change my microbiome and what are the consequences? and How might an understanding of the microbiome change human medicine in the future? 12:30-1:20 pm MWF TY 342 Michele Culumber (Microbiology)
HNRS 1520
SS

Perspectives in the Social Sciences:

Economics, Politics and Social Issues: Searching for a Middle Ground

20863 Has dysfunction and tribal politics made it impossible to find a middle ground on issues such as health care, immigration, government debt, and income inequality?  Is the scientific method useful anymore? This class will search for the elusive middle ground by discussing the polar positions on some of the most hotly debated economic and social issues of 2018, and discuss the inability of the “science“ in the “social sciences”  to help resolve this impasse. 3:00 - 4:15 pm TR LI 325 Cliff Nowell
(Economics)
HNRS 1520
SS

Perspectives in the Social Sciences:

Exploring Wicked Problems

20879 This course will introduce students to knowledge and skills to address wicked problems. Wicked problems are societal problems that are difficult, if not impossible to solve, because the problem is interconnected with other problems and transdisciplinary in nature. Various wicked problems will be discussed in the course. Wicked problems will be examined through sociocultural, economic, sustainability, and political frameworks and potential solutions will be addressed. Students will be guided through their own exploration of a Wicked Problem of their choice. 12:00-1:15 pm TR LI 325 Azenett Garza (Psychology), Kathleen Cadman (Nursing) & Barrett Bonella (Social Work) 
HNRS 2020
CA

Exploring Key Concepts in the Disciplines: Creatives Arts:

The Art of Graphic Novels

23803 From Maus to Black Panther and everything in between, this course will explore visual story-telling in the form of graphic novels and comics. Students will engage in critical analyses of the inter-relationship between imagery and text, evaluate the place of graphic novels and comics in the art-world and explore the current scholarly discourse surrounding 'sequential art'. We will also look at this contemporary medium in the context of historical precedents, such as the pictorial satires of 17th-century England or early 20th-century newspaper comics.   5:00 - 6:45 pm MW KA 143 Angelika Pagel
(Visual Art & Design)
HNRS 2110B
SS

Intellectual Traditions: Great Ideas of the West in the Classical and Medieval Eras

Medieval Warfare

20868 Sign up for a slightly irreverent look at man’s favorite sport: war. Learn the top 10 reasons you shouldn’t lose a battle, how to diss your enemies in Latin and techniques for jousting your way to a fortune. Study the art of crushing your opponents, brush up on your diplomatic skills, pick up classical and medieval methods for psyching out the enemy, and much, much more. 9:30-10:20 am MWF LI 322 Kathy Payne
(Reference & Information Sciences)
HNRS 2130A
HU/DV

Intellectual Traditions: Great Ideas of the East

Celebrating the Persian Writers and Poets

20869 Read books from 9th through 14th-century Persian poets. Examine the relevance of their writings in societies and cultures. Does their poetry have any influence in today's society, culture, and politics in Iran? How about the "New Poetry"? 10:30-11:45 am TR EH 117 Morteza Emami (English)
HNRS 2920

Short Courses, Workshops, Institutes and Special Programs

The History of Jazz: Kind of Blue
by Miles Davis

24295

Almost sixty years after its original release, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis remains one of the iconic albums in the history of jazz.  Come to learn about jazz, the musicians who made this recording, and learn how this record helped to shape the future of American music.

Students will get free tickets to a performance by the Sean Jones Quartet presented by the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities.

Block A (August - October)
1 Credit, pass/fail. 

6:00 - 8:30 pm M BC 318 Dan Jonas (Music)
HNRS 2920

Short Courses, Workshops, Institutes and Special Programs

Making Sense of the News: Reading & Discussing the New York Times

20870

It’s always been important to follow the news, but perhaps more so now than ever, as momentous events play out across the world and in the nation’s capital. This informal, conversation-based class meets once a week to read and discuss the contents of the New York Times, currently available for free to all WSU students, faculty and staff. One credit for students who attend all meetings; no grades, credit/no credit only. Discussions are open to any and all, regardless of whether you’re taking the class for credit or not.

No homework, outside reading, quizzes, or exams. 

12:00-1:15 pm LI 324 Leah Murray (Political Science) & Sally Shigley (English)
HNRS 2920

Short Courses, Workshops, Institutes and Special Programs

Making Sense of the News: Reading & Discussing the New York Times

22005

It’s always been important to follow the news, but perhaps more so now than ever, as momentous events play out across the world and in the nation’s capital. This informal, conversation-based class meets once a week to read and discuss the contents of the New York Times, currently available for free to all WSU students, faculty and staff. One credit for students who attend all meetings; no grades, credit/no credit only. Discussions are open to any and all, regardless of whether you’re taking the class for credit or not.

No homework, outside reading, quizzes, or exams. 

1:30 - 2:45 pm R LI 325 Scott Sprenger
(Dean of the Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities)
HNRS 3900

Honors Colloquium

Curse, Cure, Culture: The Social Impacts of Natural Resources

20872

Are positive or negative impacts inevitable in societies that rely on oil? Or do institutions play a role? Read fiction, watch movies, and explore data, to answer these and other questions. From economic and postcolonial perspectives we will discuss case studies involving oil, diamonds, and endangered species.

This course has a Community Engaged Learning designation.

10:30 - 11:20 am MWF LI 325 Rebekah Cumpsty (English) & Gavin Roberts (Economics)
HNRS 4920

Short Courses, Workshops, Institutes and Special Programs

Leadership and Shared Influence

20874 Can shared influence make a leader more influential? Examine the levers leaders use to collaborate, create high quality connections, and persuade others. Explore the research on emotion, empathy, identity, and compassion while taking a closer look at resilience, grit, motivation, and flow. Apply leadership theories to explain and predict crucible moments of world leaders while reflecting on and sharing your own struggles and triumphs. Learn to present anecdotal evidence with a purpose and deliver empirical evidence with a punch as you engage in classroom debates. 1:30 - 4:10 pm T WB 111 Bryant Thompson
(Business Administration)
HNRS 4920

Short Courses, Workshops, Institutes and Special Programs

Climate Change & Climate Justice

20877 Human civilization as we know it emerged in the past 10,000 years in the geological epoch known as the Holocene. We are now entering a new epoch of human-caused climate change called the Anthropocene. What are the challenges facing our species and our global civilization in the coming century? This course addresses the topic of climate change within a cross-disciplinary framework. We explore the current causes of climate change and potential pathways for adapting human civilization to mitigate its severity and cope with its effects, while examining the sociocultural, political, economic and ethical dimensions of climate change. Along the way students will gain the knowledge and skills to become effective climate communicators. 12:00-1:15 pm TR LI 322 Mark Stevenson (Anthropology)

Past Semesters