2005-2006 Academic Catalog

115 Interdisciplinary Studies Course requirements for the honors program involve 16 semester hours including: I. FreshmanColloquia: 1 The Making of the Modern Mind ................................... 10 hours HON-1010 The Classical and Medieval Ages .................... 5 HON-1020 Renaissance, Reformation, and Revolutions .. 5 II. Honors Integrative Seminars ....................................... 4 hours Two seminars, typically 2 hours each, taken in the sophomore and junior years. III. Honors Research Project/Thesis ............................... 2 hours Participation in a one-hour interdisciplinary colloquium each semester (HON-4910, HON-4920) or an interdisciplinary research project (HON-4950). 1 If taken together, these two courses replace the following General Education Requirements: • HUM-1400 Introduction to the Humanities .............................. 3 • HumanitiesElective ................................................................ 3 (or 2000-level philosophy course if required for the major) • History Elective ....................................................................... 3 If either of these two courses are taken individually, the course may be designated as 5 semester hours of credit toward either the humanities or history General Education Requirements. Honors Course Descriptions FreshmanHumanitiesSequence:HON-1010,1020 The Making of the Modern Mind 10hours HON-1010 The Classical and Medieval Ages 5 hours Explores those historical, religious, philosophical, and artistic beginnings that have shaped the modern mind or what some are now calling the “postmodern” mind. The story begins, naturally enough, at the beginning, in the mind of God and continues through the development of classical Greek and Roman culture. Concludes with a study of the rise of Christianity and its dominance of Western culture in the Middle Ages. HON-1020Renaissance, Reformation , andRevolutions 5 hours Explores the changing balance of power in Western culture: from church to state, from faith to reason, from religion to science, and from piety to humanism. Traces out the implica- tions of these shifts for cultural expressions and revolutions in the arts, religion, science, and philosophy and culminates in a study of late twentieth century postmodernism. HonorsSeminars (Seminar offerings vary from year to year.) HON-3040 Women in America 2 hours Study of the places in which American women have found themselves since 1860, the expectations made upon them, and the influences they have had upon American society. HON-3050 Communication in the Information Age 2 hours Survey of the “new media” in electronic communication with an emphasis on the structures of the new media, their use in such areas as politics, education, business, and health care, the resulting changes in communication patterns in society, and the social and ethical issues raised by their use. HON-3060 Leadership 2 hours Leadership as a societal role is addressed through analysis of theory and observation of practitioners. A chronology of method- ological approaches to the study of leadership is presented. Assigned reading and class processing of ideas and theories prepare the student for observation and evaluation of leaders in a variety of disciplines. HON-3080 Creativity: The Birth of a Notion 2 hours Stimulates the participant to conscious creativity in every facet of life as an act of Christian stewardship. Creativity will be examined as one of the distinguishing marks of the image of God in man and as the essential ingredient in all artistic expression. HON-3100 TwoPhilosophies of Teaching andLearning 2 hours Workshop in integrative thinking, exploring comparisons and contrasts between the philosophies of education implicit in Proverbs 1-9 and explicit in the writings of John Dewey. HON-3130 2 hours Perspectives on Friendship, Love, and Romance Explores friendship, love, and romance from historical, theo- logical, and philosophical perspectives. HON-3180 Aesthetics 2 hours Introduction to the study of aesthetics through an exploration of classical writings and the accounts of contemporary theorists, critics, and artists. HON-3190 Postmodernism 2 hours An interdisciplinary analysis, critique, and response to postmodernism as it is reflected in contemporary culture. HON-3200 Romanticism and Its Offspring 2 hours Study of the development of poetry and music from 1800 to the present postmodern pop culture. HON-3210 Contemporary Global Issues –Sp 2 hours Designed to provoke critical thinking about a broad range of complicated, cross-disciplinary issues that confront the world today. Students will be introduced to issues that are truly global– planetary problems, global economy, environmental issues, human rights, and basic human needs. HON-3220 2 hours The Rhetoric of Faith in the Christian Tradition Study of primary documents written in the genres of Christian confession, prayer, and creedal statement. These documents will be treated in two ways. First, they will be studied as historical representations of believers’ use of language to express messages of the development of a renewed mind and spirit in the Christian faith. Second, they will be used as models for encouraging contemporary believers to employ the power of the written word in the development of a Biblical practice of meditat- ing on, praying for, and affirming those things that are holy, righteous, and pure. HON-3230 Chance, Emergence, or Design– Sp 2 hours The origin of complexity and order in the universe is studied from three different perspectives: Neo-Darwinism (chance and necessity), Emergence, and Creation. Starting at the origin of the physical universe and ending with the origin of self-awareness, these perspectives are compared by their scientific value and their philosophical and religious implications. (odd years) HON-3240 2 hours Science & Religion: Middle Ages to Darwin– Sp A seminar centering on major primary sources in the history of science, exploring the historical relationship of science and religion, particularly Christian theology, from the late Middle Ages to the Darwinian Revolution. HON-4155 Image and Word in a Visual Culture– Sp 3 hours Inquiry into the tension between image and word in Jewish and Christian thought and the implications for Christians living in a visual culture. Traces this tension through the art of Judaism and the Medieval church, the iconoclastic controversies of early Byzantium and the English Civil Wars, and recent and contem- porary religious thinkers. Crosslisted as EMTC-4155. HON-4910HonorsSenior Colloquium I 1 hour Development of a generic understanding of the integration of faith, learning, and life. HON-4920HonorsSenior Colloquium II 1 hour Development of a disciplinary understanding of the integration of faith, learning, and life. HON-4950 Honors Senior Project 1-2 hours The writing of an interdisciplinary research project.