UMASS DARTMOUTH HONORS PROGRAM

FALL 2008 HONORS COURSES

 

Art History 125-04H              Renaissance to Modern Art

Michael Taylor                       11-11:50 MWF

This course explores the art and architecture of western Europe 1250-1850, a period of exceptional change in the theory, practice, and purpose of art, as well as a primary touchstone for modern and contemporary arts.  Class discussion supported by short papers and quizzes; field trips to exhibitions as appropriate, including one to New York City to tour the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

 

Chemistry 155-02H                Modern Chemical Principles I

Alan Bates                              11:00-11:50 MWF, 12:00-12:50 M

This first semester of the introductory chemistry course for science and engineering majors covers atomic and molecular structure, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, gases, thermochemistry, and chemical bonding theory.  Differences between the Honors section and the regular sections include: smaller class size, more feedback on homework, increased quiz frequency, and greater opportunity for in-class participation.  The scope of coverage is more extensive because material is presented at a faster pace. 

 

 

Computer & Information Science 160-02H   Exploring Computer Animation

Margaret Burke                                             9:30-10:45 TuTh

Build 3D animations, games, and virtual worlds in this exciting hands-on course—no programming experience required!  Have fun designing and building gaming environments while learning basic programming principles such as responding to user input, storing data, and writing algorithms.  By the end of the semester you'll also learn Flash, a platform of choice for building interactive websites, online animations, and games.

 

 

Economics 231-02                  Principles of Microeconomics 

Sarah Cosgrove                      10:00-10:50 MWF

This course will introduce the fundamentals of microeconomic theory and practice.  Students will learn about the method and impact of decision-making by firms, consumers, and workers.  Specific topics include: supply and demand analysis, elasticity, short and long run costs, four major industry types and government intervention.  The Honors course includes a greater focus on current examples and applications of the topics covered as well as more interactive work than the non-Honors course.

 

 

English 101-06H                     Critical Writing and Reading

Staff                                         9:00-9:50 MWF

 

 

English 101-24H                     Critical Writing and Reading

Staff                                         2:00-2:50 MWF

 

 

English 101-37H                     Critical Writing and Reading

Patricia White                         9:30-10:45 TuTh

 

 

English 200-07H/French 203-01H     French Women Writers: Middle Ages to the 18th Century

Stephanie O’Hara                               MWF 2:00-2:50

In 1929, Virginia Woolf famously wrote that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” In this course, we will examine the history of women’s writing in France, beginning in the Middle Ages and concluding with Françoise de Graffigny in the eighteenth century, who had already written about that room of her own. We will read a variety of texts authored by both women and men, including novels, memoirs, plays, letters, philosophical treatises and political manifestoes. We will also read some of the key historians and literary critics who work on medieval and early modern history, gender and French women writers. Among the questions we will address together are: under what material conditions were Frenchwomen able to write and publish? What kind of access did they have to education, money, and a space in which to write? How were their works received? How can they still matter to us today? Most importantly, what did they write, and why? All readings will be in English.

 

 

English 216-01H                     Comedy and Satire

Richard Larschan                   2:00-2:50 MWF

Our objective is to analyze comic and satiric masterpieces like Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Moliere’s Tartuffe, Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest, Heller’s Catch-22, and Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as classic films like Dr. Strangelove, Modern Times and Play It Again, Sam—to observe basic structural principles, understand shared ethical perspectives, and assess the ongoing relevance of these works.  An extensive reading list will allow us to observe common patterns across differing time periods, writers, and genres.  This course will be further enhanced by field trips to a live performance of a play or a comedy club.

 

 

History 101-01H                     Western Civilization I 

Robert Pontbriand                  9:00-9:50 MWF

A survey of the growth and development of Western civilization from its origins in ancient times in the great Eurasian and African river valleys of Mesopotamia and Egypt through the ancient Mediterranean worlds of Greece and Rome to the rise of Christianity and Medieval civilization in Europe.  Special emphasis will be placed on social, cultural, political and intellectual developments.  An interactive classroom experience is encouraged and promoted.

 

 

History 200-01H/Women’s Studies 200-01H                        Women in World History

Christina Mehrtens                                                                11:00-11:50 MWF

This course weaves regional histories to explore the lives of ordinary women and men in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.  History 200 brings those lives into the fabric of global history and encourages understanding of the world’s infinite variety of cultures through time.  Students will explore how gender roles and stereotypes constructions were culturally created (and not generated by the biology of our sexual differences).  By focusing on gender, the course adds depth to the goal of restoring women to the world-history narrative and of filling in an essentially blank space in the historical record.  Students will revisit the literature about women and explore how the existing extensive coverage of women’s lives reinforce (or not) gendered conceptions.

 

History 346-01H                     The Color Line in Modern America

Mark Santow                          10:00-10:50 MWF

The historic presidential campaign of Barak Obama has raised important questions about the continuing significance of race in American life.  This course examines past and present-day racial controversies, such as housing and school segregation, the civil rights movement, affirmative action and reparations, from an historical perspective.  The focus is on how race has shaped beliefs, identities, policies, politics and
opportunities since the Civil War, how Americans of all backgrounds have understood the dilemma of race, and the extent to which race continues to shape politics and opportunities.

 

 

History 357-01H                     Empires of Central Asia

Brian Williams                        10:00-10:50 MWF

For centuries conquerors from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan to the USSR have tried to dominate the untamed tribes of Afghanistan.  But they all failed.  Now a new form of conqueror has arrived from across the globe in the form of the US military, which is prosecuting a “war on terrorism” in this land.  And after Afghanistan, the Americans invaded Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction.  But for all the fact that thousands of our countrymen have died abroad in the war on terror, few Americans have a basic understanding of the events that led up to 9/11 and who or what we are fighting.  Far from taking time to learn the history, geography, politics and culture of Al Qaeda and the regions where our troops are fighting, most Americans are content to rely upon simple explanations.  This course aims to take students beyond the simplistic explanations for the war and introduce them to the nuances of 9/11 and the war on terror.  We will probe the real roots of Osama Bin Laden's hatred, explore the creation of Al Qaeda, analyze the impact of 9/11 on domestic and foreign policy, and explore the nature of America's vastly different wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In the process, you will learn to do something that many of our politicians cannot: namely, tell the difference between Shiite insurgents and Sunni Al Qaeda terrorists, provide a history of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, explain why Bin Laden has still not been caught, and discuss the geography, culture, history, and politics of the Middle East.  In the process students will “travel” from the World Trade Center to the streets of Baghdad and the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan getting to know those who attacked us on 9/11 and those whom we are currently fighting.

 

Medical Laboratory Science 200-01H (4 credits)

Topics in Med Lab Science: Introduction to Forensic Science & DNA Analysis for the Non-Scientist

Elizabeth Correiro                  9:30-11:15 TuTh

Learn about the real science behind the popular “CSI” television franchise with the Medical Laboratory Science faculty in UMass Dartmouth's state-of-the-art laboratories.  In this interesting hands-on alternative to traditional science courses, you will have the opportunity to investigate sample crime scenes to collect evidence, check out your own DNA, and engage in many more fascinating applications of contemporary science and technology.

 

 

Music 103-01H                       Introduction to World Music

Jamie Eckert                          10:00-10:50 MWF

 

 

Philosophy 101-06H               Introduction to Philosophy

Keota Fields                           9:30-10:45 TuTh

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the subject of philosophy and philosophical method.  It is the job of philosophy to examine our beliefs.  Why do we hold the beliefs that we do?  Do we have good reasons for them?  We will explore several perennial problems in philosophy: How does the mind relate to the body?  Is there an enduring self?  Does morality depend on one’s culture?  What justifies state authority?  What are my obligations to the state?  Students will learn to recognize, articulate, and construct philosophical arguments, and to apply the philosophical methods learned in this course to other fields of study.

 

 

Philosophy 215-03H               Introduction to Ethics

Jennifer Mulnix                      9:30-11:15 TuTh

Introduction to Ethics serves to inform students about some of the major questions and topics in the study of ethics.  This course will enhance your ability to recognize the complex interplay between moral concepts and lived experience, and will provide you with critical thinking skills that are necessary for constructively approaching and evaluating complex ethical dilemmas.  We will examine moral problems such as the treatment of animals, affluence and poverty, affirmative action, and the environment.  Students will work individually on a writing portfolio project concerning a moral problem, and participate in a class group presentation.

 

 

Philosophy 215-07H               Introduction to Ethics

Phil Cox                                  3:00-4:15 MW

 

 

Physics 183-01H                     Introduction to Global Climate Change

Amit Tandon                           10:00-10:50 MWF

Global Warming is here.  Recent signatures include breakup of Antarctic ice shelf and the reducing Arctic sea ice extent.  Earth has been changing in the past, present and it will change in the future.  The issue at hand is to discern the human imprint on the changing climate.  This course is about the science of Global Warming: What do we know?  and How do we know it?  What do we know for sure?  What do we know with a lot of confidence, and where is our knowledge shaky?  Finally, we will also delve briefly into what steps we should take, as individuals, as south-coast dwellers, as a nation and as inhabitants of the Earth.  What makes this Honors section special is your active involvement: there will be many opportunities to actively participate in global climate change related topics.

 

 

Political Science 251-01H      World Political Issues & Ideas: Sustainability on Campus     

Robert Darst                           11:00-12:15 TuTh

What does it mean to live “sustainably” in a world of limited resources and an increasingly overburdened natural environment?  Although this is a question of great global importance, the answer begins at home, for living sustainably will ultimately require changes in the way everyone does just about everything, everywhere.  We will examine the challenges involved by (quite literally) exploring UMass Dartmouth and its surrounding environment.  Where do our food and water come from?  Where does our waste go?  What impact do we have on our local ecosystem?  How and how much do we contribute to global warming?  What can we do to make UMass Dartmouth a more sustainable institution in the face of these and other challenges?  The only prerequisites are curiosity and a pair of sensible shoes.

 

 

Psychology 101-09H               Introduction to Psychology

Trina Kershaw                                    1:00-1:50 MWF

 

 

Psychology 202-05H               Abnormal Psychology

Teal Pedlow                            1:00-1:50 MWF

 

 

Sociology 101-01H                 Introduction to Sociology

Thomas Ranuga                      2:00-3:15 TuTh

This course is designed to examine the basic concepts of sociology and to encourage students to pursue an in-depth analysis of factors that determine human behavior.  In addition to lectures dealing with text material, group discussions will focus on current social issues such as socialization and values, sex roles and the family, crime and social control, and the environment.  Students will make presentations on major sociological topics of their choosing, and will also write critical book reviews and a research paper.

 

 

Sociology 160-02H                 Social and Cultural Evolution

Larry Miller                            12:00-12:50 MWF

 

Sociology 207-02H                 The Ideal Society and the State

Isabel Rodrigues                    3:30-4:15 TuTh