| Class |
Course Title |
CRN# |
Time |
Instructor |
Section Description |
| HON 100 |
Leading the Multigenerational Workforce |
10694 |
Tue, 2-2:50pm, GEB 238 |
Jason Gray |
Would you believe that today’s college students will work with people from at least nine different generations throughout their working years, including three generations yet to be born? How do leaders succeed when charged with leading people from so many different backgrounds and experiences? In this class, students will explore the varying generations that make up the current workforce, identify their differences, and discover how to lead and navigate towards the path of success.
|
| HON 100 |
The Culture of Fermentation |
10696 |
Mon, 2:00–2:50pm, GEB 238 |
Heather Seitz |
What do kombucha, pickles, sourdough bread, and beer have in common? How is it that grapes give us wine and flour gives us tasty bread? We will explore the history, culture, and traditions that make and use the products of fermentation. Throughout our time we will integrate the science behind the delicious, fermented foods and beverages. We will also learn about the sources of all the sugars and carbon used to make these amazing foods. |
| HON 100 |
Absence & Erasure |
10698 |
Thu, 4:00–4:50pm Hyflex* + GEB 238 |
Anne Dotter |
The interconnected concepts of erasure, absence and silence offer more than the eye can meet. Indeed, from veal-parchments to contemporary efforts to reuse materials, the fabric of our very culture is made of build-overs, cover-ups, remixes and other repurposing of what was, to make what will be. Incidentally, this is also how knowledge is constructed: from the pieces of past-thoughts without which our present and future could not be. This course aims at scratching the surface to see more of what our complex and layered culture is made of; it will also introduce students to new approaches to what knowledge is, how it is constructed and how to engage critically and creatively in its production. |
| HON 270 |
Indigenous and Western Views of Nature |
10700 |
Tue/Thu, 9:30–10:45am, GEB 238 |
Deb Williams |
This forum explores the fundamental differences between Indigenous worldviews of nature and the Western science worldview. Students will explore how Indigenous knowledge systems—often described as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)—are rooted in place-based, relational, and holistic understandings of the environment and integrate metaphysical dimensions of existence into approaches to the natural world. In contrast, Western science is characterized by empirical observation and objectivity and excludes metaphysical phenomena as outside the scope of scientific investigation. The course will challenge students to explore the potential synergies between Indigenous and Western epistemologies and develop an appreciation for their theoretical and practical complementarity. |
| HON 270 |
A Good Life: Cooperation, Kindness, and Well-Being |
11071 |
MWF, 12:00–12:50pm, GEB 238 |
Bill McFarlane |
In this Honors Forum we examine the universal pursuit of a good life. That is, what does it mean to live a good life and how can one strive for a life well-lived? Our primary topics are the origins and expressions of cooperation, social organization in support of human capability and dignity, and happiness and well-being. Other topics will be considered as well, including the importance of play, the role of work and wealth in well-being, and kindness. The scope of this class is broad by design, and we will draw from many disciplines, including Anthropology, Architecture, Biology, Economics, History, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology. We will engage with the relevant literature through lectures and discussions; however, our work is not entirely academic. Students will be expected to write journals on a (nearly) daily basis. Throughout the course, we will experiment with a series of practices meant to improve our paths to a good life. By the conclusion of this forum, students should expect to have an improved perspective on the possibilities for their own lives. |
| HON 270 |
Material Culture: Stuff & Us |
12560 |
M, 4:00–7:00pm Hyflex* |
Anne Dotter |
We are surrounded by stuff: from the bed we wake in, to the clothes we put on, the spoon we eat our cereal with, the art adorning our walls, the trophies on the kids’ shelves or the car we drive to work. Some of us keep more (hoarders) than others (minimalists), but we all have stuff and on occasion use it. In this class, we will concern ourselves with the meaning we give objects and the identities they give us. Understanding material culture as the study through artifacts of the beliefs, values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions of a particular community or society at a given time, we will equip ourselves with the tools necessary to make sense of the world of objects around us. We will work with the Nerman Museum to put our theoretical knowledge to the service of visitors to the museum and their understanding of the stuff they house. |
