University Honors Program
Spring 2005 Schedule of Classes
ENGL 2312 001H Human Responsibility
MWF 9 am (access#: 3138)
Tom Stone: VS 203
Ann Shattles: VS 303
Vanessa Hopper: Hyer 102
ENGL 2312 002H Human Responsibility
MWF 10 am (access#: 3514)
Tom Stone: VS 203
Vanessa Hopper: DHall 137
Diana Grumbles: VS 303
ENGL 2312 003H Human Responsibility
MWF 11 am (access#: 3517)
Diana Grumbles: VS 303
Vanessa Hopper: DHall 101
ENGL 2312 004H Human
Responsibility TTH 9:30 am (access#: 3519)
Jo Goyne: VS 203
Andrea Hamilton: VS 303
ENGL 2312 005H Human Responsibility
TTH 11 am (access#: 3522)
Rajani Sudan: DHall X
Nina Schwartz: VS 203
ENGL 2312 006H Human Responsibility
TTH 12:30 pm (access#: 5775)
Michael Householder: Hyer 104
Study of ethical questions derived from history, literature, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, focused on what constitutes a meaningful life, historical challenges to the bases of ethics, racism, individual freedom, and community responsibility.
THEA 1380 701H Mirror of the Age M
6:30-9:20 pm (access#: 1953)
Gretchen Smith: Owen Fine Arts
Center 2105
While many of us attend performance events as SMU, in
Dallas, or elsewhere, we often take for granted or, worse, can’t appreciate the
work of the various artists who collaborate to create a single production. In Mirror of the Age, the various roles in
the theatrical collaboration, including playwright, director, designers,
actors, and audience members, are discussed in detail; guest lecturer-artists
will lend their first-hand experience.
In-class and homework assignments will allow students to experience
first-hand the work of actors, designers, and playwrights. Students will attend performances given by
the Division of Theatre, as well as other Dallas area theatres, and, as part of
the course, students will write reviews and participate in in-class styles of
theatre, including comedy of manners, tragedy, and melodrama. Assignments also include a research paper on
a theatre topic chosen by the student.
ENGL 2306 701H Fiction: Ethics & Literature W 6-8:50 pm (access#:
3680)
Martha Satz: DHall 137
What is the
right thing? What is the nature of
love, forgiveness, or evil? Can we know
what is good? These and other questions
are explored through the often agonizing, always provocative dilemmas and
situations in literary texts. This
course asks students to confront their own and each others’ ethical beliefs in
an examination of a variety of literary works where ethical quandaries and
views appear in multiple, complex layers.
Literary works are paired with philosophical texts. Movies will also be incorporated into the
course. Writing assignments: an oral
argument; 4 essays; final examination.
Enrollment Limit: 20 students.
ENGL 2308 001H Doing Things with Poems MWF 10 am (access#: 5402)
Beth Newman: DHall 157
Introduction to the study of
poems, poets, and how poetry works, focusing on a wide range of English and American
writers. Readings include, Vendler, Poems,
Poets, and Poetry; Hollander, Rhyme’s Reason; and Lunsford, EasyWriter. Writing assignments: approximately 5 very
short essays (500 words or less), 2 slightly longer essays (approximately 1200
words, or about 3-5 pages); 2 short in-class presentations; midterm and final
examinations. Possible memorization
assignment. Enrollment limit: 20
students.
ECO 1312 001H Principles: Inflation/Recession TTH 8:00 am (access#:
2538)
Rupinder Saggi: ULee 242
Macroeconomics.
The second term of a liberal arts education sequence discusses issues such as
inflation, unemployment, and growth from both national and global perspectives.
Tools of economic analysis include models of open economies. Prerequisite: ECO
1311. Calculus is not a pre-requisite and is not used in the course. However, the course has a strong
quantitative orientation. Students who
have had a calculus course in high school or who have strong quantitative
aptitude and preparation will be well placed to handle the quantitative demands
of the class.
PLSC 1320 005H Intro
to Amer. Government/Politics TTH 9:30
am (access#: 3528)
Dennis Ippolito: Florence 306
This course examines the national government of the United States. It deals primarily with political institutions and political processes at the federal level and also with the public policies debated and decided through these institutions and processes. An important objective of this course is to assist students in developing a better understanding of some basic political issues—what democratic government is, how it operates, why it operates as it does, and what effects it has on society. These issues represent, in effect, an inquiry into how the American version of democracy has evolved. The approaches (and some materials) with which you deal, however, can be applied to other political systems.
PLSC 1340 004H Intro
to Comparative Politics TTH
9:30 am (access#: 3592)
Michael Lusztig: DHall 115
Why are
some countries stable, prosperous and peaceful? Why are some brutal dictatorships? This course seeks to answer these questions, while providing
clues as to how countries can be transformed into liberal democracies. We focus on ideas pertaining to political
institutions and political culture in the context of five countries that differ
greatly with respect to levels of modernity and routes taken toward liberal
democracy. These countries are Great
Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico.
There are two written assignments and two formal examinations in this
course. The writing assignments are
dedicated to learning how to structure and research term papers in the social
sciences. Class format is lecture with
some discussion.
*** This class is not a traditional Honors class. 10 spots of a regular class are reserved for
Honors students. The Honors students
will be required to complete different assignments, meet in small discussion groups
with the professor, while still meeting regularly as part of a much larger common
class. If Honors spaces are filled up,
Honors students may register for the non-Honors seats and contact Dr. Doyle to
have their registration shifted to the Honors section.
HIST 1322 001H Queens and Mistresses W 2-4:20 pm (access#:
3521)
Kathleen Wellman: VS 303
This
seminar will focus on officially designated royal mistresses and queens as a
vehicle to explore the history of Renaissance France and the history of
women. It will treat the story of their
lives and the myths constructed around them by looking at memoirs, paintings,
chronicles, and poetry to understand the process of historical writing. It will also explore the ways these women
have been used in French history since the Renaissance to explore the
development of historiography. This
seminar will concentrate on these specific women to explore the broader culture
of the French Renaissance.
FIRST-YEAR
SEMINAR.
HIST 3310 001H Problems in American History MWF 9 am (access#: 3709)
David Doyle: DHall 157
Topic: Changing Sex and Gender
Systems in the United States. Most
historians today argue that gender and sexuality are socially constructed
categories—specific to a historical period and/or culture. Our readings will test this hypothesis by
studying men and women, particularly their gender and sexual behaviors and
identities, in the multiplicity of societies found throughout the course of
American history. Although often
conflated, this course will emphasize how gender and sexuality are two
separate, if occasionally overlapping, categories. Readings will begin with a theoretical essay on the importance of
gender analysis, and then move through time chronologically—with the final
reading presenting and overview of American history. By the end of the semester, a new basic narrative and timeline of
an American history quite distinct from the one traditionally studied will be
formed.
ANTH 3356 001H Before Civilization MWF
9 am (access#5992)
John Williams: FOSC 110
A survey of
the Paleolithic archeology of the first three million years of human history in
the old world. Emphasis is upon
adaptation and cultural change.
RELI 1303 002H Intro to Eastern Religion MW 3-4:20 pm (access#: 3792) Carl
Elverskog: Hyer 106
An
introductory historical overview of the major religious traditions of
Asia. The course will explore
developments in religious and cultural trends expressed in South Asia
(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism) and in East Asia (Confucianism,
Taoism, and Shinto). Meets
Human Diversity co-requirement.
PHIL 1305 004H Intro to Philosophy TTH
2 pm (access#: 3871)
Jonathan Sutton: Hyer 110
To do philosophy is to participate in a dialogue about the most fundamental issues that affect human beings. The purpose of this course is to enable students to enter this dialogue by substantially increasing the students’ capacity for rigorous philosophical thinking. We will cover a variety of philosophical issues (examples might be the fundamentals of logic, the immortality of the soul, the relationship between soul and body, the metaphysics of identity, the nature of knowledge, issues in applied ethics, and the relationship between language and thought).
PHIL 1318 005H Contemporary Moral Problems TTH 9:30 am (access#:
2810)
Steven Sverdlik: Hyer 110
PHIL 1318 007H Contemporary Moral Problems TTH 2 pm (access#: 3103)
Brad Thompson: Hyer 107
This course will introduce
students to philosophical ethics and its application to some of the most
controversial and pressing problems confronting contemporary society. Students will investigate different ethical
theories, and apply them to several contemporary issues. The issues to be studied will be taken from
the following: abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, animal rights,
affirmative action, world hunger, racism, sexism, drug legalization,
censorship, sexuality, economic justice.
Student will be encouraged both to understand how traditional ethical theories
apply to contemporary issues and to develop their own views. Class discussion is an important component
of the course, as is reading and writing about ethical issues.
CF 3322 701H Women in Early Modern Europe T 6-8:50 pm (access#:
5354)
Kathleen Wellman: DHall 142
This course will study the
influence of women in the intellectual movements of the period; ie: The
Renaissance, the Reformation, the high culture of the seventeenth century, and
the Enlightenment. It will also examine
the conditions of family life and work for women and the role women played in
popular culture. Sources for this
course will be recent historical studies and writings of early modern
women. Readings include: Natalie Davis,
The Return of Martin Guerre; Steven Ozment, The Burgermeister’s
Daughter; Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Cities of the Ladies;
Alan Kors, Editor, Witchcraft in Europe. Meets Human Diversity
co-requirement.
CF 3324 001H Archaeology of Self & Ethics TTH 9:30 am (access#: 2503)
Dennis Foster: DHall 137
CF 3324 002H Archaeology of Self & Ethics TTH 9:30 am (access#: 5377)
Marie-Luise Gaettens: Clements 334
Following a line of writers from
Kant to Freud to Baudrillard, the course explores the rocky development of the
self and ethical thought in relation to history, economic values, and the
rapidly transforming social relations of the modern period. From the end of the Enlightenment through
the Romantic Period, a heroic self emerged, one capable of shaping a world and
imposing his identity on history. But
with this new self came the obligation to discover and adhere to a system of
values that was both personal and universal.
The economic and political revolutions of the nineteenth century soon made
it clear, however, that the self was no independent, autonomous actor and that
ethical standards were not eternal truths, but things shaped by forces beyond
anyone’s control. Some of these forces,
described by Marx and Nietzsche were external: the power of money and industry,
the grasp of prophets and religion on the soul. Some were internal: the blind drives Freud imagined to be
informing every aspect of conscious life; the pressures of unconscious social
and family values. By the 20th
century, the debate between proponents of an autonomous self and those who see
a divided self torn by conflicting powers expands to touch almost every aspect
of human life: language, gender, sexuality, crime, and shopping. For some, the idea of living in an endlessly
changing world proves to be terrifying, for others exhilarating.
CF 3330 001H From Pew to Bleacher MW 3-4:20 pm (access#: 5356)
Alexis
McCrossen: DHall 102
Throughout the course we will move
from pew to bleacher in our quest to understand American culture. The course addresses the history of
churches, theaters, museums, libraries, commercial amusements, and spectator
sports in the United States between the Revolution and the Great Depression. Class meetings will involve lectures and
discussions. We may take several field
trips to area attractions such as the Dallas Museum of Art and the Ballpark at
Arlington.
CF 3336 001H Modernity/Crises of Identity MW 3-4:20 pm (access#:
5352)
John Mears: DHall 157
During the fifty years prior to
World War One, modern civilization reached a great turning point, when the
pervasive problems of the preceding century abruptly coalesced, bringing
fundamental alterations to virtually every facet of human experience and to all
save the most remote peoples of the earth.
Ironically, the stresses and strains of this momentous watershed were
perceived with particular acuity in the globally dominant West, especially by
those unusually creative individuals who helped to set the dominant tone of
Western culture in the decades that followed.
It was they who first sensed the tensions and dangers lurking beneath
the surface calm of what most Europeans experienced as a prosperous and
confident age. Responding to the
unforeseen disintegration of established worldviews, innovative painters,
poets, musicians, dramatists, philosophers, and scientists transcended the
norms of their time. They challenged
prevailing assumptions, and experimented with radically new modes of thought
and taste. Caught in the fin de
siecle malaise that permeated their circles, they attempted to formulate
new life-giving values to replace the conventional attitudes and ideas they
assaulted with great urgency.
CF 3349 701H The African Diaspora T
6:30-9:20 pm (access#: 3835)
Dennis Cordell/William Beauchamp:
Clements 134
Black literature played an
important role in bringing on the collapse of the European colonial order, and
it remains a major force in the struggle against neocolonialism today. This
course explores links between literature and politics, literature and history,
and thought and action in 20th-century Africa and the Caribbean. Readings and
lectures will be supplemented by class discussion, films, and videotapes about
the Caribbean and Africa. Meets Human Diversity co-requirement.
CF 3351 001H The Pilgrimage: Medieval TTH 11 am (access#:
3566)
Bonnie Wheeler: DHall 156
This course
presents an exploration of the medieval world through one of its own literal
and metaphorical images. Moving from Jerusalem, the earthly and heavenly city,
students set out through time and space on a pilgrimage to Constantinople, the
exotic empire of New Rome. From there they travel to Rome itself and flow
across the map of Europe on the pilgrimage roads of the Middle Ages,
investigating the pleasures of the way: the music, art, monuments and
literature of that thousand years of human experience called the Middle Ages.
CF 3345 001H Literature of Religious
Reflection TTH 9:30 am (access#: 5394)
Ross Murfin: DHall 138
Examination of issues of faith and
doubt in British and American literature, drawn from texts reflecting both
Christian and Jewish traditions as well as secular rationalism, agnostic
questioning, romantic vision, meditative mysticism, and other modern approaches
to religious and spiritual issues.
Writing assignments: 3 five page essays and a mid-term and final
examination containing a significant essay component. Class limit: 25 students.
CFA 3312 001H Making
History MWF
12 pm (access#:
3339)
Tom Stone: DHall 153
Interdisciplinary course examining
ethical issues associated with the writing of "historical fictions"
and the production of historical exhibits.
The course particularly focuses on the presentations of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy in literature, museums, and historical
works.
CFB 3301 002H Health, Healing, and Ethics MWF 2-2:50 pm (access#:
5892)
Carolyn Sargent: DHall 142
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on
Sickness and Society. A cross-cultural
exploration of cultures and organization of medical systems, economic
development and the global exportation of biomedicine, and ethical dilemmas
associated with medical technologies and global disparities in health. Meets Human Diversity co-requirement.
CFB 3399 001H Jewish-Christian Dialogue TTH 9:30-11 (access#:
5939)
Pamela Patton: Owen Fine Arts Center
1635
The
Medieval Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Art and Text. Relations between Jews and Christians in
medieval Europe varied from moderately tolerant to openly hostile, with a
radical shift toward the latter from the twelfth century onward. Evidence of this transformation survives not
only in the legal, philosophical, and literary texts left to us by both
Christians and Jews, but also in the world of visual art produced by both these
groups. Drawing on both primary texts
and visual imagery, the course analyzes this visual-verbal dialogue as it
evolved from the beginning of the Common Era to its point of greatest tension
in the late Middle Ages. This class draws
topics and sources from the disciplines of history, religious studies,
theology, literary studies, and art history to offer a multifaceted view of a
highly complex question.