Honors Courses and Seminars

W 5—7:20 p.m.

Dr. David Stender

This integrative course in the social sciences examines national issues and the role that the media, lobbyists, interest groups, and citizens play in shaping public opinion, as well as notions about government involvement in these areas. The course examines large and complex topics in areas including, but not limited to, education, public health, public policy, and the environment. Through analysis of sources, synthesis of information, and formulation of opinions, students will explore and evaluate the varying solutions offered by these different constituencies.

TR 11:20 a.m.—12:35 p.m.

Dr. Paola Sacchetti

This class aims to integrate the two fields of biology and psychology in understanding how trauma is experienced, the impact trauma has on brain functioning, and how changes in brain functioning contribute to the development and continuation of post-traumatic symptomatology. Specifically, the fields of biology and neuroscience will be used to explain how the brain processes traumatic experiences. Topics of discussion will include physiological responses to stress and trauma, structure of the brain, brain circuitry activation, and the formation of memories. How these biological functions translate into the experience of thoughts, behaviors, and emotions will incorporate psychological perspectives including learning theory and cognitive behavioral theory. In essence, the class will examine how the body and the mind simultaneously experience trauma. Exploring why some individuals develop long-lasting difficulties as a result of trauma will also take memory formation, attachment theory, relationship formation, and self-efficacy into consideration. The concepts of resiliency and post-traumatic growth will be discussed, as well as the role of self-care in building resiliency and coping with trauma.

TR 2:10–3:35 p.m.
Adam Chiara

This course will explore how technology has altered the world and what may still come from it. We will cover how it affects areas like business, government and politics, news, culture, and intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. By the end of the course, you will have a greater appreciation of how powerful and dangerous social media can be and learn the ways you are a part of its evolution. This course counts as an HON 300 seminar for A&S and HAS students. Honors students in other Colleges should check with their Honors Coordinator before enrollment. For the Communication major, this course can serve as a substitute for CMM 215P - Making Sense of Social Media or one of the out of emphasis courses (but not both).  For the Digital Media and Journalism major, it could count as a “Media Studies” course. This can count as a UISS course for students in any College. 

R 5–7:20 p.m.
Power Boothe

This seminar will use the lens of Complexity Theory to explore a wide-range of visual artworks, including da Vinci, Bosch, Turner, Goya, Duchamp and Pollock. These artists will be studied because they can give us a better understanding, not only of our complex world, but also give us insights into the many ways we have danced with chaos in the past. Students will be introduced to Complexity Theory and its related concepts, including open, non-linear systems, phase transitions, feedback loops, bifurcation, evolutionary theory, turbulence, emergence, and most importantly, chaos. Students will apply their understanding of these concepts to our changing ideas of chaos as depicted in the visual arts for the past five hundred years.  

In religion, chaos was defined as the evil firmament from which a more perfect world order emerged. From this perspective, the continued existence of chaos explained the fall from grace and the constant presence of evil. Only the heavens are perfect. When chaos could not be banished by the Newtonian clockwork model, the Scientific Revolution simply dismissed chaos as evidence of a lack of knowledge. In the 19th Century, one form of chaos was the discovery of the exceptional heat energy released by fossil fuels. It was assumed that utopian progress would surely come if this chaotic energy could be controlled. By building more efficient machines, from steam engines in the 19th Century to nuclear reactors in the 20th Century, the Industrial Revolution would surely bring about endless progress. However, the 19th Century theory of thermodynamics and entropy revealed that the energy released by fossil fuels couldn’t be harnessed completely; there will be chaos always. Tragically, the energy we are releasing today will change our world in ways that cannot be reversed. Modern artists like Pollock both represent current understanding of this complex system and express existential responses to this chaotic complexity. Prerequisite:  An overall GPA of 3.00 or higher. This seminar can be counted as an academic elective by HAS students and/or as an HON course by HAS students. It can be taken as an HON 300 seminar by A&S students. Students in other colleges should check with their College Honors Coordinator.

M 5–7:20 p.m. 
Amy Weiss

Artificial intelligence, simply defined as the use of machines that perceive their environment and then harness “intelligence” to adapt to societal needs, has a broad impact across several fields of study. They include, but are not limited to economics, philosophy, education, computer science, psychology, and medicine. Examples of how we encounter AI on a daily basis include using facial recognition to unlock your phone, messaging a company’s chatbot to answer a particular question about a recent purchase, relying on Google maps or Waze to reroute your travel itinerary before you even know about traffic, and receiving curated viewing suggestions on Netflix based on the streaming service’s targeted algorithm. Although AI is often considered to be a twenty-first century innovation, it has existed as a discreet field since the 1950s. Even before this time, humans have contemplated the many uses of technology to improve their lives. In this class, we will examine the historical, social, and industry-based developments of AI, in order to better understand the ethical and economic implications of this technology—and make informed decisions about the future of humans. This class will count as an HON 300 seminar for A&S students. Students in other colleges should check with their College Honors Coordinator.