Honors Courses and Seminars
These courses are open to upper-level students and the schedule is subject to change.
If you have questions, please contact the Honors Program Director, Amy Schoeneck.
Spring 2027
| CRN | Course | Day/Time | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17398 | ENG 156D Intro to LGBTQ+ Literature: Counts as a Humanities general education course for all students |
TR 11:20 a.m.–12:35 p.m. | Ben Grossberg |
| 17341 | HON 172: Intro to Philosophy (PHI 110): Counts as a Humanities general education course for all students | MW 9:55-11:10 a.m. | Ben Berger |
| 15454 | HON 183W: Academic Writing II | MW 2:10-3:25 p.m. | Jonathan Daigle |
| 16363 | HON 215W: Introduction to Professional Writing | TR 12:45-2 p.m. | Phillip Estes |
Honors Seminars
Course enrollment is currently closed and is by application only. Keep an eye out for the 2027–2028 Center for Humanities Seminar application.
HON 383: Projection and Performance
Professor Dakota Nanton
Wednesday, 2:10–5:30 p.m.
CRN: 16949
How does cinema exist outside theaters and streaming services? This hands-on course is a creative crash course in the performative and projected side of art installation. Students explore expanded cinema, multiple projection, live cinema, projection mapping, liquid light shows, performance, and mixed media: techniques that push video beyond the theater and the static screen. Mini-workshops in projection, cameras, and digital editing build a technical foundation along the way. The course concludes with students curating their own museum show of original artwork. The course is open to students from any major, including media production, performance, art history, humanities, technology, design, and fine art. Collaboration is at the heart of the class, so bring your own talents and interests. Students make creative projects throughout the semester, so a creative background, or a creative approach to problem-solving, is highly encouraged.
This course counts as a major elective for CIN and DMJ students, an Arts course for HCA&S students, and a UISA course. There is also a graduate section (CMM 583) available.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor, plus an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.
HON 385: Aging in the Family
Dr. Claudia Oakes
Tuesday and Thursday, 11:20 a.m.–12:35 p.m.
CRN: 17342
In this course, students will analyze theory and research related to later-life families. We will examine older adults’ relationships with intimate partners, siblings, children, and grandchildren. Kinship networks (including chosen families) will also be explored. Attention will be given to the adaptation process as families face transitions. This class will involve active engagement with older adults from the local community who have volunteered to participate in discussions with students.
Psychology, Sociology, and Health Science students may count this as a major elective. The course can also count as a UISS course for all other students.
HON 389 Humanities Seminar: Gender Trouble
Dr. Rachel Walker
Monday, 5–7:20 p.m.
CRN: 41024
In this two-semester seminar, students will study concepts of gender in the ancient world, early-modern Europe, colonial North America and the contemporary United States. Topics of study and discussion will be how societies – and American society specifically – have developed and enforced gender roles related to power, “Two Spirit” identities in Indigenous nations, “female husbands” in early America, and modern gender activists. The goal of the class will be to engage critically with a few main questions: What is gender, anyway? How does it relate to sex? How do societies decide what is “normal” and what is “deviant”? What happens when people buck conventions? And, most importantly, why does all this matter?
The fall semester (HON 389) of this seminar will count as either UISC or UISS. The seminar is open only to students who have been accepted by the Humanities Center.