Instructor: David Knecht

Many Honors students in the life sciences have benefited from MCB 2225, a laboratory experience designed to prepare you for the research laboratory by exploring experimental design, data analysis, and data presentation in the context of learning to work with living cells. Professor Knecht would like to allow Honors students the opportunity to take the course early in the college experience, so he is removing the pre- or co-requisite of MCB 2210 to encourage Honors students to take the class earlier in their academic careers. The only pre-requisite for MCB 2225 will be BIOL 1107, and it is open to any interested Honors student who meets that pre-requisite.

Note: This change in pre-requisites may not be reflected in the StudentAdmin system by the time you register. If you are unable to register due to missing the MCB 2210 pre/co-requisite but you have taken BIOL 1107, please request a permission number from Professor Knecht (david.knecht@uconn.edu).

Instructor: Kadir Gokgoz

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. We will cover four major components of Linguistics. These are (i) phonology (sound system of language), (ii) morphology (putting together smallest units of meaning/function), (iii) syntax (building phrases and sentences) and (iv) semantics (how meaning is composed).

What make the honors section different are emphasis on in-depth data analysis and a short term project which will help students practice their analytical skills and gain some research experience respectively. Each class will include discussion of the readings assigned for that week, additional material presented by the instructor, and exercises.

(CA 3)

Instructor: Oliver Scholes

This course covers, broadly, the history of the “west” in “modern” times. It will not be simply a recitation of facts about the past, nor will you be assessed on your ability to recall facts about the past and compress them into a blue book. Rather, we will attempt to come to some understanding about how different people in different times and places have imagined and represented the world around them. You will be assessed on your ability to analyze and make connections between course readings, both in writing and in class discussion, as well as your reflections on your own learning in this course.

(CA 1)

Instructor: Lynne Goodstein

What could be more relevant to everyone living on this planet than a class on race, class and gender? Each of us brings extensive experience with these concepts.  By studying them in a sociology course will enable you to take that knowledge to the next level. This interactive, participatory, and engaging course will give you much new knowledge and perspectives to challenge your assumptions and provide you with great stories to share with your family and friends.

(CA 2, CA 4)

Instructor: Sean Forbes

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011 or 3800

The Speaker: The Eye of the Poem and the Short Story

According to Frances Mayes, “the poet ‘finds’ the right speaker and the right listener, usually by trying out several approaches.” In this introduction to creative writing class we will examine the different approaches that a writer can take when trying to establish a speaker in a poem or short story. We will look at exemplary works of poetry and fiction from writers like Robert Hayden, Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Carson, and Justin Torres. Students will produce a final portfolio of their original work. Class participation is an essential component to this largely workshop-based course along with weekly writing prompts such as writing in iambic pentameter and challenging prose sketches.

Instructor: Vin Moscardelli

In this class, we will explore the historical development and contemporary operation of the United States Senate with the goal of determining how well the chamber performs the representational, deliberative, and lawmaking functions assigned to it by the Constitution. Is the United States Senate still the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body”?

The class will employ a rich variety of resources and pedagogical approaches, including traditional political science research articles, visits from current and former Senate staff members, biographical and autobiographical accounts of senators, classic films, novelizations of Senate life, and an extended simulation (developed in consultation with staff of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston).

Instructor: Alain Frogley

An introduction to popular music and diversity in America: jazz, blues, Top-40 pop, rock, hip-hop and other genres. Musicians and their music studied in the context of twentieth-century and contemporary American society, emphasizing issues of race, gender, class, and resistance. No prior musical training or knowledge required.

In the honors section students will have the opportunity to lead a discussion of one of the reading assignments from the primary-source materials text. Honors students will also have an enhanced writing assignment on a topic of their choosing.

(CA 1, CA 4)

Instructor: Donald Baxter

The purposes of Philosophy 1101 H are:

1. to introduce students to some of the great thinkers and great issues of western philosophy.
2. to train students in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and clear, persuasive speaking and writing.
3. to promote reason and civil discourse in debates with others.

The course emphasizes that the sort of discussion taught in philosophy classes is an essential way of inquiring into matters of value, and so is important for coming to wise decisions on the personal, political, moral, religious, social, etc. issues faced by everyone in their lives. Topics include God and Religion, Mind, Self, Freedom, Morality, and Ethical Problems. The textbook will be John Cottingham, ed. Western Philosophy: An Anthology, 2nd Edition. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in class discussion, which will takes issues beyond the elementary exposition of non-honors sections.

(CA 1)

Instructor: Ken Dautrich

This course provides an overview of the policy-making process in American government and the key areas of policy such as economic, environmental, social and foreign policy. In this honors section, students will select a policy of particular interest to them and conduct research on how that policy came to be and the impact it has had on American life.

(CA 2)

Instructor: Dean Hanink

World Regional Geography concerns a variety of global geographical patterns: environmental, cultural, economic, and others, that are related to the way the world works.  This course provides a brief survey of the patterns in general and then takes up selected continental-scale regions in turn for more specific investigation. World Regional Geography meets both the multicultural diversity (international perspective) and social science requirements of general education at UConn.  In meeting both it emphasizes the interaction between diverse groups of people both across and within many regions of the world. The course has weekly writing assignments and three tests.

(CA 2, CA 4-Int)