Curriculum Updates

MUSI 1003: Popular Music and Diversity in American Society (Conversion opportunity)

Posted on by

Instructor: Alain Frogley

While this is not an Honors course, Prof. Frogley welcomes Honors students of all majors and would be happy to offer Honors conversions for interested students.

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.

(CA 1, CA 4)

HDFS 1060: Close Relationships Across the Lifespan

Posted on by

In this course, we will use both a textbook and primary research articles to explore theory and research on topics in the close relationship literature including attraction, relationship development & maintenance, friendship & social support, love, sexuality, intimacy, communication, conflict, dissolution & divorce, loneliness, and bereavement.

As an Honors Core course, this course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of close relationships across the lifespan.  We will be reviewing research from the fields of human development & family studies (itself an interdisciplinary field), communication sciences, developmental psychology, sociology, neuropsychology, and marriage & family therapy, among others. Classes will consist primarily of discussion, small group activities, and in-class assignments to provide opportunities to apply the material being learned, and will also include videos and guest speakers.

STAT 1100Q: Elementary Concepts of Statistics

Posted on by

Online (asynchronous) during Summer 2

Instructor: Suman Majumdar

It is quite likely that your Honors thesis will require you to use a basket of tools that is often described as “research methods.” An overarching goal of this course is to prepare you to learn these tools and successfully use them.

Topics include: Standard and nonparametric approaches to statistical analysis; exploratory data analysis, elementary probability, sampling distributions, estimation and hypothesis testing, one- and two-sample procedures, regression and correlation. Learning to do statistical analysis on a personal computer is an integral part of the course.

DMD/HDFS 2620: Human Development, Digital Media, and Technology

Posted on by

[UConn Stamford]

Requires ENGL 1007, 1010, 1011, or 2011 as a prerequisite or co-requisite  

This interdisciplinary course examines the social, economic, and cultural influences on youths’ interactions with, and use of technology for formal and informal learning. Examples include media literacy, digital divide, technology in education, and cyberbullying. Through discussion, lectures, and application of relevant research and social science theories, students will think critically and creatively about issues that have emerged since the rise of the World Wide Web, social media, and more recently, Artificial Intelligence. The impact of these issues on youth and their families will also be explored.

Trouble registering? This class has a catalog-level prerequisite of First-Year Writing. If you are an Honors student who will be using First-Year Writing as a co-requisite (by taking at the same time as DMD/HDFS 2620), you may register by emailing honors@uconn.edu and including (1) your name; (2) your 7-digit Student Admin number; (3) your registration “pick time”; (4) the course number and section; (5) the class number from Student Admin; and (6) confirmation that there are seats available in the course.

DMD 2620: Human Development, Digital Media, and Technology

Posted on by

[UConn Stamford]

Requires ENGL 1007, 1010, 1011, or 2011 as a prerequisite or co-requisite  

This interdisciplinary course examines the social, economic, and cultural influences on youths’ interactions with, and use of technology for formal and informal learning. Examples include media literacy, digital divide, technology in education, and cyberbullying. Through discussion, lectures, and application of relevant research and social science theories, students will think critically and creatively about issues that have emerged since the rise of the World Wide Web during the 1990s and the growth of social media during the early part of the 21st century. The impact of these issues on youth and their families will also be explored.

Trouble registering? This class has a catalog-level prerequisite of First-Year Writing. If you are an Honors student who will be using First-Year Writing as a co-requisite (by taking at the same time as DMD 2620), you may register by emailing honors@uconn.edu and including (1) your name; (2) your 7-digit Student Admin number; (3) your registration “pick time”; (4) the course number and section; (5) the class number from Student Admin; and (6) confirmation that there are seats available in the course.

EVST 1000: Introduction to Environmental Studies (Conversion Opportunity)

Posted on by

Instructor: Mark Boyer

While this is not an Honors course, Prof. Boyer welcomes Honors students of all majors and would be happy to offer Honors conversions for interested students.

EVST 1000 is the gateway course for the Environmental Studies major as well as a CA2 and Environmental Literacy GenEd course.  Students will be exposed to a broad range of environmental approaches and topics across the humanities, social sciences, and biophysical sciences with guest lecturers invited to address their areas of expertise.

(CA 2)

PSYC 5140: Foundations in Neuropsychology

Posted on by

Graduate courses act as Honors credit, as long as you earn a grade of B- or higher. 

Instructors: John Salamone & Deborah Fein

Recommended preparation: Some background in biology and/or neuroscience

An introduction to neuropsychology, including functional neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology and cognitive/emotional function and dysfunction.

ENGL 3120-001: Irish Literature in English to 1939

Posted on by

Instructor: Mary Burke

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010, 1011, or 2011; open to juniors or higher

This course will situate Irish drama, prose, and poetry up to the mid-twentieth century in its evolving linguistic, historical, social, political, economic and religious contexts. We will read works by some (but not all) of the following: Brian Merriman, G.B. Shaw, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Elizabeth Bowen, and J.M. Synge. A number of Irish films or films on an Irish theme will be screened during the course. The course is predicated on group discussion. Writing: a practice essay, a mid-term paper, and a final exam. This class fulfills one of the four courses focusing on Irish Literature or Language required for the Concentration in Irish Literature, which is open to English majors.

(CA 4-Int)

ENGL 2409-001: The Modern Novel

Posted on by

Instructor: Sarah Winter

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010, 1011, or 2011

This course will examine modernist transitions in narrative technique and the representation of psychology, sexuality, and consciousness, as well as the changing historical, cultural, and aesthetic frameworks of novels by Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, and Zora Neale Hurston. The course will also serve as an introduction to narrative theory. Requirements: midterm; final; a short critical analysis paper and presentation; 6-7 page final paper.

(CA 1)

ENGL 1616W-001: Major Works of English & American Literature

Posted on by

Instructor: Veronica Makowsky

Prerequisite: ENGL 1010, 1011, or 2011

Who Am I? Am I the same person I was yesterday? What will I be tomorrow? To what extent do I control my identity and to what extent is it imposed upon me by my historical and cultural contexts? To what extent is it formed by my family and the relationships between and among family members? We will explore these questions about identity and change as we read and discuss major works of poetry, drama, and fiction. In the first half of the course, we will survey some important British works from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century, including Hamlet and selections from our anthology, The Norton Introduction to Literature (Shorter, Twelfth Edition), as well as Robert Louis Stevenson’s brief novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), interspersed with one or two twentieth-century American plays that focus on family dynamics. In the second half of the course, we will concentrate on modernism and on American ethnic literature, including Julie Otsuka’s short novel When the Emperor Was Divine. Students will write and revise four short papers. Class participation is essential and will include almost daily in-class writing assignments. The course is intended as an introduction to reading and interpreting English and American literature with no background required other than having met the first-year writing requirement.

(CA 1, W)