Curriculum Updates

SOCI 1701: Society in Global Perspective

[UConn Storrs – Distance learning]

This course will introduce students to the sociological perspective of society in global perspective. The course will focus on the economic, social and cultural processes that shape contemporary society and will help students understand the links between their personal experiences and larger social forces by focusing on the transnational social relationships in which they are embedded. Students will learn to think critically about the causes and consequences of social inequalities and the social construction of human life across the globe.

This class will include active learning, peer mentoring, debates on controversial topics, and engagement (via Skype and blogs) with scholars and students in other parts of the world to help students develop global sociological imaginations.

Sources for course materials and topical coverage include sociology; environmental studies; women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; and human rights.

SOCI 1701: Society in Global Perspective

[UConn Storrs]

This course will introduce students to the sociological perspective of society in global perspective. The course will focus on the economic, social and cultural processes that shape contemporary society and will help students understand the links between their personal experiences and larger social forces by focusing on the transnational social relationships in which they are embedded. Students will learn to think critically about the causes and consequences of social inequalities and the social construction of human life across the globe.

This class will include active learning, peer mentoring, debates on controversial topics, and engagement (via Skype and blogs) with scholars and students in other parts of the world to help students develop global sociological imaginations.

Sources for course materials and topical coverage include sociology; environmental studies; women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; and human rights.

SLHS 3295-001: (Special Topics) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Communication Disorders: From Brain to Behavior

[UConn Storrs]

This course will link the behavioral presentation of communication disorders to an understanding of the neural architecture supporting speech, language, and hearing abilities. This course will consider communication disorders from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing together an understanding of speech and language processing from the domains of psychology, linguistics, neurobiology, and clinical fields. The course will cover numerous communication disorders including developmental disorders (i.e., autism, dyslexia) and acquired disorders (i.e., aphasia, hearing impairment). For each disorder, an interdisciplinary description of etiology, function, and rehabilitation will be addressed. In addition, the course will cover common imaging tools including EEG methods (e.g., ERP, ABR) and fMRI. Students will be instructed on the basic neuroanatomical methods of these tools as well as strengths and limitations of each one. The course will highlight multicultural aspects of speech, language, and hearing disorders including multicultural aspects of Deaf culture. The course will consider the broad implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Note SLHS 3295 is a “variable credits” course. Please ensure that you register for 3 credits.

Note SLHS 3295 is coded at the catalog level as open to juniors or higher. If you are an Honors student who will have fewer than 54 credits when this course is offered, 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.

BADM/MGMT 2234-002: The Entrepreneurial Journey

Open to all Honors students. Register for MGMT 2234 if you have a major in the School of Business. Otherwise, register for BADM 2234.

Do you want to learn how to see things that others don’t see? Do you enjoy developing solutions that others cannot?

The Entrepreneurial Journey will be taught in a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment, where we can all learn from each other. Early on, we will discard pre-conceived notions of what it means to think and act entrepreneurially. You will learn how to think like an entrepreneur and generate value/benefits from that thinking — and how doing so can benefit you in all of life’s environments, not just in business! Through experiential learning, you will acquire useful knowledge and skills in problem-solving and opportunity exploration, and you will have the opportunity to meet with participating entrepreneurial thinkers and learn, first-hand, about their Journeys.

BADM/MGMT 2234-002: The Entrepreneurial Journey

In Virtual Reality

In Spring 2021 and Fall 2021, The Entrepreneurial Journey will be taught using VR. Students will work together in a shared virtual space rather than a videoconference.The Werth Institute will lend Oculus Quest 2 headsets to registered students for the semester at no cost. You may also use your own Quest, Rift, or Quest 2 headset. Because Oculus is now a Facebook-owned product, you will need to connect your own Facebook account to authenticate into the classroom environment.

The combined BADM/MGMT 2234 course will be limited to 20 students.

Open to all Honors students. Register for MGMT 2234 if you have a major in the School of Business. Otherwise, register for BADM 2234.

Do you want to learn how to see things that others don’t see? Do you enjoy developing solutions that others cannot?

The Entrepreneurial Journey will be taught in a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment, where we can all learn from each other. Early on, we will discard pre-conceived notions of what it means to think and act entrepreneurially. You will learn how to think like an entrepreneur and generate value/benefits from that thinking — and how doing so can benefit you in all of life’s environments, not just in business! Through experiential learning, you will acquire useful knowledge and skills in problem-solving and opportunity exploration, and you will have the opportunity to meet with participating entrepreneurial thinkers and learn, first-hand, about their Journeys.

PSYC 3884-001: (Seminar in Psychology) Science of Learning and Art of Communication

One of the least-known areas of psychology is the science of learning. After decades of research, a great deal is known about the principles that govern the best (and worst) methods for effective study and instruction. Key principles have to do with communication — creating engaging presentations designed to maximize memory. The principles we will learn about will have immediate application for students; many of the most common study strategies are the least effective, while the most effective strategies are non-intuitive. These principles generalize beyond the college classroom, with implications for education and science communication at all levels, with implications for education, health, policy, journalism, and public understanding of complex challenges facing society.

Permission number A permission number is required. Please email honors@uconn.edu and include (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 class. 

PSYC 2502: Science of Learning and Art of Communication

[UConn Storrs]

One of the least-known areas of psychology is the science of learning. After decades of research, a great deal is known about the principles that govern the best (and worst) methods for effective study and instruction. Key principles have to do with communication — creating engaging presentations designed to maximize memory. The principles we will learn about will have immediate application for students; many of the most common study strategies are the least effective, while the most effective strategies are non-intuitive. These principles generalize beyond the college classroom, with implications for education and science communication at all levels, with implications for education, health, policy, journalism, and public understanding of complex challenges facing society.

Permission number A permission number is required. Please email honors@uconn.edu and include (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 class.

HEJS 1103: Who Are the Jews? Jewish Identity through the Ages

[UConn Storrs]

Who are the Jews? While this may seem like a straightforward question, in this course you will find out that Jewish identity can be a bit complicated. To clarify the issue, we will have a look at the history, religion, and culture of the Jewish people, with a special emphasis on the role played by each of these elements in defining “the Jews.” The major literatures of the Jews that have shaped their sense of peoplehood are discussed throughout. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or Jewish culture is required.

This course fulfills General Education requirements in Content Areas I (Arts and Humanities) and IV (Diversity and Multiculturalism). One of its main goals is to enable students to develop a keen understanding of who the Jews are and an appreciation of the diverse cultures and traditions that comprise Jewish civilization. The emergence of Judaic ideas and their influence on Christianity and western civilization will be especially emphasized. The so-called “Judeo-Christian” tradition is broken down so that students understand the values and ideas that both Judaism and Christianity share as well as their distinctiveness. Students get a taste of how the earliest, ancient rabbis thought and how they succeeded in transforming a biblical religion into Judaism as we know it. Along the way, you will be challenged to think “talmudicly/midrashicly,” a critical form of analysis that may very well enable you to appreciate literary traditions belonging to other peoples and cultures in an entirely different light.

ECON 2120: Honors Core: Rights and Harms

[UConn Storrs]

This course will expose students to a conceptual framework at the intersection of law, economics, and philosophy – what we can call the paradigm of rights and harms.  Working within this framework, you will analyze and debate a large set of controversial social issues.  The goal of the course is to encourage you to think critically and rigorously about such issues and to hone your skills in argument and persuasion.  Students from all majors and backgrounds welcome.

Consider a famous legal case analyzed by the Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase.  A physician sets up an examination room with a wall that is shared by a candy factory.  Noise from the candy machinery makes it impossible for the doctor to examine patients with a stethoscope.  If the candy factory has the right to make noise, the doctor is harmed; if the doctor has a right to quiet, the factory is harmed.  Economists and philosophers have developed ways of thinking about who should get the right – and thus who should bear the harm – in cases like these.  Most if not all controversial social issues take exactly this form: who has the right?  Who is harmed, and in what way?  As we will see, in many of these cases, the harms are immaterial: there is no tangible emission like noise.  I may harm you (make you angry or unhappy) by giving a speech in favor of Marxism or by selling my kidney to the highest bidder – even if you are nowhere in the vicinity and learn of my behavior only through a third party.  Should I have the right to engage in these behaviors?  Or should you have the right to stop me?

Recent syllabus

Note This class has a catalog-level pre- or co-requisite of any 1000-level economics course. We can override this requirement. If you are an Honors student, you may request enrollment 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.

DRAM 2134: Honors Core: Analyzing Sports as Performance

[online]

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyze and articulate the parallels between sports and performance. Students will formally analyze performances in sports and athletic events, applying the critical tools in the fields of Theatre Studies and Performance Studies to examine how athletes, athletic events, and the objects involved in athletic spectacles convey aesthetic human expression. Consideration of community, competition, spectatorship, identity, gender, sexuality, (trans)national identities. race, human rights, and ethics will be mediated through readings, attendance at a live athletic event, film/media viewings, written assignments, group work, student-centered discussions, and a multimodal research presentation. Students will identify and examine the interrelated aesthetic, performative, and humanistic values in the arts and athletics.

Permission number A permission number is required. Please email honors@uconn.edu and include (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 class.