Curriculum Updates

HDFS 5240: Aging: Personality and Social Interaction

[All campuses]

Instructor: Laura Donorfio

This course will be offered in person at UConn Storrs and remotely via WebEx for students at other campuses.
Graduate courses act as Honors credit, as long as you earn a grade of B- or higher.

This course provides an examination of personality and social psychological approaches to the aging process. With respect to personality, we will look at how aging experts have conceptualized and studied the “interior life” of older adults, especially examining how personality and a sense of self in later life are both related to and different from those aspects earlier in life. At the level of social interaction, the objectives of the course are to provide an understanding of the relationships older adults have across the lifespan and how these shape their “interior life.” Throughout the semester, we will examine how the growth of the aging population worldwide has changed what it means to be an older adult today, particularly what impact it has had, and will continue to have, on the social psychological aspects of individuals as they age across the lifespan. Attention will be given to key developments related to ageism, technological advancements in healthcare, changing family structures, and the impact on policy.

SOCI 2275: Social Well-Being

[UConn Storrs]

Well-being is an essential feature of life. It has various dimensions including happiness, life satisfaction, and purpose. It is also a socially-embedded process. This class examines individual and group constructs closely related to well-being. They include self-control, gratitude, altruism, social relationships, social media, money, and more. It explores how these constructs relate to well-being. At the end of the semester, students will have a rich understanding of what increases well-being in our society. They will also have practical strategies for increasing their own sense of well-being.

MATH 1020Q: Problem Solving (Conversion Opportunity)

[UConn Stamford and Distance Learning All Campuses, May Term]

Instructor: Dr. Richard Watnick

Prerequisites: Not open for credit to students who have passed any math course other than MATH 1010, 1011, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060 or 1070. 

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

Cognitive psychologists identified general strategies employed by successful problem solvers in various settings, not just quantitative settings. We identify and employ these general strategies. We use a quantitative setting most of the time, but we do not concentrate on learning any specific new math content. We begin the lifelong process of effectively responding to new challenges.

Section Z22 / distance learning / Tu Th 6pm to 9 pm
Section Z23 / in-person on the Stamford campus / Tu The 6pm to 9pm
Videos and notes available on HuskyCT allow us to meet fewer hours than otherwise required.

Q.

FREN 1171: French Cinema

[UConn Storrs]

Instructor: Roger Celestin

Gangsters, Thrillers, & Classics

The course is a general introduction to film by way of French cinema, particularly the “film noir” genre. The objective is to provide a general, non-specialized audience with the vocabulary and the conceptual framework to think, discuss, and write about film in general. Weekly sessions consist of a presentation of a feature film and its director, followed by a projection and a discussion of the film, using the terminology and concepts gathered from previous sessions.

CA 1, CA 4-Int.

LING 2010Q: The Science of Linguistics

[UConn Storrs]

Instructor: Adrian Stegovec

The course is an introduction to linguistics as a science, focusing on the methods, findings, and theory of linguistic research. We will examine the sound system of human language, the internal structure of words and sentences, and the role of these structures in mediating between the two main aspects of human language: form and meaning. The basics of linguistic analysis will be established on based on real examples from the worlds languages, which will also involve students solving linguistics related puzzles individually and in groups.

CA 3, Q.

PHIL 1109: Global Existentialism

Instructor: Matthew Holmes

In Phil 1109, “Global Existentialism”, students will explore the philosophical themes of meaning, value, freedom, and responsibility. While certain important texts by European philosophers will be examined, the focus of the course is on the insight and innovation philosophers of the Global South have brought to existential thought. Consistent short writing assignments are balanced with work in small groups that puts a premium on dialogue and collaboration.

CA 4-Int.
The Philosophy department has also applied to have PHIL 1109 receive the Content Area 1 (Arts & Humanities) designation. 

DMD 3998-016: (Variable Topics) Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media and Design (Conversion Opportunity)

[UConn Storrs]

Instructor: Clarissa Ceglio

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

To paraphrase James Baldwin, nothing can be changed until it is faced. This is certainly true of the inequities that have historically shaped digital media technologies, content, fields, and careers. This class interrogates how racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and other forms of oppression are perpetuated through digital media works, practices, and industries. We will, as the chief learning activity of this class, meet and talk with contemporary practitioners who are challenging and changing the status quo. For six of our class sessions, we will meet virtually and sometimes in-person with industry professionals, artists, and media scholars from film, game, design, cultural and other sectors so that we can learn how issues of equity manifest in their work, creative processes, and professions.

Because these practitioners are also part of DMD’s Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design: 2022 Speaker Series, students will also have the opportunity to participate as hosts in the series, learn how to professionalize their on-camera presence, and gain skill in preparing and moderating live Q&A sessions. Interactions with our guests will be supplemented by readings, in-class film screenings, and engagements with other media works.

Permission number required. Contact: clarissa.ceglio@uconn.edu

University Honors Laureate: This Variable Topics course will count toward the Arts & Humanities category and will also meet the Diversity & Multiculturalism requirement.

DMD 3998-001: (Variable Topics) Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media and Design (Conversion Opportunity)

[UConn Storrs]

Instructor: Clarissa Ceglio

While this is not an Honors course, Prof. Ceglio welcomes Honors students of all majors and would be happy to offer Honors conversions for interested students. Alternatively, Honors students may enroll in the cross-listed graduate section (DMD 5998-010), which will entail additional advanced work.

To paraphrase James Baldwin, nothing can be changed until it is faced. This is certainly true of the inequities that have historically shaped digital media technologies, content, fields, and careers. This class interrogates how racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and other forms of oppression are perpetuated through digital media works, practices, and industries. We will, as the chief learning activity of this class, meet and talk with contemporary practitioners who are challenging and changing the status quo. For six of our class sessions, we will meet virtually and sometimes in-person with industry professionals, artists, and media scholars from film, game, design, cultural and other sectors so that we can learn how issues of equity manifest in their work, creative processes, and professions. Because these practitioners are also part of DMD’s Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design: 2023 Speaker Series, students will also have the opportunity to participate as hosts in the series, learn how to professionalize their on-camera presence, and gain skill in preparing and moderating live Q&A sessions. Interactions with our guests will be supplemented by readings, in-class film screenings, and engagements with other media works. Over the course of the semester, we will reflect on how our own areas of practice can support greater equity, diversity, and inclusion in digital media and design.

To see what we do, you can access the Spring 2022 and 2021 installments of the Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design series here: https://dmd.uconn.edu/major/diverse-perspectives/

Permission number required. Contact: clarissa.ceglio@uconn.edu

University Honors Laureate: This Variable Topics course will count toward the Arts & Humanities category and will also meet the Diversity & Multiculturalism requirement.

PHIL 1104: Philosophy and Social Ethics

[UConn Storrs]

Instructor: Tracy Llanera

Is humanity getting better? A way of gauging this question is via the lens of social ethics. Social ethics is concerned about investigating systems of (explicit or implicit) principles governing conduct in human societies. Are we treating ourselves well? Are we behaving in ways that improve the lives of (human and non-human) others as well as our own?  Are we thriving in our communities? Do we owe anything to human beings, even other beings, in the future? This course examines moral and social issues using philosophical argumentation, with the hope of engaging – critically, collectively, and clearly – the challenges raised by the question of human progress.

CA 1.

DRAM 2134: Honors Core: Sports as Performance

[UConn Storrs – Distance Learning]

In this course, students will use the lenses of theatre studies and performance studies to identify and analyze parallels between sports and performance. Consideration of identity, race, gender, sexuality, nation, and human rights will be mediated through readings across multiple disciplines, attendance at an athletic event, film/media viewings, written assignments, experiential activities as well as student-led discussions. This class investigates the interrelated aesthetic, performative, and humanistic values in the arts and athletics in several sports ranging from football to figure skating. Students will conduct independent research and synthesize their findings in a multimodal research presentation.