[UConn Storrs]

This 4-credit interdisciplinary Honors course examines the life and work experiences of migrant workers. Weekly sessions will combine short lectures and discussions of assigned readings; the course will offer guest lectures by university faculty and by practitioners in the field, and will visit 2 farms. The emphasis is on migrant workers—mostly Spanish-speaking from the Caribbean and Latin America—in the United States, with a significant focus on migrant workers in Connecticut. This seminar is introductory. We assume that most, if not all, of you are generally unfamiliar with much of the basic literature pertaining to migrant life and labor. The course is thus intended to provide a very broad and eclectic perspective on the world of migrant labor and experiences.

This seminar combines classroom and service learning as fundamental and equally valued elements of each student’s experience. Service learning involves the student in on-site study and work with a variety of organizations in Connecticut that assist the state’s migrant community. Students’ SL placement will depend on transportation: They may choose any placement if they have their own car; if not, they may choose a CO volunteer experience or a placement along the Hartford busline 913. Either way, students will travel on a weekly basis to organizations and to farms throughout the area; consequently, you will need to arrange your schedule to accommodate approximately 3 hours of work per week, plus travel time. The organizations may include: Hispanic Health Council (migrant health research); Hartford Public Library (ESOL and citizenship instruction); CT Students for a Dream (undocumented student advocacy); Collegiate Health Service Corps; CO tutoring programs for migrant children; Windham Hospital; and Immigration Advocacy and Support Center (legal advocacy).

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, HIST 1570-001 is class #11264, LLAS 1570-001 is class #10920; (6) confirmation that there are seats available in the class you selected; (7) why you are interested in taking the class and (8) your commitment to approximately 3 hours of service work, plus travel time, per week.

Ask your Orientation advisor for a permission number for this class.

[UConn Storrs]

Not open to students who have passed ERTH/GSCI 1010, 1050, 1051, or 1070. Formerly offered as GSCI 1055.

Welcome to the Honors Core version of introductory geoscience. The main goal is for students to learn how Earth works, what its history has been, and how this knowledge can be put to good use. More specifically, to reframe environmental thinking, mitigate natural hazards, and obtain the resources we need. Climate change, ecological collapse, human inequality, and planetary futures look very different when seen through an earthly lens.

The main pedagogy emphasizes hybrid learning via pre-class explorations, readings, and podcasts followed by in-class, student-led discussions. Four “cohort” days give students a chance to bond as a group and help guide the course direction. A final creative project is presented in a student symposium. There are zero tests or quizzes.

By the end of this course, students will:

• Comprehend how the Earth works as a grand holistic system that includes ecosystems and human systems as components.
• Realize that the world we know is a thin membrane created and controlled by whole-earth processes.
• Understand the deep-time origins of landscapes to enhance their appreciation and management.
• Learn that geoscience is a rigorous, environmental STEM career with excellent job prospects and one that provides a solid platform for graduate education in non-STEM fields.

General Education information ERTH 1055 alone is a CA 3 non-laboratory course. If you add the ERTH 1052 geology laboratory (either in the same semester or a future one), you may request the conversion of ERTH 1055 to fulfill your CA 3-Laboratory requirement.

[UConn Storrs]

Requires ECON 1200 or both ECON 1201 and 1202. Not open for credit for students who have completed ECON 2103.

This course examines the sources of challenging issues facing modern societies, such as inequality, racism, sexism, and armed conflict. You will learn pathbreaking approaches that inform our understanding of these issues by revealing their historical roots and the channels that transmitted these roots to today.

The course will consist of three parts. In the first part, we will survey a brief economic history of the World, our long journey from a period in which human life was “nasty, brutish, and short,” to highly developed modern societies with vastly higher but unequal living standards. The second part will examine the origins of our journey by differentiating between the proximate reasons and deep roots of today’s problems and the channels of transmission between the past and present. We will study the relative importance of institutions, culture, geographic endowment, agricultural history, and human diversity. In the third part, we will apply these insights to examine the deep roots of some of the important problems facing modern societies.

Each student will choose a geographic region of the world and one topic from each of the three parts of the course. These choices will guide your individual research and exploration and be the basis for your writing and presentation assignments. You will have the opportunity to contribute to class discussion from the perspective of your region and topics.

Note This class has a catalog-level pre-requisite of ECON 2201, ECON 2202, ECON 2211Q, or ECON 2212Q. We can override this requirement so long as you have credit for ECON 1200 or both ECON 1201 and 1202. If you are an Honors student, you may register by emailing honors@uconn.edu and including (1) your name; (2) your 7-digit Student Admin number; (3) confirmation that you have credit for ECON 1200 or both ECON 1201 and 1202; (4) your registration “pick time”; (5) the course number and section; (6) the class number from Student Admin; and (7) confirmation that there are seats available in the course.

This class has a catalog-level pre-requisite of ECON 2201, ECON 2202, ECON 2211Q, or ECON 2212Q, but we can override this requirement. If you are bringing in credit for both ECON 1201 and 1202, talk to your Orientation advisor about enrolling in this course.