Course Offerings
Fall 2013 Courses
General Education Courses
HON 100: Honors Introduction to Human Communication (equivalent to HCS 100: Introduction to Human Communication)
Gen. Ed. Category: Required Skills and Competencies
MWF 10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
HON 106: Honors Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar (equivalent to ENG 106: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar)
Gen. Ed. Category: Required Skills and Competencies
Dr. Sharon Harrow
TR 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
TR 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
The goal of this course is teach you what it means to be a Public Intellectual: a scholar whose particular academic training helps him or her to contribute to the larger world. We will examine the discourse, or language, of your chosen field, and you will develop the rhetorical skills you need to write well within your own discipline. However, this course will do more than simply teach you to write well; you will learn how writing acts as a force of change in the world. You will also learn how and why it is important to present your ideas in a public forum and thus will be required to present your research in class. You will also write several mock conference proposals. This will help you to think of your work as part of a conversation beyond the classroom.
HON 122: Honors World History I (equivalent to HIS 105: Historical Foundation of Global Cultures)
Gen. Ed. Category: Required Skills and Competencies
Dr. Christine Senecal
MWF 10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
MWF 11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
History is the study of the past, but it is certainly not immutable. What college freshmen were required to learn in their courses a few generations ago has changed considerably. Obviously, the past has not changed, but what historians have thought is important for you to study certainly has. To illustrate, in this course we will focus on important trends in the history of the world, beginning with humanity's earliest origins and ending around 1500 of the Common Era (C.E.). In other times and places, the stress of undergraduate history has been on Western Europe. Thus, we can see that even though the past might not change, history--the study of the past--does, depending on who tells the story.
HON 210: Honors Introduction to Music (equivalent to MUS 121: Introduction to Music)
Gen Ed. Category: B
Dr. Margaret Lucia
MW 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
HON 196: Chemistry in the Modern World (equivalent to CHM 103: Chemistry: A Cultural Approach)
Gen. Ed. Category: C
Dr. Robin McCann
MWF 1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.
Have you ever wondered how ibuprofen makes your fever go away? This class will give you answers to this and many other questions about every day things we take for granted. Students will develop an understanding of the relationship between chemistry and our society. Coverage will include discussion of elements, atoms, molecules, molecular properties, simple chemical reactions, and how these principles are related to our history and the current world we live in.
HON 141: Honors World Geography (equivalent to GEO 101: World Geography)
Gen. Ed. Category: D
Dr. Alison Feeney
TR 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
In this course we will examine patterns and processes that define human settlement in various places around the world. We will examine the historical context to help identify relationships between societies and their environments, and the spatial patterns that have emerged within those societies. Topics that will be examined include: location, population, landforms, ecology, culture, natural resources and settlement patterns. While we will cover the same content as in the regular general education World Regional course, I will try to present the information in a different manner with many group learning opportunities, student presentations, and hands-on computer projects.
HON 160: Honors Cultural Anthropology (equivalent to ANT 111: Cultural Anthropology )
Gen. Ed. Category: E
Dr. Alice James
TR 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Is a study of the nature of humanity. It cuts across the boundaries which separate the sciences from the humanities and embraces both. It deals with basic facts concerning humanity in all of its variations, leading to understanding and appreciation of the significant differences in the behavior of various ethnic groups.
Upper-Division Courses
MGT 305: Organizational Behavior
Dr. Nathan Goates
MW 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Counts as one of the required Honors seminars. Counts as core credit for Business majors. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
HON 396: University Honors Colloquium
Dr. Gretchen Pierce
R 6:30 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.
Fulfills the Honors Program's capstone requirement. May also count as one of the required Honors seminars. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
This course will be the springboard to launch year five of the Reach Out program. We will fundraise for school supplies and student travel money, create and maintain a budget, prep curriculum that will be implemented in the Dominican Republic in January, research important issues that shape that country today, and continue our public relations campaign which advertises our activities and helps to maintain the sustainability of the project. You will also get an introduction to the history and culture of the Dominican Republic as well as its current events, practice your Spanish-language skills, and otherwise prepare yourselves to travel (whether this January or in the future). This service-learning course ought to stimulate your desire to help others, immerse you in an interdisciplinary learning environment, and supplement your academic program by providing you practical, hands-on experience. Along the way, you ought to improve your abilities to work with a team, effectively communicate in both oral and written formats, problem-solve, and meet deadlines.
HON 397: Honors Selected Topics: Political Sex Scandals Across the Disciplines
Dr. Alison Dagnes
M 6:30 - 9:15 p.m.
Counts as one of the required Honors seminars. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Political sex scandals are the most examined part of American government because they are easy to understand, titillating in nature, and reaffirm the existing perception that politicians are crooks and liars. When a politician is caught in a sex scandal, a number of important questions are asked: Do geography and cultural elements have a notable impact on the consequence of an elected official’s indiscretion? Will the inevitable apology resonate with the electorate? Why would a politician who had to work so hard to get elected do something so risky? How do the media cover the scandal and what does this coverage say about the politician and about the political culture of the country? Why is there often no legal punishment for the scandalized? By combining analysis from scholars with diverse research expertise, we hope this interdisciplinary seminar will be an exhaustive and interesting assessment of political scandal to help find an answer to the question asked repeatedly after such an event: “Why did he do that? And what happens next?”
Tentative Spring 2014 Courses
General Education Courses
HON 100: Honors Introduction to Human Communication (equivalent to HCS 100: Introduction to Human Communication)
Gen. Ed. Category: Required Skills and Competencies
HON 123: Honors World History II (equivalent to HIS 106: Thinking Historically in a Global Age)
Gen. Ed. Category: Required Skills and Competencies
Dr. David Godshalk
MW 2:00 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
MW 3:30 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
HON 249: Honors Intro to Literature (equivalent to ENG 250: Introduction to Literature)
Gen. Ed. Category: B
Dr. Mary Stewart
TR 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
HON 244: Honors Geology (equivalent to ESS110 Introduction to Geology)
Gen Ed. Category: C
WORLD POLITICS OR U.S. GOVERNMENT, To be determined
Gen Ed. Category: D
HON 102: Honors Intro to Women's Studies (equivalent to WST100: Introduction to Women's Studies)
Gen Ed. Category: E
Dr. Rebecca Ward
TR 12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
Upper-Division Courses
HON 392: Honors Seminar: Paris through Franco-American Eyes: Perspectives on the French Global City
Dr. Blandine Mitaut
Counts as one of the required Honors seminars. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
France and the United States have maintained a complicated relationship fed by mutual fascination and animosity. This course explores the tumultuous bond between the two nations beyond stereotypes, using the city of Paris as its center stage. Starting with Benjamin Franklin’s arrival in Paris in 1776 which led to the unlikely alliance between the American revolutionaries and the French monarchy, we will retrace the French capital’s vivid history. More specifically we will focus on the evolution of Paris from symbol of modernity in the 19th century, to its internationalization in the 20th century and the current challenges it faces in the age of globalization. Through the lens of Paris, French and American responses to issues of conflict, social tension, race, religion will be compared and contrasted in order to understand the deeper values and ideologies associated with each culture. This interdisciplinary course will use literature, history and film as primary sources but will also draw upon the academic disciplines of art, cultural studies and sociology.
The course will include a short, optional, study-abroad component in France over Spring Break. We will spend 5 days in the city of Paris sightseeing and visiting the various places discussed in the seminar, followed by 2 days in Normandy with visits to D-Day beaches, the US military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, and the Caen Memorial Museum.
HON 397: Honors Seminar: Viruses and History
Dr. Steven Burg and Dr. Lucinda Elliott
TR 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Counts as one of the required Honors seminars. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors. May count as three elective credits for History majors and one elective credit for Biology majors.
This course takes a multidisciplinary approach to examine the beneficial and detrimental impact of viruses on modern human history. The course will examine the structures and characteristics of specific types of viruses and how specific viruses (such as small pox, yellow fever, influenza, polio, and HIV, as well as “emerging” viruses such as West Nile, Ebola, and Lassa Fever) cause illness in humans. Scientific advances resulting from virus research, such as gene replication, gene expression, cancer research, and vaccine production will also be considered. Case studies will be used to examine the impact of viral diseases and virus research on human societies and the various social, cultural, and medical responses that have occurred in different societies throughout history. The course will also explore responses to viral diseases, including the development of vaccines and public health programs, national and international campaigns to eradicate viral diseases, the use of viruses as weapons as well as molecular tools, and efforts to plan for future outbreaks and pandemics. This course is designed for students in the Shippensburg University Honors Program, but it also is open to History and Biology majors who may count the course as a History or Biology elective.
HON 411: Introduction to Exceptionalities (equivalent to EEC273: Introduction to Exceptionalities)
Counts as one of the required Honors seminars. Open to Honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
This course provides students in education and other related areas a background in the field of special education and the nature of exceptionality in children and youth. Emphasis is placed on societal attitudes and practices in relation to persons with exceptionalities, current practices in identifying and classifying children and youth with exceptionalities, characteristics of all exceptional population groups, programmatic needs of individuals with exceptionalities, and issues and trends in the various fields that affect diagnosis, classification, and programming or service delivery. The knowledge base for the course content comes out of social, cognitive, and developmental psychology, medical aspects of exceptionality, educational law and policy, and special education.