Honors Seminars Fall 2006
HONS 181 35 “Don Quixote and the Experimental Novel” TR 1:10-2:25 CSC
Professor Edward Friedman Department of Spanish and Portuguese
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Miguel de Cervantes published Don Quixote, the novel was not only new but was in the process of inventing itself. Cervantes breaks away from the idealism of chivalric, pastoral, and sentimental romance, as he helps to develop narrative realism. At the same time, he moves in an entirely different direction, by calling attention to the process of composition. Don Quixote announces itself as a “true history,” but its fictional devices clearly show through. Spanish society is on display, but so are the literary forms of the day, to be acknowledged and often satirized. Don Quixote is, thus, a novel and a theory of the novel, brilliantly comic but profound, as well. It serves as a type of template for future novels and, accordingly, for future experiments, as texts engage and challenge tradition. Don Quixote will be the centerpiece of the seminar, and the readings also will include Mist by Miguel de Unamuno, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Aura by Carlos Fuentes, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, City of Glass by Paul Auster, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
CPLE: Humanities AXLE: Humanities & Creative Arts
HONS 181 36 “The Souls of Things and Animals” MW 1:10-2:25 CSC
Professor Jonathan Lamb, Department of English
This is a tour through various ideas about the soul and whether it can lodge in other places besides the body of human beings, such as animals and things. We'll start with Ovid's Metamorphoses and Apuleius's The Golden Ass, move on to Shakespeare, Descartes, and some theories of property; have a look at some eighteenth century narratives of things (autobiographies of fleas, dogs, corkscrews, pins etc.), considering what genres such narratives are related to (such as fable, pornography, still life), then move on to nonsense literature, and end up with Kafka's Metamorphosis, Bataille's Story of an Eye, and two of J.M. Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello stories.
CPLE: Humanities AXLE: Humanities & Creative Arts
Honors 182 13 Applications of Discoveries in Physics TR 9:35-10:50 SC
Professor Joe Hamilton , Department of Physics and Astronomy
Discoveries in atomic and nuclear physics, such as the electron, radioactive decay, x-rays, the nucleus of the atom, quantum mechanics, the positron and nuclear fission and fusion are
discussed. The enormous impacts of the technical applications of these discoveries in our world are considered at length, including radio, TV, communications, computers, lasers, fission and fission reactors, computer assisted tomography, global positioning devices, magnetic resonance imagining, positron emission tomography and others. Each person will write three papers about a discovery and an application of that discovery and make oral presentations of two of the three papers. Special emphasis will be given to developing critical thinking in assessing the discoveries of science.
CPLE:. Science in Society AXLE: Perspectives
HONS 182 15 “Neuroethics” TR 2:35-3:50 216 Wilson Hall
Professor Jeff Schall, Department of Psychology
As the discoveries made in neuroscience laboratories are being applied in legal, business and educational domains, unprecedented ethical questions are surfacing. Issues include physical
enhancement of performance and personality, brain-reading for diagnosis or conviction, brain interventions for educational or legal reasons. For example, some have sought to use information about the neural basis of decision making through neuro-marketing. Consequently, neuro-ethics has become a popular and important topic; indeed, The President's Council on Bioethics has devoted attention to these questions. This course will consist of directed readings and group discussions.
CPLE: Science in Society AXLE: Perspectives
HONS 184 19 “The United States and the Vietnam War” TR 2:35-3:40
Professor Thomas Schwartz, Department of History
A study of the origins of the American involvement, the reasons for escalation, and the Vietnamese response to intervention. Also explored are the impact on America’s domestic politics, the growth of the anti-war movement, and the economic, social, and cultural effects of the conflict.
CPLE: Social Science AXLE: Social & Behavioral Sciences
HONS 185 07 “Attenion” TR 11:00-12:15 519 Wilson
Professor Gordon Logan, Department of Psychology
This course is intended to provide a survey of experimental psychology from the perspective of research on the phenomena of attention. Attention is a central concept in all domains of psychology, including cognition, neuroscience, emotion, development, psychopathology, social and individual differences, so a survey of research on attention is also a survey of psychology as a whole. The course will survey these topics in a series of classroom discussions and laboratory exercises. Students will read original papers on attentional phenomena and participate in laboratory demonstrations of those phenomena.
CPLE: Basic Science AXLE: Mathematics & Natural Science
HONS 186 01 “Understanding Other Cultures” TR 9:35-10:50 CSC
Professors Jose Medina , Department of Philosophy
What are the problems and obstacles that we face in understanding other cultures? In our multicultural society and in the globalized world of the 21st century it has become crucial to determine how different cultures can understand each other and engage in a dialogue that makes possible not only their peaceful coexistence, but also their rich life in common. In this seminar
we will study the conditions of possibility of the dialogue between cultures, and we will examine how to identify and repair possible distortions in the understanding of one culture from the perspective of another. We will read philosophers and social scientists with conflicting views about the best way to achieve mutual understanding between cultures. We will pay particular attention to the debate between universalism and relativism, which focuses on the following questions: Are there universal standards of rationality that apply to all cultures? Or should we understand and evaluate each culture according to its own standards? Is there anything universal in our knowledge and moral values? Are there limits to intercultural understanding and insurmountable obstacles for the dialogue between cultures?
CPLE: Humanities AXLE: International Cultures
