College Scholars Honors Seminars
Spring 2012
HONS 181 54 “Ancient Landscapes” TR 2:35 – 3:50
Professor Betsey Robinson Department of History of Art
In search of ancient Mediterranean landscapes, we will range from city to countryside, and from garden grottoes to sacred mountains. From classical Greece through the Roman Imperial period, we will explore human responses to the natural world through studies in art and literature, archaeology and cultural geography. Topics include ancient Greco-Roman attitudes toward nature and exploitation of natural resources, pictorial landscapes and multi-media installations, modes of representation (e.g. allegorical vs. documentary), and intersections between real and imagined landscapes, geography, and tourism. The class will consist of lectures and discussions. Each week everyone will read a set of core documents. As time goes on, readings will be divided among participants, some of who will be charged with leading discussion on the respective topics, and/or introducing additional points of interest.
In addition to papers appropriate for a W course, students will be expected to participate in regular class discussions and to present oral research reports at the end of the term. Basic readings will be drawn from the following required/recommended books, as well as articles and excerpts that have been scanned and uploaded on OAK. Farrar, L. 1998. Ancient Roman Gardens, Stroud; Hughes, J.D. 1994. Pan’s Travail. Environmental Problems of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, Baltimore; and Woodford, S. 2004. The Art of Greece and Rome, Cambridge.
AXLE: Humanities & Creative Arts
Honors 181 55 “The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Writing It Produced”
TR 1:10 – 2:35
Professor Houston Baker Department of English
The course is designed to trace the consequences and enduring expressive legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Autobiography; video technology; novels; philosophical, social scientific, and polemical treatises all form content for the course. The content is cross-cultural, spanning African, Caribbean, and African-American texts. Selected, representative texts include: Olaudah Equiano’s Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Edwidge Danticat’s Brother I am Dying; Stephanie Black’s documentary Life and Debt; Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place; Aime Cesaire’s Discourse on Colonialism; Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic; Richard Wright’s Native Son; Mike Davis’s Planet of Slums. Response papers, class discussion, three six to seven page papers, and a long final paper will be required.
AXLE: Humanities & Creative Arts
Honors 182 25 “How Malleable is Human Nature?
Brains, Genes, Culture, Biotechnology” MW 2:35 – 3:50
Professor Michael Bess Department of History
What traits set humans apart from other animals? Are these distinctive traits mere matters of degree, or do they imply a deeper qualitative boundary? In what ways are humans like, and unlike, complex machines? Do all humans possess a common core of innate characteristics, or does the unique constellation of our abilities as individuals emerge primarily through environmental influences? What exactly do we mean by the concepts of human personhood and human dignity? Could personhood and dignity ever be instantiated in a robot or artificial intelligence? Could the functions of a human brain be downloaded into an advanced computer? Or is there something fundamentally misguided about this notion? To what extent can fundamental human traits and capabilities be modified? At what point does this tinkering with the human constitution start to undermine our identity? What do we mean by the words, “sub-human,” and “super-human”? Where are the boundaries of the human? How malleable are those boundaries? Who are we, as a species, and what are we in the process of becoming?
In this seminar we examine the concept of human nature, surveying the debates that have raged over this idea throughout human history and across human civilizations. Our approach will be interdisciplinary, encompassing developments in the natural sciences, technology, socioeconomic change, politics, popular culture, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.
AXLE: Perspectives
HONS 183 42 “Predicting Elections” TR 9:35 – 10:50
Professor Josh Clinton Department of Political Science
Election coverage in the United States is currently dominated by polling numbers and statistics that presumably hint at the likely electoral fates of candidates running for office. The amount of information that is now available is staggering– e.g., www.fivethirtyeight.com, www.pollster.com. What should we make of this data and the use of such data by the press and pundits? How can we be better consumers of the dizzying amount of data we are often presented with and does this data actually predict election outcomes? In this seminar we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of polls conducted by pollsters and academics, political stock markets, and the various models typically used to predict control of the presidency and Congress. We will read academic scholarship, press coverage of elections, and conduct original research (including analyzing and discussing data associated with the 2012 elections). While prior coursework in statistics is not a prerequisite, we will make extensive use of statistical concepts in class lectures and discussions and I will lecture on such concepts as needed.
AXLE: Social and Behavioral Sciences
HONS 183 40 “Political Advertising” TR 11:00 – 12:15
Professor John Geer Department of Political Science
Political campaigns are important democratic institutions that link politicians and voters. Candidates use the weeks prior to the election to tell the public why they would be the best choice. On election day citizens render a judgment through the ballot box about those messages. A central way politicians send messages to the public in through political advertising on television. We could see well over 1 billion dollars spent on political ads in the 2012 presidential election. The news media, in turn, will spend even more time covering all of these spots. Advertising, in short, matters. This course plans to put this subject under the microscope. We will learn about the contents of political ads, how that content has changes, and how this might affect the opinions of voters. In so doing, we will learn about politicians, journalists, and voters. The usual story is that political ads undermine the political process. Our story will be more balanced, reflecting the evidence and the best theories to understand that evidence.
AXLE: Behavioral and Social Sciences
HONS 184 19 “The United States and the Vietnam War” MW 1:10 – 2:25
Professor Tom 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.
AXLE: History and Culture of the United States
HONS 186 08 “Public Opinion in Latin America” TR 1:10 – 2:25
Professor Elizabeth J. Zechmeister Department of Political Science
What are the public opinion consequences of crime, violence, corruption, natural disaster, and economic decline in the relatively young democracies of Latin America? Answers to this question are critical to democratic quality and stability in the region. A principal objective of this seminar is to assess relationships between conditions of crisis and democratic attitudes through seminar-style discussion of relevant scholarship and survey data analysis. Students will be introduced to issues in the measurement and analysis of public opinion survey data. The course will offer instruction on and applied experience working with data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). Students will gain knowledge and skills required to analyze public opinion data, and apply these to original rese
arch projects that speak to the public opinion consequences of crisis for democracy in Latin America.
AXLE: International Cultures
