Honors Fall 2024 Courses
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Honors 398 Topics Courses
History of Immigration to the U.S.
CRN 46167 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 9:30am-10:45am | Professor John Lemza
This course offers a general social, cultural, economic and political approach to examining the integration of various groups that immigrated to the United States and influenced the unfolding American experience. The scope will encompass a study of peoples that arrived before the national period through the most recent immigrants. The course will provide an historical context for understanding the dynamics of immigration as a means to better interpret contemporary demographic trends in diversity and assimilation. We will also unpack the often complicated path to citizenship that immigrants must navigate.
Nutrition Intel
CRN 44403 | Online Asynchronous | Professor Stephen Sowulewski
In this course, students will examine the latest Intelligence (Intel) as it relates to nutrition as a multi-disciplinary field involving biochemistry, mathematics, psychology, sociology, history and anthropology. Students will be able to tailor their learning outcomes to align to their chosen discipline. Topics in this course will touch on the microbiome, nutrigenomics, deconstructing the numbers on a food label, behavioral eating (fat cell theory & set point theory of metabolism), food deserts/food swamps, significant achievements in food science, and diets patterned after our ancestral hunter-gathers.
Drivers of Global Change
CRN 43696 | Online Asynchronous | Professor Brian Toibin
This course explores 25 of the most important social, economic, and environmental challenges that we face on the local, national, and global levels with a focus on how they are connected. This course allows Honors students to get a "landscape" view of the critical issues that they will be facing today and tomorrow and helps them build a "foundation of knowledge" that will help them understand the connections between these issues. The course also highlights how improvement in one issue area can lead to improvement in others, while backsliding in one leads to backsliding in others. This examination also allows them to consider how they can use their education in positive and satisfying ways as an effective citizen in an increasingly global world. I feel, and student evaluations have confirmed, that this course is valuable to Honors students because is allows them to examine the world's issues in an open-ended manner, and encourages them to consider how their area of interest (health, engineering, arts, urban planning, etc.) can help strengthen the resilience of our society at the local, national, and global levels.
Intercultural Communication
CRN 47378 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 9:30am-10:45am | Instructor: TBA
This course explores the dynamics of intercultural communication, emphasizing the impact of cultural differences on verbal and nonverbal communication patterns. Through theoretical frameworks, practical applications, and real-world case studies, students will develop cultural sensitivity, empathy, and competence in navigating diverse communication contexts. Topics include cultural dimensions, language nuances, conflict resolution, and the influence of technology on intercultural interactions. The course aims to enhance students' ability to communicate effectively and ethically in a globalized world.
Bringing Out the Best in Self
CRN 46281 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 9:30am-10:45am | Professor Christy Tyndall
In this course, we will explore the notion of self and the psychological, cultural, social, and biological foundations of identity with emphasis on the period of emerging adulthood in which identity formation is a key developmental activity. Through the lenses of social and educational psychology, students will also learn about theories of motivation including achievement goal theory, self-determination theory, expectancy value theory, and self-efficacy and how to optimize personal motivational strategies.
High Performance Leadership
CRN 44386 | Tuesday | Face-to-Face | 5pm-7:40pm | Thomas Connolly
This course focuses on building high performing leaders. Students will learn modern leadership theory and practical applications. This course will walk students through common pitfalls of leadership, overcoming those pitfalls, and how to work efficiently as a team. The course will also require students to reflect on themselves as leaders in a diverse community.
Social Justice and the Arts
CRN 47259 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 9:30am-10:45am | Professor Ann Marie Halstead
In Social Justice and the Arts, students will investigate the relationship between social justice and the arts (theatre, visual arts, and music), with a particular focus on contemporary dramatic literature, i.e. plays that contribute to social and political change, such as The Exonerated, My Name is Rachel Corrie, Notes From the Field, The Good Body, The Laramie Project, and Have You Filled a Bucket Today? As a classroom community we will critically analyze and discuss other relevant texts, including videos and images, and will engage with leaders from the VCU and Richmond arts communities. Students will research social (justice) issues of particular interest to them and will look at the ways in which various art forms expose and help to resolve issues of social justice, inspiring us to act and effect positive change. Assignments will include oral presentations, multi-media projects, creative writing, reflection papers, peer review, and traditional research.
Television and the Ideal Woman
CRN 43697 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 12:30pm-1:45pm | Professor Faye Prichard
Network television as we know it today, largely began in the 1940’s. Since that time, may kinds of programming have come and gone. Arguably, the most enduring genre has been the situation comedy. Honors 398, as its title suggests, explores. During the early days, the ideal woman was often a stay-at-home mom who baked cookies, vacuumed in pearls, and oversaw the lives of her family. But even in those early sitcom days there were other kinds of women who stole the spotlight. There were working women, women who spoke up, and even dead women. Honors 398 will explore the influences that created the social picture of the ideal woman, as well as how these television icons shaped the way that Americans saw each other. We will also explore how television ideals continue to shape our values around women and their roles. How did we get from Donna Reed to Rachel Green? Let’s find out.
Foundations of Evidence-Based Medicine
CRN 47245 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 11am-12:15pm | Professor Kevin Brosnan
The prominence of Evidence-Based Medicine has spawned a proliferation of evidence-based
movements in other disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, and education.
Proponents of these evidence-based X movements are concerned with the replication crises in various sciences, and with the erosion in public trust these crises cause. For each of these evidence-based X movements, there is a view that scientific hypotheses, clinical decisions, and public health policies should be based on the best available evidence. So formulated, this is a boring and uncontroversial view. But there is considerable debate as to what constitutes the best evidence, and about how to handle the ubiquity of discordant evidence. This debate is ultimately a philosophical rather than scientific one, as it concerns the conceptual foundations of statistical and causal inference. By focusing on contemporary debates about these foundations, we will enhance our understanding of what constitutes an adequate evidence base for a hypothesis, a medical intervention, or a public health policy proposal.
Health Sciences in Times of Uncertainty
CRN 47246 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 12:30pm-1:45pm | Professor Kevin Brosnan
In the wake of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd, trust in social institutions and public health science has declined, while a recognition of structural racism as a public health crisis has grown. For many segments of the population, declining trust in science stems from an illiteracy about scientific methods. For others, it stems from fears related to the history of eugenics and racialized medical marginalization, discrimination, and abuse. Declining trust in science threatens public health, and it weakens the skills of collaborative critical deliberation on which the health of democracy depends. Confronting our gravest problems, whether from climate change, global pandemics, or structural racism, requires a durable public trust in science. Strengthening this trust is therefore crucial. The trust in science we seek to build is based on two foundational pillars: 1) a critical knowledge of how scientific methods are used to support a hypothesis or public health intervention, including a working knowledge of how to interpret statistical measures; and 2), situated within the broader social determinants of health framework, knowledge of the racial and socioeconomic gradients in longevity and other health metrics that are manifestly political/racist/classist in origin. This course investigates how the health sciences have become politicized and mistrusted since over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll consider the ways in which public health science has been used in the past to advance political ends, as illustrated by the eugenics movement, and how social factors and the social determinants of health, including racial biases, adversely affect health outcomes and trust in medical science. We’ll also consider the ways in which a misunderstanding of scientific methods often leads to a cynical and dismissive of these methods, according to which science is an instrument of the state, which functions only to advance political agendas.
Honors Variants
ANTH 200: Introduction to African Societies
CRN 43116 | Online Asynchronous | Professor Christopher Brooks
This course introduces the student to the African continent, its peoples and cultures. It covers such general characteristics as the physical and geographical features, climate, topography, traditional economies, languages, religions, social systems and other cultural features that are traditional to its people.
APPM 355: Honors Orchestra
CRN 43487 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | Face-to-Face | 1:30pm-2:50pm | Professor Daniel Myssyk
Open to music majors or by permission; audition required. Provides an opportunity to rehearse and perform works from the symphonic repertoire while improving ensemble skills.
APPM 355: Honors Orchestra
CRN 43487 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | Face-to-Face | 1:30pm-2:50pm | Professor Daniel Myssyk
Open to music majors or by permission; audition required. Provides an opportunity to rehearse and perform works from the symphonic repertoire while improving ensemble skills.
ENGL 340: Early 20th Century British Literature
CRN 48114 | Tuesday, Thursday 12:30pm - 1:45pm | Face-to-Face | Professor Kate Nash
Representative British and Irish poetry, fiction and drama of the early 20th century, including such writers as Yeats, Joyce, Shaw, Lawrence, Conrad, Auden, Forster and Woolf.
ENGL 317: Bodies, Myth, Death, and Culture
CRN 47764 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | Face-to-Face | 11am-11:50am | Professor Sachi Shimomura
*Students who took Dr. Shimomura’s 391 on the same topic should not enroll in this*
A study of cultural perspectives on the body and its health and associated issues (such as gender construction, mortality, disease, physical needs, myths, emotions or bodily anxieties), honing observational skills for the complex ways in which bodies hold meaning. Time periods, geographic scope and genres covered will vary by section. May include guest visits by health professionals to help students contextualize cultural themes alongside modern health care.
ENGL 391-751: Literature of Addiction
CRN 48082 | Monday, Wednesday | Face-to-Face | 4 pm-5:15 pm | Professor Leslie Shiel
Starting with the essays “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders and “Instead of Dying” by Tess Gallagher (about short story writer Raymond Carver), we’ll explore how contemporary American poets and essayists write about addiction and recovery. The class is reading and writing intensive (although not all the writing is graded) and will include literary memoirs by Leslie Jamison (The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath), Bill Clegg (Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery), and possibly others (Mary Karr, Lit: A Memoir); poems by Kaveh Akbar, Franz Wright, Jane Mead, Kate Daniels and many others; stories; articles; possibly excerpts from films. Students will write and revise reading responses, one extended footnote (for a class anthology), one short essay (700 words), and one longer work—an essay, series of poems, excerpts from a graphic novel, extended book review, research piece; i.e., there will be choices.
ENGL 484-701: HONR: Literary Movements: Black Lives Matter
CRN 48091 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | Face to Face | 12 pm-12:50 pm | Professor
Shermaine Jones
The Black Lives Matter Movement created a “fierce urgency of now,” inspiring protests against racism, police brutality, and the disregard for Black life and humanity. This movement also inspired a wave of literary works that reflect the concerns and ideals of the movement. The literature of the BLM Movement course will interrogate literature produced during the BLM Era that engage subjects of the precarity of Black life, the physical and psychological toll of racism on the Black body, and the political efficacy of Black grief. We will read a range of literary genres and also engage podcasts, films etc. Primary texts include: Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, selections from Jesmyn Ward’s The Fire This Time, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me. We will question the ethics of viewing and (re)circulating videos depicting violence against the Black body and we will imagine spaces of freedom and paths to create a “beloved community.”
GSWS 371: Women in Islam
CRN 48048 | Tuesday | Online-synchronous | 4pm-6:40pm | Professor Samaneh Oladi Ghadikolaei
Critical study of the roles and rights of women in Islam.
HIST 394: Technology in Europe & America
CRN 47712 | Monday, Wednesday | 12:00pm - 12:50pm | Hybrid-Asynchronous | Professor John Powers
A survey of the history of the technological development of Europe and North America from antiquity through the end of the 20th century. Outlines major historical trends and turning points in the development and use of technology, and students will take up a small number of illustrative case studies.
IDDS 200: Disability History and Culture
CRN 44558 |Monday | Hybrid | 4pm-6:40pm | Professor Carol Schall
This course provides an interdisciplinary exploration of disability within American society and internationally throughout history. It examines how disability studies, as a field of study, views disability as a social, political, historical and cultural phenomenon. The class examines cultural attitudes about disability and how they influence policies that are designed to address disability.
MASC 493: Field Work
CRN 47938 | Maggie McDearmon
Enrollment requires permission of internship coordinator. Selected students receive on-the-job training under the supervision of an instructor and the employer. Internships are available in a variety of media outlets and related organizations.
POLI 391: VCU Votes
CRN 46166 | Tuesday | Face-to-Face | 4pm-6:40pm | Professors Alexandra Reckendorf (Primary) and Amanda Wintersieck
Voting has consequences. Our elected officials set the tone and substance of our political agendas, and they directly impact what does and does not get passed at the local, state, and national levels. However, older Americans routinely outpace younger cohorts when it comes to participation in elections, which may explain why many politicians so often fail to represent the interests of young voters. If you’ve ever felt like you weren’t adequately represented by your elected officials, or if you’ve ever felt that you were ignored by candidates, it could be because only 27% of 18-29 year olds cast a ballot in the most recent 2022 midterm elections! But there’s good news -- that rate, while low, still marks an improvement on youth voter turnout numbers over the last three decades. This means there is obvious room for optimism and mobilization among young voters, and this class is designed to help make that happen! In this class you will identify trends regarding youth voter turnout in the U.S., brainstorm reasons that an age gap exists in voter turnout, and then work as a team to execute Get Out The Vote (GOTV) projects on and around campus that will help increase voter turnout among VCU students. Upon the conclusion of the 2023 Virginia elections, we will reflect on our challenges and successes, build a tool kit for students in future semesters of the course, and continue to discuss the power of the vote.
PHIL 331: Philosophy of Science
CRN 47200 | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | Face-to-Face | 2pm-2:50pm | Professor Frank Faries
An examination of the bases of scientific inquiry in both the natural and social sciences; including a study of such topics as hypothesis formation and testing, and the nature of scientific laws, theories and explanations.
Honors 399 Modules
Contemporary Issues in Crime & Corrections
CRN 44341 | Tuesday, Thursday | Face-to-Face | 12:30pm-1:45pm | Professor Layton Lester
Miniterm course dates: 9/9/2024-10/11/2024
*Last day to add/drop September Miniterm is September 10*
Students will explore how childhood trauma and exposure to violence leads to delinquent behavior. Issues presented include human trafficking, substance use and mental health disorders, the influence of gangs, and psychopathy. Students will research challenges incarcerated women face, the role of programs that address criminogenic factors, and parenting skills that promote family reunification.
Men's Health
CRN 47649 | Online Asynchronous | Professor Stephen Sowulewski
Miniterm course dates: 9/9/2024-10/11/2024
*Last day to add/drop September Miniterm is September 10*
This course will examine men's health from three domains: physical, mental and spiritual. Topics will include andropause (owing to decreasing testosterone levels in the aging process), prostate, testicular, skin, and breast cancer in addition to the swelling of the prostate gland (benign prostate hyperplasia) in the male life cycle. The prevalence of sleep apnea in men and other sleep disorders will be reviewed. Depression will be studied as the "under disease" in men (under recognized, under diagnosed, and under treated). Finally, a look at spirituality in men in the realm of mind-body exercise.
Discovery of Drugs for Treating Schizophrenia
CRN 47650 | Wednesday | Online Synchronous | 4pm-6:40pm | Professor Joseph Porter
Miniterm course dates: 9/9/2024-10/11/2024
*Last day to add/drop September Miniterm is September 10*
The discovery and development of antipsychotic drugs begins in the 1800s with the development of chemical dyes in clothing industries. In 1952 the first antipsychotic drug, chlorpromazine, was developed in France. Known as Thorazine in the United States, this was the beginning of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of schizophrenia. We will explore this history and the role of serendipity in the discovery and development of drugs for treating schizophrenia.
Reacting to the French Revolution
CRN 48002 | Wednesday, Friday | Face-to-Face | 11am-12:15pm | Dean Scott Breuninger
Miniterm course dates: 9/23/2024-11/15/2024
*Last day to add/drop Fall Miniterm is September 24*
This course will explore the origins and course of the French Revolution through the use of a Reacting to the Past game. After a brief introduction, students will be assigned historical ‘roles’ and will seek to achieve their goals through interactions with one-another to see if the course of the revolution could have been altered.
Honors Sections
- Biology 300
- Biology 310
- Economics 210
- Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate 311
- Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies 201
- Management 310
- Marketing 301
- Math 201
- PSYC 497, PSYC 498, PSYC 499 (Restricted to students pursuing honors in psychology. To learn more about honors in psychology, visit here)
Honors Capstone
Honors 494 Captsone
CRN 42604 | Online Asynchronous| Professor Brandi Daniels
The capstone will examine community engagement, including theories of citizenship, human rights, social movements, civic leadership, social justice, civil discourse, and social capital strategies. Through the use of case studies and field observations gained from neighborhood visits in RVA, students will be able to use an interdisciplinary lens to analyze and apply principles and practices of community engagement. Focus areas include - Education, Job Creation, Workforce Preparation, Social Stability, Healthy Community, Coordinated Transportation, James River, Quality Place, and Demographics.