Spring 2021 HNRS Courses
HNRS 1035 Sec. 001
Environments in PerilBroad patterns of biodiversity (biomes), from rainforests to deserts to tundra, are products of geography, climate, and evolutionary history. These properties affect each biome’s history of human exploitation and their threats in the 21st century. We will explore Earth’s biomes and their threats, focusing on North America and the New...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 1035 Sec. 002
Science for CitizensWhat is science? What do scientists do? Why does so much of science seem controversial these days? How much of your behavior is in your genes? (And what exactly is a gene?) Are there really genes for infidelity? aggression? novelty seeking? How do we choose our mates? Do human genes continue to...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 1035 Sec. 900
Community Perspectives of Environmental IssuesUnderstanding the complexities surrounding the human/nature relationship provides us with a necessary framework to co-exist in an ever-changing world. How we experience nature and the environment, however, differs among and between communities. In this course, we will collaborate with peers from Scott Community College in Iowa and San Jose State... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 1036 Sec. 001
Watershed: Summit to SeaDo you live in a watershed? Yes, everyone does. Water on earth is connected, from the atmosphere to the land, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. In this course we will explore the connections and interactions at the watershed scale and learn about human impacts on them, as well as integrated... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2013 Sec. 060
Post-Colonial AfricaThe post-World War II period witnessed widespread anti-colonial agitations and calls for the end of European colonial rule in African societies. After a century of European imperial dominance, the decolonization of Africa became one of the turning points in the history of the post-war world. The struggle for political liberty... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2013 Sec. 061
A Historical View of German Surveillance States: Nazi Germany and East Germany in Film LiteratureThe primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the surveillance states of Germany during the National Socialist period as well as during the years of former East Germany. Students will more closely examine the concept of these “Big Brother” societies as they are portrayed in the films...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2013 Sec. 900
The State of LouisianaNOTE: This section is reserved for students participating the LASAL Scholars Program.
The State of Louisiana is a foundation course for LASAL Scholars; it provides an introduction to the greatest challenges facing our state. Students will study the root causes of poverty in Louisiana, and the daily challenges that children who live in poverty... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2020 Sec. 050
Homelessness in Our CommunityHomelessness in the United States is a significant social problem, but there are ways we can understand the issue more deeply, and there are approaches that have worked and are working to get individuals and families into permanent housing. In this course, we will explore experiences and public perceptions of...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2020 Sec. 060
Religion & Ethnicity in Israel/PalestineRevolt. Judaism. Islam. Intifada. War. Peace. Palestine. Israel. Zionism. Settlements. Hamas. PLO. Jerusalem.
Feel lost? This course will help you find your bearings.
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HNRS 2020 Sec. 061
Viral Racism: Covid and the Spread of Racial BiasCOVID-19 discloses the fissures and fractures that belie America’s creed, E pluribus unum. It articulates the foibles and fabrications that have questioned whether America believes in the values that it has broadcast since its birth. To brown and black folk, COVID-19 tells the truth. To those willing to listen, it... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2020 Sec. 062
How Religions Can Change The WorldReligious leaders and movements have been at the heart of social and cultural change for millennia and around the globe. How did they do it, and what would it mean for you to take the ideas and principles of transformative efforts to make your own impact on the world?
This... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2020 Sec. 900
Abolish or Reform: The Future of U.S. JusticeThe summer of 2020 saw renewed protests in response to the high-profile police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. The protests called attention to ongoing racial injustice in the United States and the role of the criminal legal system in perpetuating systemic wrongs. This course will explore what... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2021 Sec. 010
Art and Its MarketsThis course is designed to approach the issue of art and its role in the commercial market place from a variety of perspectives. It is divided into two parts. Part I will retrace the origins of the various "players" in the modern art market setting (dealers, auction houses, collectors, museums,...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2021 Sec. 011
Cities and the Arts in ChinaHow does one know a city? What makes different people flock there? Why did it become a hotbed for artistic creativity and innovation? What makes Chinese cities unique in the world? What makes them “Chinese”? This course reflects on these and other questions by focusing on major Chinese cities (Beijing,...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2021 Sec. 060
Contemporary Global CinemaThis course is an introduction to contemporary global cinema covering the films of internationally recognized filmmakers from a diverse range of countries. We will examine the aesthetic, cultural, and political aspects of the films; their cinematic techniques and major genres; their distinctive national cinemas; and the composition of their film audiences.... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2021 Sec. 061
Germany and America in Film and LiteratureThis course will introduce students to German and American relations, traditions, history, and cultures from the 19th Century to today. Students will obtain a better understanding of the similarities and differences of each country as they are portrayed and examined in film, literature, scholarly readings, lecture, and course discussion.
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HNRS 2021 Sec. 080
Improvisation for the TheaterTap into the power of spontaneous creativity with a philosophy you can use in every aspect of your life. Discover why doctors, lawyers, and the most successful companies in the world are doing improv training. Learn where improv came from and where it is going. Explore a type of teamwork that reinforces individuality... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 060
Civil War Memory: How Americans Have Come to See the Civil WarThrough lectures, readings, movies, and discussion, this course will explore how contrasting and contested memories of the Civil War emerged—among whites in the North, whites in the South, and African Americans. It will then explore manifestations of those memories in various novels and movies as well as in movements and...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 061
Dante's Divine ComedyStudents will study the entirety of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise), a work of great scope that aims to provide a complete picture of the reality of the cosmos and of human virtues and vices. One of the great masterpieces of world literature, Dante’s poem is a compendium of the scientific, philosophical, religious,...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 062
Shakespeare and the OtherPlays in which non-European characters figure prominently will be the focus of study and discussion in an exploration of Shakespeare’s dramatization of issues that today we call multicultural or multiethnic. What are the distinctive features of these plays? What theatrical contexts can we identify for the conflicts in which these...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 064
Zen: Delusion & EnlightenmentWhat is mind? How can non-dualistic philosophy be applied in cleaning tables? What do female Zen Masters teach? What Zen rituals help heal delusions? We’ll explore answers to such questions as proffered in historical and philosophical developments across the eighth through twentieth centuries in the cultural contexts of China, Japan,... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 065
Ethics and Cultures of CommemorationHow do we remember (and forget) the past? How is cultural or public memory shaped and constructed? What is its value? Are their specifically cultural forms of memory? Do we have duties to remember (and forget?) and if so, how can we fulfill these obligations? How are cultural and public... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2030 Sec. 066
The Lives of SaintsThis course investigates writings about the lives of saints, or “hagiography,” in late antique Christianity (ca. 100-700 C.E.). Through a critical engagement with these texts in translation, students will encounter apostles, martyrs, mystics, and holy people from Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac literature. In our seminar-style discussions and individual research,... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2033 Sec. 030
Humans and the EnvironmentHumans have been altering our environment since before we were humans. The environment has been altering us for just as long. We will discuss the history of these human-environment interactions over the past 12,000 years. Topics Include: the Neolithic revolution, industrialization, energy and climate, population growth, & ecological economics.
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HNRS 2033 Sec. 060
Magic and TechnologyArthur C. Clarke once wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” How can we understand recent and future technological developments that promise to change the very nature of what it means to be human? The entities created by Artificial Intelligence may be compared and contrasted with the ways that humans...
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Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2033 Sec. 070
Voting in America: The Perils and the Promise for Minorities and Young VotersNothing is more precious in our democracy than the right to vote. The ideal of one-person, one-vote is at the heart of our principles, but it never has been easy to achieve. We will study the struggle for voting rights in the 1960s & examine how progress has often been... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2402 Sec. 060
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean WorldExploring the themes of JOURNEY and RETURN in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, HNRS 2402 will feature Homer’s Odyssey, the plays of Sophocles and Euripides, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the philosophy of Plato, and Virgil’s Aeneid.
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HNRS 2402 Sec. 900
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean WorldExploring the themes of JOURNEY and RETURN in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, HNRS 2402 will feature Homer’s Odyssey, the plays of Sophocles and Euripides, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the philosophy of Plato, and Virgil’s Aeneid.
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HNRS 2406 Sec. 060
Renaissance to Revolution: The Individual and the WorldHNRS 2406 is an interdisciplinary course that explores European conceptions of the individual and the world during the eventful period from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. Classes alternate between lectures and seminars, aiming to uncover the historical and philosophical “back story” of the texts studied in relation to debates... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 2406 Sec. 061
Renaissance to Revolution: The Individual and the WorldHNRS 2406 is an interdisciplinary course that explores European conceptions of the individual and the world during the eventful period from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. Classes alternate between lectures and seminars, aiming to uncover the historical and philosophical “back story” of the texts studied in relation to debates... Read More...
Fulfills General Education:
HNRS 3025 Sec. 060
Infectious Cultures: Global Stories of Disease, 1995 to COVID-19The Coronavirus pandemic has sown panic and pandemonium globally, forcing a reflection on individual and collective health as well as on the future of the human race itself. We are never alone in our contemplation of existential crisis though. Literature, art, and culture provide desperately needed anchors in times of... Read More...