Honors courses are small, often team-taught from scholars in different disciplines, and fit easily into students' course schedules by fulfilling the university's core requirements.
Recent honors courses include the following:
Art and the Science of Art A forensic scientist and an art conservator teach students how artworks can be understood physically and how science can help guide the preservation of priceless works of art.
Book Design and Production An application of lessons in the history of book making and design to market, edit, graphically design, and produce a new literary journal, The New Sound: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Literature and Art.
Contexts and Images: African-Americans in Literature and Film This course provided an opportunity to examine literature and film as integral elements of African-American experience, heritage, and culture from the Civil War to the present.
Criminal Investigations and Society A detailed analysis of several major criminal investigations and how societies' opinions and expectations influenced the investigation and outcome of each case. We discuss how these cases influenced citizens' feelings about their country and the criminal justice system that either served or failed them during each of these historic events. The course focuses on four cases: the Sacco-Vanzetti murder trial of 1921, the Boston Strangler case in the early 1960s, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the Michael Peterson murder trial in 2003.
Cultural Entrepreneurialism In this course the relationship between the cultural importance and interpretation of the artifacts of Connecticut and their potential as sites for tourism and economic development is explored. Historical, cultural, literary, and economic impact are assessed in relation to geography, population, education, cultural expectations and funding and long-range planning resources.
Emerging Infectious Diseases: History, Science and Medicine One accepted definition of emerging infectious diseases is infections that have newly appeared in a population or have existed but are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. This course provides an overview of the nature of human and animal pathogens and the diseases they cause that are associated with emerging infections. The course also gives a global perspective on how emerging infectious diseases have influenced history.
The Ethics of Sport This course examines some controversial issues in contemporary sport within the context of several major ethical frameworks. This course draws heavily on both philosophy and sociology.
Global Solutions for Sustainability An examination of engineered systems and their effects on the global environment, the use of global resources for sustainable living, design protocols for sustainable engineered systems, and life cycle economics.
Language and Thought An exploration of the nature of language, including both psychological theories about the social and emotional uses of language and the ways in which playwrights, poets, novelists, and other artists explore language in their work.
The President and the Media An investigation into how the President uses the media to govern and how the media (including comedians, popular music, TV sitcoms, and films) affects how the public views the office of President and the person occupying that office.
Punk Rock and Society An exploration of the music and the subculture called ‘punk,’ its practices and values, its relationship to mainstream society, and its role in social change. Invited speakers included Penny Rimbaud, Billy Altman, "Handsome Dick" Manitoba, Lenny Kaye, and Bob Gruen.
