Honors Courses

Honors courses for the fall 2009 semester are listed below.  For additional information regarding the Honors Program, please contact Dr. Bradley Woodworth, Faculty Director of the Honors Program, at (203) 932-7121 or bwoodworth@newhaven.edu.

UPPER-DIVISION HONORS COURSES - enrollment restricted to sophomore, junior, and senior Honors Program students 

BI 590 ST: THE SCIENCE OF SEX: BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF HUMAN SEXUALITY
An examination of the biological and psychological determinants of human sexual behavior. Topics include social and biological foundations of human sexuality, human reproduction, cross-cultural perspectives on sexual behavior, and the diversity of sexual orientations. Special emphasis is placed on the study of original classic and current empirical research.  This course will satisfy University Core Competency 1.2, 2.3, or 5.1.

CO 453 ST: CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND SOCIETY: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECT MAJOR CASES
A detailed analysis of several major criminal investigations and how societies’ opinions and expectations influenced the investigation and outcome of each case.  We will 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 will focus 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. Satisfies Core Competency 1.2 or 4.2.

EAS300 GLOBAL SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Prerequisites: M 109, M 127, or a higher-level mathematics course, a laboratory science course, or permission of instructor Agamemnon Koutsospyros.  This course examines a huge question facing all modern societies today: how can we attain environmental sustainability while still maintaining industrial development?  This course will investigate the balance between environmental protection and the need for industrial development.  The topics we will examine include engineered systems and their effects on the global environment; the use of global resources for sustainable living; design protocols for sustainable engineered systems; designing and building for the environment, and life-cycle economics.  Satisfies Core Competency 2.3 or 5.2.

FOR451 ST: CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND SOCIETY: AN ANALYSIS OF SELECT MAJOR CASES
A detailed analysis of several major criminal investigations and how societies’ opinions and expectations influenced the investigation and outcome of each case.  We will 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 will focus 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. Satisfies Core Competency 1.2 or 4.2.

MU 452 ST: GENDER, DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY: A PERSPECTIVE FROM PSYCHOLOGY AND THE ARTS
This course will explore the impact of gender, substance abuse and violence, as well as the intersection of these problems, on mental health in the 20th century.  The primary focus will be on these psychological issues with historical examples drawn from the arts, particularly in America.  Topics will include gender psychology, understanding substance use disorders, interpersonal violence, and artistic cultures.  Biographies and profiles of 20th century artists and musicians will be explored, especially where they interconnect with relevant issues involving gender, illicit substance use, and violence.  This course will satisfy University Core Competency 5.1 or 6 (pending approval).

P 480 ST: THE SCIENCE OF SEX: BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF HUMAN SEXUALITY
An examination of the biological and psychological determinants of human sexual behavior. Topics include social and biological foundations of human sexuality, human reproduction, cross-cultural perspectives on sexual behavior, and the diversity of sexual orientations. Special emphasis is placed on the study of original classic and current empirical research.   This course will satisfy University Core Competency 1.2, 2.3, or 5.1.

P 484 ST: GENDER, DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY: A PERSPECTIVE FROM PSYCHOLOGY AND THE ARTS
This course will explore the impact of gender, substance abuse and violence, as well as the intersection of these problems, on mental health in the 20th century.  The primary focus will be on these psychological issues with historical examples drawn from the arts, particularly in America.  Topics will include gender psychology, understanding substance use disorders, interpersonal violence, and artistic cultures.  Biographies and profiles of 20th century artists and musicians will be explored, especially where they interconnect with relevant issues involving gender, illicit substance use, and violence.  This course will satisfy University Core Competency 5.1 or 6 (pending approval).

COURSES OPEN TO ALL HONORS PROGRAM STUDENTS 

HS 102 THE WESTERN WORLD IN MODERN TIMES
This course investigates the "Modern Western World" through films that show major developments from the rise of constitutional and absolutist monarchies to the present. It deals with social, political, scientific, and technological revolutions, as well as war and reconstruction. In studying stability and change, students should become aware of the major contours of the past and how to think about history as opposed to "heritage." History involves the study of the past based on evidence, while heritage, often portrayed in films, entails inventing a past to legitimize a desired present or future. Films provide a basis for discussing major events and changes, but they also demonstrate changing approaches to presenting events, as film makers developed new ideas, narrative strategies, and technical processes. Films also reflect changing attitudes toward heritage, history, audiences, ideologies, and contemporary problems.  This course will satisfy University Core Competency 4.1.

HS 383 ST: HOLY CRIMES - CASE STUDIES
This interdisciplinary honors seminar explores, through case studies, exemplary conflicts between personal identity and dominant cultural authority. What happens when individual conscience challenges political, religious, social, and economic power.  This course will satisfy University Core Competency 4.1.