Catamount Core:  WIL1, GC1
This course examines populism and authoritarianism as contemporary challenges to democracy with long historical roots. From earlier political philosophies to the rise of populist movements in the early 20th century and the emergence of conspiracy groups and authoritarian political figures on the contemporary political landscape, the tension between the rule of law and political control has animated much of the discourse around democratic norms in the United States and elsewhere. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to populist and authoritarian ideas, and we will consider historical and contemporary analyses of these phenomena across the political spectrum while also examining literary and cinematic portrayals of authoritarian and populist movements.

Catamount Core: D1, WIL1

This seminar supports students to engage in critical, political analyses of racism, carcerality, and abolition in and outside of educational settings, including early childhood and childhood education, higher education, and community education. Concepts such as race, power, privilege, oppression, and justice will be examined as they relate to perpetuating and disrupting carceral culture in education. Students will investigate how carceral culture shows up in their lives and experiences of education. Through the study of transformative justice and abolitionist movement organizers in and outside of education, students will develop dreams, visions, and practices for disrupting, dismantling, and refusing systems of violence and rebuilding educational cultures of liberation. Our study will be centered on the historical and contemporary abolitionist work of Black, Indigenous, queer, trans, disabled, and poor organizers and scholars of abolitionist education across Turtle Island. Through community dialogue, solidarity practices, written and arts-based work, this course embodies abolitionist praxes of (1) examining histories of punitive violence and repair at the personal, interpersonal, community, institutional, cultural, and systemic scales, (2) repairing and re-patterning our expectations of what education is, and (3) visioning systems of education where we have everything we need and are in right relationship with all our relations. 

Catamount Core: WIL1, AH2

Catamount Core:  WIL1, D2

This course will explore issues surrounding different forms of misinformation (including disinformation and fake news), how they take root, why they endure, their direct and indirect effects on society, and ways to prevent or debunk them. Students in the seminar will also consider how misinformation foments ideological divides — “the culture wars.” LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: (1) Recognize that there are many different ways of writing and make choices appropriate to their audience, context, and purpose; (2) Understand the distinction between peer-reviewed and other types of publications; (3) Locate information using library databases and other means as appropriate; (4) Appropriately cite their sources in accord with the conventions of a specific disciplinary style; (5) Identify the question or problem that is animating a text, find the main argument developed in response to it, and critically evaluate the evidence or strategies used to support that argument; (6) See writing as an iterative process that involves rethinking ideas and organization, in addition to editing for clarity; and (7) Productively engage in seminar discussions as both active listeners and vocal contributors. COURSE-SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES Throughout the semester, students will enhance their ability to do the following: (1) define and identify misinformation (including distinguishing it from disinformation, if necessary/possible); (2) interrogate ecological factors that contribute to the emergence and acceptance of misinformation; (3) examine the impacts of misinformation on “culture wars” issues and marginalized communities; (4) compare, contrast, and analyze historical and contemporary examples of misinformation in the U.S.; (5) investigate a case and design activities and materials to advance information literacy specific to the issue; (6) justify the significance of media and information literacy for sustaining democratic citizenship; and (7) recognize the challenges and limitations of particular correction initiatives (e.g., those that focus on

Catamount Core: WIL1, GC1

During the quiet hours of a chilly Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military troops across Russia’s South-Western border into Eastern Ukraine, forever engraving the date February 24, 2022 in Ukrainian and Russian histories. Not only is this act of war a complete escalation from Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, but it is also one of the most aggressive assaults in contemporary European history. Importantly, in the weeks preceding the war, there were widespread talks in Western Europe and America about Ukraine joining NATO. Seizing an opportune moment, Putin claims to have invaded Ukraine because he has “no other option” and needs to protect “Russian security.” The interplay between these events are not merely coincidental, but speak to a larger, widespread ideological and culture war between Russia in the “East” and Europe in the “West,” exploiting Ukraine to be a shield and prize between the two worlds. Putin’s actions necessitate an investigation into this ideological war, and what he specifically means by “Russian security.” In this course, we will unpack Putin’s motives through examining Russia’s cultural, social, political relationship with Ukraine across time and space. Our investigation will begin at the start of Ukrainian and Russian history in the year 862 when Varangian chieftain Rurik of Ladoga took control of Novgorod and expanded his dynasty across Eastern Europe. We will read chronicles, legends, and folktales to understand the development of the Kyvian Empire into the Russian Empire and, importantly, how people came to culturally and politically identify. We will then consider the leadership and policies of Ivan I, II, III, and the Terrible. Next, we will study the impact of the Russian Empire on Ukraine as portrayed in the literary works of classical Russian authors. From our exploration of these writers, we will turn our attention to the divide been the Slavophiles and the Westerners, which takes us into the turn of the twentieth century. As we move into the Soviet period, we will consider historical events, such as Holodomor and Chernobyl, and Soviet Russia’s overall treatment of Ukraine. We will pay special attention to Ukraine’s disintegration from the Soviet Union in the late 1980s as well as the ramifications of the collapse of the Soviet Union. From here, we will study Russia’s involvement in the Second Chechen War in order to better situate Putin’s military pursuits and wartime culture. Graphic novelist Igort’s Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks will be vital to this effort. Particularly relevant will be our readings into contemporary Ukrainian history, especially on the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan. Once we start to examine Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, we will read Putin’s speeches as well as the writing of Alexander Dugin, who is a conservative philosopher that purports Russian exceptionalism. As we make our way to February 24th, we will analyze global newspaper reports on incorporating Ukraine into NATO, Putin’s many infamous speeches, and the reactions of various contemporary Ukrainian authors, such as Yevgenia Belorusets and Serhiy Zhadan. Fundamentally, we will thoughtfully consider these texts in the context of prevailing political, cultural, and social currents while also carefully reflecting on the trajectory of Russian and Ukrainian histories.

Catamount Core: WIL1

Concern for Global Environmental Change has rapidly risen to the preeminent issue in relations between international states. There have been success and failures in the international arena, but there has been steady progress on international environmental agreements since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. That progress may be slower than many want, or than is needed, but it has been progress. Since 1972 there have been dozens of institutions created and hundreds of international agreements formalized aimed at both protecting and restoring the global environmental commons and/or sections of it.

Catamount Core: WIL, D2

This course is focused on sources and consequences of mental health stigma through an overview of mental health practices from a global perspective using history, medicine, psychological science, etc. to understand the omnipresent stigma present especially in Western cultures. We will consider the many "meanings of madness" and how psychological science can advance our understanding, prevention and treatment of mental health challenges. Most importantly, we consider the important role of psychological science in overcoming the long-standing stigma associated with mental health problems.

Catamount Core: WIL1, AH3

What does it mean to be “modern?” What values and assumptions have shaped our world? How have authors and thinkers across the centuries attempted to situate the modern self? And most importantly perhaps, how has an era of unprecedented technological development yielded unprecedented catastrophes of many kinds, from rampant economic inequality to planetary destruction and mental health crises? Some key foundational texts, in philosophy and cultural theory, of “modernity,” with special attention to the cultures of France and Germany, will help us characterize the modern self in its relation to the external world. We will use these texts to help us understand the music, art, and literature of one of the most exciting, eccentric, and vibrant periods, the turn of the twentieth century. Along the way, we will talk about progress, power, freedom, individualism, race, sexuality, the role of art, and much more.

Catamount Core: WIL1

In The Transformative Power of Creativity, you’ll come to realize through writing, deep-dive research, intensive study, and daily hands-on practice the transformative power of “making and beholding” myriad forms of art in all realms of life. Through the touchstones of visual art, dance, film, music, moral beauty, nature, poetry, sport, religion, theatre, and writing, you’ll learn to develop and nourish an aesthetic mindset: a high level of curiosity; a love of playful, open-ended exploration; a keen sensory awareness; and drive to engage in creative activities as a maker and/or beholder. Through inquiry and discernment, insight and storytelling, you’ll ascertain how ways of making and/or beholding art—from singing in the shower to staring at a wonder of nature, writing in your journal, doodling, dancing in the kitchen, or listening to music—impacts every sphere of being. You’ll discover the power of heightened awareness and collective effervescence, how rituals of paying attention stir awe—those whoa’s and ahhh’s—in all aspects of public and private life. Through this lens and practice of Neuroaesthetics, through self-study and self-awareness, you’ll encounter the means by which to cultivate well-being, restore mental health, heal the body, amplify learning, flourish, and create community. In this course, you’ll be introduced to Core Concepts of the Neuroarts: Neuroplasticity, Enriched Environments, The Aesthetic Triad, and Default Mode Network. You’ll also be exposed to the anatomy of the body—smell, taste, vision, hearing, and touch—and scientific proof of how the arts and aesthetic mindset are essential to human survival. You’ll learn to map meaningful connections and the language of human experience to better understand and articulate emotions and your physiological reactions to them. Ultimately, you’ll become acutely aware of personal aesthetic life choices that feed and support your unique self. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." Get set for a mind-expanding and -rewiring journey of enlightenment. Prepare for a life-altering transformation. Trust the process.

Catamount Core: WIL1, S1

This Honors College fall seminar for first time students will focus on the impact of isolation on social development in our COVID world. We will explore how COVID related experiences have changed the way adolescents navigate social relationships. And, how social isolation impacts identity development.

Catatmount Core: WIL1

Should we settle space? Perspectives from science & science fiction This course uses science fiction, scholarly research, and popular science writing to explore whether humans should establish settlements on Mars, the moon, and beyond. We will read science fiction narratives on space settlement from the 20th and 21st centuries and consider how cultural and historical context has shaped this body of literature, as well as how science fiction has shaped our attitudes toward space exploration and colonization. We will also examine the question of space settlement through scholarly and popular non-fiction sources, exploring topics such as physical and mental health, reproduction, habitats, agriculture, politics, and economics. 

Catamount Core: WIL1, D1,  AH3

This course will teach students to harness the power of theoretical scholarship on social marginalization, oppression, and privilege in making sense of a society structured by intersecting systems of social hierarchy. Through their coursework, students will deepen their understanding of the ways in which intersecting systems of social power divergently shape contemporary American lived-experiences. With a focus on race and gender, students will investigate where, how, why theoretical insights constitute essential practical and political tools, equipping us to effectively challenge the intersecting systems of social power operative in our contemporary American social/cultural/political context. This course will also help students continue to develop a set of critical thinking and communication skills can be usefully applied in a variety of different domains both within and outside of academia. Through written work and through collaborative discussion, this course will help students develop their capacities to, e.g., communicate clearly and concisely, accurately reconstruct an argument, analysis, or position from a piece of text, apply theoretical tools in analyzing current events, cultural phenomena, etc., critically evaluate a position, argument, or theoretical framework, construct persuasive defense of a position, and anticipate and address potential objections.

Catamount Core: WIL1