• Literature (AH2)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

Section Description: 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. This course fulfills the WIL1 and AH1 Catamount Core requirements.

Section Expectations: This course is primarily discussion-based. Required text: 1. A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? (Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, ISBN 978-0141993300). E-books and audiobooks are fine.

Evaluation: Grading will include attendance and participation, brief reading responses, an annotated bibliography, and a short story.

• Arts (AH1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (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.

Section Expectations: CATAMOUNT CORE ARTS & LITERATURE CRITERIA AND LEARNING OUTCOMES (AH3): In this course, you [the student] will: Recall and apply basic information and scholarly vocabulary about the cultural constructs or past events that are central to the course. Read primary and secondary sources in the Humanities for basic comprehension of their contents. Analyze a primary source via the application of methods taught or practiced in the course. Analyze a secondary source in the Humanities via the application of methods taught or practiced in the course. WRITING AND INFORMATION LITERACY (WIL1) LEARNING OUTCOMES: In this course, you [the student] will develop the four Foundational Writing and Information Literacy learning goals: rhetorical discernment, information literacy, critical reading, and substantive revision: Rhetorical discernment is the ability to write appropriately for different audiences, contexts, and purposes. Information literacy is the ability to pose appropriate questions and find reliable, relevant, and useful information to answer them. Information literacy also includes the ability to integrate sources into writing and to document sources correctly. Critical reading is the ability to identify, understand, and communicate the main ideas of a text and evaluate the evidence or strategies used to support those ideas. Substantive revision requires approaching writing as a process that includes rethinking ideas and organization, not merely copyediting and correcting mistakes.

Evaluation: Class attendance and participation: 30% Weekly Readings/Writing Workshops and Creative Making & Beholding Scrapbook: 20% Wonder & Awe Journal: 10% Student-led Specialists Discussions: 5% Outreach Project Proposals (how to share this transformative practice with others): 5% Capstone Research Essay, 6-8 pages (including all process pieces and drafts): 20% Epilogue: Final Exam/Reflection: 10%

• Race and Racism in the US (D1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

Description TBD

We’ll be reading dystopian novels and discussing the contemporary social problems featured in these narratives with supplemental readings from many disciplines to facilitate a comparison/contrast of the storyworlds and our actual world. Our goal will be to consider what makes a human society unsustainable, in terms of both environmental/ecological problems and social/political problems. The major story-tellers featured in class include: Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Octavia Butler. Topics we'll explore include: the Climate Crisis; Sex, Gender and Human Rights; Book Banning; Slavery; War; Totalitarianism; Self-Determination and the State. Learning Outcomes: This course fulfills both the WIL1 and AH2 Catamount Core Requirements WIL1: Writing and Information Literacy 1: At the completion of a course fulfilling the WIL1 requirement, students should be able to: • Write for different audiences • Pose and answer good questions • Engage in critical reading and reflection • Use feedback to revise and develop written work AH2: Literature Student Learning Outcomes: Students completing a course fulfilling the Literature requirement will: • Learn to recognize selected forms, genres, and traditions of literary work. • Practice the analysis of creative works, using methods appropriate to the form. • Develop critical thinking skills needed to examine literary works as they relate to different aspects of society and history, including the examination of social structures, identities, practices and/or problems. Required Texts: Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (any edition) Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed, (any edition) Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (any edition) Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (any edition) Additional short texts available via Brightspace

Section Expectations: Students will engage with the course material through class discussion, homework, one presentation and drafted writing assignments, including short essays and a longer capstone research paper.

• Global Citizenship: Developing Global Citizens (GC2)
• Humanities (AH3)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

This is an introduction to food ethics. We'll decide on its topics together but past classes have picked: large- and small-scale animal farming, large- and small-scale plant farming, food workers, organic food, local food, food and identity, and consumption ethics (veganism, vegetarianism, omnivorism, etc).

Section Expectations: The book for this class is Barnhill, et al, Food, Ethics, and Society (Oxford University Press). The bookstore usually has used copies.

Evaluation: Three exams. A final project. Short writing assignments. Class participation.

• Humanities (AH3)
• Race and Racism in the US (D1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

his 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 develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which intersecting systems of social power divergently shape contemporary American lived-experiences. Focusing especially 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. 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.

• Humanities (AH3)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

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.

Evaluation: Attendance and active participation 20% / Homework Journal 15% / Short papers 30% / Capstone paper 35%

• Social Sciences (S1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

This course introduces students to major issues raised by the experiences of people of Asian ancestry in the United States. Asian America comprises complex, diverse, and rapidly changing populations. The course begins with a critical examination of ethnoracial categories and the historical contexts for their usage. We will consider the notions of “race” and “ethnicity” as social constructs and develop an understanding of their meanings through social analysis and interpretation. The course explores the similarities and differences of Asian American groups through a comparative approach. Students will be introduced to key areas where social science research has produced significant empirical findings and theorization. Topics include: histories of immigration; contemporary immigration trends; assimilation; transnationalism; anti-Asian racism; intergroup conflict; political economy; popular culture; ethnoracial identity; and the second generation. The course has four main objectives: i) to offer critical perspectives on the social, political, and cultural formation of “Asian Americans”; ii) introduction to the major themes, arguments, and frameworks of analysis in the field of Asian American studies; iii) knowledge of the socio-historical conditions and contemporary issues concerning people of Asian descent in the U.S.; iv) understanding of diversity experiences and the state of current ethnoracial relations.

• Social Sciences (S1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

This course will engage with the topic of reproductive rights in the United States, with a focus on the history of activism and protest in the 20th century to present. We'll explore the framing, strategy and tactics used by activists as they attempt to activate leverage points for influence. We’ll consider two thematic questions in particular: 1) why have we seen such a dramatic restriction of reproductive rights as the state and federal level when a strong majority of Americans favor legal abortion under some circumstances and 2) what are the emerging contours of the situation for reproductive rights currently?

Section Expectations: This course meets the WIL1 General Education requirement, and will therefore involve writing, reflection on writing, research, and substantive revision of written work. The course also involves active learning and application/exploration of course concepts, and therefore timely completion of assignments and class attendance is expected.

Evaluation: Written assignments of many types, including a research paper, class engagement and ongoing reflective work will form the basis of the grade.

The American Psychiatric Association reports that 43% of US adults feel more anxious in 2024 than they did in 2023. More specifically about 70% of adults are particularly anxious about issues such as current events, 2024 election, the economy, gun violence and immigration. However, only 24% of adults reportedly sought professional mental health support in the past year. Is this an epidemic as we experienced Covid or is there something else happening? What is "normal" anxiety as a fundamental aspect of coping in a complex world? This course will examine an overview of the current science and other literature on these questions. Perhaps more importantly, the course will also examine how we define anxiety from both psychological and neuroscience perspectives as well as how well these compare to real world experiences in both western and eastern cultures. To this end, we will draw on examples from a variety of sources as well as science such as history, philosophy, art, etc. How do you define anxiety - what does it mean to you? What about ways to address anxiety proactively? Thus, students will also have the opportunity to explore examples on their own and in line with personal interests. This course is a seminar requiring students to engage in classroom discussion and reflective writing using assigned readings as well as self-selected readings. The goal is for students to use science, personal experiences, and examples drawn from the study of many liberal arts sources to gain global and personal perspectives of their own thought processes. In this way, students can explore their own ways to confront this clearly important subject!

Section Expectations: Participants in this course are expected to (1) complete all readings, written and presentation requirements within the time allotted, (2) attend class and be an active member in all class discussions, (3) present research as required in a professional manner, and (4) provide support and encouragement to other class members when they are engaging in class discussions and presentations. Participants will also have an opportunity to engage in self-directed learning by selecting topics of interest for exploration and enlightenment. Students who take this course may pursue STEM, liberal arts or practical examples from history or current affairs. Course objectives emphasize the student’s ability to (1) locate and evaluate high quality relevant research from appropriate scientific journals and books, (2) synthesize and critique readings (text and research articles/books) in both verbal and written formats using APA format and style, (3) present material in a classroom setting with appropriate aids (e.g., handouts, PowerPoint) in different contexts (i.e., formal class presentation, student-led discussions, poster presentation), and (4) participate actively in all class discussions. This course is reading and writing intensive and is designed to permit “self-discovery” through personal reflection on the readings, discussion of points of interest from source materials, and self-selection of material for intensive personal study.

Evaluation: TThis is a seminar course; thus, class attendance and participation are crucial. Weekly reflective writing on assigned readings are important to in-class discussions. There is also a paper and presentation of current research related to course content and a literature review project both of which are student selected and related to the course topic. As part of the HCOL requirement students will be involved in developing a poster presentation in a small group focused on a topic area related to the overall course focus. The posters will be presented at an HCOL Research Symposium at the end of the semester.

Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

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.

• Global Citizenship: Developing Global Citizens (GC2)
• Social Sciences (S1)
• Writing and Info Literacy (WIL1)

Description TBD.