Honors Colloquia: Past, Present, and Future
Honors Colloquia for Fall 2012
Ids-398A - All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Don Quixote
with Dr. J. Wade (Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages)
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 am - 12:20 pm
Published more than four centuries ago, Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote de la Mancha remains a work of profound influence and relevance in the twenty-first century. Why should this story persist in our collective cultural consciousness? As part of this course we will answer this question and many others. We will look at the slippery interplay between story and history in the work; we will examine its narrative structure and come to an understanding of Cervantes’s innovative theory of the novel; we will trace its reception over the centuries and consider the theoretical and artistic movements that yielded so many different interpretations; and, finally, we will go inside the heart and mind of the protagonist in order to understand his madness, brilliance, and enduring character.
Note: has applied for Literature designation in GenEd.
Ids-398B - The Making of a Genius: Mozart in 18th Century Austria
with Dr. E. Williams ( Professor of Music) and Dr. J. Martinson (Assistant Professor of History)
Monday/Wednesday 5:00 pm - 6:20 pm
This colloquium examines the life and works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the world that encouraged his particular genius. Because Mozart's career spanned the second half of the 18th century, and because he enjoyed patronage from the Church and the nobility, much material is available for group projects to be worked on throughout the semester. Students will consider the eminence and eventual demise of the Habsburg Empire, including the social, economic and political ramifications on everyday life in Salzburg and Vienna in the 18th century and before. All these factors come into play as we study the operatic masterpieces written by Mozart in collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte--LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, DON GIOVANNI and COSI FAN TUTTE, but basing the majority of our time on COSI.
Note: has applied for Arts & Aesthetics designation in GenEd.
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Honors Colloquia for Spring 2012
IDS-398A - Is There a Sleeping Princess in this Room?
with Dr. Veronique Machelidon, Foreign Languages and Literatures (fulfills literature elective requirement for general education)
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00-3:20 pm
An international genre featured across many European literatures and languages, the fairy tale offers remarkable insights into normative scripts of socialization, education, and psychological growth. In this class, students will learn to analyze and interpret fairy tales from different Western cultures, they will explore what happens when these tales are translated into popular, non-literary media.
IDS-398B - Mythozoology with Dr. Larry Grimes, Biology
Tuesday/Thursday 3:30 - 4:50 pm
Mythozoology is the study of mythological or fantastic animals. This Honors colloquium approaches the subject broadly with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, incorporating physical and social sciences, art, and the humanities. Honors students will create projects at individual, group, and class levels. The course will incorporate class field trips, guest speakers, and special library materials.
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Honors Colloquia for Fall 2012
IDS-398-A: Women Behaving (Un)Bibically - Monday/Wednesday 5:30-6:50 pm (fulfills literature elective requirement for general education)
Dr. Margarita Suarez, Religious and Ethical Studies
In this course we will be exploring two related issues: the way women are characterized in the Bible as well as the way women interpret and deal with the Bible. Hence the course deals with both biblical studies and theology. While I have put together a series of readings to form the core for the course, the course intends to be student-centered in presentations, discussion, and the ultimate direction that our explorations will take. Among the questions that we will explore are: What does the Bible say (and leave out) about specific women? Does the Bible say that women are inferior to men? Does the Bible say that women should be subordinate to men, especially their husbands? Does the Bible depict God only as male? Is God male (and does that make males more like God than women)? Does the Bible have positive things to say about women? Does the Bible justify the equality of women with men, even in the area of ministry? Can a person believe in women's rights and in the Bible? Are Judaism and Christianity inescapably male-centered or can they be liberating for women?
These kinds of questions are at the very least challenging and unsettling and possibly disturbing and upsetting. The goal of this course, however, is to look at these questions with openness and honesty in the pursuit of learning.
IDS-398-B: Plants & People through the Ages - Tuesday/Thursday 8:00-9:20 am (fulfills science elective for general education)
Dr. Janice Swab, Biological Sciences
No people, of any society past, present, or future can survive without plants. This course provides students the opportunity to learn about ways that plants have been used by humans throughout history, are being used today, and will likely be used in the future. After taking this course, students will not view their daily lives in the same way as before. They will understand the many ways they use plants. They will view their own society, and all human societies, as plant users. This Honors course will differ from the usual “plants and people” course in both depth and breadth of writing and referencing required.
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Honors Colloquia for Spring 2012
IDS-398-A: How to Play a Player: Four Centuries of Don Juan
(Arts & Aesthetics OR Lit elective)
Dr. Jonathan Wade, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Prof. Steven Roten, Theater
Few characters persist through space and time as much as the universally recognized figure of Don Juan. From his first appearance in Tirso de Molina's The Trickster of Seville (1630) to Mozart's renowned opera Don Giovanni (1787) to more recent manifestations such as Johnny Depp's charachter in Don Juan Demarco (1995), the Don Juan figure has proven one of the most successful character-types ever created. But why should such an infamous womanizer appear so frequently on stage, screen, and page? What is it about this anti-hero that has captured the imagination and interest of so many artists and audiences over the past four centuries? In what ways is a twenty-first century women's college in the United States uniquely suited to take on Don Juan? This course will address these questions and others as we follow the Don Juan character from his seventeenth-century roots through the end of the twentieth century.
Under the direction of Professors Roten and Wade, this course will offer an interdisciplinary approach to Don Juan, exploring the character primarily through textual analysis and performance. While the course content favors dramatic representations of Don Juan, students also can anticipate works of poetry, narrative, film, opera, and literary/performance criticism as well. Students will examine the character within the various texts and contexts in which s/he appears, having frequent opportunities to read, write, and rehearse out of class, and discuss, debate, and act within. Overall, students will be asked to respond to the subject matter in ways both creative aand challenging, including regular, short writing assignments and performances, in-class presentations, a research paper, and a final project.
IDS-398-B: Introduction to Astronomy
(Science elective)
Dr. Bill Schmidt, Chemistry, Physics and Geoscience
This course presents a scientific exploration of the human place in the universe, especially appropriate for non-science students. Topics include the history of astronomy, the real and apparent notion of celestial objects, eclipses, comparative planetology, stars, black holes, and life in the universe.
As an honors colloquium, this course will dedicate about 40% of class time to discussion from current books, including Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris, Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait, Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, and The Canon by Natalie Angier. There will be some small group work during class to understand the readings and exercises/questions. There will be open-ended creative questions to answer as homework assignments. Students will debate the merits of the Pluto demotion from planetary status. There will be guest lectures on the history of astronomy and on the challenges of human spaceflight. There will be at least one night-time (1 hour) observation during the semester (from the SMB roof top).
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Honors Colloquia for Fall 2011
IDS 398A: Environmental Art: Ethics and Spirituality
(Arts & Aesthetics & Ethics)
Professor Warner Hyde, Art
This course will be held on Tuesday/Thursday at 9:30-10:50 in Gaddy-Hamrick room 129 (Ceramics studio).
This course is designed to enlighten the student's awareness of the natural world around her and to strengthen her understanding and relationship to the natural world. The course's vehicle of exploration will be studying and creating environmental artwork in which the artistic concept deals with ethical and spiritual relationships with nature. This course will feature many exciting field trips and guest experts.
IDS 398B: Comedy, Ethics, and Society
(Cultural Perspectives & Ethics)
Dr. Steven Benko, Religious and Ethical Studies
This course will be held on Monday/Wednesday at 3:30PM-4:50PM in Ledford room 214
The course will cover a variety of theories of comedy and laughter. We will seek to understand comedy from a psychological, social, political, and religious perspective. From there we will come to an understanding of irony, parody, and satire as strategies for telling a joke that makes a point. We will invoke different ethical theories (Utilitarianism, Natural Law), ethical principles (justice, fairness, pluralism, tolerance, truth, compassion) to show how they are reinforced or challenged by comedy. When we investigate comedy and the political we will cover topics including jokes in and about politics, race and racism, and jokes about the sexes. Using examples of comedy from literature, television, radio, and film we will work to understand, first, what authorizes that joke, second, what is funny (or supposed to be funny) about that joke, and third, the effect of the joke on the individual and group who laugh at, or are laughed at in, the joke. Another topic of the course will be the investigation of the power dynamics inherent in every joke as well as the implied authority to tell a joke—for this reason we will be questioning the dearth of female comedians and focusing on the jokes that female comedians are authorized (and not authorized to tell. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to: the psychology of jokes and laughter, laughter and religion, laughter and the political, and ethics and/of comedy.
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Honors Colloquia for Spring 2011
IDS:398-A: Memory and Memoir
May be taken for either social sciences credit or english elective credit.
Dr. Mark O'Dekirk, Psychology
Dr. Judy Dearlove, English
What are the differences between memoir and autobiography? Fact and fiction? Memory and false memory? What is memory? How can we improve it? Why do we forget? Why do people write memoirs? How do they write them? What would you say in your memoir? Students will explore these questions.
IDS:398-B: The Science Behind CSI
Counts as a Science and Society requirement for students who have already completed their lab science requirement.
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: understand methodology of crime scene processing; understand evidence chain of custody; perform forensic analytical chemistry; perform and analyze simple DNA testing; and understand scientific methods of determining time of death.
Dr. Francie Cuffney, Biology
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Honors Colloquia for Fall 2010
IDS:398-A: Ethnobotany (3 credit hours)
Dr. Janice Swab, Biological Sciences
This course will be taught on Tuesday/Thursday from 8:00-9:20 am in SMB 118. This course satisfies an honors colloquium and science in society.
This Honors course will differ from the usual “plants and people” course in both depth and breadth of writing and referencing required. It is truly the rare student who has encountered plants in a significant way; yet no aspect of our lives could continue without plants. This is not a botany course; however, students cannot understand plant uses without understanding basic plant biology and indeed we begin with an overview of what plants are (and are not), and how they carry out their lives, including generalities about their morphology and physiology. What makes a healthy plant? Now and then we should consider plants from their perspective! Students will choose plants to write about and thus can fit their interests to the plants they choose: Music majors can choose woods that are used to make instruments, reeds, stands, and other materials used in their field; art majors have a limitless array of materials they might be interested in finding out about; every student has hobbies and interests that an understanding of plant uses will enrich. The outline of the course is such that no major area of ethnobotany is excluded. Activities they pursue during the course will include visits to various kinds of food markets; interpretation of food labels (not for calorie counts, etc. but for uses of plant materials in ways they may never have imagined); visits to public botanical institutions; research facilities, or other plant-related enterprises; activities that require them to observe plant materials for critical information are some of the activities that they may undertake.
IDS-398-B: Thinking the Digital Self (3 credit hours )
Dr. Benko, Religious and Ethical Studies
This course will be taught on Monday/Wednesday from 2:00-3:20 pm. This course satisfies an honors colloquium, Ethics perspective, and cultural perspective.
This course explores the digital self in a number of theoretical and cultural contexts. We will study evolving understandings of identity and subjectivity as they relate to computer mediated communication (CMC). Through readings, discussions and participation in online social networking sites (Facebook, etc.), we will experience and reflect upon the role of technology--e.g. cameras, computers, gaming systems, cell phones, and entertainment--in creating selfhood, friendship, and community.
Honors Colloquia for Spring 2010
ENG 242: Romantic Comedy (WI & Literature elective)
Dr. Sarah English, English
This course will be taught on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00-12:20. In addition, a "lab" for viewing films is a requirement. The lab will be offered at two different times on Wednesdays for your convenience (select either 3:30-5:30 pm or 6-8 pm).
A study of drama, fiction, and film, mostly British and American that have helped to create and sustain this popular twentieth-century tradition. The works will include at least three Shakespeare comedies, one or two Restoration or eighteenth-century comedies, a novel by Jane Austen, plays by Shaw and Wilde, and a contemporary comic novel; and a film a week, chosen to balance movies from the first and the second halves of the sound era. Prerequisite: ENG 111 (NOTE: you do NOT have to have ENG 200.)
Art 949A: Environmental Art: Ethics and Spirituality (Arts & Aesthetics & Ethics)
Professor Warner Hyde, Art
This course will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at 11-12:20 in Gaddy-Hamrick 129 (Ceramics studio). NOTE: WebAdvisor lists this course as being 11-1:50; it will only last until 12:20 (the explanation is too long and boring to include here!).
This course is designed to enlighten the student's awareness of the natural world around her and to strengthen her understanding and relationship to the natural world. The course's vehicle of exploration will be studying and creating environmental artwork in which the artistic concept deals with ethical and spiritual relationships with nature. This course will feature many exciting field trips and guest experts.
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Honors Colloquia Fall 2009
Globalization and Ethical Values (Core 400 & Ethics)
Dr. Stephen Benko, Religion and Philosophy
Holocaust Experience (Ethics)
Dr. Carolyn Happer, History and Political Science
Honors Colloquia Spring 2009
Native Americans: History and Cultures (HIS/REL 943)
Cross-listed History/Religion/Sociology
http://www.meredith.edu/nativeam/default.htm
Professors John Kincheloe and Susan McClintock
The Science Behind CSI (BIO/CHE 949)
Counts as a Science and Society requirement for students who have already completed their lab science requirement.
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: understand methodology of crime scene processing; understand evidence chain of custody; perform forensic analytical chemistry; perform and analyze simple DNA testing; and understand scientific methods of determining time of death.
Dr. Francie Cuffney, Biology
Dr. Walda Powell, Chemistry
To read an interview with Dr. Cuffney and Dr. Powell about the class, click here!
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Honors Colloquia Fall, 2008
Thinking the Digital Self (IDS 941)
Dr. Steven Benko, Philosophy
Dr. Rebecca Duncan, English
This course explores the digital self in a number of theoretical and cultural contexts. We will study evolving understandings of identity and subjectivity as they relate to computer mediated communication (CMC). Through readings, discussions and participation in online social networking sites (Facebook, Second Life, etc.), we will experience and reflect upon the role of technology--e.g. cameras, computers, gaming systems, cell phones, and entertainment--in creating selfhood, friendship, and community.
Honors Colloquia Spring, 2008
Memory and Memoir
Cross listed English and Psychology (ENG 943 or PSY 943)
Dr. Mark ODekirk, Psychology
Dr. Judy Dearlove, English
What are the differences between memoir and autobiography? Fact and fiction? Memory and false memory? What is memory? How can we improve it? Why do we forget? Why do people write memoirs? How do they write them? What would you say in your memoir? Students will explore these questions.
State of the Arts (IDS 947A)
Dr. Cathy Rogers, Theater
Dean Rebecca Bailey, Art
Many great cultures of the past have been identified as such by using the standard set by their arts, which are admired to this day. What these works of art have in common is that they were inseparable from the life and beliefs of their culture and they had the full support of the state or ruling body. What is the state of the arts today? Do the arts define the culture of the United States in a meaningful way? Do the arts remain inseparable from life and belief? What is the state of the arts elsewhere in the world in 2008?
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Honors Colloquia Fall, 2007
CORE 947: Life Science in Context: SubSaharan Africa 
Dr. John Mecham, Biology and Dr. Michael Otieno of Kenyata University, Kenya
The focus of this course will be on interdisciplinary sub-Saharan issues in bioscience with the unifying theme being on two of the universal problems of humankind: Disease and Nutritional Health. The course will include four crucial topics for education and research: 1) HIV/AIDS, 2) The Great Neglected Diseases, 3) Nutrition, and 4)Competition with Wildlife. Each topic is connected in thematic content around the two issues of Disease and Nutritional Health. Link to syllabus
IDS 946: What’s New(s)?
This course offers students an opportunity to become broadly informed about major topics currently in the news. While following news stories from a variety of sources in the U.S. and abroad, students will focus on a particular topic or area of the world of interest and follow current news events related to that topic or place throughout the semester
Dr. Betty Webb and John Rose
> Click here to see a listing past colloquia courses offered from 1991-present.
