Honors Course Archive

The Greek and Roman imagination has fed literature, art and thought in the Western world and beyond from antiquity until today: the god and the hero, the warrior and the wanderer, the lover and the schemer, the statesman and the dissident, the city-builder and the seeker of rural fantasy … Poets, artists, thinkers and doers, all stake-holders in the Classical Tradition.

Presupposing no prior study of what we know as classical antiquity (a shorthand term for the ethnically diverse and multicultural worlds unified by the use of the Greek and Latin languages on all sides of the Mediterranean Sea from about 1000 BCE/BC to 500 CE/AD), the course will offer the opportunity to explore conversations across centuries between ancient and modern texts and ideas, especially in poetry but in other textual genres and in other media too. For classicists like myself, antiquity ends in the 5th or 6th century CE, and on some definitions modernity begins as early as the 14th century CE; in between lie the Middle Ages (the medieval period), whose boundaries are themselves negotiable. Although this class will of course pick and choose its particular objects of study, in principle no period of culture influenced by ancient Greece and Rome is irrelevant to our investigation. What will unify our explorations are, first, a consistent grounding in ancient Greek and Roman texts and ideas and, second, our own perspectives as 21st century readers living in increasingly diverse and interconnected societies, trying to make sense of conversations across two and even three millennia of Western culture and to put them in conversation with other world cultures and traditions on which they have had an impact. ‘Classical’ and ‘tradition’ are both highly loaded terms: to study the Classical Tradition is to investigate, and to be ready to problematize, a long history of cultural appropriation and identity formation.

Latino contributions to popular music in the United States have too often been relegated to the margins of a narrative dominated by African and European Americans-an overly black and white view of our musical history. Latin music is often portrayed as an exotic resource for “American” musicians, as suggested by pianist Jelly Roll Morton’s reference to “the Latin Tinge.” This course turns that phrase and that perspective on its head. “American Sabor” addresses problems of cultural representation that concern an increasingly visible and influential community in the U.S. We will document the roles of U.S. Latino musicians as interpreters of Latin American genres. We will also highlight their roles as innovators within genres normally considered indigenous to the U.S., such as rock and roll, R & B, jazz, country/western, and hip hop. The course distinguishes regional centers of Latino population and music production-exploring unique histories, artists, and musical styles. At the same time it draws out broader patterns of boundary crossing, language, social struggle, generational difference, racial/ethnic/class/gender identification, and other factors that shape the experiences of U.S. Latinos everywhere.

Crime Fiction. Religious Parable. Masterpiece. Fyodor Dostoevsky’s final novel has garnered all those descriptions, and many more. This course will spend 10 weeks with “The Brothers Karamazov,” exploring it’s sources and themes as well as Its author’s views on a rapidly modernizing 19th-century Russia. We will also consider this work’s lasting legacy in world literature and culture.

Storytelling is ancient, effective, and satisfying, but using stories to communicate the nuances and ambiguities of science can be a challenge. In this course students will craft presentations that reflect their personal interests in nature and science, and in doing so they will learn how to effectively explain their own work, helping them develop into experts in their field.

Students will work on two presentations of a scientific nature, as well as a mythic storytelling assignment intended to develop storytelling skills. They will work closely in small groups to develop their presentations, delivered on days set aside for this purpose.

Students who have previously taken “DNA and Evolution” are not eligible to enroll in this course again. Additionally, students who have taken or are planning to take BIOL 354 with Professor Herron should not register for this course as there is significant overlap in material.

Evolution and genetics are the cornerstones of modern biology. DNA & Evolution will explore these fields in the context of contemporary issues that are important to individuals and societies. Although examples will be drawn from a variety of organisms, the primary emphasis will be on humans. Among the questions we will consider are these: Where did modern humans come from? Why are women and men different? Why do children resemble their parents? Do genes influence variation in personality, intelligence, and sexual orientation? What can genetic analyses reveal about evolutionary history and the relationships among species? Can genetic analyses allow us to predict the evolutionary future? Given what our society knows about evolution and genetics, should we take responsibility for guiding the evolutionary future of human populations?

Throughout the course the goal will be to help students develop sufficient biological sophistication to understand new discoveries in genetics and evolution, talk to their doctors, and make rational personal and political choices about biological issues. Students will read secondary and primary literature, ask questions, design experiments, analyze and interpret data, and draw their own conclusions.

Assignments will include essays, problem sets, and computer labs.

This course examines the ethical decisions around health care that people face throughout the course of their lives from conception to death.

We will consider the following six interrelated propositions, and we will consider the implications of these propositions for the conduct of good (i.e., ethical and effective) leadership.

1. Leadership involves at its base the creation of a persuaded audience; but beyond that, leadership involves creating and sustaining a more thoughtful public, a public capable of rising above itself.

2. A more thoughtful public must not only be created and sustained, but, given that things inevitably fall apart, must be recovered and reconstituted.

3. Good leadership involves ethical and effective information seeking. A leader must have knowledge of what must be done, knowledge of what it takes to persuade others of what must be done (and, in persuading, helping to create a more thoughtful public), and knowledge of how an audience/public will respond. Only with a thorough understanding of the principles, strategies, and costs of information seeking will one be able to engage in ethical and effective leadership.

4. Leadership always has a political context; leadership in a democracy is necessarily different than leadership in other kinds of political regimes.

5. Leadership always involves assumptions (tacit and acknowledged) about human nature.

6. In a free political regime, assuming free and fair elections, we get the kinds of leaders we deserve and we must consider how to behave in ways to deserve the kinds of leaders we say we want.

Sources of texts will include Tocqueville, Orwell, Machiavelli, Bacon, Dostoevsky, and Sophocles, as well as contemporary authors.

Method of instruction: close reading of texts, coupled with fifteen short papers on texts, plus a longer (9-10 page, single-spaced) synthesis paper; small and large group discussions with each other, two lectures, and visiting scholars/practitioners.

For further details, please see 230 class page at the class web page (canvas.uw.edu). The class page links to most of the readings plus a draft of the Aut2018 syllabus. I strongly recommend consulting the syllabus with care in order to get a sense of expectations and consequent demands on your time.

You will note that some of the readings are deceptively short in length. For example, our readings from Tocqueville’s Democracy in America are all of thirteen pages. The Bacon essay, just three pages. But these texts (and others throughout the course) demand multiple close readings.

I will be glad to talk with you further about any aspect of the course. The surest way to reach me is via email: rsoder@uw.edu

A poll of journalists and scholars at the turn of the millennium found that their choice of the most important story of the twentieth century was the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision was perhaps the most controversial decision any president has made. Japanese and Americans see this decision in very different ways. In 2015, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the Pew Research Center carried out a joint opinion poll which found that 79% of Japanese said the bombing was “not justified,” while 56% of Americans considered it “justified.” Japanese believe that Japan was defeated and on the verge of surrender, while a majority of Americans hold that the use of the bomb was necessary in order to avoid a costly invasion.

This seminar course will consider the many aspects of this set of events, including: the origins of the Manhattan Project, Roosevelt’s unconditional surrender policy, American planning for the invasion of Japan and the use of the bomb, the Potsdam Declaration, Soviet entry into the war, Japan’s internal struggle over the decision to surrender, the continuing controversy among Japanese and American historians in interpreting motivations and responsibility, the Japanese sense of victimhood, issues of morality in warfare, and the consequent reflections on war and human nature in Japanese and American literature.

Historical controversy over the use of the atomic bomb has revolved around many issues including:

1.Was it necessary: was not Japan already defeated and on the verge of surrender?

2.Were there not viable alternatives such as a demonstration of the bomb or a naval blockade or modification of unconditional surrender policy or waiting for Soviet entry?

3.Was the second bomb on Nagasaki necessary?

4.Did use of the bomb save lives by averting an invasion?

5.Were the bombs morally justified?

This course offers the student an opportunity to see how historians and other social scientists dealing with the same sequence of events have come to a wide range of interpretations of its meaning. The course will consider the reasons why historians often differ in their interpretations, such as difference in motivation, selectivity in emphasis, generational and national perspective, bias, academic discipline, levels of analysis, and appearance of new materials of historical evidence. By its nature, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki decisions have been subject to the use of counterfactuals, i.e. questions of “What if…?” The course will consider the value of these questions and of assertion of alternative courses of action and “missed opportunities” to avoid the way in which the war terminated.

Ultimately, the course will force the student to grapple with achieving her/his own interpretation. It is not a course for the faint hearted. Rather, it is for the student who wants a challenge in order to improve her/his thinking, debating, research and writing ability.

The course will have no examination but each student will choose a topic of particular interest on which to do extensive research, to make an oral presentation to the seminar and to write a paper on the findings of the research. The approximate length of the paper is 15 pages. The paper will constitute 50% of the course grade. The oral presentation and participation in the seminar discussion will constitute the remainder of the grade.

There’s an entire field in which researchers scientifically test elements of the college experience. Is group studying or solo studying more effective? How does anxiety affect test-taking, and what can you do about it? What motivates certain students to cheat? How common is cheating, anyway? Who listens to whom in group projects, and how does that affect motivation? These questions — and many more — have been experimentally tested. There’s a lot of data to explore.

In this class, we will explore two main topics in this field: (1) how we can become better learners and earn higher scores, and (2) what biases may affect each of us as we progress through college.

This course examines the intersection of environmental justice and public health through an interdisciplinary approach that considers social sciences, art, and the critical role of community organizing. Our examination of the intimate relationship between environmental justice and public health centers the scholarship and lived experiences of communities – both local and global – most impacted by environmental injustices and health disparities.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:
Describe the intersection of environmental justice and public health.
Explain the root causes of environmental injustices and health disparities.
Recognize factors that help maintain environmental injustices and
health disparities.
Describe how communities are organizing around critical environmental and public health issues that impact their wellbeing and survival.
Recognize their role and responsibility in addressing environmental
injustices and health disparities.

Learning activities and assignments include:
Engaged discussion and participation
Art-based projects
Writing assignments
Quizzes
Guest experts
Group and individual research opportunities

Students in this course must be committed to exploring root causes of complicated histories through creative and critical thinking, empathy, and active engagement.

“DIY-East Asia” looks at the solutions being created by groups of young people around the world to economic inequalities, environmental injustices, and gendered, racial and ethnic discrimination. The DIY movement in East Asia is a transformational movement based on new forms of collaboration. DIY-ers are engaged in restoring community, rebuilding emptied out public spaces in rural and urban settings, and producing creative, ecological and non-hierarchical livelihoods. They connect with, learn from and share know-how via social media with others around the world taking part in similar projects. In East Asia, the DIY movement is also concerned with reconciling historical injustices brought on by imperialism and economic dispossession. Our geographic and historical focus for the class is East Asia, w/examples also drawn from Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Requirements for the class include: close reading and active participation in class discussion, two open book, open note essay exams, and a small group ethnographic research project. The ethnographic project will enable students to gain experience with the anthropological methods of interviewing and in some cases participant observation. Students will also work together on formal presentations of their research to be given in front of a group of their peers and faculty at the conclusion of the course.

For freshmen only, this course is an introduction to college-level methods of inquiry. Throughout your academic life at the university, you will be called upon to write, read and converse in order to absorb knowledge and test out ideas. Since academic disciplines are bound by their respective ways of knowing, and because other ways of knowing are empirical and creative, this course will present different ways of coming to knowledge. We’ll engage in reading, lectures, dialogue, persuasive writing, journalistic writing, writing for academic papers as well as in creative writing-poems, short stories and vignettes. Expect a lively forum for testing out ideas and a venue to enhance your writing repertoire.

Expectations for students include: attending all classes with the (substantial) assigned readings completed; contributing to small group presentations; considering one’s own belief systems and the belief systems in a respectful and curious manner; being willing to experiment in writing styles and genres. In the end, students should be active questioning learners and show evidence of this engagement.

Goals for the course include: learning how to negotiate and navigate with different ways of knowing; developing empathic and creative imagination; enhancing student writing; creating models for civic dialogue; and articulating individual learning.

The course will connect often-separated worlds of research and practice, university and “real world” expertise, and writing and dialogic education.

Music has a powerful capacity to convey distinctive moods and emotions. When we attempt to describe these experiences, such as how a certain song or performance makes us feel, words often fail. Despite this challenge, we persevere, struggling to find the right phrase, simile, or metaphor to describe how music moved us.

In this class we will persevere together by developing the technical, rhetorical and related skills needed to convincingly write about music. We will explore a variety of writing prompts, from song reviews and artist bios, to genre descriptions and deeper cultural critiques. We will share our work with one another and learn from guest speakers who are professionals in the field. Ethnomusicology and music criticism will serve as disciplinary touchstones as we develop an intellectual community that supports our growth as productive music writers.

This 5-credit course examines – through an ethics lens – the relationship between the engineering sciences and gender/sex, race, disability and sexuality. This is a writing-intensive, discussion-based course. No prerequisite; no prior knowledge or coursework in science, engineering, ethics, or diversity required. Students of all backgrounds and identities are encouraged to enroll!

In the first half of this course, we will trace this relationship through history, examining how cultural and scientific theories of gender/sex, race, disability and sexuality influence one another. We will critically evaluate the science behind human difference and reflect on how these scientific theories have been used to promote or fight inequality. In the second half of this course, we will investigate modern engineering questions related to inclusive design, research and technology. We will explore the social and political context of engineering, asking ourselves who defines which problems engineers solve, who benefits these solutions and what role social justice plays in engineering practice.

Learning outcomes:
1) Identify how cultural concepts of race, gender, sexuality and disability have shaped scientific thought (and vice versa) through history.
2) Define key terms related to the scientific theories of human difference presented in the course.
3) Evaluate claims about the biology of race, gender/sex, sexuality and disability.
4) Identify the positive and negative impacts of science, engineering and technology on marginalized groups.
5) Critically analyze the social and political context of engineering technologies.
6) Propose approaches to promote social justice and diversity in engineering practice through assignments such as the midterm project in accessible design.

Course Requirements:
Students enrolled in the course will be required to complete:
1) Weekly written reflections on assigned readings and class discussions.
2) Additional readings from scientific literature and other sources.
3)Team midterm project: Proposal to re-design an everyday item for better accessibility
4) Final paper on topic of student’s choice related to engineering/science, ethics, and diversity/inclusion.

An exploration and critique of the dominant themes and paradigms which have shaped Western European thought, with special focus on concepts of “woman” and “man.” Theories of knowledge and reality will also be covered. Both traditional and feminist perspectives will be included.

This course is an upper division class examining the history of ancient architecture, beginning with the earliest known structures in the prehistoric period around 10,000 BCE and ending around the 11th century CE. The requirements are regular attendance of weekly lectures, written assignments and a mid term and final exam. The Honors discussion section meets once a week with the class instructor to facilitate a more critical engagement with the historical survey material presented in the thrice-weekly lectures. Emphasis shall be placed on the exploration of contemporary concerns within the context of the survey’s major themes that include architecture as a second nature; origins and mythologies of first cities; power, politics and space; concepts of the sacred; and gender and space.

Course Objectives:
· Understand the built environment of the past and present as an expression of the social, technological and aesthetic forces of the societies that built them and as settings for their everyday life, rites and rituals.

·Demonstrate an understanding of architectural vocabulary by being able to define building types and key terms that relate to design, construction and materials.

·Understand drawing conventions in architectural drawing (for eg: plan, section, elevation, perspectives and details) as a means to describe three-dimensional objects and sites.

·Demonstrate the capacity to critically analyze the key works and communicate ideas effectively about the built environment in a series of writing assignments and tests, and in class discussions.

·Foster an appreciation for built works not just as self-contained physical artifacts of a distant past but as social, living texts that express the complexities and contradictions of the cultures of the past and of the present

For Biochemistry majors and molecular and cell biology majors. Core concepts in biochemistry, including protein structure, compartmentalization of reactions, thermodynamics and kinetics in a biological context, energy production, and regulation of metabolic pathways. HONORS BIOC covers the same topics as BIOC 440, but emphasizes group exercises and analysis of primary literature.

CHEM 145 and CHEM 155 cover material in CHEM 142, CHEM 152, and CHEM 162. Includes laboratory. No more than the number of credits indicated can be counted toward graduation from the following course groups: CHEM 142, CHEM145 (5 credits); CHEM 145, CHEM 155, CHEM 162 (10 credits).

For chemistry majors and otherwise qualified students planning three or more quarters of organic chemistry. Structure, nomenclature, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds. Theory and mechanism of organic reactions. Studies of biomolecules. No organic laboratory accompanies this course. No more than 5 credits can be counted toward graduation from the following course group: CHEM 221, CHEM 223, CHEM 237, CHEM 335.

For chemistry majors and otherwise qualified students planning three or more quarters of organic chemistry. Structure, nomenclature, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds. Theory and mechanism of organic reactions. Studies of biomolecules. No organic laboratory accompanies this course. No more than 5 credits can be counted toward graduation from the following course group: CHEM 221, CHEM 223, CHEM 237, CHEM 335.

Basic programming-in-the-small abilities and concepts including procedural programming (methods, parameters, return values) , basic control structures (sequence, if/else, for loop, while loop), file processing, arrays and an introduction to defining objects.

Continuation of CSE 142. Concepts of data abstraction and encapsulation including stacks, queues, linked lists, binary trees, recursion, instruction to complexity and use of predefined collection classes. Prerequisite: CSE 142.

Examines the structure of the American legal system and how laws are made. Surveys key doctrinal areas of the law learning fundamental legal concepts, and explore how the law functions and evolves over time, including legal issues and decision-making related to statutory or common law.

Covers the material of MATH 124, MATH 125, MATH 126; MATH 307, MATH 308. First year of a two-year accelerated sequence. May receive advanced placement (AP) credit for MATH 124 after taking MATH 134. For students with above average preparation, interest, and ability in mathematics.

Introduction to proofs and rigor; uniform convergence, Fourier series and partial differential equations, vector calculus, complex variables. Students who complete this sequence are not required to take MATH 300, MATH 309, MATH 324, MATH 327, MATH 328, and MATH 427. Second year of an accelerated two-year sequence; prepares students for senior-level mathematics courses.

What makes an argument good? How do you show that someone has reasoned invalidly? In this course we study arguments and reasoning with the tools and techniques of formal deductive logic. We will learn the syntax and semantics of propositional and first-order logic, and we will use them to explicate the intuitive notion of a valid argument. We then apply our formal logical techniques to answer questions in a variety of areas. Is there only one size of infinity, or can one infinity be bigger than another? Can there be a set of all sets? How does a computer work? How could water running through hoses implement a computer?

Honors students are required to do additional reflection assignment(s) and a presentation connecting course content to their intended major(s).

Basic principles of mechanics and experiments in mechanics for physical science and engineering majors. Lecture tutorial and lab components must all be taken to receive credit. Credit is not given for both PHYS 114 and PHYS 121.