Honors Course Archive

Through a variety of reading material, with a focus on a set of graphic novels, “(Near)/Middle East Illustrated” discusses verbal and visual expressions in order to represent Near and Middle East.

The course develops an understanding of imagined/promoted diversity through study of graphic novels and argues that diversity in the region is much more complicated. As students think about and discuss Orientalism, stock imagery, reporting vs. talking, facts vs. functions through short reading assignments, they will learn about history and today of the Near and Middle Eastern cultures.

Through visual depictions of most commonly discussed issues in the form of graphic novels in the region. Students will be encouraged to incorporate relevant video games and anime in their projects or portfolio assignments.

This course is an overview of the AIDS epidemic including history, virology, clinical manifestations and treatment, biomedical and behavioral prevention policies and strategies of the contrasted via presenting HIV/AIDS epidemiology, research, policies, and public health approaches in both upper-, middle- and lower-resourced settings and countries. Students will recognize the differing patterns in national and international spread of HIV and AIDS and distinguish differential risk patterns of the spread of HIV in countries around the world. Students will be able to identify how biological and behavioral co-factors play a role in the world-wide spread of HIV, and discuss effective medical/clinical, vaccine and behavioral HIV treatment and prevention strategies. They will be able to summarize the structural, psychosocial, and medical impact of HIV on individuals, families, communities and nations.

This seminar course will utilize a flipped classroom model to investigate all aspects of pain; from the anatomy and physiology and psychology that create this common complaint, to the sociology, history, ethics, legal and medical issues that are associated with pain. This course does not presuppose any educational background and is open to students in any major.

The course will offer students a fundamental understanding of the process of social innovation, and the role that social enterprises can play in addressing population health challenges. Through a combination of lectures, guest speakers, case studies and a team project, students will learn how organizations can advance work that has a positive societal impact while also remaining financially sustainable.

Today, the future of U.S. global leadership is in serious doubt. The election of Donald J. Trump, which occurred over the protests of hundreds of foreign policy professionals and despite his repeated attacks on the U.S.-led world order, has revealed that the American public has grown weary of U.S. hegemony. Meanwhile, the emergence of China as a major power has suggested that in the future the United States will have to rethink many of its military, political, and economic commitments. In this course, students will study the history, theory, and practice of U.S. foreign policy in order to produce several pieces that will provide the public and policymakers with guidance on how to manage and plan the future of U.S. foreign policy. Students will workshop these pieces with peers, who will edit them for structure, style, and argument.

In partnership with the Calderwood Foundation, UW Honors has launched a new series of seminars designed to foster high-caliber undergraduate writing for non-specialist audiences. This Calderwood seminar, organized in a workshop format, will focus on learning to write cogently about the Middle East. Participants can come from any discipline. Background knowledge is welcome, but most important is a willingness to engage in thoughtful and rigorous inquiry into the history, politics, literature, and culture of the Middle East, broadly defined.

In this course we will study yoga through its history, practice, literature, and politics. From the ancient past to modern yoga, we will study essential texts and ideas, as well as the effects of class, religion, gender, nationalism, development, colonialism, politics, and physical culture on yoga. Yoga’s long history in India reveals that this practice of imposing discipline on the body and mind was far more than a set of physical or meditative practices, but a means to reformulate social, political, and cosmic worlds as well. Practiced by people of all religions and none, yoga not only transcends any single culture but it links many cultures together.  

This Honors/CHID seminar invites students to think critically about violence, memory and social activism in Latin America. Theoretically, students will examine how notions of “otherness” and the power to label are central to the cultural politics of violence. After examining the forces and discourses of state authoritarianism, the gendered strategies of torture, and the role of race in political violence, students will learn about the politics of struggle, resilience and hope. Specifically, students will learn about Indigenous movements for food sovereignty and against extractive industry; they will consider the role of art in social activism, and they will read and hear from human rights activists and other social justice actors. In addition to ethnography and social scientific analysis, we will rely on films, documentaries, historical fiction, plays, and testimonials to interrogate the complexities and intersections of art, memory, and violence in Latin America.

This undergraduate seminar examines the particular forms in which Chicana feminist theoretical practices are embodied, including theoretical texts, poetry, music, and other creative works. Seminar considers how Chicana feminist theory has transformed and been transformed by intellectual, poetic, and aesthetic traditions as it moves throughout the U.S. borderlands. Each seminar meeting consists of a brief lecture, discussion break-out groups, a mid-way break, and a viewing/listening to relevant film, media or audio texts, or assignment workshop.

Course linked to annual Women Who Rock (un)conference. 

Universal and Culture Specific Aspects of Language examines key moral and societal concepts in several languages (freedom, home, friendship, homeland). We also consider pragmatic aspects of different languages (politeness, rudeness, forms of address, names) and look for cultural differences and similarities.

In this capstone course, a portfolio studio, students will complete the Interdisciplinary or College Honors Program by creating educational narratives within vibrant, creative, online portfolios. Each student will reflect upon the intersection of formal coursework and experiential learning by exploring, collaborating, articulating, testing out, refining, and showcasing the Honors portfolio to a community of peers and mentors. Using portfolio platforms introduced in Honors 100, students will be asked to creatively reflect on the connections between and across their UW courses and disciplines, as well as to consider in-classroom knowledge and its interface with academia and experiences outside of the classroom.

In this capstone course, a portfolio studio, students will complete the Interdisciplinary or College Honors Program by creating educational narratives within vibrant, creative, online portfolios. Each student will reflect upon the intersection of formal coursework and experiential learning by exploring, collaborating, articulating, testing out, refining, and showcasing the Honors portfolio to a community of peers and mentors. Using portfolio platforms introduced in Honors 100, students will be asked to creatively reflect on the connections between and across their UW courses and disciplines, as well as to consider in-classroom knowledge and its interface with academia and experiences outside of the classroom.

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.

Introduction to systematic inorganic chemistry: representative elements, metals, and nonmetals. Includes coordination complexes, geochemistry, and metallurgy. Additional material on environmental applications of basic chemistry presented. Includes laboratory. No more than the number of credits indicated can be counted toward graduation from the following course groups: CHEM 162, CHEM 165 (5 credits); CHEM 165, CHEM 312 (5 credits).

Chemistry majors and other students planning three or more quarters of organic chemistry. Structure, nomenclature, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds. Theory and mechanism of organic reactions. Biomolecules. Introduction to membranes, enzyme mechanisms, prosthetic groups, macromolecular conformations, and supramolecular architecture. No more than 4 credits can be counted toward graduation from the following courses: CHEM 239, CHEM 337.

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 rudiments of visual structure and problem solving in two and three-dimensional design. Emphasizes design methodology and design processes with emphasis on the formal principles of composition and organization.

Designer, Jayme Yen is the instructor of Des 166  and can be reached at jaymey@uw.edu” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>jaymey@uw.edu and Samer Fouad is the grad student who will be leading the quiz section, samerfouadstudio@gmail.com” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>samerfouadstudio@gmail.com, https://www.samerfouad.com/about&source=gmail&ust=1580490996439000&usg=AFQjCNETKJmMH34bSZ1Lln1w9pX33RnSAw”>https://www.samerfouad.com/about 

Recently, scientists have proposed that due to the impact of the human species on the planet, the earth now belongs to a new geologic epoch: the Anthropocene. Although official designation of this new epoch is still in the process of being formalized by the scientific community, the “Anthropocene” now appears in mainstream news publications, documentary films, podcasts, as well as social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. It is quickly emerging as a buzz word associated with today’s most urgent environmental concerns. In this course, the Anthropocene will serve not so much as a course theme, but rather as a “platform”—a starting place or organizing principle for considering how and why different mediums, across different contexts, present and express issues and ideas related to human impacts on the environment. We’ll draw from academic sources in both the sciences and humanities, as we explore the way different cultural texts represent and discuss a range of topics related to the way humans interact with and alter the environment.

As a multimodal composition class, we will carefully consider how and why different cultural texts deploy different modes to convey meaning(s) about human-environment relations. More specifically, we will examine and actively engage with the semiotic resources available to each mode of expression—whether linguistic, visual, aural, spatial, or gestural—as we cultivate a deeper understanding of the way meaning is produced in varying compositional contexts. In other words, we will develop and improve our knowledge—as well as our “sense”—of what is involved in the process of examining and constructing thoughtful and effective compositional forms (e.g. essays, blog posts, podcasts, and digital stories). Through developing a keen sense of how each modality operates, we will all learn how to better think, read, and create critically with the multiple modalities that compose the world’s many texts.

This lecture class will introduce you to the political, economic, and social challenges that Europe faces thirty years after the fall of the Wall. Among the most pressing issues are the future of European integration after Brexit; the ongoing refugee crisis; the rise of illiberal democracies and new right-wing reactionary movements or parties; Turkey’s authoritarian turn, and finding a common response to climate change. We will explore these issues in the context of post-war European integration and interrogate the capacities of the EU to cope with multiple simultaneous challenges. How are these issues addressed in member states and on the supranational level of the EU? What remains of the ‘European Model’? Is there a European identity? Throughout the quarter, we will assess how the European Union works and ask if it can be a model for multilevel governance beyond state borders.

Sequence covers the material of 124, 125, 126; 307, 308, 318. Third quarter of the first year of a two-year accelerated sequence. May not receive credit for both 126 and 136. 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 309, 324, 326, 327, 328, and 427. Third quarter of the second year of an accelerated two-year sequence; prepares students for senior-level mathematics courses.

Explores electromagnetic waves, the mechanics of oscillatory motion, optics, waves in matter, and experiments in these topics for physical science and engineering majors.

This is intended for students with a strong interest and preparation for Physics. Please email Professor Kybka (grybka@uw.edu“>grybka@uw.edu) for more information about this course. 

Lecture tutorial and lab components must all be taken to receive credit. The Thursday section will only be required for three days of the quarter. Credit is not given for both PHYS 116 and PHYS 123.

Sweden/Iceland Study Abroad Pre-departure Seminar

This interdisciplinary prep seminar is restricted to students participating in the Summer 2020 UW Honors Rome study abroad program, Italy from Crisis to “Crisis”: Disaster, Migration, Politics and Art. This course provides an introduction to Italian society, economics, and politics to lay the foundation for exploring how Italy has experienced, constructed, and coped with crises both real and imagined from ancient times to the present. In addition to providing historical context, the seminar will situate Italy in comparative perspective, allowing students to gain a sense for how the country converges and diverges with trends in the United States, Europe, and Asia. We will draw on material from fields such as history, political science, public health, security studies, economics, sociology, anthropology, and literature. Students will also become familiar with the basics of Italian language in preparation for their study abroad experience. This is a hybrid course: the first six weeks will be conducted online and there will be in-person class meetings on May 15, May 22, May 29, and June 5.

This course engages students and faculty in collaboration on campus and through a digital platform (Canvas). Course will introduce the students key topics in Ecuadorian society. At the end of the course, students will be able to: identify the major cultural, political, and economic changes in northwestern South America during the last three decades; and, identify the major origins and developments of social movements in northwestern South America during the last three decades.

Honors 100 Peer Educator Spring prep seminar.

This course will be conducted in a workshop setting. We will explore brain anatomy, physiology and MR imaging to understand creativity in the creation of poems about personal, socio-political and ecological grief. Students will create and assemble a book of their work including graphic cover art, that will be published by the end of the semester. A public reading by all students will constitute the final examination.