Spring 2025
Scroll down this page to take a look at the various HON course options.
Hon 3143. H02 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar in Social Sciences. Community Service & Public Engagement
MW: 12:30-1:45
Taught by Dr. Brian Pugh, Executive Director of the Stennis Center for Public Service
This course will use service-learning to enhance students’ academic growth while also addressing real-world community needs. The course will focus on how students can best provide meaningful service to the J.L. King Community Center while simultaneously gaining new skills, knowledge, and understanding as an integrated aspect of social sciences. Additionally, in-person work with state legislators to introduce legislation that may benefit community centers across the state will comprise a substantial component of the course. The purpose of the course is to “learn by doing. This course is a part of Brandeis University’s Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation (ENACT) Program, which is an initiative to engage students across the country with state legislatures.
HON 3143.D01/H03 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar in Social Sciences
Technology and the Human Future
MW: 8:00 - 9:15
Taught by Dr. Jonathan Barlow, Associate Director of Data Science and Assistant Teaching Professor. This is a 3-credit hour, college-level seminar course focusing on works of non-fiction that engage the primary drivers of technology in the coming decade including biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. Students will ground social, ethical, and existential consideration of humanity’s technological future in critical readings from the pioneers of these technologies.
HON 3173.H01 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar in Fine Arts
Arts Integration: A Human, a Robot, and a Stage
TR: 2:00 - 3:15
Taught by Dr. Donna Clevinger, Senior Faculty Fellow, Shackouls Honors College. As robots and artificial intelligence become more commonplace, integrating technologies with the arts presents a unique field of study. To this end, exploring human-robotic; interaction is emerging as an important 21st century area to one’s future in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. This course will discover arts integration through human-machine interaction, the idea of storytelling, the development of character, voice, movements, and environmental design culminating in an evening of robotic theatre.
HON 3183-H01 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar in Humanities
The Making of Modern Science Fiction: From H. G. Wells to "the Golden Age", 1895 to c1960
MWF: 11:00 - 11:50am.
Taught by Dr. Matthew Peaple, Assistant Teaching Professor, Shackouls Honors College
What would it actually be like to encounter an alien intelligence - or to BE that alien intelligence? What happens after the end of the world? What happens after the end of the universe? (Or before the beginning of the universe...) What would be the implications of time travel? The world as you know it is an illusion – what do you do next? Could machines, computers or androids ever become indistinguishable from humans? And what does "being human" mean anyway? These are only some of the many questions that we’ll be investigating in this course, survey of the history and development of science fiction from the publication of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine to the end of what is sometimes regarded as the “Golden Age of science fiction” around 1960. We’ll be studying not only novels and short stories, but also movies, TV, comics and perhaps other media. Although we won’t generally be covering the period after 1960 directly in this course, we’ll make an exception for Star Wars, which can be seen as the culmination of much of the classic science fiction that preceded it. And every student in the class will also be given the opportunity to study an example of more recent science fiction that they particularly enjoy, and give a presentation about it to the class.
HON 3183-H02 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar in Humanities
"Murder in a Medieval Monastery: Studying The Name of the Rose in its Context(s)"
T: 3:30 - 6:15
Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel, The Name of the Rose, is considered by many to be a masterpiece of postmodern literature. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327 and explores many historical, theological, and artistic issues. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach in exploring the novel and its film and television adaptations as well as the many influences—from the Franciscan scientist Roger Bacon to Sherlock Holmes novels—on the medievalist Eco.
HON 2081. H02 Honors Forum III
Research Discovery in Social Sciences
M: 3:30 - 4:30
Taught by Dr. Sandra Orozco Aleman, Professor of Economics
This course aims to engage students in interdisciplinary undergraduate research and creative scholarship within social sciences. Students will be encouraged to explore, find their research interests, and start developing their own research projects. The course provides an introduction to various research areas within the social sciences, including approaches, ethics, and research compliance training. Students will explore research across multiple disciplines and research centers and discover the diverse resources and opportunities available at State University.
HON 2081. H03 Honors Forum III
College Students and Mental Health: Balancing life the Healthy Way
T: 3:30 - 4:30
Taught by Dr. Ericka Akins, Academic Coordinator. This course is designed for Honor Students who want to learn more about balancing mental health while in college. The course will introduce the students to important topics and current psychological issues related to college students’ mental health. It will introduce them to resources available on campus, as well as some solutions on how to handle every day, college-life stressors. Topics will include: Study habits, Time Management, Balancing School, Relaxation Techniques, Self-Awareness, Burn-out prevention, and more.
HON 2091-H01 Honors Forum IV
National Fellowships
W: 3:00 - 3:50
Taught by Dr. David Hoffman, Director of Office of Prestigious External Scholarships and Professor of Anthropology
What is a national fellowship? Why should I care? I want to be a doctor, so the Rhodes Scholarship is not for me? There is no way I can win a national fellowship like the Gates Cambridge. I’m too busy to write yet another personal statement for a fellowship. All those fellowships go to Ivy League kids. They won’t respect MSU and Mississsippi, so why bother? My advisor thinks I should just go on to graduate school. I’m a STEM student, and all of those fellowships go to English or history majors. This seminar course teaches students about many of the most prominent scholarships and fellowships for undergraduates as they plan for a future in graduate school, learning a second language, or creating change in the world around them. Students learn how to amplify their college experience and make themselves better applicants for not only scholarships but also graduate school, professional school, and employment. Students will learn the requirements of scholarships such as the Rhodes, Truman, Fulbright, Goldwater and many others. The class gives insight into what opportunities to seek out to make them better candidates for scholarships, engage with former MSU winners and finalists to learn from their stories, and workshop and develop professional materials for scholarship applications.
Quest Courses
Our “Quest” courses are offered every semester and are small discussion-based seminars (about 15 students) focused on Great Books, Big Questions, and Big Ideas. Students will read some of the most important texts from the history of literature, philosophy, political science, art, architecture, and music from around the world. Discussions will address questions such as: What is human nature? What is the nature of the divine? What is justice? What is truth? What is love? What is the purpose of art? and How do we know what we know? Students who complete Quest 1 and Quest 2 and earn a grade of C or higher will receive the following General Educations credits: 3 Humanities credits (Quest 1) 3 Social Sciences credits (Quest 2) “S” credit for Fine Arts. (Please note: Any additional 3-credit course must be completed in order to meet total degree hours for your major.)
HON 1163: The Quest Begins (3 credits)
This course examines core texts from Classical Antiquity through the Renaissance. In addition to several short interpretive papers, students will be expected to produce a substantial comparative essay.
HON 1173: The West and the Wider World (3 credits)
This course will examines core texts from the Renaissance to the present. In addition to short interpretive papers, students will be expected to produce a research paper and present their research to the class.
Previous Courses
