Bill Offutt, an Honors College academic advisor, recently hosted an informational session on the upcoming Honors classes for next semester. At this event, the professors from each featured class introduced themselves, gave a brief description of their qualifications, and went over the basics of their course. They talked about how their class relates to different majors, what sort of content will be covered, and their favorite aspects of the class.
Professor Welty will teach the course, “The Artist as Activist and Activist as Artist.” Her class poses the question, “What can the arts actually do to create justice?” Through this class, her students will explore how art can create change and how they can personally impact the world around them. She challenges her students to bring their best artistic abilities and see what they can accomplish.
Marcella Szablewicz will teach Digital Cultures. Her section of the class explores the cultures of China and Ghana through an ecological lens. Her students will learn the true ecological cost of modern-day technology and lifestyles.
Paul Leavitz, the former president of DC Comics, will teach “Graphic Novel Studies.” He describes his class as the only literature course that touches upon something new. “There’s nothing new in Shakespeare,” but comics and graphic novels are an unexplored field. He is uniquely qualified to discuss this topic after working for DC Comics for over 30 years.
“Ancient Egypt from the Old Kingdom Through the Ptolemaic Period” will be taught by Jaclyn Kopel. This course will delve deep into the history of Egypt, including several museum trips to engage students.
Jessica Mogali will teach Business Law I. Her primary argument for taking the class is that “you gotta take it anyway,” so you may as well take it as an Honors credit. Her section of Business Law is unique in that she allows students to write a paper instead of taking a test for their final grade. She will be offering this class again in the summer as a study abroad course in Rome.
Eric Kessler will teach Leadership Principles and Practice. His course will focus on community engagement, with volunteer work as a required portion of the class. This volunteer work will help students build skills for navigating and communicating in the workplace. He says that the course is valuable to any major due to the opportunities to develop adaptable skills.
Managerial Accounting will be taught by Professor Donabedian. His class will explore the “global capitalist story” with an in-depth study of how businesses function in a capitalist economy.
Professor Bolton will teach Ocean Politics. While most political classes focus on the land, Bolton is more concerned with the sea. He argues that it is an important driver of interactions between countries and should be studied to better understand the global geopolitical landscape. His class will focus on how ocean shipping and travel promote interconnectivity across the world.
Introduction to Peace and Justice Studies will be taught by Elena Marmo. Her class will touch on many different subjects, such as law, women’s and gender studies, and sociology. She believes that this makes the class relevant to many majors.
Professors Abergil and Shostya will teach a learning community titled “Seeing the World Differently through Photography and Economics.” They will combine these disciplines to offer students a way to look at the world that is very different from what they’re used to. The goal of this class is to encourage students to explore the relationships between disciplines.
A complete list of Honors classes offered next semester and further information on each class can be found by contacting Bill Offutt.