AN 102H.001 - Honors: Anthropology of the Human Past, 4 Credits, K. Baustian

Course provides an expansive overview of primate evolution, the origin of modern humans, and their physical and cultural adaptations throughout time.  Topics explored will include the geographical distribution of humans across the globe, the growth of populations, cultural adaptation, subsistence practices, the domestication of plants and animals, ritual behavior, and technological innovation.

AN-346R.001 - Material Stuff, 4 Credits, S. Silva

An exploration of the importance of material objects in human life and the ways in which cultural anthropologists and other scholars have contributed to the study of materiality, a highly interdisciplinary field of research. In this seminar, drawing on case studies from different times and places, students learn to recognize the importance of material objects in the social world and their own lives. How do objects help people define their identity, structure their lives, remember the past, and facilitate action? What personal and collective stories do objects tell? Do we control the objects around us, or do those objects control us? Among the types of objects studied in this course are sentimental objects, collectibles, memorials, protest art, and technology. [The “R” added to the course ID, AN346R, stands for “Research.” Students conduct a semester-long research project on a topic of their choice in parallel with the class.]

BI-115H.001 - Ecology of Food, 4 Credits, Raveret Richter

The study of fundamental concepts in ecology from a who-eats-whom perspective. Topics include the behavior and ecology of herbivores, predators, parasites, and mutualists, interactions among competitors in quest of food, trophic connections, and analyses of communities and landscapes managed for agricultural and aquacultural production. Quantitative field investigations of herbivory in Skidmore's North Woods are complemented by laboratory investigations of plant physical defenses and secondary chemicals, including the use and function of these secondary chemicals in world cuisine. A similar investigative approach is taken to the study of pollination, seed dispersal, and predation. Local food producers contribute to the study of agroecology. Ecological impacts of various agricultural and aquacultural practices and the implications and potential ecological impacts of genetically modified foods are explored.

Prerequisites: QR1.

Three hours of lecture, three hours of lab per week. One Saturday field trip.

(Fulfills laboratory science requirement.)

CH 385.001-011 - Senior Thesis in Chemistry, 4 Credits, Department

Senior Thesis in Chemistry - An opportunity for Chemistry seniors to engage in chemical research under supervision of a Chemistry faculty member culminating in a senior thesis paper and presentation to the department. Prerequisites: Agreement by a faculty member to serve as mentor and permission of the instructor. Note(s): Students who intend to seek advanced degrees are particularly encouraged to take this course, CH 385, and/or CH 371. Twelve to fifteen hours of work under the supervision of the individual faculty mentor. Students enrolling in CH 385 are expected to write a senior thesis and present it to the department by the end of the semester. A senior thesis, an oral presentation of the thesis to the department, and two semesters of 300-level research in chemistry (CH 385 and/or CH 371) are required for consideration for honors in chemistry along with a 3.0 overall GPA and 3.5 GPA in the major. In addition for honors, the senior thesis must be read by the faculty mentor and a second reader who both must assess the thesis to be excellent and of honors caliber. For honors, the oral presentation must also be of sufficient quality.

CS 275H.002-006 - Computer Science Research, 1 Credit, Department

An introductory exploration of research in computer science. The students, in collaboration with a faculty mentor, will participate in a research project in a particular area of computer science. The research projects may, for example, include designing new algorithms for computational problems, surveying the research literature, implementing existing algorithms from the research literature, or performing computational experiments.  Students may only take four CS 275H courses in their careers and may take no more than two in any given semester. If two are taken in a single semester, each must be a different section. CS 275H may not be counted toward the CS major. Must be taken S/U.

CS 275H.002-006 - Computer Science Research, 1 Credit, Department

An introductory exploration of research in computer science. The students, in collaboration with a faculty mentor, will participate in a research project in a particular area of computer science. The research projects may, for example, include designing new algorithms for computational problems, surveying the research literature, implementing existing algorithms from the research literature, or performing computational experiments.  Students may only take four CS 275H courses in their careers and may take no more than two in any given semester. If two are taken in a single semester, each must be a different section. CS 275H may not be counted toward the CS major. Must be taken S/U.

EN 105H-001 - The Beast Within, 4 Credits, K. Greenspan

The Beast Within- The question of what distinguishes human beings from animals has occupied thinkers from earliest antiquity to our own time. Modern Western debates on animal rights and attempts to define human nature in biological or biosocial terms have drawn upon arguments set forth in ancient Greece, modified by the influence of European and Byzantine Christianity in the Middle Ages, and, finally, by modern scientific advances. In this class, our writing about animals and humans in medieval Europe will be informed by medieval popular tales, folk beliefs, religious, philosophical, and scientific teachings, and by beast symbolism in architecture, ornament, and familial identity. As this is an Expository Writing course, we will devote much of our attention to writing exercises (in-class and take-home assignments) that emphasize devising, developing, supporting, organizing, and revising a sustainable argument. We will also focus on issues of grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and idiom, with the twin goals of improving your style and increasing your confidence as a writer. Though this course can be taken in partial fulfillment of Honors Forum requirements, non-Honors Forum students are welcome to join the class. They will find the readings, discussions, and writing assignments challenging but not daunting.

EN 105H-001 - Writing on Demand, 4 Credits, L. Hall

When the essayist Joan Didion was in her twenties, she wrote editorial copy for Vogue magazine on a wide range of subjects. In her forties, she noted that it is “easy to make light of this kind of ‘writing,’ [but] I do not make light of it at all: it was at Vogue that I learned a kind of ease with words... a way of regarding words not as mirrors of my own inadequacy but as tools, toys, weapons to be deployed strategically on a page.” Inspired by Didion’s on-the-job apprenticeship, this course will ask you to undertake the work of a professional copywriter or ghostwriter. What might you be asked to compose? The introduction to the documentary “extras” for a television series. The “Our Story” blurb for the website of a local restaurant. A capsule biography for a mayoral candidate. A C.E.O.’s response to a request from Forbes: “Tell us about the biggest mistake you ever made as a leader.” The instructor will furnish you with material; with her guidance, you will shape it into publishable or, as the case may be, presentable prose. Expect frequent short assignments, most of them graded. (Fulfills expository writing requirement. This is an Honors course.)

EN 105H-002 - Land of Absurdity, 4 Credits, M. Wiseman

This course will take us into the land of absurdity, as mapped by fiction writers, filmmakers, poets, essayists, and playwrights. We will venture into regions of dark humor, charged outrage, searing satire, and profound silliness, with the aid of such writers as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, and Lewis Carroll and such film directors as Stanley Kubrick, Spike Jonze, and Terry Gilliam. (And don’t forget Monty Python.) -- Sinister, ludicrous, surreal, irreverent, these portrayals and explorations will help us to think about and especially, to write about ways that seeming incoherence can be made coherent. We’ll reckon with the limits of reason and our terror of uncertainty; we’ll discover that an appreciation of paradox can deepen and free our thinking. Our writing practice will emphasize understanding and developing our own writing processes. Students will write frequent short papers—personal, analytical, persuasive, reflective—and three to four substantial essays, submitted first as drafts and then in careful revision. (This course fulfills the all-college requirement in expository writing.)

EN 105H-002 - Meltdown: Lit., Culture, Climate, 4 Credits, T. Wientzenan

Meltdown: Literature, Culture, and Climate- Climate change is often thought of as a technical problem, something squarely in the domain of the sciences and policy makers. What practical value do the humanities really offer in mitigating the mass extinction of species or rising sea levels, after all? Yet the sheer scale of climate change demands new cultural narratives that might allow us to navigate a dramatically changed future. If our species is to survive, we will, in short, require new ways of thinking about the world and the cultures that define us. In this course, we will engage a wide array of cultural texts that register our moment of ecological history—and texts that imagine possible futures for us. We will read and write about work by scientists, public policy experts, and historians, as well as creative texts by filmmakers and fiction writers. Among other things, we will ask how moving between scientific knowledge and cultural texts might help us understand and confront a future utterly unlike the past.

EN-105H.002 - Fantasy and Film, 4 Credits, M. Wolff

The genre of Fantasy Film has prevailed for decades as an unpredictable source of pleasure and escape; as exploration of our anxieties and fears; as an adventure into the subconscious, or back through childhood memories; as a moral and ethical guide for the societies we inhabit; as a call to explore those realms that we may otherwise see only in dreams. The delights of fantasy cinema are endless and for their followers, they may inspire the composition of lively college level essays and stories. In this essay-writing seminar, you will watcheleven fantasy films with the goal of interpreting them in well-structured essays. The course is divided into three Units, with 3-4 films assigned per Unit. You will read relevant stories, craft short written responses,

and then draft and revise a longer essay at the end of each course Unit. You will practice elements of essay craft, using primary and secondary source materials in study and research. You will consider: in what ways do fantasy film-makers re-envision familiar 19th century fairytales? What are the intersections of fantasy with its historical partner, realism? How are fantasy and memory entwined? How do science fiction fantasies about the evolution of the human mind condemn or defend that process? What is the cause of a human being’s need for fantasy? How do adventures through time or space express notions of family, inheritance, and destiny? Some films in previous semesters have included: Pan’s Labyrinth, Spirited Away, Village of the Damned, Ex

Machina, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Solaris, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Honors students will also study some foreign fantasy films.

EN 105H-001 - Writing Gender, 4 Credits, R. McAdams

Whether or not we always realize it, gender constantly, quietly shapes our experiences—from determining which bathroom we use at a gas station, to framing others’ responses if we start to cry in public, to influencing the way we speak and write. But what is gender, actually? How is it constructed and maintained? In this writing seminar, we will analyze the way that biological and social definitions of gender compete with and inform each other, as well as the way that gender identities and expressions have varied historically and culturally. We will read and write about practices like drag and cross-dressing that play with normative expectations, as well as about non-binary and transgender identities that reject the reduction of gender to the biological sex assigned on a birth certificate. Above all, we will write and talk about writing—in essays, short assignments, and peer review sessions—and we will explore how writing reflects gender and shapes our understanding of what gender is.

EN 222W-001 - Victorian Illustrated Book, 4 Credits, C. Golden

Victorian Illustrated Book- What was the last book you read with illustrations? Was it a graphic novel, a comic book, or a children’s book? All of these types of books have their roots in the Victorian illustrated book. This vibrant genre came into being, flourished, and evolved during the long nineteenth century and finds new expression in our time in the graphic classics, a prescient modern form of material culture that is the heir of the Victorian illustrated book. This Honors, writing-intensive course explores the evolution of the Victorian illustrated book with attention to illustration, critical analysis, and creative practice. Readings will include Charles Dickens’s Pickwick Papers (1836) and Oliver Twist (1838), Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), and Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit (1902) series, which demonstrates how the Victorian illustrated book found a new home in children’s literature at the fin de siècle. We will also study Victorian graphic classics, a hyper-modern form for twenty-first century readers. Students will engage in curatorial work in the rare book room and put on a library exhibition on an aspect of Victorian literature and culture. In addition to reading and writing frequent papers and designing a brochure to accompany the exhibit, students will become author-illustrators and create their own illustrated texts. Counts as a "Forms of Language and Literature" course.

EN 229H-001 - Intro to Medieval Lit, 4 Credits, K. Greenspan

From the saintly to the sinful: a sampling of the treasures of medieval English literature, presented in the context of the rich material and intellectual culture of the 12th through the 15th centuries. Our recurring theme, “Visions of Life and Death,” will lead us to examine such topics as resurrection and immortality, heaven, hell, and purgatory, penance and pilgrimage, death, relics, and remembrance, ghosts and otherworld journeys. We will read all works in their original dialects, giving enough attention to Middle English grammar and vocabulary to make the readings easily accessible. (Counts as a “Language and Literature in Context” course. Counts towards the Early Period requirement.)

EN 229H-001 - Stories of English, 4 Credits, K. Greenspan

When the 11th-century preacher Wulfstan composed his Sermon to the English, whom did he imagine he was addressing? The key word here is “imagine”—for in this course we will study the ways in which the English have imagined themselves, linguistically and culturally, from the Anglo-Saxon period (5th-11th centuries) through the mid-18th century, when Samuel Johnson composed his great Dictionary. Because English has always been a “mongrel tongue,” historically absorbing far more from other languages than any other Western vernacular, and because the British count among their forbears Picts, Celts, Norsemen, Saxons, Romans, and French, (to name only the most prominent), neither linguistic nor racial and cultural distinctions suffice by themselves, as they may in other lands, to define the English. Moreover, although the British Isles are separated physically from the rest of the continent, they nourished some of the earliest and most prolific contributors to and consumers of European Christian culture in the Holy Roman Empire. So in what ways have the English defined themselves as uniquely English? -- In this course we will seek for answers in both the history of the English language from its earliest development through its rise in status as a literary language and the history of English literary imaginings of the English nation, enquiring into the roles literature has assumed in forming national identity. This course counts toward the "Early Period" requirement for the English Major; and counts as a “Language and Literature in Context” course.

EN 229H.001 - European Lyric in Middle Ages, 4 Credits, K. Greenspan

This course introduces students to the rich body of medieval lyric poetry in its historical development from the late classical period through the Middle Ages (c. 400-c.1500). We will read songs of love and war, meditations, satires, charms and prayers composed by wandering students, noble troubadors, revolutionary stilnovisti, devout friars and riddling bards, and study the traditions within which they wrote and the innovations they wrought. Further, we will consider issues of translation, performance, and literacy in the context of the sometimes competing, sometimes complementary cultures of secular society and the medieval Church. Most of the poems will be read in translation, except for those in Middle English, which we will learn to read in the original. We will also read some modern essays that will teach us more about medieval culture and its poetry. Students who read French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, or German are welcome to lend us their expertise in reading the poems in the original. Assignments will include three papers, a journal, group presentations, and active participation in class, including reading aloud.

COUNTS AS A “LANGUAGE` AND LITERATURE IN CONTEXT” COURSE

COUNTS TOWARD THE EARLY PERIOD REQUIREMENT 

FULFILLS HONORS FORUM REQUIREMENT

EN-303H.001 - Hon. Peer Tutoring Project, 4 Credits, M. Wiseman, L. Jorgensen

In this course students will receive the theoretical and pedagogical training to become peer tutors of expository writing.  The readings and classroom discussions cover topics in discourse and rhetorical theory, composition pedagogy, and collaborative learning.  Students will apply their developing knowledge of discourse theory and tutoring to their weekly meetings with student writers enrolled in EN 103: Writing Seminar I.  EN 303H students receive four credit units for three hours of class and for their scheduled meetings with the student writers with whom they work.  Course requirements include prepping EN 103 assignments, keeping a record of tutoring experiences, giving in-class reports on classical rhetoric, and writing an extensive term project focused on an area of interest related to peer tutoring, rhetoric, and/or discourse.

After successfully completing EN 303H, students are eligible to apply through student employment for the paid position of Skidmore Writing Center (Lucy Scribner Library 440) tutor.  Students wishing to enroll in this course should possess excellent writing ability, knowledge of rules of grammar and punctuation, and effective communication skills.  Students seeking enrollment must submit a professor’s recommendation and a writing sample to Professor Wiseman; registration is by permission of instructors.  Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors in all disciplines and majors.

EN 339.001 - Queer Theories (and Practices), 4 Credits, J. Cermatori

An overview of foundational texts and significant ideas in the field of gender and sexuality studies, focusing on the interplay between theory and praxis in the struggle for queer liberation. Our readings will be focused on key U.S.-American writings from the past half century, and will examine queerness as a field in which forms of identity, power, and claims to justice intersect. Students will gain familiarity with major thinkers and important concepts for LGBTQ+ life and politics today, including: gender and sexual nonconformity; queer intersections with race, ethnicity, and nationhood; LGBTQ+ aesthetics, sociality, and world-making; dissident forms of desire and identification; solidarities and protest. As an advanced English Department seminar, we will also devote special attention to queer literary critique and contemporary LGBTQ+ fiction, poetry, and drama. The course will culminate in students designing and executing a mid-length independent research project. This course satisfies Skidmore’s Bridge Experience requirement and will therefore involve several practice-based/application components, including special guest conversations, service learning events, and creative writing assignments. Counts as the new Gen. Ed Bridge Course requirement

HF 203-001 - Citizen Studentship, 4 Credits, R. Rotheim

A course that places students at the center of the learning process. Students from Skidmore College designed the course’s structure, readings, and pedagogy as an introduction to a self-motivated and self-governed approach to learning. Interdisciplinary by nature, the course challenges students with critical thinking and writing, student-driven discourse, governance, citizenship, and character development. Students and the instructor work in a collaborative manner to design course goals, select readings, develop assignments, and direct class discussions.

Prerequisites Expository Writing and at least sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

HF 215-001 - Peer Health Education, 3 Credits, J. McDonald

An introduction to the concepts, principles, theory, and practice of health education, health promotion, and peer-based education.  Students will engage with a variety of topics surrounding health, wellness, community health promotion, theories of behavioral change and leadership skill building through readings, class discussions, and opportunities for experiential learning.  Throughout the semester students will research, plan, execute and evaluate educational outreach materials and programs on various health and wellness topics relevant to college-aged students.  Not for liberal arts credit.

HF 315.001 - Adv. Peer Health Education, 1 Credit, J. McDonald

Advanced Peer Health Education - An expansion of concepts covered in Peer Health Education by allowing students to fine-tune their health promotion and peer counseling skills. Students will select specific areas of interest and will work closely with other Peer Health Educators and the instructor to plan, implement, and rigorously evaluate outreach programs on campus. The course will focus on building leadership and communication skills and on deepening the expertise of the students on college health-related issues. Prerequisites: HF 215 and permission of instructor. Not for liberal arts credit. May be repeated for credit.

HI 116H.001 - Sea Changes, 4 Credits, T. Nechtman

A survey course in global history that takes the world's oceans as its subject. Students will explore themes ranging from naval history to legal history, from environmental history to zoological history, and from the history of exploration and adventure to the history of imperialism and conquest. Students will work with primary and secondary sournces and develop their analytical and writing skills as they ask questions about the field of history itself. What assumptions have historians made when they focus on nations and continents? What institutions and categories have they privileged with their focus? What have we missed because we look only at the history of land? How and why does history's narrative shift when we undertake a "sea change" in our perspectives? (Fulfills social sciences requirement.)

HI 224H.001 - The Enlightenment, 4 Credits, E. Bastress-Dukehart

This course examines the most important interactions to take place within and among society, politics, and culture that characterized the intellectual and philosophical transformation known as the Enlightenment.  Influenced by revolutionary advancements in science and medicine, inflamed by seditious political treatises, and distrustful of Catholic reforms, enlightened thinkers of the eighteenth century sparked the emergence of a new political and literary culture.  Ultimately, the intellectual advancements that excited d’Alembert and his fellow philosophes helped to shape the ideological foundations of the American and French Revolutions.

MA-113H.001 - Honors Calculus II, 4 Credits, M. Hofmann

A continuation of MA 111, Calculus I. Together these courses cover most of the traditional topics in single variable calculus. The Honors section of this course includes the addition of two two-week research projects and coverage of more sections of the text. The instructor will maintain high expectations for the students’ contribution to their own learning.

MA 125H, 225H, & 325H Problem Solving in Mathematics, 1 Credit, R. Hurtwitz

Students at all three levels will work collaboratively on problems posed in various undergraduate mathematics journals and other sources. Solutions to journal problems will be submitted to the journal editors for acknowledgment and possible publication. Problems are taken from all areas of specialty within mathematics.

Prerequisites: QR1. During fall semesters, students will have an opportunity to compete in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

May be repeated for credit. Must be taken S/U.

MA 126H-001 (Fr), 226H-001 (So), Honors Problem Solving                    

326H-001 (Jr./Sr.), 1 Credit

Students at all three levels will work collaboratively on problems posed in various undergraduate mathematics journals and other sources. Solutions to journal problems will be submitted to the journal editors for acknowledgment and possible publication. Problems are taken from all areas of specialty within mathematics.

Prerequisites: QR1.

May be repeated for credit. Must be taken S/U.

MA 275H.003-016 - Mathematics Research, 1 Credit, Department, C. Lemus-Vidales

Exploration of a research topic in mathematics. The students, in collaboration with a faculty mentor, will participate in a research project in a particular area of mathematics which may be related to the faculty member's research program. Students may only take four MA 275H courses in their careers and may take no more than two in any given semester. If two are taken in a single semester, each must be a different section. MA 275H may not be counted toward the mathematics major. Must be taken S/U.

MB-336H.001 - Workplace Diversity, 4 Credits, P. Prasad

An interdisciplinary examination of the many challenges and issues raised by the growing diversity and multiculturalism of the North American workplace. The course provides a historical introduction to the patterns of immigration that affected different workplaces and offers an overview of the legal structures that deal with questions of difference in work organizations (e.g., the Equal Employment Opportunity Act). Students examine how organization structures and cultures influence the reception, inclusion, and experiences of different social identity groups along dimensions of gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. Current debates on related controversial issues such as affirmative action and the role of white privilege are also addressed. This course covers the following dimensions for studying management and business in context: I, II, III, VI.

Prerequisites: MB 107 and MB 224

Designated a Cultural Diversity course.

PL 205H-001 - Modern Political Thought, 3 Credits, R. L’Arrivee, F. Taylor

Political thought of the Early Modern period to that of the mid nineteenth century. Selected thinkers include Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aspirations of classic liberalism and the successive criticism these aspirations inspired. Provides foundation for upper division work in political theory.

SO 211H - Hon: Sociologic Imagin, 4 Credits, J. Brueggemann

A review of "great works" that have made an impact in the field of sociology. This course will examine a number of classic and contemporary social scientific books. Students will investigate the content and perspective of sociology, the defining questions of the discipline, and the "sociological imagination." This will entail exposure to important sociological ideas and arguments as well as some sense of the intellectual history of the field. This course will emphasize informed and engaged discourse about the big ideas of these great works.

HF 100-001 - HON: Latin American History: Cities, 1 Credit, J. Dym

Open to students enrolled in HI 111P.

In this course, students of Latin American history will break away from constraints of a traditional chronological approach to history courses by focusing on themes that cut across place and time.  In Fall 2020, the topic will be cities and urban life.  Students will receive an introduction to methods and approaches in urban studies. They will then select a more focused topic and, in small groups, identify continuities and changes in one aspect of city living (such as sports, built environment, capital cities, food supply, or government).  By the end of the semester, each group will present its research to students enrolled in the parent class.

HF 200-001 - Communication Design I, 1 Credit, Add on to AR 209      

An in-depth intellectual study of the material covered in Communication Design I through readings, discussions, quizzes, and presentations. The readings and discussions will provide a more expansive and deeper engagement with the concepts covered in the course, as well as provide opportunities for involvement with fellow students. Communication Design I focuses on the creation of design, while this course will examine questions about typography and design practice.

HF 200-005-009 - PLTL for CH 125 Princ of Chemistry, 1 Credit, W. Kennerly/M. Raththagala

A topical workshop, seminar, discussion group or lab/studio experience sponsored through the Honors Forum. HF 200 may be offered as an optional "honors" credit linked to a regular course offering at the 200 level, or as a freestanding academic experience open to Honors Forum and other highly motivated students.

HF 200-001-004 - PLTL for CH 115 Princ of Chemistry, 1 Credit, W. Kennerly/M. Roca

Honors Forum Workshop - A topical workshop, seminar, discussion group, or lab/studio experience sponsored through the Honors Forum. HF 200 may be offered as an optional "honors" credit linked to a regular course offering at the 200 level, or as a freestanding academic experience open to Honors Forum and other highly motivated students. Prerequisites: as determined by the instructor and the Honors Forum Council, concurrent enrollment in a particular 200-level course, or completion of a prerequisite course.

PLTL in CH 221/222.010-011, 1 Credit, A. Brezny

Honors Forum Workshop - A topical workshop, seminar, discussion group, or lab/studio experience sponsored through the Honors Forum. HF 200 may be offered as an optional "honors" credit linked to a regular course offering at the 200 level, or as a freestanding academic experience open to Honors Forum and other highly motivated students. Prerequisites: as determined by the instructor and the Honors Forum Council, concurrent enrollment in a particular 200-level course, or completion of a prerequisite course.

HF 300-001 - Paleoclimatology Practicum, 1 Credit, A.Frappier

This optional 1-credit Add-on complements the GE-311 seminar by providing an applied, hands-on experience in paleoclimate research methods.  Under the instructor’s guidance, enrolled students form a research team focused on a local project of interest. We select appropriate methods, perform analyses, and interpret results.  By the end of the semester, students develop a presentation and write an abstract for submission to the Geological Society of America’s Annual or Northeastern Section meeting.  This year’s project may explore new a paleo-oceanography tool using geochemical analyses of enigmatic fossils of animals that lived in warm tropical seas above the mysterious dead zones that now form New York State’s Marcellus Shale.  An organizational meeting for interested students will be held during the first week of classes, to select one of the following classtimes: Tu 2:40-3:30 or W 11:40-12:30 or W 4-4:50 pm.

HF 200-005 - Children’s Literature Today, 1 Credit, Add-On to EN 229, C. Golden

This add-on complements “Children’s Literature: A History,” an exploration of children’s literature as it evolved over the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In “Children’s Literature Today,” students will learn how to evaluate and interpret children’s literature that appears on today’s bookshelves with particular attention to picture books of the 21st century. We will examine trends in children’s picture books including but not limited to the repackaging of classic children’s stories (board books, coloring books, pop-up books, sound stories, games, etc. of Peter Rabbit, Alice, and Babar); kiddie lit classics (e.g. Cozy Classics adaptations of novels by Austen, Bronte, Montgomery, and Dickens); and new series that relate to our multicultural world. As in the parent course, we will examine these texts from a range of disciplinary perspectives; these books, in turn, will teach us much about gender, race, religion, and ethnicity in our world today. Meetings will be held twice a month, mainly on Friday afternoons in various bookshops or libraries in Saratoga Springs and on campus.

HF 300-001 - Essays About Theater, 1 Credit, Add on to TH 334, M. Wolff

Honors students meet in conference with the Instructor to develop two substantive essays, additional to those assigned in 334, for formal presentation to the class. Before the end of the semester, these students will also revise their Honors course work and develop a sustained sequence of the complete assigned writings on Theater, as a small, coherent essay collection. Honors students meet with the professor during the term in small group discussions, as needed.

HF 300-002 - The Politics of Dystopia: Tyranny in 20th Century Literature, 1 Credit, Add on to PL 351B, F. Taylor

This course is devoted to a close study of portraits of tyranny and unfreedom in twentieth century literature. The totalitarian experiments of the twentieth century combined with dramatic advances in technology seemed to spawn new thinking about what shape future tyrannies might take. Would future political and social experiments bring about dystopian results due to their perverse or merely unrealistic ambitions? Or might our technological capacities allow such political engineers to succeed all too well? Does human nature place limits on what political and social reformers can accomplish? Or might it now be possible to transform and shape human nature itself such that the political and social orders of the future will be entirely and dramatically new? We will examine these and related questions by reading authors such as George Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut, Walker Percy, and Kazuo Ishiguro.

Students enrolled must read one addition novel from a list of options and complete an essay comparing it to a novel from the parent course.