spring 2010 | fall 2009

Honors Seminars - Spring 2010

Issues in Education Law
Paul Rollins & Ramsey Bridges,
UGA School of Law
Call Number:  (91-925)
Wednesdays 3:30 to 4:45
Hirsch Hall Classroom D (Law School)

This seminar will introduce and explore selected issues in Education Law including student free speech, race and diversity in higher education admissions, the rights of students with disabilities, the legal requirements of educating children with limited English proficiency, and religion in schools.  Other issues may be discussed based on current events and student interests.  Students will learn to read and analyze court decisions and will improve their oral communications skills through class participation and by leading discussion of their selected topic.

Investigating Future Patient Profiles
Dr. Sylvia Hutchinson
Professor Emerita
Center for Teaching and Learning
Call number
Wednesdays 2:30-3:20
CTL Conference Room, Instructional Plaza North

This seminar will provide opportunities for pre-med students to investigate social and demographic issues which they believe may be a part of medical practice in the future. The seminar participants will use medical case problems, selected books and readings, and current news articles to project and  examine social issues which they believe they will meet in the practice of medicine. Issues will be generated from discussions with local physicians and then the seminar students will prioritize the issues they believe merit investigation. 

Sustainability and the Food You Eat
Wayne Parrott
Crop & Soil Sciences
Call number:  (21-927)
Thursdays 11-12:15*
Miller Plant Sciences 3113

How will today’s population meet their food needs during the next decade?  The world's population will increase by 50% during the lifetime of today's college students.  The need to feed this population will place even greater strain on land, water, and petroleum-derived resources.  Traditional food production practices are too energy intensive and cause too much environmental degradation to meet future needs, so the search is on for alternative practices.  The class will grapple with what it means to be sustainable, while students will elaborate upon topics such as organics, genetic engineering, pesticide use, food safety and other topics related to a sustainable food supply.

Fabulous Fungi
Dr. Sarah F. Covert
Associate Dean, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Call number: (41-928)
Tuesdays at 3:30
Forestry Resources 307  

Fungi ARE fabulous - our global ecosystem depends upon them, humans use them to make delicious foods, and they come in many fascinating forms.  BUT, they also are fearsome - they can cause devastating plant disease and mortal human illness.  Despite their numerous important functions, fungi are rarely covered in introductory biology courses.  In this seminar, we will attempt to fill in the gaps by exploring the world of fungi and their impacts on humanity through class discussions, student presentations, assigned readings, field trips, lab activities, and a cooking class.

Critical Thinking and Moral Issues
Dr. Frank Harrison
Philosophy
Call number: (61-929)
Wednesdays 12:20-1:10pm
Peabody 205S

During the first part of this seminar, we will discuss the nature of objective criteria in thinking critically in logic and the sciences.  We will then broaden our discussion to examine how these same criteria of objectivity and rational thought are appropriately applied in the area of value judgments. Here we will first discuss some of the essential features of any moral judgment from one of etiquette and personal preference. Finally, we will apply the findings of our discussions to particular topics such as abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality. Readings include are Hugh Curtler, Ethical Argument: Critical Thinking in Ethics and Mark Timmons, Conduct and Character.

Neurodegenerative Diseases    
Dr. Marcus Fechheimer
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Call Number: (21-930)
Tuesdays  12:30 – 1:45
Room 723

We will focus on the molecular basis of disease as well as technical approaches used to gain new information in this field including animal models, cell culture models, model systems, microscopy, genetics, molecular genetics, and biochemistry.  This course should be especially valuable to: 1) students planning to matriculate to graduate school; 2) students participating in or are interested in undergraduate research; 3) any students who simply want to know where knowledge comes from in science; 4) students interested in the cell and molecular biology of neurodegenerative diseases.

Honors Seminars - Fall 2009

Sustainabilty, Climate Change, and the Law
Peter Appel
University of Georgia School of Law
Call number: 83-178
Thursdays, 4:30 to 6:30*
Cheeley Room, Law School 328

Global climate change poses the biggest long-term environmental threat to humanity, and the problem is seemingly intractable. The potential consequences are dire and long-term, yet the causes are spread over many different regions and jurisdictions. Sustainable practices—and in particular sustainable commerce—present the most ready solution to this threat, but the selection of targets for performance and regulatory tools present myriad difficulties of setting targets of performance and means of enforcement. This seminar will use global climate change and sustainable practices as a means to introduce students to the legal system on the local, national, and international levels. It will also address how law interacts with cultural assumptions and mores and whether law is the best means of achieving long-term ends for environmental challenges. *The class is scheduled for 3:30-6:30, but will meet from 4:30-5:30. To accommodate film screenings, this section may occasionally meet for two hours instead of one.

The Koran: Sacred Text of Islam
Dr. Kenneth Honerkamp
Religion
Call number: 22-401
Wednesdays, 1:25-2:15
205C Peabody

An in-depth study of the Koran (1) as text: its names, definition and a historical overview of the text, its revelation, compilation and the stages which led to its eventual printed form, from both the traditional Islamic perspective and that of Western scholars; and (2) its major themes from early revelations, including epistemology (what is the source of true knowledge?), ontology (what is the nature of reality?), anthropology (what is the role of human being in this reality?), and psychology (what are the centers of human consciousness?). The purpose of this seminar is to provide students with essential material needed by anyone involved in research in the Islamic world, and to open a window upon the “Muslim world view” as perceived by Muslims themselves.

Current Issues in Law
Prof. Jere Morehead
Legal Studies
Call number:  97-602
Wednesdays, 4th period (11:15-12:05)
302 Moore College

This seminar will provide Honors students with an opportunity to explore a number of current legal issues in the United States. Students will gain insight into how the law impacts and changes society. The seminar also will provide a framework for understanding and interpreting the law. Finally, the seminar offers an opportunity to develop research and presentation skills as the students lead several class discussions on current legal topics. Honors students should finish the seminar with a greater understanding of the complex legal issues confronting the United States and an ability to recognize serious legal issues that could affect the future.

Credibility, News Media and Public Trust
Dr. John F. Greenman, Carter Professor of Journalism
Call # 80-801
Tuesdays, 2:00 pm
Moore College 002

Many Americans think journalists are biased, careless, untrustworthy and aloof. This persistent and worsening "crisis of credibility" reduces readership, damages economic performance and diminishes journalism’s role in our democracy. Worse, this crisis comes at a time when other forces – technological, economic and demographic – threaten the “business model” for journalism. Clearly, journalists – and those who consume their work – need new strategies. This course will examine what has become the central conflict in journalism: how to sustain credible practice in a time of wrenching change. This class will be taught from the perspective of the news consumer.

Students will use the case study method to learn: How serious is the crisis of credibility? What threatens the business model for journalism? Where journalists are succeeding and failing at restoring credibility and strengthening performance? How can news consumers help make journalism more credible?

Florence and the Florentines: Life in Renaissance Italy
Dr. David J. Puett
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Call number: 47-653
Thursdays, 4th period (12:30 -1:45 pm)
B121 in the Fred C. Davison Life Sciences Building (not Biological Sciences Building)

The Italian Renaissance is arguably one of the most exciting periods in Western European civilization, with a flourishing of lasting intellectual and artistic achievements. This seminar, based on lectures, discussions, and readings, will provide an overview of the literature, art, architecture, economy, political structure, science, engineering, medicine, and technology emerging and practiced in Florence during the 1300-1600s. Dr. Puett, Regents Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and former Department Head, has an NIH-funded research program on molecular/cellular reproductive endocrinology and ovarian cancer. In addition to his scientific interests, he studies the Italian Renaissance and pre-Columbian Meso-American cultures. From extensive reading and travel (often leading University of Georgia students) he has first-hand knowledge of the art, architecture, and technology extant in Florence.

The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Black and White
Dr. Janice Simon, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Art History
Call # 27-621
Special Meeting times:
Tuesdays 5:00-8:00 August 18—September 22
Lamar Dodd School of Art, East Campus, room N104

British film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) is one of the most famous film directors of all time.  Indeed, “Hitchcockian” is a term regularly used to describe a type of thriller whether in film or literature.  Well-known for his American films Rear Window (1953) and The Birds (1962) and famous for his quintessential horror film, Psycho (1960), Hitchcock created 53 films including many fine films before he came to America.  In recognition of Hitchcock’s masterful variety and for great works less known than those above, this seminar will focus on some of Hitchcock’s lesser known black and white films from both his British and American periods.

His distinctive style began in England with clear inspiration from German Expressionist cinema. Two films clearly influenced by this are Blackmail 1929 and Sabotage 1936.  Hitchcock mastered the spy film in England combining it with romantic comedy in The Lady Vanishes of 1938. Certainly, Hitchcock’s finest films were produced during his long career in the United States: three of those, I would argue, are the lesser known Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946) and Strangers on a Train (1951). We will watch these six Hitchcock films together and then discuss them, taking into account that as a great visual artist of the twentieth century, Hitchcock manipulated the medium of black and white film and created his own iconography of repeated motifs.  Students are required to come to every class and be active participants in class discussion.  Some readings will be recommended.  Please note that this seminar will only be conducted for the first six weeks of the semester.

Stephen Jay Gould: An Ecologist?
John L. Gittleman
Dean, Odum School of Ecology
Call #: 78-408
Tuesdays 9:30-10:45am
012 Ecology Building

Stephen Jay Gould was arguably the most influential scientist of this century.  From major insights about the history of life to understanding developmental biology or statistical pattern in baseball to controversial opinions about religion, Gould was (and is) profoundly important in how we study life. This seminar will critique and discuss essays by Gould to probe whether and how he viewed life in an ecological context.

The Apocrypha
Dr. Wayne Coppins
Religion
Call # 78-490
Fridays 1:25-2:15
Peabody 205C

This course is intended to serve as an introduction to the Old Testament Apocrypha (or Deuterocanonical books). Most of these books, which are canonical for Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians but not for Jews and Protestants, were composed between the time of the last books in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings. Consequently, they both show how the traditions of the Hebrew Scriptures were carried forward and shed light upon the world of Jesus and the New Testament writers. With reference to the Apocrypha and an introductory text book, this course will focus on the books and additions contained in the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Slavonic Bibles, namely Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, Additions to Daniel, 1 Maccabees and 1 Maccabees.