Honors Colloquia - Spring 2025

Click on a course name to read a description.

All course materials can be purchased at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers, located at 939 Lexington Avenue.

Course Descriptions

Ships, Seafaring and Mediterranean Civilization, 3000 BC-1000 AD: Nautical Archaeology in Context

Professor Hendrik Dey (Art & Art History)

HONS 2011S
Wednesdays; 11:30-2:20 p.m.
Room: 412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

Mediterranean history depends on the ships and sailors that crisscrossed the Mediterranean Sea, connecting populations and cultures from Spain to Syria and creating the political, cultural and economic networks that turned the Mediterranean basin into the cradle of Western civilization. We will begin with a brief overview of ancient seafaring, with particular emphasis on the technical advances that marked the evolution of seagoing ships from the Bronze Age to the early Middle Ages (ca. 3000 BC to 1000 AD). We will then examine theory and practice of maritime archaeology, which has only recently come into its own as a scientific discipline, and which has the potential to reshape current thinking about a broad range of topics, from commerce and trade, to communications and cultural contacts, to questions of state-formation and empire-building. In the final segment of the course, we will turn to some case-studies that illustrate some of the many ways in which the Mediterranean and its associated cultures would have been unthinkable without what we might call a flourishing 'maritime habit'. Greeks and Trojans could never have fought, nor could Homer and Virgil have written; Athens would never have been built; Rome and Constantinople would have starved...

REQUIRED TEXTS (note that this list will change between now and beginning of class!)

-  L. Casson, The Ancient Mariners, 2^nd ed., Princeton, 1991.
-  L. Babits and H. Van Tilburg (eds.), Maritime Archaeology: A Reader of Substantive and Theoretical Contributions, New York, 1998.
Digital "coursepack" with additional readings.

GRADING AND REQUIREMENTS

-  Class participation/preparedness: 10% of final grade
-   15-minute oral report and 3-4 page written presentation on an underwater excavation of your choice: 15% (presentation can be done anytime during the semester - dates will be chosen early in the semester)
-  Midterm exam: 30%
-  12-Page final research paper: 45%

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Maps and Culture

Professor Gavin Hollis (English)

HONS 2012H
Tuesdays and Fridays; 11:30-12:45 p.m.
Room: 412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

In this course we'll be putting these insights to the test. Do maps lie?  If so, how, and does it matter? Should we like them if they do? What is their relationship to the "vicious truth"? Are they always great hearted and good natured? Can we attribute emotion and feeling to a map? Are they always "spread" out before us, or what other ways might we use, see, touch, and feel a map? And do they show us the world (or part of it), or instead "a world / not of this world?

Arguably all cultures are mapping cultures, and students are invited to define both terms openly, and in ways that make sense within the disciplines of geography and cultural studies and within their own, whether that be in the arts and humanities, the sciences, or social sciences. But the test cases this illustrated, interdisciplinary seminar analyzes will be in selected works by writers and artists from Europe, North America, and the Global South from the late medieval period through to the early twenty-first century: paintings, films, poetry, drama, prose fiction, and of course maps themselves. Combining historical, thematic, and theoretical approaches to cartography, we will ask: What is cartography? How do we read and encounter maps? What cultural work do maps perform? What power do they (and their users) hold? How do cultures determine what maps mean and how they signify, what they depict and what they omit, and what their relationship is to the world they claim to represent? And to what extent do they allow for different views of the world, or even worlds beyond our own?

Texts will include King Lear by William Shakespeare, Judith Schalansky's, The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands, and selected poems by John Donne, Brian Friel's play Translations, Kei Miller's poetry collection The Cartographer Tries to Map his Way to Zion, and selected poems by Elizabeth Bishop.  Poetry, theoretical and historical writing, and short stories will be available on Brightspace.  Artists will include Johannes Vermeer, Albrecht Durer, Mona Hatoum, David Maisel, Julie Mehretu, Jasper Johns, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Maya Lin. We will also watch Vincent Ward's 1992 film, A Map of the Human Heart.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this class, students will be able to

• Demonstrate an understanding of maps and their social and cultural function from the late medieval period to the present day
• Demonstrate an understanding of cultural and aesthetic links between maps and visual art across the same period
• Demonstrate an understanding of cultural and aesthetic links between maps and literature across the same period

Requirements:

Participation, Attendance, In-Class Writing (25%)

Three papers of 6-8 pages (25% each, including presentation):
- a paper on maps and art
- a paper on maps and literature
- a creative map project

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Life, Death, & Power: Exploring Biopolitic & Necropolitics

Professor Noran Mohamed (Romance Languages, French)

HONS 2012R
Tuesdays and Fridays; 10:00-11:15 a.m.
Room: 412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

Description:

In a world where power is not only wielded through overt political institutions but also through the subtle regulation of life itself, understanding the dynamics of biopolitics and necropolitics becomes crucial. This course explores the theoretical frameworks that illuminate these dynamics, providing students with the tools to critically analyze the intricate interplay between power, life, and death. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on political theory, philosophy, critical race studies, and postcolonial theory, students will read works by authors such as Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Judith Butler, Achille Mbembe, and Paul B. Preciado, making connections to literature, film, and art. Students will examine how power manifests in the management and regulation of life, as well as the deliberate imposition of death upon certain bodies. At the heart of this exploration lies the concept of sovereignty and its relationship with biopower, wherein the state asserts its authority not just over territories but over the bodies and populations inhabiting them. Ultimately, this course aims to equip students with an understanding of biopolitics and necropolitics, enabling them to critically approach the complex terrain of power dynamics that govern contemporary societies.

Coursework:

Students are expected to attend and participate actively in class discussions that will be based on weekly homework assignments. Each week, students will engage with different types of materials, including articles, critical essays, films, documentaries, artwork and novels. Over the course of the semester, students will give a class presentation, complete five reading reviews, a midterm essay, and a comprehensive final essay or creative project.

Evaluation:

▪ Attendance and Participation (includes final project presentation) 20%
▪ Class Presentation and Discussion, 15%
▪ Readings Reviews (5 total), 20%
▪ Midterm Essay, 20%
▪ Final Essay or Project, 25%

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Commitments and Convictions: Writing from Institutions

Professor Katherine Winkelstein-Duveneck (English)

HONS 2012S
Tuesdays and Fridays; 1:00-2:15 p.m.
412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

"I died in Korea from a shrapnel wound, and narcotics resurrected me. I died in 1960 from a prison sentence and poetry brought me back to life."

-Etheridge Knight 

This course investigates writing produced within institutions. This includes what sociologist Erving Goffman called "total institutions" (prisons and hospitals), as well as workplaces, schools, and other institutions. What traces does the institution leave on the writing? What can we learn by examining these traces? We will study letters and literature by hospitalized and incarcerated writers, as well as a variety of works from sociology, photography, disability studies, law, art, textile, carceral studies, music, and film. We will also tap into the knowledge we have gained from contact with institutions in our own lives. Guided by their interests, students will design and conduct original research.

The interdisciplinary nature of the course enables it to examine the complications of institutions: what happens inside of them, what happens outside, how these affect each other, and the liminal or transitional spaces in between. It also helps the course to draw on students' knowledge and experience: personal and professional experience with institutions as well as academic knowledge from their disciplines.

Sample works to be studied:

• Poetry: Etheridge Knight, Poems from Prison; Amelia Rosselli, Hospital Series
• Sociology: Erving Goffman, "Characteristics of Total Institutions"
• Short story: Chester Himes, "To What Red Hell"; Robert Walser, Microscripts
• Photography/carceral studies: Nicole R. Fleetwood, "Posing in Prison: Family Photographs, Emotional 
• Labor, and Carceral Intimacy"
• Letters: George Jackson, Soledad Brother; Oscar Wilde, De Profundis
• Music: Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5; Outkast feat Supa Nate, "Phone Style"
• Novel: Jean Genet, Our Lady of the Flowers
• Textile: Agnes Richter, autobiographical jacket
• Memoir: Susanna Kaysen, Girl, Interrupted; Nawal El Saadawi, Memoir from the Women's Prison
• Film: Waiting for Godot at San Quentin; Frederick Wiseman, Titicut Follies
• Archival documents: Letters of Fanny Ward; Annual reports of Blackwell's Island Asylum
• Law: Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow
• Journalism: Nellie Bly, "10 Days in a Mad-House"
• Interdisciplinary: Prison Writings in 20th Century America, ed. H. Bruce Franklin

Writing Requirements

• Five informal responses, 300+ words each
• 5-page essay
• 10-page research project (scaffolded, with revisions)

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Medieval Plague

Professor Marlene Hennessy (English)

Guest Speakers

HONS 3011T
Mondays and Thursdays; 1:00-2:15 p.m.
Room: 412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

This colloquium will focus on the Black Death in Europe, the Great Mortality of 1348-1350 that left between one-half and one-third of the population dead. This global pandemic is widely considered the most devastating epidemic in human history and profoundly changed every sphere of medieval society, including the economy, religion, medicine, literature, and the arts. We will become acquainted with the new paradigms for understanding the Black Death that have emerged out of recent research in the fields of history, genetics, and bioarchaeology. Indeed, our historical and scientific understanding of the Black Death has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, with many groundbreaking studies published in the past few years that we will study in this course. To that end, we will explore what the new plague science has to tell us about Yersinia pestis, the causative organism of the plague that spread across the globe for many centuries, possibly beginning even a hundred years earlier than previously thought. We will then look at a broad range of historical sources such as chronicle writings, plague tracts, and other medical texts to help us reconstruct this medieval pandemic as a social, cultural, and political event. Special attention will be paid to the death-oriented piety of medieval culture and to the literary and visual evidence of the Danse Macabre and the Ars Moriendi, as well as other new developments in art, literature, and religious life that came in the aftermath of the plague, such as devotions to "Plague Saints." For the medieval English context, texts to be read include Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale; John Lydgate's The Dance of Death; The Disputation between the Body and the Worms; and the morality play, Everyman. Continental texts to be read in translation include Boccaccio's Decameron. Three films will also be viewed: Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011); Pier Paolo Pasolini's Decameron (1971); and Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957). We will take a field trip to the NY Academy of Medicine Rare Book Room to look at medieval and early modern medical manuscripts and early printed books, including early plague tracts. Guest speakers (TBD) will visit the class from diverse academic fields (medieval history, literature, art history, public health, archaeology, and medicine) in order to enhance our understanding of the material.

Requirements:  one research paper (15-20 pages, submitted in two drafts); one 7-10 minute oral report based on one of the secondary readings for the week on the syllabus, which is handed in as a 4-5 page written essay (Paper #1). Take-home Midterm. Short, weekly Discussion Board posts on Blackboard are required (250 words).

Required books for purchase: The Black Death, ed. Rosemary Horrox (Manchester, 1994) paper $18.50 (ISBN-10: 0719034981).  Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron: Norton Critical Edition (transl. Mark Musa) (ISBN-13 : 978-0393091328), $20.45. Other assigned readings will be posted on Blackboard, including all of those from Monica H. Green, ed., Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World. Rethinking the Black Death (Arc Medieval Press, 2015) (no cost, PDF)

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Ethics and Biotechnology

Professor Farzad Amoozegar (Music)

Guest Speakers

HONS 3012A
Mondays and Thursdays; 2:30-3:45.m.
Room: 412HW
3 hours, 3 credits

This interdisciplinary course explores various ethical frameworks and approaches, including utilitarianism, rights-based ethics, justice, the common good, and virtue ethics, to analyze the practice and implications of biotechnological innovations. The course begins with an introduction to foundational ethical theories relevant to biotechnology, providing students with a solid understanding of the moral landscape in which biotech decisions are made and practiced.  From there, we investigate specific ethical challenges posed by biotechnological advancements, such as gene editing, personalized medicine, and genetic testing.

We will critically evaluate the concept of utility in biotech decision-making, assessing the balance between potential benefits and harms to individuals, communities, and the environment. This would also mean examining the rights to care, the preservation of the ecological system and animal rights in the context of biotech research, focusing on issues of informed consent, privacy, and autonomy. Key topics such as stem cells, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), artificial hearts, pharmacogenomics, and other cutting-edge biotechnologies are discussed. We critically analyze how these advancements alter the way we are born, live, reproduce, and ultimately face mortality, exploring their unprecedented ramifications on individuals, communities, and societies at large. By engaging with diverse perspectives and grappling with complex ethical, social, anthropological and scientific issues, we will be gaining a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of biomedicine and biotechnology.

Coursework:

• Attendance and participation (10% of the grade).
• Students are responsible for a one-page critical response each week. The response papers need to be posted on the class website after our Thursday classes. The report should not be more than one page long or have more than 400 words- please, adhere to these limits (25% of the grade).
• Midterm paper (5 double-spaced pages): an analysis of one of the weekly topics in the course. This is a take home assignment. (30% of the grade).
• A short research paper assignment (8 to 10 double-spaced pages) and class presentation. The students shall write an essay based on a subject matter suitable to the course. The aim of the research paper is to synthesize, discuss and assess scholarly literature and to develop a conceptual analysis of a current topic chosen. The papers will be due during the exam week (35% of the grade).

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Interdisciplinary Independent Study

HONS 30199
3 hours, 3 credits
Hours to be arranged

Students wishing to take this course will need two readers, from different disciplines, one of whom generally should be a member of the Council on Honors. In principle, the Council must approve the subject matter of such a paper before the student can register for the course. This course may be taken only once.

HONS 30199 cannot replace any of the three required Honors Colloquia.

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Advanced Interdisciplinary Study

HONS 49151
6 hours, 6 credits
Hours to be arranged

Upon completion of 90 credits, certified Honors Program students may be admitted by the Council on Honors to Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, with the opportunity of engaging in advanced independent study under the Council's supervision. A project for a thesis or other appropriate report of the results of the student's research is presented to the Council, which must approve it the semester previous to registration. Three sponsors, from at least two departments, one of whom must be a member of the Council on Honors, will supervise the work. The final product must be approved by all three sponsors and the Council.

HONS 49151 cannot replace any of the three required Honors Colloquia.

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