Courses for Fall, '04

Introduction to Honors: the Nature of Human Nature (HONR 101)
-- Prof. Goldstein, Interdisciplinary Studies

Tuesday, Thursday 9:30 a.m.

An exploration of the open-ended question-asking and interdisciplinary discussion which marks the Honors Program. The course ranges widely over philosophical, psychological, literary, and anthropological texts, as well as works of art, which propose competing definitions for human nature. Students are asked first to understand and then to criticize each perspective in turn and finally to formulate their own understanding of human nature. Readings, which may be drawn from Aristotle, Margaret Fuller, B. F. Skinner, Jesus, Nietzsche, Kenneth Burke, John Milton, or Margaret Mead, are also adopted as the course proceeds based on student suggestions.

The Enlightenment (HONR 301-01)
Prof. Marc Goldstein, IDS / Philosophy

Wednesday: 2:00 p.m. - 4:55 p.m.

With the Enlightenment, the modern (n.b. not the post-modern) world assumes its distinctive characteristics: constitutional government becomes the norm; the emancipation of the individual is a thing solemnly declared in or or another declarations of rights; the term "revolution" ceases to pertain exclusively to the heavenly bodies; the social sciences begin the process of becoming disciplines in her own right; disbelief leaves the elegant drawing rooms of the jaded nobility and makes its way down to the streets; art criticism and the novel are invented; pornography liberates itself from any (overt) concern with the moral, political or pedagogical. . . . and the list goes on. This course will examine and analyze some of the essential texts from this most significant period of Western history.

Professional Ethics (HONR 301-02)
Prof. David Johnson, Philosophy

Monday, Wednesday, 3:30 - 4:45 p.m.

A course added recently to the Honors curriculum in response to requests from Honors students. Examines ethical issues that affect workers and professionals: lying and deception, privacy and confidentiality, whistle blowing, social responsibility and justice. Discussions will make reference to case studies from a number of different professions, including medicine, law, business, politics, the military, and education. We will also examine more theoretical questions about the nature of professionalism, including the moral nature of the relationship between professionals and their clients, and the contrasting natures of ordinary and occupational morality.

Courses for Spring, '05

• Mathematics and Social Fairness
• Art and Society
• French Revolutionary Thought
• Classic Non-Western Film
• Ethics and Animals

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