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FALL 2024 GENERAL HONORS COURSES

With the exception of the required one hour G H 299 (Honors Colloquium), the Honors courses below may be used to fulfill requirements in the University’s General Education curriculum. 

Jump to Fall 2024 Honors FYE ("Y") Courses

HONORS COLLOQUIUM

83656  GH 299-003  COFAC HONORS SEMINAR  HARDEMAN A   F 8:00-8:50  BROWNE 215
Fall 2024 topic: "Women's Voices" - Taught by the School of Music

COFAC Honors Seminar (1)   This course introduces honors students to the disciplines within the College of Fine Arts and Communication. Fall 2024: From modern superstars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, to musicians of the distant past such as Kassia of Byzantium and Hildegard of Bingen; whether composer, performer, or patron; women around the world have had a tremendous impact on music, navigating systems which prevented their participation and learning, devalued their contributions, and limited the scope of their access. In this course, we will explore a wide assortment of women musicians and their musics as we reclaim a space for women’s voices.

85590  GH 299-I36  MIND FUN  MCILVAINE-NEWSAD, TH 12-12:50 ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Mindfulness Fundamentals (1)   An experiential and subjective exploration of mindfulness with some emphasis on its implications for the health and well-being of college students.  Students will read about, hear about, view and experiment with secular mindfulness practices suitable for a general population, such as focusing awareness, breathing exercises, gratitude compassion, positive affirmations, progressive relaxation, and mindful movement.

86884  GH 299-I38  WLTH MGT  BRENNAN M, ONLINE  (FIRST EIGHT WEEKS)

Wealth Management (1)  The purpose of this course is to understand how excess money should be smartly invested in stocks, bonds, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.  Included in the course is a discussion of internal and external factors that materially affect this “allocation of assets” decision.  How these investable assets should be spread across regular (taxable) investment accounts and retirement (tax-free or tax deferred) accounts is also addressed by the course.  Within this structure, a somewhat detailed understanding of how stocks and bonds are valued and traded is included. 

HONORS GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

COLLEGE WRITING (COMMUNICATION SKILLS)

 87053 GH 101-025  BODIES IN LIT WILSON JS  T TH 9:30-10:45  SIMPKINS 308

Bodies in Literature: (3) (General Education/Humanities; WIU AP credit for Eng 180 or Eng 280 with a C grade or better) In this discussion-based course, we will read and examine literary works that explore connections between the body and the self—emotional, spiritual, and relational. We will take up questions such as, how does body image, whether positive or negative, influence concepts of self? How and to what extent do identity markers such as race, gender, and sexuality influence experience? How are traumatic experiences such as war, racial violence, and child abuse “written on the body”? What lines can be drawn between the material body, flesh and blood, and the immaterial, such as ghosts and spirits? Readings will include two novels, a collection of short stories and poems, and a film adaptation of a literary work, all arranged in thematic units, such as “Bodies in Battle,” “Madness and the Body,” “Lovers,” and “Haunted Bodies.”  (G H 101 may be taken as Advanced Placement Credit for English 180 OR English 280, but not for both ENG 180 and ENG 280. G H 101 may be repeated only if taken with a different topic.  However, AP credit may only be earned once.  A student may not take G H 101 and earn AP credit for ENG 180 and then repeat the course to earn AP credit for ENG 280.)

87089  GH 101-041  UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA  ROCCA  T TH 3:30-4:45  SIMPKINS 327

Utopian/Dystopian Societies and Enviromements (3) (General Education/Humanities; WIU AP credit for Eng 180 or Eng 280 with a C grade or better)  Utopia/Dystopian Societies and Environments: (3) (General Education/Humanities and English 180 or 280with the University theme of Environmental Sustainability, this course will examine six novels with respect to the relationship between the societies and their environments, both natural and cultural as well as balanced unbalanced, in which they their writers place them. The settings will be studied as points of comparison for the societies which do and do not thrive in their midst. Depending on the novel under study, the larger environmental setting, either rural or urban, will be viewed, generally, as a complement or point of ironicsocial engineering created as the writer’s central focus. Such points as physical and mental health of the their sense of freedom, ability to associate with other characters, and encouragement to develop the polserve as points of departure for class discussion and written assignments. The principal goals of the classtudents see the potentially positive relationship between nature and social health and the ability of the overcome sometimes profoundly dysfunctional environments. (G H 101 may be taken as Advanced Placement Credit for English 180 OR English 280, but not for both ENG 180 and ENG 280. G H 101 may be repeated only if taken with a different topic.  However, AP credit may only be earned once.  A student may not take G H 101 and earn AP credit for ENG 180 and then repeat the course to earn AP credit for ENG 280.)

85586  GH 101-093  HORROR FICTION  KOZHUKHOVA Y  M W F 1-1:50  SIMKINS 308

Horror Fiction (3) (General Education/Humanities; WIU AP credit for Eng 180 or Eng 280 with a C grade or better) Horror fiction is often born from the anxieties of its time. In this course, we will explore the way that real-life circumstances give rise to collective fears, and those collective fears give rise to stories. This course is chronologically divided into three units. The first unit will explore the anxieties of the 19^th century with a focus on Romanticism and the Enlightenment. The central text of this unit will be Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The second unit will explore the anxieties of the 20^th century with short stories by Daphne du Maurier, Angela Carter, Shirley Jackson, Poppy Z. Brite, Jewelle Gomez, and Nalo Hopkinson. The third and final unit will bring us to the present day, where we will explore new forms of media. Texts from this unit will include episodes of the horror fiction podcasts, Welcome to Night Vale and The Magnus Archive, and the comedy horror show, What We Do in the Shadows. (G H 101 may be taken as Advanced Placement Credit for English 180 OR English 280, but not for both ENG 180 and ENG 280. G H 101 may be repeated only if taken with a different topic.  However, AP credit may only be earned once.  A student may not take G H 101 and earn AP credit for ENG 180 and then repeat the course to earn AP credit for ENG 280.)

PUBLIC SPEAKING ( COMMUNICATION SKILLS)

85591  COMM 241H-014  INTRO PUB SPKG  ZANOLLA D  T TH 2:00-3:15  MEMORIAL 339

Introduction to Public Speaking: (3) (General Education/Communication Skills) Students in this honors class will receive the same amount of speaking experience and practical instruction as in other sections but will engage in a more intensive development of those speeches.  Each student will give three major speeches.  The first will be an informative visual presentation, the second will be an argumentative presentation, and the third major speech will be a persuasive presentation.  Students will also deliver some minor, upgraded speeches.

The course has two objectives.  The first is to have the students master the practicalities of public speaking.  They will learn and put into play the canonical principles of invention, organization, style, memory and delivery, and will do so in both informative and persuasive situations.  The second objective is to introduce students to the richness of rhetorical theory.  The section will be conducted in such a way as to promote both goals simultaneously.

Speeches will be critiqued by the instructor and the class according to the principles outlined in the texts and discussed in class.  With the exception of the days devoted to giving speech assignments, class will be conducted as a seminar and workshop.  Students will be expected to have read the material assigned and be prepared to raise issues about the readings.  Discussion will follow the students' reactions.  

HUMANITIES

86831  GH 301-093  MONSTERS  LINDQUIST S  T TH 3:30-4:45  SALLEE 228 

Monsters and the Monstrous (3) (General Education/Humanities) No human culture has been without its monsters. Monsters express things beyond themselves: sometimes concrete things or persons, sometimes abstract concepts, emotions, philosophies, or ideologies. Monsters stimulate the imagination and make us think productively about the unknown and uncontrollable. But notions of the monstrous also figure into attempts to shut down debate and stigmatize others. In this course, we grapple with and reflect on our relationship to the monster in history, literature, visual art, and in our present moment. In the first part of the course we will consider texts that lay the foundation for “monster studies” and “monster theory.” The second part of the course will address case studies addressing influential monsters in global culture, including literature, films, and images.

HUMAN WELL-BEING

83356  FIN 101H-002  FIN HEALTH  GRAY S S  M W 10-10:50

Financial Health (2)  (General Education/Human Well-Being) Develops strategies for achieving and maintaining well-being through personal finance skills. Topics include well-being as it relates to cash management, credit management, sources of educational funding, rental agreements, basic investments, taxes, insurance, financial math, and career planning. Cannot be applied towards meeting the requirements for the Finance major or minor. Counts as General Honors course towards graduation requirements for Honors Scholar status.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

86925  GH 302-073  GAME THEORY  GATELY J B  T TH 2:00-3:15  STIPES 217

Game Theory (3) (General Education/Social Sciences) This interdisciplinary course will provide an introduction into the method of game theory and how to use it to answer important political and social questions.  The method of game theory is becoming increasingly important to many disciplines:  In political science, game theory is used to understand political phenomena such as voter turnout, bargaining, and coalition building.  In law enforcement, game theory is used to study phenomena such as police patrolling, jury decision making, and prisoner interrogations.  In sociology, game theory is used to study phenomena such as cooperation, conflict, collective action, and norms.  This course will provide a solid foundation in the basic concepts of game theory while applying it to real life situations and scholarly questions.

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