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Current Honors Courses

Fredonia Foundations Honors-Only Sections

Fredonia Foundations Honors-Only Sections

The following courses are restricted to students admitted to the Fredonia Honors Program.  

BIOL 109 Biology, Health, and Medicine (Section HR)

  • 23FFC: Natural Sciences & Scientific Reasoning;
  • 23FFT: Critical Thinking & Reasoning
  • Dr. Ted Lee (Distinguished Teaching Professor)
  • Face-to-Face: Tues./Thurs. 9:30–10:50 a.m. (CRN: 35892); 23 seats
  • Room: Science Center 110 (Teaching Lab)
Course description: 

The course will discuss aspects of biology and health, providing information on the science of these topics.  Students will learn about infectious and inherited diseases.  The course will cover how scientists have studied diseases and developed treatments for them and what work is currently being done to develop new treatments for disease.  The course will have discussions on areas of bioethics, personal health and wellness, and the relationship between science and society.  

Class materials: 
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Assignments: 
  • Term paper
  • Short quizzes and short written assignments throughout the semester.  

ENGL 100: Craft of Writing (Section HR) 

  • 23FF Competency:  Written Communication
  • Mary Weiser
  • Face-to-Face:  Tues./Thurs. 2:00 –3:20 p.m. (CRN: 33367); 22 seats
  • Location: Mason Hall (Room TBD)
  • Restricted to incoming Honors Music majors 
Course description:  

Craft of Writing is a student-centered writing-workshop course in which students understand and practice various stages of the writing process; compose essays using narration, description, persuasion, exposition, and explanation; and use writing and discussion as a means of situating themselves in a world of ideas. There is an emphasis, as well, on reading critically.

Class materials:  

The Little Seagull Handbook - Richard Bullock, Michal Brody and Francine Weinberg (2024 - 5th edition) with courseware 

Assignments:  
  • Weekly, open-book, online grammar quizzes
  • Short in-class writing process work
  • Five papers throughout the course of the semester, including a three-part research project 

ENGL 167: Border Crossings (Section HR)

  • 23FFC: World History & Global Awareness
  • 23FFT: Global Perspectives
  • Dr.  Ici Vanwesenbeeck
  • 100% asynchronous online course; (CRN: 34961); 23 seats
Course description: 

This section of the course “Border Crossings: Away from Home” will focus on the experience of refugees, exile, and migration in parts of the world affected by war. This course also aims at exploring the experiences of homelessness and displacement in literature, especially in current climate hot spots and conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa. Students will study literary narratives (multi genre) about homelessness, displacement, memory, nostalgia, melancholia, in specific relation to war and armed conflict. Through a variety of readings in literature, philosophy, political theory, and economics, students will be offered analytical skills that help them grapple with some of the most defining global questions of our time: What does it mean to cross borders? What is linguistic exile? What are personal, political, and literary practices of hospitality; what are the ends and limits of sympathy and compassion; xenophobia and racism; human rights and global inequities?  

This course is in line with the current FF mission to help students experience a diversity of perspectives about and approaches to solving the problems of today.

Class materials:  
  Required texts: 
  Full-text: 
  • The Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi 978-0375714832
  • Alpha, Bessora, 9781942658405
  • We are Displaced, Malala Yousufzai, 9780316523653
  • Stories of Exile, R.H. Karay 978-1738750504
  • Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Savior, Peter Tinti and Tuesday Reitano 978-0190668594
  • The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land Between, Hisham Matar 978-0812985085

The following titles are available for free via the Reed Library’s Digital Course reserves. Please log into the ebookcentral site using your Fredonia email and password. Do not share your id and password with anyone else. 

  Required films:
*Short clips, podcasts, and other visuals will be a part of the lectures and units and will be linked on FREDLearn for students.  

 

Assignments: 

One online quiz per unit; one “Wait, what?” forum post per unit; media literacy assignment; annotation and close reading presentation; make your own podcast; write an op-ed piece

ENGL 274: Social Justice and the Written Word (Section HR)

  • 23FFC: Div Eq Incl & Soc Just
  • 23FFT: Creativity & Innovation
  • Professor Mara Beneway
  • Face-to-face: Tues./Thurs. 11:00 a.m.-12:20 p.m. (CRN: 35481); 26 seats
  • Fenton 180
Course description: 

Personal narratives have a profound impact on our society, as “social justice has always depended upon the testimonies of the oppressed” (Febos). In this course we will study, discuss, and contextualize a wide range of texts (e.g., several essays and two novels) by canonical American authors, such as Toni Morrison and Joan Didion, as well as more contemporary ones, such as Melissa Febos. We will conduct research utilizing many critical lenses which shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class, and gender. And we will articulate our findings and new understandings in short weekly writing projects which we will later revise and culminate into a short D.I.Y. magazine or zine.  

This class fulfills Fredonia Foundations requirements for the Creativity & Innovation Theme and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Social Justice Category. 

Class materials: 
Note: Whichever editions you can find will work, but unless you have a documented disability which requires the use of an e-reader, do not purchase/rent digital editions. More on this later. 

Beloved by Toni Morrison ISBN 9781400033416

Sula by Toni Morrison ISBN-10, 0452263492

The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison, ISBN 9781400033416 

Any additional required texts will be provided via FREDLearn. 

Assignments:  

Weekly Writing Projects: 50%. Each week you will respond to a prompt related to our course texts in 500 words. You will be prompted to engage with course material personally, politically, and historically. 

Presentations: 20%. You will present several times throughout the semester. The “An Absolute Icon!” presentation is an opportunity for you to choose a historical figure you are drawn to, conduct thorough research, and report your findings to the class, including an excerpt and analysis of their work. “By Heart” is a memorization project in which you will choose an influential piece of writing or speech to memorize and perform for the class. At some point in the semester, you will lead a class discussion on one of our required texts and at the end of the course, you will present on your final project, a zine. 

Final Zine: 30%. The writing you produce throughout the semester will culminate to a final writing project which will take shape in the form of a zine (more on what a zine is in class). This means you should choose a topic you are interested in exploring at the start of the course so that your final project feels cohesive and focused on a subject that spans politics, culture, race, class, gender, sexuality, historical events, media, art, etc. 

MUS 115: Music Appreciation (Section HR)  

  • 23FFC: Arts
  • 23FFT: Critical Thinking &Reason
  • International Studies
  • Patrick Davis
  • Face-to-Face: MWF 11:00–11:50 a.m. (CRN: 35313); 35 seats
  • Restricted Honors Music majors only
  • Mason 112
Course description: 

This section offers an enriched exploration of Western musical traditions through an interdisciplinary lens. Students will investigate how the elements of music function as cultural expressions that both reflect and shape the societies that create them. Through connections to history, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts, students will develop frameworks for engaging music’s multivalent meanings. Students will build precise musical vocabulary while cultivating critical listening skills. 

The course examines music from medieval chant through contemporary film scores, covering major composers, historical periods, instrumental families, and musical forms.  

Students will analyze both canonical Western works and works from diverse musical traditions, connecting classroom concepts to their lived experience with music in contemporary culture. Special topics will include music and film and the aesthetics of silence. 

Class materials: 

Kamien, Music: An Appreciation ISBN 9781265266257. 

Additional listening and reading materials will be made available online.

Assignments:  

Weekly graded discussions applying course concepts to the analysis of contemporary and historical musical works; weekly quizzes; final course project  

WGST 210: LGBTQ Lit & American History (Section HR) 

  • 23FF: Social Sciences
  • 23FF: Creativity & Innovation
  • Leadership Global Perspectives
  • Women’s & Gender Studies minor
  • Ethnic & Gender Studies major
  • Professor Hannah Gordon
  • 100% ONLINE/Asynchronous (CRN: 35917); Seats: 25
Course description: 

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the American LGBTQ Rights Movement, combining historical, literary, and cultural analysis and methodologies. We will examine major events, developments, themes, and concepts within the American LGBTQ Rights Movement and American LGBTQ literary history from the early-twentieth century to the present. Particular attention will be paid to how literary and cultural representations of the LGBTQ community shaped the fight for LGBTQ rights and liberation. Sexual orientation and gender identity will also be examined in relation to other marginalized identity positions and systems of privilege and oppression. This class counts for Fredonia Foundations credit for Humanities and Global Perspectives and Diversity. 

In the Honors section of this course, students will engage the material at an elevated level through enriched readings, deeper theoretical and interdisciplinary analysis, expanded research components, and reflective work that connects course content to broader scholarly and civic communities. Honors students will apply interdisciplinary frameworks in sustained ways and reflect on their developing intellectual identity within the Honors cohort and in relation to LGBTQ+ scholarship and public discourse.

Class materials: 

David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music by Bullock, Darryl W. (Abrams Press, 2017)

Assignments: 
  • Reflection Discussion Boards (8): 30% (300 points) / 3.75% each
  • Response to Peer Discussion Boards: 10% (100 points)
  • Analysis Papers (3): 30% (300 points) / 10% each
  • Final Digital Poster Project: 15% (150 points)
  • Final Analytical Paper (2,000–2,500 words): 15% (150 points) 

Upper-Level Honors Seminars

Scroll down for upper-level Honors seminars and internships.

Upper-Level Honors Seminars, Internships, and Learning Contracts

The following courses are restricted to students admitted to the Fredonia Honors Program. There may be additional restrictions placed on each course.

HONR 301: Creativity in the Arts (Section 01)

  • Upper-Level Honors Seminar: Arts
  • Professor Zane Cupec
  • Face-to-Face: TR 12:30–1:50 p.m. (CRN: 36539); 26 seats
  • Location: TBA
Course description: 

Is creativity an individual gift or a social practice? How do communities create meaning through performance? What does it mean to become fluent in an artistic tradition? This course explores creativity through the study of music, dance, and staged performance as cultural practices. Drawing on cross-cultural perspectives, particularly African/African diasporic traditions, we will examine how artistic creativity emerges through participation, listening, rehearsal, embodiment, and collaboration. 

The course is structured around several key ideas:

  • Art as Action (Musicking): Creativity as something people do together
  • Deep Attention: Learning how to listen, watch, and experience performance with intention
  • Art as Language: Understanding artistic forms as systems of communication and meaning
  • Cross-Cultural Fluency (Bi-Musicality): Exploring what it means to engage respectfully and competently with artistic traditions beyond one’s own background
  • Logic & Creativity: Investigating the relationship between structure, constraint, and innovation 

Through experiential exercises, discussion, reading, and reflective writing, we’ll analyze how creativity functions in rehearsal spaces, national performance ensembles, festivals, and community contexts. We’ll explore how artistic traditions are preserved, institutionalized, transformed, and staged, often in relation to histories of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. 

No prior artistic training is required. This course welcomes students from all majors and assumes no previous experience in music or dance.

Class materials: 

 TBA

Assignments: 

 TBA

HONR 302:  Reacting to the Past (Section 01) 

  • Upper-Level Honors Seminar: The Human Experience
  • Dr. David Kaplin
  • Face-to-Face: MW 3:00-4:20 p.m.; (CRN: 36540); 26 seats
  • Location: Fenton 159
Course description: 

I want to play a game….  Reacting to the Past (RTTP) is an active learning technique that uses elaborate role-immersion games set in historical contexts. In this class, we will play three games that explore pivotal moments in industry, art, and literature. You will play real people and fictional composites that represent classes of real people from England’s Regency and Victorian periods and from fin-de-siècle France. These aren’t scripted reenactments: in these games, your character will engage in debates, make public speeches, craft creative and critical writing, and interact with other characters in and out of the classroom to form alliances, gather information, and plan your next moves. At the end of each game, we’ll discuss how our outcomes differ from what actually happened, and why. In addition to learning about what was at stake in these big historical moments, we will also examine the unique opportunities and benefits of role-immersion pedagogy. Note: these games are fun, but they require your committed participation in each class period, so if near-perfect attendance will be difficult for you this semester, then this may not be the course for you. 

Class materials: 
  • Engines of Mischief:  Technology, Rebellion, and the Industrial Revolution in England, 1817-1818.  (Game Book available for purchase through Amazon, the Reacting Consortium website)
  • Art in Paris:  Modernism versus Traditionalism, 1888-89. (Game Book available for purchase through Amazon, the Reacting Consortium website)
  • The Perils of Victorian Publishing: Deciding What the Public Will Read, London, 1852. (Game Book provided via FredLearn)
Assignments:  

Debates, roundtables, speeches, visual advertisements, creative and analytical writing

HONR 304: Environmental Justice: Water Resources (Section 01) 

  • Upper-Level Honors Seminar: Science and Society
  • Dr. Courtney Wigdahl-Perry
  • Face-to-face: MWF 12:00 to 12:50 p.m.; (CRN: 36541); 26 seats
  • Location: Houghton 28
Course description: 

This course aims to explore global issues related to water resources on our planet. We will investigate the role of water in our society through the lens of environmental justice and human rights, with case studies of water-related issues from around the world. We will compare past data to future predictions, and explore opportunities for mitigation and adaptation to our changing environment related to one of our most critical natural resources. 

Class materials: 

Materials will be posted on FredLearn. Students may be asked to select a popular reading book (not a textbook) as part of the course. 

Assignments: 

Activities and assessments will include in-class discussions, quizzes, midterm and final exams, and a project focused on water issues in different parts of the world. 

HONR 490: Honors Internship (Section 01)

  • Applied-Learning Experience (may substitute for an Honors course with an Honors Program Learning contract)
  • Dr. Natalie Gerber
  • Modality variable; (CRN: 34717); 5 seats
Course description: 

Upper-level experiential learning opportunity through on-campus or off-campus placements. Nature of work will vary from placement to placement. This course is generally reserved for Honors Program members and students are responsible for finding and negotiating their own placement. Course requires students to consult with the Honors Program Director and the Career Development Office to complete a Learning Contract in accordance with college guidelines before the start of the internship. An Honors internship of 2 or more credits may be used to replace any one Honors course; please note that 1 credit = 40 hours (2.5 hrs./wk.); 2 credits = 80 hrs. (roughly 5 hrs./wk.); 3 credits = 120 hrs. (roughly 8 hrs./wk.). 

Class materials: 

n/a

Assignments: 

Specified on an individual basis via a CDO learning contract and an Honors learning contract

Students may opt to pursue an applied-learning project (minimum 2 credits) in place of any one course that is part of the program requirements. This applied-learning project could be a directed study, field experience, learning assistantship, internship, service-learning project, study-abroad experience and/or volunteer project.  Students must consult with the program director prior to the experience both to set up an Honors Program Learning Contract and to arrange to receive credit.  See this presentation for further information.

Honors Program

  • 2148-2151 Fenton Hall State University of New York at Fredonia Fredonia, NY 14063

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