Fall 2021 Honors College Courses

Fall 2021 Honors College Courses
HNR 200-001: The Meaning of Life
Tonya Krouse
W 2:00-2:50 p.m.
The fifteenth-century poet and orator George Herbert famously declared, “Living well is the best
revenge.” In the twenty-first century, somebody on the internet created the hashtag #lifegoals, a
shorthand way to indicate our aspirations for a life well lived. Throughout history, people have been
fascinated by trying to understand what life is and trying to articulate what gives life meaning. What
does it mean to live well, or, even, what counts as “life”? From the Ancient Greeks to the present day,
scholars, philosophers, scientists, technologists, and artists have pondered these questions. Not only
have they considered life as it connects to humanity and ethics – such as in debates about abortion, gun
control, and war – but also they have investigated life in the physical world, from the life of cells, to the
smallest organisms, and to the life of our planet and the universe.

                                  NATURAL WORLD COHORT
HNR 210-001: The Control of Nature
David Kime
MW 2:00-4:20 p.m.
“Cooling the lava was Thorbjorn’s idea … That such a feat had not been tried, let alone accomplished in
the known history of the world did not burden Throbjorn, who had reason to believe it could be done.”
– from “Cooling the Lava” by John McPhee, which tells the story of a fishing village in Iceland attempting
to control nature and prevent lava flows from destroying their homes and livelihood.

The Earth cycles and recycles its air, water, and rock; constantly renewing itself in an attempt to balance
the thermal energy from its depths and the solar energy that reaches its surface. To human society,
however, these natural processes become calamities we call earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods,
debris flows, tsunami, and tornadoes. These disasters have very real impacts on economy, politics,
culture, and history. As humans continue to try to control nature the economic impact of natural
disasters simply grows larger.

“The Control of Nature” integrates laboratory investigation of the physical nature of such disasters with
seminar discussions of case studies from around the world and throughout history on the impact these
interactions between the natural and the human world have on society. For instance, one day the class
will practice using data from seismograms to determine the strength and location of an earthquake and
the next day we will discuss 1923 Kantō earthquake in Japan how this affected economic and political
evolution of Japan during the following decades.

HNR 311-001: Environment, Ecology, and Human Health
Allison Parker
MWF 10:00-10:50 a.m.
This course will cover a range of topics related to how the environment affects human health. Focus will
be on the ecology of infectious diseases, including what are the organisms that cause infectious diseases
in humans, what factors contribute to their emergence, and the complexity of ecological processes that
can influence infectious disease exposure. A range of other topics will be covered, including the impacts
of global change, including climate change, on human well-being, the impacts of infectious disease on
human history, and the ecological, political and social ramifications of pandemics, and how to work with
communities from different cultures to control infectious disease spread - Just to name a few. Whether
you are interested in anthropology, sociology, ecology, epidemiology, or human medicine, this course
will cover topics that will interest you and help you develop your worldview.

                                         SOCIETY COHORT
HNR 220-001: Quantitative Methods in Anthropology (Cross-listed with ANT 342)
Douglas Hume
MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m.
This course begins with an introduction to the theoretical foundations and methods used to conduct
quantitative analysis in anthropology. Students then learn about research design through laboratory
components on the following topics: 1) social research/ethics, 2) literature review, 3) research design, 4)
choosing informants, 5) participant observation, 6) cognitive anthropology, 7) qualitative analysis, 8)
interview methods, 9) scales and scaling, 10) uni/bi/multivariate analyses, 11) behavioral measurement,
12) consensus analysis, 13) social network analysis, 14) proposal design, and 15) presenting research..
Students will gain understanding of the role of quantitative research in anthropology; learn how to
design quantitative research projects; recognize ethical and validity problems in ethnographic research;
examine and use methods of statistically testing hypotheses; analyze quantitative data collected in
service learning projects; and discover and practice how to communicate results of quantitative
research.

HNR 220-002: Leadership Strategies for Wicked Problems
Nicole Dillard
T 3:05-5:50 p.m.
Back in 1972, Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber introduced the term wicked problems to describe “social
or cultural problems that is difficult and most often impossible to solve.” Decades later, leaders are still
faced with developing strategies to help provide resolution to wicked problems such as poverty,
homelessness, food insecurity, climate change, economic crisis, and educational access and
improvement. In fact, wicked problems tend to be hard to solve because: (1) we typically have
inconsistent knowledge and information to understand and solve the problem, (2) there are ‘too many
cooks in the kitchen’ providing contradicting opinions, (3) the cost to solve the problem is
overwhelming, and (4) most problems are interconnected to other problems and pulling on one string
usually unravels another.

Nevertheless, effective leadership is ultimately about solving problems and involves taking chances that
may eventually change the world! The question is: are you up for the challenge?

In this class, we will consider multiple perspectives as we explore a number of wicked problems in
society. Using many leadership skills, such as research, critical thinking, problem-solving and information
and digital literacy, we will learn to provide evidence-based analysis leading to effective leadership
strategies for solving wicked problems.

This is the class for you, if you:
          Want to lead by example in creating positive change in the world;
          Want to leverage your curiosity and creativity to build actionable solutions to real-world
              problems;
          Want to put those debate skills to work to build a cohesive argument and engage in
              controversy with civility and
          Want to build a collaborative community with other students who are interested in creative
              problem solving.

HNR 320-001: Drug Policy (Cross-listed with PSY 420)
Perilou Goddard
TR 1:40-2:55 p.m.
This course will involve a critical examination of many aspects of historic and contemporary drug
policies, both in the U.S. and in other countries. Political, economic, social, and psychological effects of
drug policies will be covered, with emphasis on empirical evidence regarding the relative effectiveness
of the policies. Issues such as the War on Drugs, the legalization debate, and harm reduction practices
will be covered. The course format will combine lecture, discussion, quizzes, an in-depth project, and an
integrative policy project.

HNR 320-002: Forbidden History
Brian Hackett
TR 9:25-10:40 a.m.
Join us in exploring some of the taboo subjects of history, things that nobody mentions but almost
everybody is curious about. For example, did you know that prostitution was once a legal profession
listed in the US Census? Or that the Cincinnati area was once a major resource for stolen corpses for
medical study, including the body of the father of a later president? The evidence is all around us! This
course will explore these and other subjects, and will culminate in a small exhibit and the possibility of a
ghost hunt with paranormal professionals at a local historical site.

HNR 320-003: Democracy in America
Michael Baranowski
TR 1:40pm-2:55 p.m.
The United States is one of the oldest democracies in the world, but in recent years its democratic
institutions have suffered significant erosion. Tens of millions of Americans question the integrity of
elections and support for democracy appears to be waning. To understand how we’ve come to this
point, we examine democracy in America starting with Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1835 classic Democracy in
America. We’ll consider what democracy has meant in an American context, how that meaning has
changed over time, and the gap between democratic ideals and the reality of life in the United States.

HNR 321-001: The Rise and Fall of the Borgias
William Landon
TR 10:50am-12:05 p.m.
The Borgia family remain one of the most infamous in world history; accused of murder, violence of
nearly every kind, and even of incest. In contemporary media, depictions of their many crimes have
been continually re-iterated. For the historian who examines the Borgia, the question of whether or not
they were actually guilty of such heinous acts remains central. In this class we will examine the widely
accepted "popular" history of the Borgia family and recent television series dedicated to them, to
determine if they are in fact deserving of their reputation.

                HUMANITIES AND GLOBAL VIEWPOINTS COHORT
HNR 230-001: Medicine in Literature and Film
Andrea Gazzaniga
MW 2:00-3:15 p.m.
How has the representation of illness in film and literature changed over time? What do stories about
medical care teach us about doctor-patient relationships? How do fictional narratives help us empathize
with suffering? Conversely, how do fictional narratives construct negative ideas about those who suffer
from disease? In this course, we will explore literary and cinematic representations of the medical
profession and the people it treats. We will look at how literary works from the 19th-century depicted
illness and how those depictions have changed over time. In particular, we will explore how society
stigmatized certain “afflictions” and how rhetoric shapes cultural notions of what it means to be “sick”
and what it means to be “healthy.” Ultimately, we will learn how cinematic and literary narratives have
the power to shape ethical approaches to medical care.

HNR 230-002: O Brave New Digital World!
Tamara O’Callaghan
TR 9:25-10:40 a.m.
When Miranda exclaims, "O brave new world / That has such people in't!" in William Shakespeare’s
Tempest, she is expressing a naïve admiration of humanity; however, when John the Savage makes the
same statement more than 300 years later towards the end of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, he is
being bitterly ironic. This section of HNR 230 asks us to discover our place between the giddy euphoria
of what the digital world seems to offer and the sober reality of its limitations. We will investigate how
we interact and, perhaps more importantly, how we do not interact in a global technological
society. What are the divides? What are the barriers? In what ways do new technologies reinforce old
disparities, old arrangements of privilege or inequality? And how can one engage with the possibilities of
the digital world without losing sight of the real-world issues mirrored (and sometimes magnified) by
these innovative and highly imaginative technologies?

We will explore a variety of current technologies and their applications across a broad range of
disciplines, including but not limited to AR/VR in health studies and the humanities, 3D graphic design in
gaming and the fine arts, data visualization in the social sciences and literary studies, gazemapping in
neural marketing and education/reading studies, and AI in robotics, writing studies, and the arts.
Together, we will set the course goals, choose the technologies, and design the assignments. And then

we will analyze…and play…with the technologies to determine how they shape our current digital world
and how they may reshape it in the future.

HNR 330-001: The Green Goodbye
Donelle Dreese
T 10:50am-12:05 p.m. (In Person Campus)
Online Asynchronous for the other 50%
Is it possible to think about death in a positive way? Is there such a thing as a “good death”? This course
will study the emerging movement in natural or “green” burial and how it can change our perceptions of
death, dying, and bereavement. You will hear the stories of families who stepped outside the doors of
their local funeral parlors and laid their loved ones to rest in nature preserves, “green” cemeteries,
backyard gravesites, memorial reefs, and at sea. You will learn about cremation, home funerals, and
“eco-coffins,” as well the history of American burial and the benefits of going out green as a form of
environmental activism. This course will approach death as a wild biological event, an opportunity to
claim one’s birthright within the fundamental essence of being a living and breathing organism. By way
of contrast, you will learn about the injustice and ecological consequences of our modern funeral
practices. Deep inequities exist within death care. This course will investigate what it means to have a
“good death” and why not all members of our society have access to one. We will begin with an
exploration of the “death positive” movement and study where green burial fits into its vision. You will
have the opportunity to attend Death Café and Death Over Dinner events while also visiting Heritage
Acres Memorial Sanctuary, a natural burial cemetery located just outside of Cincinnati. Would you like
to go for a hike at Heritage Acres, attend a fall volunteer workday to plant trees? Or, perhaps you would
like to do some journaling, or design a land art exhibit at the sanctuary. This course will open the door to
those opportunities, offer avenues for creative expression, and feature guest speakers who are national
experts in green burial.

HNR 330-002: Community Writing (Cross-listed with ENGL 394)
Chris Wilkey
M 4:45-7:30 p.m.
Students in this course meet regularly in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood while interacting
with community activists as a way of examining and experiencing how everyday people use writing to
build community and engage in activist work. Over-the-Rhine is well-known for displaying many of the
controversial issues associated with urban communities and continuing efforts to “revitalize” urban
centers. This course will interrogate these issues in partnership with Over-the-Rhine community
activists, residents, and organizations. Our class will learn from ongoing activist campaigns that advocate
on behalf of individuals who either have little income or may be experiencing homelessness. In fact, our
class has been asked to contribute to these ongoing efforts and to think through how they may take
form for a wider, public education. In the process, students experience first-hand the practical power of
using writing in alignment with the ongoing work of a social justice movement.

SERVICE LEARNING COMPONENT: Possible service learning projects include designing a “street
newsletter”, creating a Display Board based on oral history interviews of neighborhood residents and
workers, writing for Cincinnati’s street newspaper Streetvibes, and working with neighborhood
residents and workers on their writing.

HNR 331-001: Citizens of the World
Tonya Krouse
TR 10:50am-12:05 p.m.
The philosopher Socrates said, “I am neither an Athenian nor Greek but a citizen of the world.” In the
millennia since, explorers, expatriates, travelers, and tourists have embraced this identity, associating it
with intellectual sophistication, wide-ranging experiences with cultures and traditions different from
their own, and what one might call a “cosmopolitan” sensibility. But who gets to take on the identity of
“citizen of the world”? Who is excluded from it? What is global citizenship? Is it something to which
each of us should aspire? What are the moral, ethical, and social consequences of our itineraries and of
how we understand ourselves in relation to the places that we encounter and inhabit? What are the
benefits and privileges of global citizenship, and what are the responsibilities? In this course, we will –
through literature, cinema, music, and art – travel around the world, seeking answers to these questions
in diverse locations such as Columbia, England, Nigeria, the United States, and India. Books in the course
will include: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Golden Notebook by Doris
Lessing, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The
course will culminate with a final research-based project of the student’s own design that connects to
the course theme.

                                   SPECIAL TOPIC COURSES
HNR 306-001: Queer Activism
Bonnie Meyer
TR 9:25-10:40 a.m.
Queer Activism is an interdisciplinary introduction to the social and political movements that focus on
civil rights and liberation of the LGBTQA+ community. By placing queer sexualities and identities in their
broader social and political contexts, we will explore the construction, articulation, and politics of queer
sexual desire, and the movements and policies used to bring about social and political change. Students
will learn strategies for allyship, and will consider the shift toward becoming an accomplice who
advocates for progressive social change across difference. Community and statewide activists and policy
makers will serve as guest speakers, and students will have further opportunities to engage with the
local community through course projects. This course will provide students a solid intellectual
foundation for the further study of allyship, activism, and organizing movements as they operate in
multiple social, cultural, political, and geographic locations.

HNR 307-001: Rhetoric Goes to the Movies
Steven Weiss
R 3:20-6:05 p.m. (Synchronous Online)
What persuades you? Is it a speech, an essay, an editorial, a debate, a legal ruling? There is
considerable evidence that we tend these days to turn to visual and mediated messages as primary
sources for persuasion, abandoning the traditional oral and written forms of communication associated
with the classical principles of rhetoric (the theory and rationale of persuasive discourse). As an
example, the film “Blood Diamond” led to decreased diamond sales, and helped bring about labor
reform in the industry.

The motion picture feature film (and not documentary) will be examined in the context of
understanding the rhetorical power of story-telling through film-making. In this regard the course builds
upon the theoretical work of Kenneth Burke and Wayne Booth, who first recognized this phenomenon
in fiction (as opposed to non-fiction). Since movies attempt to tell stories (like novels and plays), the
motion picture becomes an extension of literary works. A rhetoric of fiction, as applied to film, becomes
the template for the critical analysis of the genre.

The instructor will pre-select films (for analysis and criticism) that will be the basis of the reviews and
papers the students will write in the class. Students may also nominate and/or introduce films that
possess the rhetorical components looked at in the course.

Prerequisite: CMST 101 or 110 (or their equivalent); Junior or above standing.

                     CAPSTONE OPTION FOR STUDENTS IN SOTA
MUSM 394: Research Methods in the Arts
This course is built specifically for students in Art, Dance, Theater and Music to explore and understand
research methods in the Arts. The course will provide the opportunity for participants to establish
and/or advance their understanding of research in their discipline and other arts through exploration of
research language, ethics, and approaches including: topic selection, literature review, and written/oral
presentation. Students in the course will be guided as they choose their own research topic and
complete the research process with the opportunity to present completed research at the NKU
Celebration of Student Research and Creative Activity Event held each spring.

                                     SUMMER 2021 COURSE
HNR 307-001: Music and the Moving Image (Cross-listed with MUSM 394)
Kurt Sander
July 12-August 13
Online Synchronous
A special topics course exploring the relationship between music and the moving image over the past
century. This course analyzes various genres such as film, television, video games, music videos, and
more. We will explore various musical elements from a dramatic and stylistic perspective as well as
from a musical analysis of melody, harmony, counterpoint, tempo, rhythm, and orchestration. Here’s
just a sample of what we will cover:

       Learn how composing for film differs from traditional composition.
       Explore how music can work on a subconscious level in film and video.
       Study history’s greatest film composers and learn what made them great.
       Understand film music as an industry and how it has changed over time.
       Analyze some the most memorable movie soundtracks ever written.
       Discover the techniques composers use to enhance narrative in film.

   Recognize the way music enhances gaming and the video experience.