Honors Program Advanced Electives
Fall, 2008

Freshmen are not permitted to enroll in Advanced Electives
without permission from the Honors Director

ART 333 Catalyst: American Art History
Professor Applegate
As opposed to a traditional survey of art history, this course will investigate key moments in American Art History by considering change. We know that art is not made in a vacuum, but what are those external influences, so strong that they change the way an artist works? From the mid-nineteenth-century Hudson River School, to the contemporary impact of digital media, this course will investigate American Art and the social, scientific, historic, and personal catalysts that encourage change.

EDI 321 Activism in the Age of Globalization
Professor Rhee & Woo
In an age of increasing consumerism, corporatization, wars, ethnic/racial conflicts, fundamentalism, and climate change, how can we use the tools of this new age to educate ourselves and the public for a more inclusive, humane and equitable world? This course takes an interdisciplinary approach towards considering this important question of activism in an age of globalization. This course will also require students to examine and create forms of cultural production, such as the internet, video, film, and music, to engage in their own activism.

This course is especially suitable for students who are interested in using various platforms as tools for public education and activism in the following majors: education, media arts, liberal arts, public service, sociology, business and information science.

ENG 351 Edward Albee
Professor Dircks
A study of the major works of one of America’s greatest living playwrights, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee. Since the production of The Zoo Story in 1959, Edward Albee has created excitement and controversy on stage. His audiences are captivated by his sophisticated characters, witty dialogue and comedy that borders on absurdity. Yet his plays challenge cultural icons such as romantic love and institutional religion. He has also probed the values of suburban living, the problems posed by the elderly, and the trials faced by both children and parents in the family structure, all done with a nimble sense of comedy. The course will consist of discussions of selected works, viewing them from both a dramatic and theatrical perspective. Readings will include The Zoo Story, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Delicate Balance, Three Tall Women, and The Goat.
Pre-requisites: ENG 303 - 304, 11-12 or 7-8

ENG 353 Literatures of Africa
Professor Lutz
The decolonization of Africa was accompanied by the development of a diverse body of national literatures focused upon the struggle for liberation from European control as well as the problems engendered by political independence. These national literatures frequently address the destructive legacy of colonialism even as they present tangible alternatives for a renewal of African culture and society. Through a close reading of several novels representative of distinct African cultures in confrontation with English, French, and Belgian imperialism, we will explore the struggle of former colonies to rediscover their cultural roots and assess the far-reaching impact of colonial domination on African lives. Issues addressed in the class will include: the impact of colonization on the psyche of Africans, the interrelationship between racist, sexist, and economic forms of oppression, the issue of cultural authenticity as it relates to language and emergent post-colonial identities, the role of political resistance in constructing new cultural forms and communities in the wake of colonialism, and the persistence of various forms of neo-colonialism in African societies.

MKT 319 Marketing Strategies for High Technology Firms
Professor Rao
The fortunes of the U.S. corporations and the new economy are increasingly dependent on the intangible capital comprised of intellectual as well as marketing capital. While innovation—new products, services, and technologies—depends on the intellectual capital accumulated by largely investments and research and development (R&D), marketing capital consisting of brand name and other marketing assets is also needed to obtain the maximum return from R&D investments. This is because innovative firms that invest heavily in R&D often suffer from the problem of imitation accomplished by competitors at a relatively modest cost. The course examines how innovative firms protect themselves against imitation through various marketing strategies.
Pre-requisites: MKT 11

MTH 321 Geometry and the Art of Islam
Professor Burns
Islamic patterns are a beautiful and highly geometric art. More than a thousand years ago, Islamic artisans began to adorn architectural surfaces with geometric patterns. This course will explore one of the most interesting of the many bridges between mathematics and the visual arts: the importance of symmetry and pattern in both mathematics and art. The focus will be on the study of pattern as the intersection of art and mathematics and, in particular, we will look at the role of mathematics in the creation of medieval Islamic art.
Pre-requisites: High school Mathematics

PHI 343 C. G. JUNG: MYTHS, DREAMS, AND MYSTERIES
Professor Lothstein
A systematic investigation and evaluation of the central concepts of one of the leading depth psychologists and spiritual philosophers of the last century. Our focus will be on Jung’s theory of the structure of the psyche, including his discussion of archetypes (universal mythical motifs) and the “collective unconscious,” of the relations between the ego and the unconscious, of psychological types, of the self (the ego, the shadow, animus and anima, the concept of individuation), and of dream symbolism in relation to alchemy. In this context, we will address Jung’s theory of dreams as compensatory, as illustrating imbalances, disharmonies, and underdevelopment in the self.

We will also discuss his use of quaternity symbols (symbols of four-foldedness), and his notions of “the transcendent function,” of “synchronicity” (a non-causal connecting principle), of “complementarity,” of “symbols of transformation” and “mysterious conjunction.” Jung’s paintings of his own dreams, his use of “mandalas” (circular meditation symbols), his discussion of the relation of analytical psychology to poetry, and the collection of spiritual arcana that he kept in his “Red Book” will also be explored.

The game finally hunted by Jung was the spiritual poverty of modern man and culture. His philosophy and psychology of religion, including his seminal writings on the subject of both western and Asian religion and spirituality will be discussed at length. These include “Answer to Job,” “Modern Man in Search of a Soul,” and “The Undiscovered Self.”