Curriculum

Honors courses are designed to challenge you—but we offer personalized support through small class sizes, approachable faculty, and direct connection to support services across campus including individual research consultations with our friends in the Library, as well as a close working relationship with our friends in the Writing Center. 

Because the Honors Program is open to students of all majors, your classmates will all bring different perspectives and strengths to the proverbial table, and this diversity produces a rich and rewarding learning environment. In all courses, you’re asked to learn from one another and to be willing to consider new ideas and approaches.

Tier I Courses

The first-year seminar courses are special courses for first-year students to enhance their academic and social integration into college. FYS provides an introduction to the nature of higher education and a general orientation to the functions and resources of the university. The course is designed to help first year students adjust to the university, develop a better understanding of the learning process, and acquire essential academic survival skills. The course also provides a support group of students in a critical transition by examining problems common to new students. Each fall, the Honors Program offers a special section of FYS reserved exclusively for incoming Honors students and students interested in the Honors Program.

A skills course emphasizing writing, reading, speaking, thinking skills, collaborative learning, diversity, research, and the use of technology in an academic setting. Readings and discussion of texts-in-common selected by Honors faculty and studied in preparation for possible project presentation at the Mid-East Honors Conference in the spring. Ordinarily taken during the first semester of study at IU Southeast. Part one of the required two-semester seminar sequence for Tier One students. Generally fulfills two General Education requirements (Written Communication and Ethical Questions).

Continuation of H 103. Builds on skills attained in the first semester with continued reading and discussion of texts-in-common. Students will begin to envision, research, and refine projects for possible presentation at the Mid-East Honors Conference in the spring. Ordinarily taken during the second semester of study at IU Southeast. Part two of the required two-semester seminar sequence for Tier One students. Generally fulfills two General Education requirements (Oral Communication and Critical Thinking).

Tier I & II Courses

These seminars are multidisciplinary in nature, but their topics (which vary from semester to semester) are most closely connected to the humanities and social sciences. Students enrolling in these courses need not be a 300-level student in the humanities or the social sciences, but they are expected to challenge themselves and be open to new ideas and approaches.

Past and upcoming courses include:

  • Work and Life’s Meaning
  • Truth in Storytelling
  • Political Freedom
  • Buddhist Meditation
  • Medical Humanities
  • Art and Terrorism
  • Critical Thinking and Being Human
  • The Autobiographical Image

Please note: Provided they meet the minimum number of courses for their Honors Program path of study, students may take any combination of 300-level Honors Program courses they like. In short, there is no requirement that you take both H306 and H307: instead, you should enroll in courses that fit your intellectual interests and scheduling needs.

Please remember: Honors Program seminars are often offered only once, so if a course piques your interest and suits your schedule, you’re strongly encouraged to enroll.

As with H306, these seminars are multidisciplinary in nature, but their topics (which vary from semester to semester) are most closely connected to disciplines outside the humanities and social sciences. Students enrolling in these courses need not be a 300-level student in the discipline most closely related to the course topic, but they are expected to challenge themselves and be open to new ideas and approaches.

Past and upcoming courses include:

  • Sustainable Action Workshop
  • How Do We Know Things? Lessons from Scientific Woo
  • Computer-Based Problem Solving for Every Field
  • Natural and Technological Disasters

Please note: Provided they meet the minimum number of courses for their Honors Program path of study, students may take any combination of 300-level Honors Program courses they like. In short, there is no requirement that you take both H306 and H307: instead, you should enroll in courses that fit your intellectual interests and scheduling needs.

Please remember: Honors Program seminars are often offered only once, so if a course piques your interest and suits your schedule, you’re strongly encouraged to enroll.

This independent study course is for students undertaking individual research or creative projects. Students will work closely with a faculty mentor, and they will collaborate with other students engaged in projects to discuss larger issues such as research strategies, publication, and ethics. It may be repeated for up to 4 credit hours.

See what courses are offered each semester

Spring 2021

Dement, R., 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Tu/Th; Course Number 17591*
Dement, R., ONLINE; Course Number 17531

Continuation of H 103. Builds on skills attained in the first semester with continued reading and discussion of texts-in-common. Students will begin to envision, research, and refine projects for possible presentation at the Mid-East Honors Conference in the spring. Ordinarily taken during the second semester of study at IU Southeast. Part two of the required two-semester seminar sequence for Tier One students.

*NOTE: This section will be a combination of face-to-face (with proper social distancing) and online content. You should be prepared to attend class either virtually or in person on the days and times noted for the section you choose.*

Morgan, M. 1:15-2:30 p.m., Tues/Thurs (NOTE: This course will NOT meet on campus, but you should plan to engage in class activities, generally via Zoom, on the days and times listed here.)

What is justice? Students will explore this complex question by reading the works of insightful social and political theorists. We will then apply those theories to specific cases through live-action role-playing games that immerse players in key historical moments. You’ll take on the role of a historical figure and work with your classmates to solve conflicts and analyze complex situations from multiple perspectives. If you’re curious about the concept of justice and how it operates within specific historical and cultural moments, you won’t want to miss this unique and rewarding opportunity.

Zorn, C. 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Mon (NOTE: This course will NOT meet on campus, but you should plan to engage in class activities, generally via Zoom, on the days and times listed here.)

This course will focus on themes centered on sustainable forms of living, as they have been imagined and documented through the ages. The course investigates representations of natural and social environments, including underlying economic and historical developments and the way those have affected human relationships with one another and with nature over three centuries: from the 18th century (Robinson Crusoe) to the transition from agricultural to industrial societies in the 19th century (Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Alexander v. Humboldt, American Transcendentalists), to attempts at diversifying capitalist societies and practices in the late 20th century (Cereus Blooms at Night, Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner). Students are encouraged to develop their own interests, topics, and critical views, to connect these with the readings and the theoretical frames we develop in the course.

Hollenbeck, J. 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Tu (NOTE: This course will NOT meet on campus, but you should plan to engage in class activities, generally via Zoom, on the days and times listed here.)

This course asks essential questions about the role of the human being in the complex world. Basic principles of environmental/conservation education and the role of technology will be stressed in understanding the role of the environment in human health. The integration of contextual knowledge from the natural sciences, and social sciences will provide a survey of the human experience and its interrelationship on Earth.

Designed to meet the needs of Honors students who have chosen to pursue individualized honors, this course permits students flexibility and the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor.

See the Spring 2021 Schedule of Classes  Register now

Summer I 2021

"Sustainable Action Workshop" emphasizes learning to do the work that brings sustainability theory into the world. Projects will focus on three areas of sustainability, Economy, Environment, and Society, but the emphasis will be on Environmental projects. While covering basic sustainability theory and using established examples, each student will construct sustainability artifacts during the course. Students will learn to build and demonstrate that they have built—sand filters, rainwater capture devices, vermiculture habitats, basic hanging and stationary gardening structures, site maps, compost processing devices, solar ovens, personal and work budgets, neighborhood maps, trash art, community plastic bag artifacts, basic event planning, and basic food preparation during our short time together. All project artifacts will be filmed and posted for class viewing. Students will complete discussion boards, daily readings and consumption of other relevant media, short theoretical writings, the creation and video capture of each sustainability artifact above, and there will be a final piece of writing. Students will not be asked to purchase books or videos, but they must find or purchase materials to create all projects above.

Can be taken in Summer I or Summer II.

Designed to meet the needs of Honors students who have chosen to pursue individualized honors, this course permits students flexibility and the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor.

See the Summer I 2021 Schedule of Classes  Register now

Summer II 2021

This course will provide students with a survey of Asian cinema from China, Japan, India, Korea, and Thailand among others. The films assigned will vary in genre, examining LGBT issues, complications of war, and shifting familial roles among other topics. Various aspects of Asian culture will be examined, such as social issues, societal structures, and cultural nuances.

Can be taken in Summer I or Summer II.

Designed to meet the needs of Honors students who have chosen to pursue individualized honors, this course permits students flexibility and the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor.

See the Summer II 2021 Schedule of Classes  Register now