Fall 2013 Courses
HONORS 208G
MUSIC IN TIME AND SPACE
J. E. Shearer
TUTH ● 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Honors 208G is an introduction to all forms of music. Through our auditory senses and intellectual faculties music offers an ideal means for intelligent and humanistic examination of peoples and cultures, and for the understanding and enhancement of life. Types of music covered include classical, jazz, rock and roll, and world music. Diverse topics such as artists’ constitutional rights, how to shop for CDs, and systematic instruction in the active listening process will be considered. Music videos and live, in-class performances, special evening concerts and lectures will be used as a basis for discussions and research writings related to students’ major fields of interest.
Dr. Shearer teaches both jazz and classical music history and oversees the graduate program for the NMSU Music Department. He has recorded with the El Paso Brass, Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Creole Jazz Band, and The Great American Tuba Show. He has written two textbooks, Jazz Basics and Music 101, for Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. His latest recording, The Memphis Hang, appears on the Summit Records label and is available on iTunes, emusic, and amazon, among other outlets. Dr. Shearer is the 2011 Papen Family Arts Award winner from the Dona Aña Arts Council, and in the fall of 2011 he became a Regents Professor at NMSU.
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HONORS 216G
ENCOUNTERS WITH ART
J. Fitzsimmons ● TUTH 10:20-11:35
Art often reflects the society that produced it. Traditionally, art has fulfilled a variety of purposes, addressing such themes as religion (spirituality), politics (propaganda), race and gender, patronage and censorship. Through slide lectures, videos, field trips, project assignments and a research paper, students will explore the different roles art has played, past and present, to come to an understanding of modern life and aesthetics.
Professor Fitzsimmons teaches art history in the Department of Art. Her interests are the art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the major cultural and social changes reflected in the art of these periods.
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HONORS 227G
PLATO AND THE DISCOVERY OF PHILOSOPHY
L. Keleher
MW ● 10:30-11:45 AM
This course introduces students to Plato. No philosopher has had a greater influence on Western philosophy or on Western civilization. We will read a number of Plato’s dialogues in order to explore his conception of philosophy and several of his contributions to Western philosophy and civilization. We will consider the following and other questions: Who was the historical Socrates? How (if at all) does Plato’s conception of philosophy evolve in early, middle, and late dialogues? What are the Forms? What influence has Plato had on Western civilization? How is Plato’s work relevant to our lives today?
Dr. Keleher’s main research interests include ethics and moral philosophy with a special interest in international ethics and economic development. She also teaches courses in ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, and philosophy and feminism.
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HONORS 234G
THE WORLDS OF ARTHUR
G. Lavender
ONLINE WEB
“The Worlds of Arthur” will investigate the various renditions of the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. As we witness the evolution of this great story through time, we see not only a historical evolution, but a psychological, social, cultural, religious, and mythic progression as well. We will also consider Arthur in film, visual art, and popular culture. We will read and discuss the pertinent works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Thomas Malory, Chrétien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, Alfred Lord Tennyson, T. H. White, John Steinbeck, and others.
Professor Lavender’s research and teaching interests are in the areas of mythology, Arthurian literature, and creative non-fiction.
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HONORS 237G
ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE SEARCH FOR THE PAST
R. Alexander
TTH 8:55-10:10 a.m.
Archaeologists endeavor to explain past cultural change by studying the materials people leave behind. This course will introduce you to the study of human cultural change over the last 4 million years. You will learn how archaeologists study human cultural ecology how they develop explanations and theories that account for changes in past lifeways. Key topics include: 1. What our earliest ancestors were like, their biological and cultural changes, and how they interacted with and adapted to their environment; 2. The beginnings of settled life and food production based on agriculture and animal husbandry; 3. Old World and New World civilizations, the origins of urban societies and complex social systems.
Dr. Alexander is professor in the Department of Anthropology. Her major interests include cultural ecology, prehispanic Mesoamerica, colonial period Maya ethnohistory, the formation of frontiers and refuge areas, and native peoples strategies of resistance.
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HONORS 239G
MEDIEVAL UNDERSTANDINGS: LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
E. Schirmer
MW ● 9:00 – 10:15 A.M.
What were medieval understandings of love and gender relations, spirituality and theology, politics and society? We will consider questions like these through an intensive, interdisciplinary investigation of the cultures of the Middle Ages, with an emphasis on medieval Europe. This is not a survey course; rather, it is a collective investigation into how (some) medieval peoples understood and interacted with the world around them. Consequently, the bulk of our time will be spent reading and discussing a wide range of medieval texts: from the Confessions of St. Augustine to the Qu’ran; from the anonymous Spanish epic Poem of the Cid to the love poems of the Troubadours; from the theology of the Scholastics to the autobiographical Book of Margery Kempe; from Dante’s Inferno to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. While the course will be heavily skewed towards literary analysis, we will also engage with medieval art, music, and politics as we construct our own understandings of the Middle Ages. To what extent are we, in 21st-century America, heirs of this medieval world?
Dr. Schirmer is Associate Professor of English. Her research interests include medieval models of gender and reading; inventions of the “the literary” in late-medieval England; and popular religion and heresy.
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HONORS 242G
CLAIMING AN AMERICAN PAST: A Multiracial History of the US since 1848
Isabela Quintana ● TUTH 1:10 – 2:25 PM
At the moment of the founding of the American nation, the Declaration of Independence stated that all men were created equal. Yet the ideal of equality and justice has remained an unfulfilled promise for many Americans. This class seeks to explore the history of the United States since 1848 from the perspective of those Americans who were enslaved, dispossessed, disenfranchised, and impoverished.
Dr. Quintana is an Assistant Professor of History. Her research and teaching interests are in gender, race, labor, and comparative imperialisms in the United States; comparative ethnic studies; Asian American Studies; Latina/o and Chicana/o Studies; U.S.-Mexico borderlands and the Pacific world; urbanization and empire; and U.S. History.
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HONORS 248G
THE CITIZEN AND THE STATE: GREAT POLITICAL ISSUES
G. Butler
TTH ● 8:55 – 10:10 AM
Global political reality has changed dramatically in recent years, making our political compasses fluctuate wildly. To understand the nature of what has occurred and is occurring, we must return to the fundamental issues of politics: Why and how are societies organized for political action? What values do they express, and how do they attempt to achieve their goals? The primary objective of this seminar will be to enhance the student’s awareness of the political ideas that have dominated Western political life, including those that are now affecting the contemporary climate of intellectual and political opinion. The course is intended to impress upon the student the fact that ideas are often immensely powerful forces in politics, particularly as they become unifying structures of meaning for entire societies.
Dr. Butler teaches political theory and American government. His current research interests include nineteenth-century American political thought and the role of religion in revolutionary political movements.
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HONORS 265G
PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
A. Hubbell · TUTH 10:20 – 11:35 AM
The fabric of everyday life is woven together by interaction through speaking and listening. Since oral communication is our primary means of communication, this course will explore how oral communication functions, how it may be managed, and how you can improve your skills. Specifically, we will cover such topics as verbal communication, intercultural communication, and public speaking. Since this is a general education course, you will be developing your critical thinking skills through a number of oral assignments emphasizing clear organization and clear advocacy.
Dr. Hubbell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies. She teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in the areas of organizational and health communication and publishes studies examining organizational trust and health disparities among minority populations.
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HONORS 304V
DILEMMAS OF WAR AND PEACE (A&S)
Y. Lapid
T • 3:00 – 5:30 PM
War-making and peacemaking confront us with difficult moral dilemmas involving life and death. In this course we seek to identify the core issues associated with the ethics of war and peace in an era of dramatic global transitions. The course covers a wide range of topics such as suicide bombing, the use of torture and/or drones in counterterrorism, humanitarian intervention, nonviolence resistance and more. Environmental, economic, religious, and gender-related concerns will be covered in exploring personal and political means of coping with difficult dilemmas of war and peace.
Dr. Lapid teaches in the Department of Government. He has research interests in social theory, international relations, and security studies.
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HONORS 340V
AMERICAN INDIAN LAW AND POLICY (BA)
W ● 2:30 – 5:00 PM
G. Clarkson
This course explores the principles, doctrines, and texts governing the legal relations between the United States and Indian tribes, the history of federal Indian law and policy, tribal property, treaty rights and sovereignty, congressional plenary power, the trust doctrine, jurisdiction in Indian country, and tribal government. Topics specifically examined in the course include tribal lawmaking powers, gaming and economic development in Indian country, protection of Indian religious rights and cultural property, water rights, fishing, hunting and other treaty-based rights.
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HONORS 347V
WORLD DANCE (ED)
F. Gilpin
W • 4:00-6:30 P.M.
This course introduces participants to a variety of dance forms from a cross-cultural perspective focusing on the role of dance in different societies. The course is taught using a modified lecture format, the class will include directed readings and classroom discussions, student research projects and group presentations. Guest lecturers, videos and an experiential movement component supplement classes. This is not an activity class per se, but there will be a small amount of exploration in dance movement from various dance styles.
Mr. Gilpin also known as Paco Antonio teaches flamenco, classical spanish and world dance.
Paco was dance faculty at UNM from 1986-1998 during which time he was a soloist with Ritmo Flamenco, Dance España, and a frequent performer in Festival Flamenco Internacional.
As a free lance artist Mr. Antonio has lived and studied in Spain on several occasions and has performed, taught and choreographed internationally with well known studios, colleges and opera companies. Paco is currently full time NMSU dance faculty and director of Sol y Arena the dance programs performance ensemble specializing in Flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance. He can often be seen performing with his wife and dance partner Lucilene de Geus in major festivals and venues nationally as well as around the area.
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HONORS 348V
COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY: MYTH, RITUAL, AND THE LIFE CYCLE (A&S)
L. Churchill
TuTH 1:10 – 2:25 PM
Myths are sacred narratives that answer fundamental questions about the cosmos, the origins of human society, and the position and purpose of human beings in the world. Rituals are rites of passage that reenact sacred narratives and connect a culture’s social practices to its cosmological beliefs. In this course, we will explore and compare the myths of several religious traditions, and we will investigate how each, through ritual, has given meaning to key moments in the journey of the individual through life. Using literary and religious texts, art, and film, we will look at and compare how classical Greeks and Romans, early Christians, modern Muslims, Hindus, and Americans conceptualize and celebrate in ritual such key episodes in the life cycle as birth, puberty or coming of age, the quest, marriage, and death.
Dr. Churchill is a college professor in the English Department. She teaches Latin and specializes in ancient Greek and Roman literature and culture, especially the literature of Augustan Rome.
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HONORS 351V
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND THE SELF (A&S)
T. Ketelaar
TUTH 11:45 – 1:00 PM
Honors 351V will focus on understanding interpersonal relations within and across cultures and generations. These goals will be pursued through readings in the psychological and other literature and through structured group exercises. The lectures and class discussions will cover such topics as private and collective self-identity, social capital, generational changes, psychological development, interpersonal emotions, nonverbal communication, as well as cross-cultural similarities and differences.
Dr. Ketelaar is an associate professor in the Psychology Department. His research combines evolutionary psychology, experimental economics, and cognitive science to explore the role of emotion in social judgment and decision-making.
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HONORS 377V
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE LAW (A&S)
M. Lamonica
MW ● 10:30 – 11:45
This course examines freedom of speech and press in both the United States. It examines the historical foundations of freedom of speech and the continuing battles between the state and the right to speak. Among the units in the course are: invasion of privacy, sedition, libel, obscenity, regulation of advertising and Internet regulation.
Dr. Mary Lamonica is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in mass media (with emphases in law and history), Lamonica worked as a reporter, copy editor, and news editor at newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida.
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HONORS 384V
ETHICAL DECISIONS IN ORGRANIZATIONS (BA)
B. Huhmann
MW ● 10:30 – 11:45 AM
Examines ethical decisions in business, non-profit, and governmental organizations from a managerial perspective. Topics include ethical principles, recognition and application of principle-based ethics, stakeholders in ethical decisions, and analysis of the consistency between organizational decisions and ethical principles.
Dr. Huhmann is an Associate Professor of Marketing at New Mexico State University. In Spring 2010, Dr. Huhmann was selected to administer the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at NMSU. He oversees NMSU’s Bill Daniels Fellows in Ethics; serves on the board of NM EDGE, which collaborates with the College of Business on ethics training for public officials; and speaks to various groups to promote business ethics. Dr. Huhmann is also a well-respected researcher in marketing known for his work on consumer processing of advertising rhetoric and emotional and visual appeals.
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HONORS 385V
CONSUMERS AND THE LAW (BA)
N. Compton
T ● 2:30 – 5:00 PM
The problem of consumer rights is a vital and complex contemporary issue. Honors 385V is an interdisciplinary inquiry into the rights of the consumer in society. Legal, economic, ethical, psychological, sociological, and political implications will be explored through readings, class discussions, and contributions of guest speakers. The course will be of interest to both business and non-business majors.
Professor Compton is an attorney and a professor in the Department of Finance. Her areas of research interest are discrimination in the work place and medical malpractice. She has received the Dennis Darnall Faculty Achievement Award, and the Westhafer Award for Excellence in Teaching, and two Roush Awards for outstanding teaching.
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HONORS THESIS
HON 400 (CRN MAY VARY FOR EACH COLLEGE)
W. Eamon
TBA • 3 credits
The honors thesis allows you to work closely with a faculty member on a 3-credit independent study project, which may involve scholarly or scientific research or completion of a creative project. It enables you to synthesize knowledge you have gained in a particular field and provides you with an impressive resume item that can be presented to prospective employers or graduate school deans. You frequently share with faculty in the publication or presentation of research results. You also can use the research material and the written thesis as a basis for master’s level work. If you wish to complete an honors thesis, you will need to submit a proposal to a faculty member. For more information, contact the Honors College Dean.
Juniors and seniors with a minimum GPA of 3.5 are eligible. The deadlines for proposals are November 30 for the spring semester and April 30 for the fall semester.
The honors thesis is the final stage of the University Honors College. However, qualified students may participate whether or not they are enrolled in the University Honors sequence.
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HONORS INTERNSHIP
HON 410
W. Eamon
TBA • 3-6 credits
Honors internships are available in each academic department, in some laboratory settings, and with various off-campus organizations. Internships may be taken during the summer or the academic year. The research conducted during an internship can be seen as preparation for the honors thesis. Honors 410 enables honors students to develop independent research projects with professionals in their specialized fields of study. In an internship setting, the student and supervisor determine the extent of the research project and the scope of the student’s involvement. Internships are designed for upper-division students with experience in the research area. Qualified students may participate whether or not they are enrolled in the University Honors sequence. Students who wish to take an internship must submit a proposal to the Honors College director during the semester prior to the internship. Please contact the Honors office for additional information.
Note: HON 410 does not count toward Honors Certificate or University Honors Program
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INDEPENDENT STUDIES
HON 420
W. Eamon
TBA • 1-3 credits
Students enrolling in Honors 420 may receive credit for independent research and creative projects. To enroll in Honors 420, students must meet honors eligibility requirements, have the consent of a faculty member who agrees to oversee the project and must prepare a contract for approval by the Honors College Dean.
NOTE: Honors 420 does not count toward the Honors Certificate or University Honors program.
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HONORS 421.m02
Latina Feminisms: Testimonios from the Borderlands
J. Flores Carmona
W ● 1:30 – 4:00 PM
This course is about the testimonios and autobiographical writings of and by Latinas in the United States –Chicanas, Centroamericanas, Puertorriqueñas, Sudamericanas, Cubanas, Mexicanas, Dominicanas, and Latin@s of other nationalities and mixed cultural heritages. Life stories are told through many forms: “testimonios,” memoirs, autobiographies and autobiographical fiction, oral histories and short stories, poetry and poetic prose pieces, essays, and audio-stories. Drawing from these sources of knowledge, we will explore Latina feminisms. We will draw from cultural knowledge and wisdom from our communities and families. Your lived experience is the foundation in testimonio writing. You testimonio is central to how you will understand feminist theories. If you have any questions about the course please write me at judithfc@nmsu.edu.
Dr. Judith Flores Carmona is an Assistant Professor in the Honors College and in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University. Her research interests include Chicana/Latina feminist theory, critical race feminism, oral history, social justice education, and testimonio methodology and pedagogy.
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HONORS 421.m03
Native American Philosophy and Spirituality
J. Luna
W ● 2:30 – 5:00 PM
Survey of philosophical traditions of Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. This course examines various forms of spiritual expression which encompasses art, dance, music, political/social activism, and the relationship to land. This course looks at present-day spiritual issues and on-going practices in Native America.
Dr. Luna is an Assistant Professor in Honors College and in the Women’s Studies department.