Honors Courses (Spring 2009)

Honors courses are designed to be innovative and challenging. They may be interdisciplinary, focus on great works and ideas, cover issues of keen interest, or present a topic in great depth with a faculty member who has expertise in that subject. Honors courses are open only to students in the Pforzheimer Honors College. Students who are not in the Honors College may be permitted to register for an Honors course with written permission from the Director of Honors, contingent upon the student’s GPA and space available in the course. Each Honors course carries Honors credit which will appear on the student’s transcript and will count toward completing the requirements of the Honors College. For additional information, contact Dr. Janetta Rebold Benton, Director, Pforzheimer Honors College, Mortola Library, third floor, Pleasantville campus, at 914 773-3848 or JBenton@pace.edu.

 

LEARNING COMMUNITY, INT 296H   TRAVEL COURSE: FRENCH ART AND

LITERATURE , 6 credits, crn 22743 Prerequisite: None. Contains FRE 154 and ART 103

Fulfills: 3 credits of AOK 2 and 3 credits of AOK 4

Evening, T 6:00-9:05 pm, one hour online/web-assisted, and trip to France during Spring Break, Adelia Williams and Stephanie Jean (Dr. Williams is former Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and former Associate Dean of Dyson College)

Cost of trip: Approximately $2,750

This course is video-conferenced for students in the Honors College on the Pleasantville and New York City campuses.

Course description: This travel course explores the fine arts and literature of France, from the Middle Ages to the present. Students are introduced to important artists, writers, movements, and trends that have shaped one of the richest traditions of the Western cultural heritage. During the trip to France, visits are made to the Romanesque cathedral of Vzelay,  the Gothic cathedral of Paris, the Renaissance chteaux of Chambord and Chenonceau, the Baroque chteau of Versailles, the Muse du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, and elsewhere. Five nights in Paris and one night in a chteau in the Loire Valley.

 

LEARNING COMMUNITY, INT 298P   THROUGH THE LENS: EXPLORING FILM-MAKING AND PHOTOGRAPHY, 6 credits, crn 22843

Prerequisite: None. Contains ART 153 and MCA 396U

Fulfills: 3 credits of AOK 4 and 3 credits of Inquiry and Exploration

Day, T 11:15-3:25 and two hours online/web-assisted, Roger Sayre and Maria Luskay

Course description: Students learn skills in photography and film-making to better understand the idea behind the director’s eye. The major elements of aesthetic imagery—light, color, space, time, motion, and how they are used in photography and film are explored. Using both hands-on and lecture, the differences and similarities between still and moving images are examined. Students are exposed to a variety of historical as well as contemporary films and photographic works.

 

BIO 123   BIOLOGY AND

CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY, 4 credits, crn 22814 and crn 22815

Prerequisites: None

Fulfills: Lab science foundation requirement, AOK 5, meets for 4 hours (2 lecture, 2 lab)

Lab fee: $45

Day, lecture R 10:10-12:10; lab F 10:10-12:10, Charlene Hoegler

Course description: This is an inquiry-based science course. Small and large group discussions focus on issues that impact human biology and/or biodiversity from practical, theoretical, and political standpoints. Emphasis is on the interdependence of human, plant, and animal biology and the environment. This course has lecture and hands-on laboratory components.  Students choose three issues for further research and present their findings in commentary format. Includes a field trip to Cabbage Hill Farm, Mt. Kisco.

 

COM 200H   PUBLIC SPEAKING, 3 credits, crn 22057

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: Foundation requirement 

Day: W 9:05-12:10, Ellen Mandel

Course description: This course is devoted to instruction in the mechanics of writing and presenting one's own material. Included are outlining, addressing varied audiences, style, and appropriate techniques of delivery, as well as the use of technology to enhance one's presentation. Pragmatic and skills-oriented, this course is designed to provide a context for practicing the construction and presentation of well-reasoned public messages.

 

CRJ 311   CONTROVERSIAL CRIMINAL CASES, 3 credits, crn 22793

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: Writing-Enhanced

Day, W 2:30-4:30pm, and one hour online/web-assisted, Margaret FitzGerald

Course description: This course explores several controversial criminal cases, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The objective is to recreate, analyze, and hypothesize with the information available. To be successful at this, students must be objective and review the facts critically.

 

ENG 201   WRITING IN THE

DISCIPLINES, 3 credits, crn 21241

Prerequisite: ENG 120

Fee: $20

Fulfills: Foundation requirement (suggested for second semester sophomores and juniors)

Day, M 3:35-5:35, W 4:40-5:35, Deborah Poe

Course description:  An upper-level writing requirement, this course focuses on writing effective essays and research papers in disciplinary modes and in students’ fields of interest. It may include interviews, analysis of journal articles, and appropriate documentation style formats.

 

ENG 201 WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES, 3 credits, CRN 71173 

Prerequisite: ENG 120 

Fulfills: Foundation requirement (suggested for second semester sophomore and juniors)  Day: M 2:30-3:25 pm, W 1:25-3:25 pm, Linda Anstendig 

Course description:  An upper level writing requirement, this course focuses on writing effective essays and research papers in the disciplinary modes and in students’ fields of interest.  It may include interviews, analysis of journal articles, and appropriate documentation style formats.

 

HW 297A   YOGA, PILATES, AND YOUR BODY, 3 credits, crn 22837

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: Inquiry and Exploration

Day, M 9:05-12:10, Laurice Nemetz

Course description: To fully explore health and wellness concepts, this course has both experiential and lecture components. In the studio, students experiment with several forms of exercise, including yoga and Pilates, and learn therapeutic movement concepts from the field of dance/movement therapy. In the classroom, the history, benefits, and contraindications of these disciplines are explored. Students study basic anatomy and its relationship to movement. Video footage of the history and practice of the forms of exercise studied is included.

 

LAW 214   INTRODUCTION TO LAW AND THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM, 3 credits, crn 22796

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 1, Writing-Enhanced

Day, T 8:35-10:00 am, R 8:35-10:00 am, Peter M. Edelstein

Course description: You cannot succeed unless you know the rules. This course introduces the basics of law that affect all careers. Coverage of topics is very broad and immediately relevant. Subjects include Judicial Remedies, Criminal Law, Family Law, Contracts, Property, and more.

 

PSY 296Y  POSITIVE

PSYCHOLOGY AND HAPPINESS, 3 credits, crn 21798

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 5, Writing-Enhanced

Day, T 10:10-12:10 and one hour online, Paul Griffin

Course description: This course focuses on what psychologists have learned about happiness and optimal human functioning. Topics addressed include: identifying the goals and subject matter of positive psychology; examining theoretical perspectives and empirical findings on what predicts human happiness, from the biological to the environmental; aspects of the "good life" such as signature strengths, purpose in life, gratitude, and acts of kindness; and the application of these theories and findings to everyday life.

 

HONORS INDEPENDENT

RESEARCH COURSES, 3 credits

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing, 3.3 GPA minimum

With the written approval of the appropriate professor, the department chairperson, and the Director of Honors, a student may select a topic for guided research that is not included in the usual course offerings. The student meets regularly with the professor to review progress. To receive Honors credit, the results of this independent research must be presented at the Honors Independent Research Conference held every year at the end of April or beginning of May.

Students may have their papers published inTransactions, the journal of the Dyson Society of Fellows, and also made available through Pace University’s Digital Commons.

 

HONORS OPTIONS COURSES, 3 credits

Prerequisite: None

The Honors Option is designed for Honors-level work in a non-Honors course. To receive Honors credit, an additional paper (10-20 pages), project, or presentation is required. Written approval of the appropriate professor and the Director of Honors are necessary. Depending upon the number of credits completed prior to entering the Honors College, Honors students are limited to either one or two Honors options; other Honors course requirements must be completed in Honors courses.

 

Note about Lubin Leaders courses:

2008-09, seniors may use two Lubin Leaders courses to satisfy their Honors College course requirements.

Thereafter, all Honors requirements must be fulfilled in Honors courses.

The Lubin Leaders 495 course for seniors may also count as an Honors College course if you present the results of your research at the Honors Independent Research Conference.