Honors Courses (Spring 2010)

Spring 2010 COURSES                                                  

PFORZHEIMERHONORSCOLLEGE, PLEASANTVILLE CAMPUS

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.

ART 216  ART  HISTORY: AMERICAN ART, 3 credits, crn 22937

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 2 or 4

Evening: M 6:00-8:45 pm, Constantin Marinescu

Course description: This course studies American painting, sculpture, and architecture from the 17th through the 20thcentury. Relationships between the fine arts and intellectual, political, economic, and social developments are emphasized. European  influences on American art and art forms indigenous to America are discussed. This course includes a trip to the new American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



COM 200  PUBLIC SPEAKING, 3 credits, crn 21682

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: Foundation requirement 

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

Coursedescription: 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. This pragmatic, skills-oriented course is designed to provide a context for practicing the construction and presentation of well-reasoned public messages.



CRJ 305  CRIMINAL LAW, 3 credits, crn 23045

Prerequisite: None, suggested for sophomores, juniors, and seniors

Fulfills: AOK 2 (pending approval), Writing-Enhanced

Day: M 10:10-12:10 pm and one hour online/web-assisted, Margaret FitzGerald

Course description: This course explores the common law and statutory law affecting criminal behavior. An examination is made of proscribed behavior subject to penal sanctions including capacity, culpability, and defenses. The classification of crimes, constitutional limitations, and analysis of specific crimes such  as homicide, theft, rape, drug abuse, and other statutory prohibitions are covered.



EDU 200M TOPIC: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION, 3 credits, NEW COURSE! crn 22913

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 1 (pending approval)

Day: R 2:30-4:30 and one hour online/web-assisted, Ainsley Adams  

Course description: Do politics, economics and history shape educational systems? This introductory course will focus on and compare educational systems on a global level as well as their effect on the American educational system. Education is examined in its scope from pre-kindergarten through high school and beyond in various parts of the world.



ENG 201  WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES, 3 credits, crn 21070

Prerequisite: ENG 120, suggested for second semester sophomores and juniors

Fee: $20

Fulfills: Foundation requirement

Day: M 3:35-5:35, W 3:35-4:30, Zachery Snider

Course description: This course is an upper level writing requirement. It 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.



HIS 119  THE MIDDLE EAST: AN HISTORICAL SURVEY, 3 credits, crn 20349

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 3

Day:  M 2:30-3:25, W 1:25-3:25, Reza Afshari

Course description:  After a survey of the medieval Arab world and the Ottoman Empire, the course focuses on political, social, economic, and cultural developments in the Arab world, Israel, Turkey, and Iran. The Israeli-Arab conflict is emphasized. This course examines Islamic empires; European colonial powers; local elites; nationalism, modernization, and urbanization; the impact of WWI; the Zionist movement; the Mandate of Palestine; the impact of WWII; Israel and Palestine; Nasserism; the role of the US during the Cold War; Iran, its Shah, Ayatollah, and interactions with the US; and finally, the rise of Islamist movements.



LIT 296B  TOPIC:  GREAT BRITAIN: LITERATURE, ART, AND CULTURE, 3 credits, NEW COURSE! crn 22955

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: AOK 2 or AOK 4 (pending approval), Writing Enhanced (pending approval)

Day: T 10:10-12:10, R 11:15-12:15, Bette Kirschstein

Course Description: This course studies how the arts were shaped by and, in turn, reflected the country’s history and culture. Using the arts as a mirror, the 18th-century Industrial Revolution is seen to have resulted in fundamental change. The rise and fall of the global British Empire are considered. Evolving  gender roles and other social changes, as Great Britain transformed itself into a modern society, are examined. Writers studied include Wordsworth, Blake, Austen, Tennyson, Kipling, Wilde, and Woolf.



PSY  314  PSYCHOLOGY OF CREATIVE THINKING, 3 credits, crn 22903

Prerequisite: None (waived for students in the Honors College) 

Fulfills: AOK 4 or AOK 5

Day: M, T, R 1:25-2:20, Robert Keegan

Course description:  This course examines various theories of creativity, conscious versus unconscious aspects of creative thinking, methods for studying creativity, and the development of thinking in several individuals generally recognized as highly creative thinkers, including Darwin, Picasso, and Einstein. Special topics such as child prodigies and “idiot savants” are also considered.

RES 106  THE RELIGIONS OF THE GLOBE, 3 credits, crn 23051Prerequisite: None.

Fulfills: AOK 3

Evening:  W 6:00-8:45, Lawrence Hundersmarck

Course description:  This course studies the major religious systems of the globe and the formative influences that have on human culture. Consideration is given to Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.



SCI 160H  METEOROLOGY, 3 creditscrn lecture 22905, crn lab 22906

Prerequisite: None

Fulfills: Lab Science requirement

Fee: $45

Day: T 4:35-6:35 lab, R 4:35-6:35 lecture, Timothy Maloy, Mark Kramer, and James Witt (renowned meteorologist and weather forecaster)

Course description: This course studies the composition of the earth’s atmosphere, weather maps, high and low pressure systems, air masses, cold and warm fronts, atmospheric circulation, storms, and world weather patterns. Past and present world climates are discussed. Reading meteorological instruments, weather analysis, and forecasting are included.



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 the Honors College, 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 Conference held each April. Students may have their papers published in Transactions, the journal of the Dyson Society of Fellows.



HONORS OPTIONS COURSES,3 credits

Prerequisite: None

An 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 the Honors College are necessary. Honors students are limited to two Honors options; other Honors course requirements must be completed in Honors courses.



Note:  The Lubin Leaders 495 course for seniors may also count as an Honors College course if the student presents the results of his/her research at the Honors Independent Research Conference held every April.