��������

Fall 2025��Honors Program Courses

����We provide course descriptions written by our instructors whenever possible.�� Click on linked course titles, scroll down, or click here to see the course descriptions.�� . Right-click on the link and choose "Open link in a new tab" if you'd like to keep this window open and also look at the University Catalog.

.

Instructor Course Descriptions

����Anthropology

Back to course list

ANTH 2100-880:��Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Kate Fischer
This course is an introduction to the discipline of cultural anthropology and the substantive issues, methods, and concepts of the discipline. Cultural anthropology is the study of how human beings organize their lives as members of society, and the ways in which they make their lives meaningful as cultural individuals. This field of study involves encountering, interpreting, and communicating about the human situation in all its variety. Cultural anthropology is a vast discipline with far reaching objectives. Cultural anthropologists study and apply their expertise to many problems worldwide. While we cannot possibly cover the breadth and depth of the discipline during one semester, this course will offer an appreciation and understanding of culture and different ways of thinking about the diversity we encounter in our everyday lives. Therefore, the primary goal of this course is to provide you with the ability to apply an anthropological perspective to understanding how people are influenced by and are part of the historical, social, economic, ecological, and political processes that occur across the globe. It is my hope that this course will instill in you a sense of curiosity about people and cultures around the world, provide you with a set of tools for understanding difference, and offer you a deeper insight into your own experience as a cultural being.

����Asian Studies

Back to course list

ASIA 2000-880: Gateway to Modern Asia: Exploring Regional Connections
Lauren Collins
This course explores Asia as more than a place on a map—it's an idea, a vision that has evolved over time, influencing and being influenced by the world's major events.��From the rise and fall of empires, the marks left by colonialism, to the challenges of building nations, responding to a changing climate, and the universal quest for a better life, this course uncovers the stories and connections that have shaped Asia and its role on the global stage.��We will present Asia as a concept, a powerful imaginary geography, and a historically dynamic construct.

����Classics
Back to course list

CLAS 1140-880:��Bread and Circuses:�� Society and Culture in the Roman World (large class with Honors recitation)*

Roman civilization began humbly, as a village around the banks of the Tiber River in central Italy in the mid-8th century BCE. Before its political collapse in the 5th century CE—over 1,200 years after its founding—it had grown into one of the most powerful and technologically advanced civilizations in history. At its height, it covered almost two million square miles and included up to 90 million inhabitants, or about one-fifth of the world’s population at the time. To this day, Rome’s rich legacy lives on and influences many aspects of western culture and society, including art, architecture, language, literature, technology, politics, law, and even board games. As promised by the title “Bread and Circuses,” this course will explore the Romans through the lens of mass entertainment including the most iconic form of Roman spectacle, gladiatorial combat. We will think about how spectacles change throughout history, how social values and leisure activities interact, and why violent entertainment was such a vital part of keeping the inhabitants of the vast empire happy. We will also consider the legacy of the Roman games by exploring mass entertainment and the marketing of ancient sites today. *Please note:�� Our CLAS offerings are in a larger lecture setting for the main course (CLAS 1140-880), and the recitation is taught by the professor instead of a Teaching Assistant (CLAS 1140-881).�� The recitations are limited to 17 students in the traditional discussion-based Honors class style.

CLAS 1509-880:��Trash and Treasure, Temples and Tombs: Art & Archaeology of the Ancient World (large class with Honors recitation)*
Beth Dusinberre
Trash & Treasure, Temples & Tombs introduces the art and archaeology of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, exploring different approaches to identity, power, religion, death, and the human body. Different types of evidence offer information about different aspects of ancient societies: trash, the stuff of archaeology, shows us as much about how people really lived as monumental architecture or public art does about how they wished to portray themselves.

This class is engaged with cultural issues and sources of evidence that involve history, art history and archaeology, religion, philosophy, and ancient languages and literatures. By delving into the ancient past, Trash & Treasure offers essential approaches to addressing pressing questions of our times.

This is my favorite class!!! The Honors version of it means you will come to lecture twice a week along with everyone else, and then on Wednesday afternoons we get to meet separately in a small discussion group to dive deeply into the questions and issues the class is exploring overall. It means I get to know you as people as well as scholars, and we get to work together to reach new levels of understanding and inquiry. This is the most fun and most challenging class I get to teach, and working with Honors students in our proseminar is regularly among the most rewarding teaching and learning experiences I have at CU. It allows for robust and exciting discussion, energetic game-playing and skills acquisition, searching inquiry and development, and one-on-one advising and mentoring. I look forward to meeting you and working together in the fall! ��Check out the flyer for CLAS 1509 here
��

����Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Back to course list

EBIO 1210-880, 881, & 882: General Biology 1
Robert Buchwald
EBIO 1210 and EBIO 1220 together serve as an introduction to Biology in the 21st Century. These courses are prerequisites for nearly every subsequent EBIO course. In the first semester (1210), our focus is on processes at the cellular level. We will learn what types of molecules all living things are made of, the structure and organization of cells, how DNA is read and translated into proteins, the magic of mitochondria and the fundamentals of photosynthesis. To complement class lectures, we will have group work and class discussions relating course content to your everyday life. EBIO 1210 and EBIO 1220 (offered in spring) are recommended for science majors. Non-science majors should consider EBIO 1030, 1040 & 1050.

���� English
Back to course list

ENGL 1220-880:��From Gothic to Horror
Paul Neimann
��This honors course traces popular horror genres to their origins in Gothic literature. We’ll start with a few influential works, like Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Freud’s essay on the uncanny. From there, we’ll dig more deeply into subgenres like folk and cosmic horror, splatterpunk, and “slasher” films. Readings may include, for example, Arthur Machen’s The White People, Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart, and critical-theoretical pieces by Julia Kristeva and Carol J. Clover. Students may be asked to tackle a substantial novel (like Dracula). Because this is an honors section, participants should expect longer and challenging readings; discussions and group work will require everyone’s full effort and attention. Check out the flyer for ENGL 1220 here

����Geography
Back to course list

GEOG 1972-880: Sustainable Futures, Environment and Society
Abby Hickcox
The goals of this class are to introduce students to the ways in which the field of geography has approached the interaction between the environment and society and to increase students’ skills in analyzing contemporary environmental issues.�� In pursuit of these goals, the class will introduce several perspectives from which to view our relationship with the environment, with an emphasis on the social and political-economic dimensions of environment-society relations.�� Topics covered include:�� population and consumption, environmental hazards, environmental ethics, environmental conservation, anthropogenic climate change, and others.�� We will examine several environmental objects (e.g. carbon dioxide, electronic waste, French Fries, and lawns) using nine analytical perspectives, including economic, institutional, ethical, social construction, feminist, and environmental justice analyses.�� Looking at these objects from multiple analytical perspectives will provide an opportunity to develop and advance students’ critical thinking skills.��Formerly GEOG 2412.

����History
Back to course list

HIST 2166-880: The Vietnam Wars
Steven Dike
We will study a series of conflicts that occurred in Vietnam from about 1930 to 1975. These struggles involved Vietnamese nationalists, Vietnamese communists, French colonialists, Japanese occupiers, and Americans, along with others. You will leave this class with a deep knowledge of the issues, people, and conflicts that shaped Vietnam and the other nations that fought there. We will examine the American experience in their war, as well as the American home front. ����Check out the HIST 2166 class flyer here

HIST 2220-880: History of War and Society
Steven Dike
Professor's description coming soon!

HIST 4447-880:��African American History, 1865-Present
Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders
W.E.B. Du Bois wrote of the state of African Americans after Reconstruction, ". . . the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery."�� Du Bois was articulating that the history of full emancipation and citizenship for African Americans is a nonlinear narrative. ��This course provides an overview of African American history post-Emancipation, ending in our present moment.�� Special focus will be given to parts of the African American historical experience which may be less familiar to students.�� For example, many students may come in with broad knowledge of the "Classical" Civil Rights movement (Montgomery bus boycotts, Brown vs. Board of Education, March on Washington, nonviolence movement) but not the larger trajectory of the movement before and after the 1950s and 1960s.�� Students will understand the interconnected histories, challenges, and successes of African Americans from Reconstruction to the more recent Black Lives Matter movement. Check out the HIST 4447 class flyer here

����Honors
Back to course list

HONR 1810-880 & 881:��Honors Diversity
Abby Hickcox (880) and Steven Dike (881)
This introductory course examines diversity, broadly construed, in the contemporary U.S. context. This course applies an interdisciplinary perspective to identify how history, politics, culture, economics, and social life converge with and shape the way diverse experiences in terms of gender, race, class, sexuality, neurodiversity, and the physical body, among others, are lived and understood. The goals of this course are to encourage and develop curiosity, openness, and empathy alongside a critical academic understanding of the broad range of experiences and inequities in the current moment. By the end of the course you will develop a critical understanding of how forms of privilege and exclusion are written about, comprehended, and contended with.

HONR 3220‐880: Advanced Honors Writing Workshop
Instructor TBA
Section 880 introduces honors students to an analysis and argumentation as they are rendered in longer prose forms. As such, the course provides excellent preparation for writing an honors thesis. With the collaboration and thoughtful feedback of your colleagues in class, you will have the opportunity to engage in independent scholarship in your area of expertise. Our informal theme for the semester will be cultural rhetoric. In responding to texts that represent cultural diversity, students will evaluate issues and relate them to their own experiences. Through these readings as well as class discussion of written assignments, students will learn to make reasoned arguments in defense of their own opinions. By examining diverse voices, this course helps students meet the challenges of academic writing. This course will extend your ability to adapt rhetorical strategies and arguments on cultural issues and diversity to address the needs of a range of different audiences and stakeholders.

Writing Process and the Workshop Format: The course offers an opportunity to understand writing from the audience or reader perspective by focusing on the peer review of work in progress. Through this approach, you will discover how revision is central to the writing process. Your own writing will be the principal text; we will all work together as a team to improve each paper. We will adopt the attitude that any paper can be improved, and give constructive criticism to everyone. Your job will be to provide oral and written commentary on other students' papers when assigned to do so. Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors). ��Must be taken for credit. No P/F.
��

HONR 3900-880: Honors Internship Course
Ali Hatch
Engage in hands-on work in the community and gain practical knowledge and real-world experience. The course is designed to help students combine professional experiences with an academic component that involves critical thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.�� Benefits of the course include acquiring professional skills and knowledge, building a network of connections, developing insights on possible career options, and applying classroom material to real-world experiences.�� Final letter grades are based on the evaluation of the student’s internship supervisor and on class performance. Class assignments will include journal reflections on internship experience and the completion of a career portfolio.�� We will meet every Monday.

To take the course, you must be Honors eligible (cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher) and be of sophomore, junior, or senior standing at the time of the internship. Enrollment preference will be given to students enrolled in the Honors Certificate Program. However, it is not a requirement to be a certificate student to take the internship course. You must submit an application before you can be enrolled.�� It's a pretty simple application; it's just a way for us to understand what your goals are and what you are thinking about doing.�� It will take you about 3-5 minutes to fill out. May 15th is the deadline to apply for Fall 2025 enrollment.

• Click here to read more about the internship
• Email Dr. Hatch wtih any questions about the internship

����Mathematics
Back to course list

MATH 2510-880:�� Introduction to Statistics
Braden Balentine
This is an introductory course in statistics. We will cover some of the fundamental ideas and tools used in statistics. Topics that we will cover include elementary statistical measures, statistical distributions, statistical inference, hypothesis testing and linear regression. We will also go over some of the basics of probability as they are necessary for our understanding of statistics. ��The Honors version of this course covers the same material as the standard Introduction to Statistics class, but in a smaller, discussion-based environment.�� Check out the MATH 2510 class flyer here

����Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Back to course list

MCDB 1150-880:�� Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
Maureen Bjerke
This course is the first in the required sequence for Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology majors and is also applicable for other majors related to the biological sciences. We will begin with atomic structure before building up into the molecules that form the monomers and polymers that constitute life. We continue building up in scale throughout the semester as we explore cellular structures, gene expression, intracellular trafficking, bacteria and viruses, evolution, and cell-cell communication. Along the way, we will discuss the experiments that established DNA as the genetic material and other fundamental findings in cell and molecular biology. We will also highlight the contributions and experiences of current and historical scientists working on the topics about which we are learning.

This class uses a partially “flipped” structure, meaning that students are expected to acquire knowledge from readings and videos before coming to class. Class time is focused on problem solving, practice, and discussion with minimized lecture. Because of the fast pace of this course, a strong high school chemistry and biology background is recommended.

����Philosophy
Back to course list

PHIL 1000-880:��Introduction to Philosophy
Dan Kaufman
Professor's description coming soon!

PHIL 1010-880:��Introduction to Western Philosophy: Ancient
Mitzi Lee
Professor's description coming soon!

����Psychology
Back to course list

PSYC 1001-880:�� General Psychology
Jennifer Schwartz
How are we able to perceive the world around us? Why do we dream? How does alcohol impact the brain? What makes each individual’s personality unique? Do young children think differently than adults? How do we learn? Are people with psychological disorders dangerous? How do psychologists help people lead richer more fulfilling lives?���� This course is designed to address these and other questions by giving you an introduction to the content and methodology of the field of psychology.�� It will give you an overview of some of the major sub-disciplines within psychology. It will also expose you to both seminal and cutting-edge research studies within these domains, as well as encourage critical interpretation of research findings. To guide and integrate our exploration, we will focus on several theoretical frameworks and ongoing debates that cut across specific sub-fields and define the study of psychology as a whole. You will be connecting these ideas to your own life by applying class content to the reading, listening, watching, interacting, and experiencing you do every day.�� The goals of this course are to stimulate you to further explore the field of psychology and to provide a foundation of knowledge and critical thinking skills that will benefit your academic, career, and personal paths, whatever they may be.

PSYC 3684-880:�� Developmental Psychology
Jennifer Schwartz
In this class, we will uncover the story of human development from the point when life begins (conception) to the point when it ends (death).�� You will have a chance to think about yourself as an infant, child, and adolescent and take stock of how these years influenced the person you are today. You can also envision who you will be as a young adult, a middle-aged adult, and an adult in old age and consider how your experiences today will influence your development through the remainder of your adult years. This course is an introduction to the science of human development and how it simultaneously captures both the ways that your journey is similar to, and different from, that of others.�� We will use theory and research in developmental psychology to help organize our exploration and provide methods to help us in our discoveries.�� In particular, we will investigate human development in several domains such as biological, cognitive, and social/emotional, and from several different perspectives, including ecological, psychodynamic, and constructivist.�� The goal is to provide you with a basic framework and mode of inquiry that will serve you in your future roles as parent, friend, colleague, health care provider, educator, and/or public policy maker.�� Check out the class flyer here.

����Sociology
Back to course list

SOCY 2031-880 & 881:��Social Problems
Ali Hatch
��This course explores social problems in contemporary American society. We will examine how these problems arise and consider possible solutions. Since this is a survey course, we will consider a wide variety of different social problems from a sociological perspective, including timely topics such as racial and economic inequality, opioid addiction, and the impacts of living during a pandemic. ��From the Course Catalog: Examines various social problems in the U.S. through a traditional sociological framework focused on race, class, and gender. Considers such problems as economic, racial, and gender inequality as manifestations of broader structural dynamics rooted in unequal relations of power. Addresses topics such as mass incarceration, poverty, segregation, drug use, immigration, and war and terrorism.

SOCY 3016-880: Marriage and the Family in the United States
Ali Hatch
This course is designed to examine marriage and the family in the U.S. from a sociological perspective. We will look at how marriage and family are fluid constructs, transforming and evolving over time. As the majority of families currently do not fit the “nuclear” model, special emphasis will be placed on the various realities of people’s lives and how they differ from cultural ideals.

WGST 3670-880: Gender, Race, Sexuality and Global Migration
Kate Fischer
This course engages in an interdisciplinary study of the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality that have created a multicultural, multiethnic, and multiracial world, looking particularly at migrants and migrant communities. We will examine how constructions of gender, race, and sexuality are structurally determined and lived in the context of global migration, both contemporary and historical. While the course primarily focuses on women, it is impossible to ignore how race, sexuality, and class articulate with ideas about gender and how these socially determined characteristics intersect in identity construction and subjectivities. The goal of this class is to develop a critical understanding of how forms of privilege, inequality, and exclusion based on gender, race, sexuality, and national/ethnic origin are written about, comprehended, and contended with. In addition to reading a number of scholarly books and articles from across the social sciences and humanities, we will also use news articles, blogs, current events, and social media. Recommended prerequisites: WMST 2000 or WMST 2600. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: global perspective.