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Advanced Electives

Fall, 2012

Freshmen are not permitted to enroll in Advanced Electives without permission from the Honors Director

Please note the classes with Pre-requisites*

ARM 359 Hammerstein and Sondheim
Professor Courtade
This course will examine the theatrical works of Oscar Hammerstein II and Stephen Sondheim. As the two masters of musical theater, Hammerstein and Sondheim have a rich legacy of works. Though they may seem to be polar opposite, Hammerstein was a mentor to Sondheim, and taught him how to construct a musical; Hammerstein created the rules, Sondheim changed them. This course will utilize audio and video to facilitate discussions, and examine the relationships between lyrics, music and drama. We will attempt to attend a performance if an appropriate show is available at Tilles Center or in NYC if an appropriate vehicle is available.

CMA 359    New Media/New Minds
Professor Fowles
This class will engage students in scholarly investigation of the effects of 21st century digital media on cognition, emotion and social interaction. Its purpose is to transform the media tools (and toys) that surround us into objects of serious study. It will, focus on interactive experiences, virtual reality, on-line identity, digital gaming, and the flood of information assaulting our brains from our media environment. Students will conduct small scale research projects in areas such as crowd-sourcing and multi-tasking, create multimedia blogs to reflect on their own media experiences and media use, and evaluate one another's work. Additional activities will be proposed and developed by the students themselves.

ENG 359 New Irish Fiction: Texts in Context
Professor Hallissy
The purpose of this course is to read recently published Irish fiction in historical / cultural context. We will concentrate on four critically acclaimed novels by major Irish writers working today:
Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea (2002)
Roddy Doyle, A Star Called Henry (1999)
William Trevor, The Story of Lucy Gault (2002)
Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn (2009)
Understanding each of these novels requires awareness of important themes and/or historical events in the Irish past, and the course will provide the American reader with that background; no previous experience with Irish history or literature is needed.
Pre-Requisites: ENG 303-304 or equivalent

ENG 359 Who was "Shakespeare?
Professor Bednarz
On 28 October 2011, Anonymous, a multimillion dollar movie, directed by Roland Emmerich, known for such blockbusters as Godzilla and Independence Day, opened in theaters in the United States and across the world to inform audiences that "William Shakespeare" was only an illiterate actor used as a front man by the Earl of Oxford to disguise his authorship of the greatest body of dramatic literature ever written. Why, it asks, are there no documents irrefutably written in Shakespeare's hand? And how would it have been possible for a man with only a grammar school education to have written the greatest literature in the English language? Is there any legitimate reason to believe that all that we have been told about Shakespeare's life is actually a lie? Is there another candidate more likely to have produced his works? This course invites students to become cultural anthropologists and to consider the evidence of the authorship controversy for themselves.
Pre-Requisites: A desire to learn and an open mind

PHI 359 Philosophy of Friendship: Plato to Facebook
Professor Lothstein
We will explore in this course traditional and contemporary discussion of friendship. The focus primarily will be on philosophical discussion, but we will draw also upon the rich contributions of the other disciplines, including Psychoanalytic Psychology, literature, and the other arts, especially music and film. We will also address the debasement and trivialization of friendship in contemporary society (ie. Seinfeld, Sex in the City, Friends) and the implications of the latter for the erosion of love, personal authenticity, communicative competency, dialogic community, and democracy. 

POL 359 Power in the Near East: The Pharaohs of Egypt, from Tutankhamen to Hosni Mubarak
Professor Brier
For 3,000 years Egypt ruled the ancient Near East. In this course we explore the theory that what made ancient Egypt great was its political system – placing all the power in the hands of one man. Only Egypt had a ruler considered a god; if the king was a great man he had unlimited power and could do great things.

This course will present a history of ancient Egypt told via the exploits of the pharaohs. By discussing the lives and accomplishments of Egypt's greatest rulers we will cover almost every aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization. The last section of the course will discuss the modern history of Egypt, From King Farouk to the revolt against Hosni Mubarak. We will examine recent developments in terms of the tradition of a strong ruler in the Near East.