Spring 2023 Courses

Registration Guidelines

Meeting times, locations, CRNs, specific section numbers, are all listed in WyoRecords under the “Look Up Classes” search function. 

Pre-Requisites: All Honors Upper-Division Classes (3000 and 4000 level) require students to have completed their COM 1 and COM 2 requirements.

Main campus Honors College fall courses will open to non-Honors College after the early enrollment period. Non-Honors College students wishing to register for these courses need to have at least a 3.25 cumulative UW GPA and will need to request an override from the Honors College. Students should email Cass Tolman at ctolman2@uwyo.edu to make this request. Online Honors classes are open to all students.

*Please note that Honors College FYS courses are open to all UW students with no override necessary.

Advising

Please reach out to the Honors Advising Team for more information and guidance when registering.

Course Modalities

  • Traditional – This means that the class is scheduled to be in-person and students will meet face-to-face.  

  • Asynchronous Online –  This means that the course will be completely online, without any scheduled meeting dates or times. 

  • Synchronous Online – This means that the course will be completely online, but there will be a synchronous requirement, meaning students will have specific day/times scheduled for Zoom sessions.

  • Study Abroad/Away– This means that the course will be comprised of mostly a study abroad/away program that could include some traditional or online delivery modalities.

2023 J-Term Courses

 

HP 3153: Saffron, Silk, and Broadswords: A Trek Through Great Civilizations
Instructor: Lori Howe
Modality: Asynchronous Online
Honors attributes: Upper-division elective
USP attributes: H (Human Cultures)
A&S attributes: none
Through readings, research, films, documentaries, virtual tours of museums and sites, popular sources, and research, students will explore the complex histories of several great human civilizations via such disciplines and foci as food, art, music, architecture, science, mathematics, engineering, medicine, literature, politics, religion, language, gender, agriculture, and many more. In this exploration, students will examine these threads in the ancient world and follow them forward, exploring ways in which the historical intersections of culture, religion, politics, and other topics and phenomena continue to impact our contemporary world. Students will work individually, in pairs, or in groups of three to research and creatively respond to aspects of one civilization, culminating in an artistic or literary project and presentation. Students will also do a deep dive into a specific civilization, offering a presentation on some compelling aspect of that civilization to the class as a course text. Finally, students will work singly or in small groups on the two-part Capstone Assignment, researching a particular civilization or empire and the culture and history of that place, culminating in a multimodal presentation and research paper. The delivery method of this course is asynchronous, with optional synchronous discussion sessions each week for those who want to meet. 

HP 3153: Hunting
Instructor: Ann Stebner Steele
Modality: Asynchronous Online
Honors College Attributes: Upper-division elective
USP attributes:(H) Human Culture
A&S attributes: none

Hunting plays a prominent role in the culture and traditions of many people in the American West and across the globe. However, nationally the number of hunters has declined in recent years, and many people believe hunting is unethical. How can we explain these two realities? What makes hunting such a powerful and defining tradition for some while others find it alien or even appalling? Is hunting a viable means for procuring food? Does it offer value, economically or culturally, to our communities? How does the practice of hunting play into questions of sustainability, conservation, and land use?  Together in this class, we will create an open, supportive community that allows us to explore these questions through lenses of personal experiences and various academic disciplines (e.g., philosophy, economics, ecology, rangeland management, anthropology, and narrative writing and storytelling).

HP 4152: Culture and Ecosystems of Panama
Instructor: Patrick Kelley, Bethann Merkle
Modality: Study Abroad
Honors College Attributes: Upper-division elective
USP attributes: none
A&S attributes: none

WyoPanama students take the lead on designing and implementing field research projects. Several students from previous years are currently analyzing data and preparing manuscripts or public-facing science communication projects! You'll get to see Panama City, the Canal and the locks, and learn about local culture, along with the rare opportunity to pursue your own research in one of the world's biodiversity hot spots. WyoPanama students choose between field ecology and science communication projects to develop during the field component of the course. Students are expected to devise an original research project within these general research areas.

A view of the Panama Canal

Non-Western

HP 4152: Buddhism in Thailand
Instructor: Kate Hartmann
Modality: 
Study Abroad
Honors College Attributes: Honors Non-Western, Upper-Division Elective

USP attributes: (H) Human Culture
A&S attributes: none

Some bad news: life is stressful, unpredictable, and full of pain and suffering. It's true now and it was true in the 5th Century BCE when the Buddha lived. Some good news: the Buddha claimed to have discovered a path by which people could escape this pervasive suffering. In the process, he planted the seeds for a religious tradition that has been influential across Asia and, more recently, the modern West. In this course, we will explore the diverse ideals, practices, and traditions of Buddhism while exploring the ways Buddhism is lived and practiced in Thailand. We will explore key ideas from the Buddhist tradition about impermanence, desire, and the nature of the self, and ask how these ideas were taken up and reimagined as Buddhism developed.

A temple in Thailand

The course has two primary goals. First: to understand how, in various times, places, and cultural contexts, the Buddhist tradition diagnosed the origins of human suffering, imagined the goal of freedom from suffering, and proposed a path to such freedom. Second: to understand the relationship between Buddhist scriptural traditions and Buddhism as experienced in everyday life by people in Thailand. What do Buddhists seem to be doing? How does Buddhism play a role in their daily lives? How do we think that this daily practice relates (or does not relate) to scriptural sources?

We will explore these questions in Thailand as we visit gorgeous temples, shop at the floating market in Bangkok, relax on the beaches of Pattaya, volunteer at Elephant Nature Park, eat delicious Thai food, and much more! Learn more about the course in Dr. Hartmann's course video trailer!

 

2023 Spring Courses

 

HP 2020:  Honors Colloquium II: What does it mean to be human?
REQUIRED FOR ALL FIRST-YEAR HONORS STUDENTS*

*A first-year student is any student who begins at UW with fewer than 30 post high school college credit hours.  Students who earned an associate’s degree while completing their high school degree are still considered first-year students.
Instructor: Various 
Modality: Various
Honors College Attributes: Colloquium 2
USP attributes: (COM2) Communication 2
A&S attributes: none

HP 2020 is the second course in the Colloquium sequence.

The first-year Colloquium is a required two-semester sequence of courses that takes a complex topic – for example, Dreams and Reality – and explores it with readings based in the humanities, arts, sciences, and social sciences. The courses build community in the Honors College while promoting high levels of academic achievement. In the Colloquium, students push themselves to become stronger critical thinkers. They weigh and consider multiple points of view; they develop thoughtful, well-supported perspectives on important issues of our times; and they defend their ideas in public presentations.

Colloquium is enriched with visits to UW’s Theatre and Dance department, Art Museum, Archives, and Library, and with service projects carried out around Laramie. Expert faculty from various departments give specialized lectures on relevant topics in a discussion section. Distinguished visiting scholars and writers meet with students to discuss their work. In all these ways, Colloquium teaches students to take advantage of the rich resources we are privileged to have at UW.

Non-Western

HP 3151: Inuit Environmental Dilemmas
Instructor: Joslyn Cassady
Modality: 
Synchronous Online 
Honors College Attributes: 
Honors Non-Western, Upper-Division Elective
USP attributes: 
none
A&S attributes: (D) Diversity in the United States
The Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental change due largely to human activities in the south. Three of the processes that are creating the most dramatic changes in Arctic ecosystems are climate change, the northern flow of industrial toxins and intensified resource exploration and extraction. This course focuses on how these three processes are affecting the livelihood of roughly 160,000 Inuit living in Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. By focusing on Inuit strategies and engagements, this course will dispel enduring misconceptions of northern peoples as passive victims of outside forces while simultaneously examining the considerable challenges that they face in maintaining control of their lives and land. Ultimately, I hope this course raises awareness about how our own lifestyles are exacerbating environmental injustices and culture change in the Far North.  

 

HP 3151: Outbreaks and Pandemics
Instructor: Joslyn Cassady
Modality: 
Synchronous Online 
Honors College Attributes: Honors Non-Western. Note: Students who have already completed their Honors Non-Western requirement may use this course as an Honors upper-division elective
USP attributes: 
PN (Physical and Natural World)
A&S attributes: none
Join me in the timely interdisciplinary study of infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics. This course provides students with an introduction to domestic and international disease outbreaks, methodologies for public health investigation and response, and programs for pandemic preparedness. We will study the disease ecology and societal response to outbreaks such as Covid-19, Ebola, “Mad Cow” disease, and HIV/AIDS. The instructor was an Epidemic Intelligence Officer (a.k.a. “disease detective”) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will prioritize learning from case studies of real-world outbreak investigations.  In the end, students will gain an understanding of the staggering health challenges posed by human-animal interactions, social inequality, and environmental contamination, as well as the intervention strategies that have been developed to confront them.

 

HP 3151: Climate Change and Colonialism
Instructor: Matt Henry
Modality: 
Traditional 
Honors College attributes: 
Honors Non-Western. Note: Students who have already completed their Honors Non-Western requirement may use this course as an Honors upper-division elective
USP attributes: 
none
A&S attributes: none

From megadroughts to wildfires, climate change affects us all. But it has been well-documented that the impacts of the climate crisis are disproportionately felt along the lines of race, class, gender, and ethnicity and can be traced to ongoing colonial systems. While colonialism has not been a uniform process, at bottom it has been animated by a desire to access and exploit diverse lands, resources, and peoples, in the process establishing the mechanisms – industrialization and capitalism – driving the climate crisis.

In this class, we will explore how global climate change both emerges from and reinforces historically inequitable power relations. For example, how has European colonialism rendered low-lying regions of South Asia vulnerable to sea level rise? What can we learn from a “first contact” story about American oil prospectors seeking petroleum reserves beneath a Bedouin oasis in 1930s Saudi Arabia? What do we mean when we describe the “cyclical” nature of climate change experienced by Indigenous peoples under North American settler colonialism? How has the grammar of geology been used to justify resource extraction and slave labor? What should we even call this geological epoch: the Anthropocene, the Capitalocene, or the Plantationocene? Turning to diverse disciplinary perspectives, we will consider experiences of climate change and colonialism in South Asia, Latin America, North Africa, Israel/Palestine, North America, and elsewhere.

 

HP 3151: History, Philosophy, Methodology and Application of Traditional Asian Martial Arts
Instructor: Chris Dewey

Modality: 
Traditional
Honors College Attributes: 
Honors Non-Western, Upper-Division Elective
USP attributes: none
A&S attributes: none

The proposed course would offer both a didactic and practical (hands-on) exploration of the Traditional Asian Martial Arts. The course would explore Chinese arts such as Taiji and Qigong, Korean arts such as Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido, and Japanese arts including Aikijujutsu, Judo, Ju Jutsu and Karate. Students would be given the opportunity to investigate the historical, philosophical, cultural, political and religious influences that affected the development and evolution of the various martial arts that have been an integral part of Chinese, Korean and Japanese society for more than two millennia. The didactic component of the course would, therefore, take an evolutionary and historical perspective of the martial arts in an effort to demonstrate how the various cultures influenced each other and how the development of the martial arts have progressed to become the world-wide phenomenon that they are today. Additionally, students would be given an opportunity to gain practical experience of the similarities and differences between the various art forms. Students would learn and practice techniques from a variety of martial disciplines as a necessary and integral part of the course structure.

 

HP 3152: Modern Japanese Society and Culture
Instructor: Noah Miles
Modality: 
Asynchronous Online
Honors College Attributes: 
Honors Non-Western. Note: Students who have already completed their Honors Non-Western requirement may use this course as an Honors upper-division elective
USP attributes: (H) Human Culture
A&S attributes: (G) Global
This course is designed to introduce Japanese society and culture.  The class will take a thematic approach to the study of Japan.  We will integrate history and literature from the Jomon to the Edo periods, covering a diverse range of topics including: language development, the introduction of Buddhism, poetry, classical and modern literature, traditional arts and holidays concluding with the development of popular culture.

 

Honors Upper Division

HP 3152: Marketing Manhattan
Instructor: Kent Drummond
Modality: 
Traditional
Honors College Attributes: 
Upper-division elective
USP attributes: none
A&S attributes: none

After the Twin Towers fell, many predicted that New York City was finished. The destruction – both physical and psychic – was so widespread that it was difficult to envision a path by which Manhattan could return to its place as the financial and cultural center of America. Almost 20 years later, however, the city is back: cleaner, safer, and more tourist-friendly than ever. Now, another crisis – Covid-19 – confronts New York, with no immediate end in sight. This class poses several questions regarding these events. First, how did the sites, monuments, and experiences of New York (places like Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Wall Street, and Central Park) come back after 9/11? Second, how have these sites been affected by the coronavirus? And third, can the lessons learned from 9/11 apply to Covid-19? To answer these questions first-hand, we will take a five-day field trip to Manhattan itself.

HP 3153: Poetry Workshop
Instructor: Lori Howe
Modality: 
Traditional
Honors College Attributes: 
Upper-division elective
USP attributes: none
A&S attributes: none

What is a poetry workshop, and what will you be doing each week?

This course is based on the MFA model of creative writing workshops, which means that while we will read published poems and discuss them, most of our time will be spent in the act of crafting poems, individually and collaboratively, and workshopping those poems with the whole class. This is a Beginning Poetry Workshop, so if you’ve never taken part in an MFA-style poetry workshop, don’t worry—you won’t be alone in this, and learning the workshop process is an important part of the course. If you have taken poetry workshop courses, don’t worry that this course might be too entry-level for you; we’ll use a variety of prompts and free-writes, experiment with a small number of forms, and spend a lot of quality time writing free verse and talking about what makes poetry work, what makes it sing, what makes a reader feel a poem, what invites a reader into the music and craft of a poem.

Over the course of the semester, we’ll read and discuss the work of master poets, and we’ll spend most of our time in the workshop process so that you and your classmates will all workshop at least three of your own original poems. You’ll revise according to workshop feedback and feedback from me, and you’ll submit a portfolio of your strongest, most polished, finished, successful work as your final, along with giving a reading of your chosen poems.

 

HP 3153: Art and Culture of Hip Hop
Instructor: Adrian Molina
Modality: Asynchronous Online
Honors College attributes: Upper-Division Elective
USP attributes: (H) Human Culture
A&S attributes: (D) Diversity

This course is an inter- and multi-disciplinary course inspired by human culture.  This course explores a culture and form of music that hundreds of millions of people throughout the world identify with.  Hip-Hop was born in the South Bronx, NY in the early 1970s, where African-American, Latino, and immigrant populations were essentially cast off as a result of the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, white flight into the suburbs, and the politics of abandonment.  Hip-Hop music and culture has now spread throughout the world, and regardless of whether the discussion is about mainstream gangster rap or socially and political conscious Hip-Hop, this emerging field of study has broad, cultural, social, political, and economic implications.  Students will research, explore, discuss and write about American historical music influences, the history and development of hip-hop, the various artistic elements of hip-hop, hip-hop as a culture,  hip-hop journalism, and hip-hop’s influence on American society.  Using hip-hop as an academic tool, students will also explore the following issues: race relations, racism, sexism and misogyny, class struggle, urbanization, pan-ethnicity and ethnic/cultural diasporas, civil rights era activism, post-civil rights Black and Latina/o community leadership, activism through art, globalization, the commodification of art and culture in corporate America, the perpetuation of racism and sexism through mass media, alternative forms of cultural media, the poetics of hip-hop, and communication through musical form.  

 

 

HP 4151: Nanotechnology
Instructor: Chris Rothfuss
Modality: 
Traditional
Honors College Attributes: Upper-division elective
USP attributes: 
PN (Physical and Natural World)
A&S attributes: none
Cancer cures, space elevators, quantum computers and stain resistant ties. nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the control, manipulation and fabrication of matter at the molecular scale – about 1 to 100 nanometers – to take advantage of unique physical phenomena. It is estimated that by the year 2015 nanotechnology will account for over $1 trillion in the global marketplace. The US Government invests $1 billion per year on nanotechnology research and development. Nanotechnology is seen by many as the next great technological revolution. So what does all that mean? What will nanotechnology do for me? How will it influence the world of the future? What research is being done today? This course will take a broad look at the development of nanotechnology; including the history, the science, the applications, the social and political impacts, and its influence on the future. All majors and disciplines are welcome!

 

HP 4151: Quitting: Manifestations, Meaning, and Mastery
Instructor: Jeff Lockwood
Modality: Traditional
Honors College Attributes: Upper-division elective
USP attributes: H (Human Culture)
A&S attributes: none

QUITTING: MANIFESTATIONS, MEANING, AND MASTERY  

Kenny Rogers had it right in “The Gambler”—you gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.  For better or worse, quitting shapes our lives.  So when does quitting strengthen, rather than weaken, one’s character?  How should we understand the ending relationships, religious affiliations, addictions and life itself?   

We’ll begin with an exploration of the diverse ways in which quitting is manifest, from Simone Biles’ abandoning the Olympics to the US military leaving Afghanistan.  And I’ll bet that you’ve ended a romantic relationship, dropped a course, or quit a job.   

Then, we’ll pursue a critical analysis of quitting.  Can it be temporary and partial?  For example, how long does one have to give up meat before being truly a vegetarian?  Does going from a pack-a-day to a cigar once-a-year count as having quit smoking?  Should we say that a person quit, if the decision was coerced?  From questions such as these, we’ll try to define quitting. 

And finally, we’ll turn to the most important question: What is a GOOD QUIT?  While one can quit too soon, it’s also possible to persevere too long.     

Join me in an exploration of quitting. The philosophical and practical insights that you’ll derive from this course will contribute to a meaningful life.  That is, unless you decide to drop the class… 

 

HP 4151: Futurism 001
Instructor: Adrian Molina
Modality: 
Asynchronous Online
Honors College attributes: 
Upper-Division Elective
USP attributes: (H) Human Culture
A&S attributes: none
This course is about the present human condition, human diversity, and the future of humanity.  

Is there any question that we are living in the future?  Is there any doubt we are in times of accelerated change and shifting landscapes?  Whose future is it?  Whose imagination are we living in?  It is a time of mass movements for racial and economic justice, new gender orientations, populism and fascism, anti-fascism and mass protests.  Mixed reality.  Wearable technology.  Virtual headsets.  Artificial intelligence.  Robots.  Cyborgs.  Self driving vehicles and flying cars.  Singularity.  Questions of human survival.  Time travel.  Quantum leaps…  

Futurism 101 places students in the context of present and future times.  Most college classes and the bulk of academia revolves around the distant past or recent history, with select courses focusing on current events.  While it is critical to study history from a multitude of perspectives, young people know intuitively that we are in different times. The social rules, norms, modes, moods, pace, and dialogue have shifted dramatically over the past decade.  Popular media, social media, and social and political movements indicate that further shifts will come in rapid succession.  Students now need to study the future as much as they study the past.  Given the multitude of present and future problems facing the human species, we have never been more in need of imagination, expansions of consciousness, and forward thinking.  

Futurism 001 exposes students to various futurist movements of the past 100 years, with a focus on contemporary perspectives of Women of Color, and the futurist movements of people of color.  Course topics include: futuristic depictions in popular media and alternative media; philosophies of time and space; future cultural, social and political identities; human agency to determine future life on planet earth; and emerging strategies for social change.  

 

 

Independent Study

HP 4976: Independent Study
DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS HONORS-COLLEGE UPPER-DIVISION ELECTIVES
Instructor: Student must identify faculty mentor and receive approval from faculty mentor and the Honors College
Honors College Attributes: none
USP attributes: none
A&S attributes: none
Why might you take an Honors independent study?  Register for one if you need the structure to help you complete your senior capstone project, if you need additional upper division elective hours to graduate, if you need additional hours to be a fulltime student in any given semester, or if you have been working with an instructor on a particularly interesting area for which there is no designated course. You can take up to 3 credit hours of an Honors independent study per semester for up to a total of 6 hours overall. 
You don’t need to sign up for an independent study to complete the senior capstone project.  Please note that these hours do not meet any specific requirements towards your degree or your Honors minorThey do not count towards the required Honors upper division electives.

 
Contact Us

The Honors College

Guthrie House

1200 Ivinson St.

Laramie, WY 82070

Phone: 307-766-4110

Fax: 307-766-4298

Email: honors@uwyo.edu

Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)