Honors Special Topic Signature Seminars

This honors seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach to the figure of the vampire. In addition to literary and film studies, disciplines from across the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences will guide us in new ways to understand the vampire. We’ll read some of the classics (Polidori’s The Vampyre, LeFanu’s Carmilla, Stoker’s Dracula) and some lesser-known tales, and talk about the vampire’s move to other media (theatre, film, television, video games, and beyond). Students will have the opportunity to explore a personal area of interest with a final project.

What is it that generation after generation of American writers – from our Founding Fathers to those in the Lost Generation to leading thinkers in the Civil Rights movement – sought in Paris? What had them leaving the United States and why? In which ways did Paris inspire them? How did their work alter the artistic and political landscape, both of their time and to come? How did they portray the city on the page? And what remains today of those literary representations of France’s capital? This course will attempt to answer these questions while we use their texts as our guidebooks to explore and interact with the City of Lights. Learn about Study Abroad opportunities for the American Writers in Paris seminar.

Why were Hitler and the Nazis so obsessed with obtaining certain types of art? How/why did they condemn and destroy art and artists that did not meet the Nazi ideal? This course will explore these questions by illuminating the artistic and cultural policies imposed by the Third Reich from 1933-1945. Topics included (but not limited to) are: Degenerate Art in Germany and German-occupied territories, Nazi art and cultural ideology, Nazi-led art looting in France, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, and the Soviet Union and Allied retrieval and restitution of looted art.

What does it really mean to travel? What draws us to new places: the novelty, the escape, or the stories we get to tell? How does travel change the way we see others and the way we see ourselves? In this course, we’ll journey beyond the tourist selfies and souvenirs to explore how travel has shaped, and been shaped by, art, politics, and culture across time. From explorers and travel writers to digital nomads and influencers, we’ll dive into stories that have defined what it means to go “somewhere new.” Along the way, we’ll tackle big questions about sustainability, cultural exchange, and the impact of travel on local communities. By the end of this course, you won’t just want to plan your next trip—you’ll see travel itself in a whole new light. No international travel experiences necessary to take this course, as we’ll discover that even going down the street to the grocery store can be a meaningful journey.

This course examines Wicked as a cultural phenomenon through perspectives from theater, film, sociology, politics, and social sciences. Using the musical, its literary origins, and cinematic adaptations, students explore how Wicked challenges social constructions of good and evil, identity, power, difference, and belonging. Through analysis of character, music, choreography, staging, and film design, students consider how artistic choices shape social narratives and influence audiences. The course also investigates prejudice, stereotyping, propaganda, social class, othering, political authority, resistance, conformity, and the construction of public identity. Students will consider how popular culture reflects, reinforces, and challenges social structures and power.

This seminar focuses in the area of philosophy of biology. It analyzes the knowledge produced across the biological sciences and considers how biologists arrive at their findings in addition to their societal contexts from a humanities perspective. Possible topics include the nature of evolution, determinism, contingency, adaptationism, sociobiology, as well as gender, sexuality, and race in biology, human genome editing and eugenics, and modelling, reductionism, explanation. The relationship of biology and society, including its political controversies, is the primary focus. Students in both humanities and science disciplines are welcome in this course as topics that cross disciplinary boundaries will be discussed.

The Honors College study abroad program will give students an opportunity to study Shakespeare in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. The class will provide experiential learning to pursue the question of where Shakespeare comes from and how this body of entertainment, study, and cultural capital continually evolves to meet new norms and environments. We will consider everything from original printings of his plays from the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries to modern adaptations in film and on stage. We will explore the (re)uses of Shakespeare in the arts, in commerce, in tourism, and in politics.

The call to adventure marks the beginning of the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, one of the more recognizable narrative arcs, a story structure found across multiple cultures and epochs. But what is it about this particular narrative trope – an individual leaving behind a familiar world to set off into the unknown – that so resonates? Why do writers and filmmakers continue to people their work with these well-known archetypes? And what is it that readers and audiences seek when they turn to them? Are there political reasons for the monomyth’s resurgence in popular culture? Who is served by the propagation of this storyline of self-realization and self-actualization and which peoples are relegated to minor, supporting roles?

Through literary theory and critical analysis to literature, film, poetry, music, and art we will seek to answer these questions and many more while examining various representations of the call to adventure, all the while further developing our ability to speak in public settings and our critical reading and thinking skills, with an emphasis placed on analysis and academic writing.

This course’s aim is to utilize Havana and its surrounding areas as the main text with which students will discover the unique history of Cuba. Through field trips, daily excursions, on-site lectures, an examination of Cuban politics, economics, literature, cinema, sport, and art, and writing assignments that encourage analysis and mindful reflection of these experiences, students will gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of this country and its people that, though only 90 miles of open water separate it from the U.S., have remained restricted from American citizens for more than half a century. Learn about Study Abroad opportunities for the Cuban Cultural Immersion seminar.

Comics are one of the oldest forms of communication. This creative course focus is on comics related to STEM areas. Students will read, write, and draw on a variety of STEM subjects as they learn the elements and principles of comics creation. Comics should appeal to STEM and Education majors as they can be applied to classrooms for future teaching, papers on research, conference presentations, publishing and businesses in STEM fields. Anyone can learn to create comics, as no drawing experience is necessary. Prerequisites include imagination, an interest in storytelling, STEM and desire to learn.

This class will explore the transition from adolescence to adulthood through 20th and 21st century literature and popular culture: novels, short stories, poems, and film. We’ll start by thinking about the bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, as an established form in literature before we unsettle and complicate the genre by looking at coming-of-age stories from perspectives outside of the dominant culture. In what ways do one’s social class, racial or ethnic background, sexual orientation, and gender identity affect one’s coming-of-age? This should lead to some interesting questions about the pressure for young people to conform to societal norms, what happens to those who refuse to be pigeon-holed, and alternative pathways to adulthood. Authors may include Sandra Cisneros, Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes, John Updike, Julia Alvarez, James Baldwin, Sherman Alexie, Alison Bechdel, and Tobias Wolff. Watch Professor VanderVeen talk about his seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

Contemporary African American Literature is a discussion-centered Honors course that explores major works of African American fiction and nonfiction from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through close reading and critical discussion, students examine how Black writers respond to the historical, cultural, and political conditions shaping modern African American life. The course situates literature within broader interdisciplinary contexts, including history, cultural studies, and social movements. Students will analyze how themes such as race, class, gender, and sexuality inform contemporary African American literary expression. Emphasizing both literary interpretation and critical writing, the course deepens students’ understanding of the aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual traditions shaping contemporary African American literature.

This course explores Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski’s legendary film cycle, Dekalog. Loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, Dekalog comprises ten one-hour films, each addressing perennial ethical questions and concerns. Through close textual analysis and weekly class discussions, we shall address these questions and concerns with the help of ten academic disciplines. This interdisciplinary focus will allow us to carefully explore each episode of Dekalog in search of greater aesthetic, epistemological, and ethical appreciation and comprehension. There are no prerequisites for this course. Each academic discipline will be introduced in a manner that is highly accessible to all.

This asynchronous online course prepares motivated students to pursue their life goals and achieve their potential by extending their intellectual development beyond your UMass Lowell (UML) education. The course focuses on self-reflection, constructing effective fellowship and scholarship applications, portfolio development, gaining admission to graduate school, and identifying and preparing strategies to acquire the skills required for entry into careers in your field. Together, we will walk through every step of the process, reflecting on and refining your goals, researching appropriate fellowships and graduate schools, crafting strong curriculum vitae (résumés), writing compelling research proposals and personal statements, interviewing well and assembling helpful letters of reference. This is your life: what do you want to do beyond your time at UML?

*The Scholarship Application Workshop welcomes Honors and non-Honors Students and is facilitated by UML National Scholarship Advisement.

In Designing Your College Experience, you will learn about the many resources and activities available to you through the Honors College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. You’ll explore major/career (dis)connection, develop plans for your university career, and take a deep dive into what college is for.

You will have an opportunity to engage with interests beyond your intended or current major, consider ways to find purpose and meaning as a student, explore careers, and produce a few career pieces, such as a resume and LinkedIn profile. You will also learn about ways to become active members of the campus community, shaping its culture, and contributing to its growth and future. Watch Prof. Kowalik talk about her seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

The Honors Transformation Seminar is designed to support transfer students as they transition to the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) and prepare for success within the Honors College. Students will develop essential life skills, refine their academic and career goals, and learn effective strategies for setting and achieving these goals. By examining the honors curriculum and available opportunities, students will be empowered to integrate these offerings into their individualized college plans. Ultimately, this seminar provides students with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed academically, socially, and professionally at UML and beyond.

This course prepares motivated students to pursue your lifegoals and achieve your potential by extending your intellectual development beyond your UML education. The course focuses on self-reflection, constructing effective fellowship and scholarship applications, gaining admission to graduate school, and identifying and preparing strategies to acquire the skills required for entry into careers in your field. Together, we will walk through every step of the process, reflecting on and refining your goals, researching appropriate fellowships and graduate schools, crafting strong curriculum vitae (résumés), writing compelling research proposals and personal statements, interviewing well and assembling helpful letters of reference. This is your life: what do you want to do beyond your time at UMass Lowell (UML)?

Investigating the science of energy requires a thorough approach covering a broad range of topics such as fossil fuels, biomass, nuclear energy and renewable energies such as solar, wind, and hydropower. This seminar course will address the fundamentals of energy with discussions involving the forms of energy,

energy conversion and scalability of energy production with a global perspective. Invited speakers will include individuals with field specific expertise and international experience in each type of energy to detail the technological challenges of efficiently harvesting energy resources and establishing distribution and storage networks at home and abroad. 

Over the period of the semester, students will be expected to develop essays evaluating the diversity of present-day energy sectors, nationally and internationally, suggesting regionally relevant strategies for cost effectively and responsibly meeting the regional energy demand.

An Exploration of Dance through Movement and Historical Analysis

Throughout history dance has been something that has been used to celebrate the best of times and the worst of times. Regardless of the emotion, dance is a place to explore, express and feel. This course has two aims: a place to allow students an opportunity to explore movement and dance techniques to express emotions or stories and to explore the history of dance in weddings, funeral processions, comedies, entertainment, as means of protest, opportunities and more. Students in this class will explore different genres in dance both in movement as well as in historical presence, including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern and ballroom. Through this exploration students will also gain confidence, strength, flexibility and develop choreography of their own.

This seminar offers a blended, phenomenological approach to contemplative writing and photography, where students will actively engage in both practices while exploring a variety of genres within each field. Drawing comprehensive guidance from diverse contemplative traditions, students will strengthen their creative expression and self-awareness by examining how perception, memory and imagination shape their lives and identities.

IMPORTANT: No expertise in writing for photography is required in this course. However, students will need to have access to a digital camera of some kind throughout the semester. Using a cell phone camera for this purpose is fine.

Learn about the history of games, elements, and principles of what makes an engaging game as one learns to create their own games. Games engage our brains, hands, and hearts. Games encourage and support learning, growth, imagination, and healthy brain development. The games in this course will be real, 3D tangible tabletop games. Join us to create n’ play. Watch Professor Roehr talk about her seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

This course will explore the European Middle Ages using the HBO show Game of Thrones as a guide. We will cover traditional topics such as social structure, warfare, and religion while also exploring niche areas like gender roles, sexuality, disability, and societal rituals.

"Gender, Work and Peace" will explore the relationship between human rights, gender and nonviolence in the 21st century. We will examine how current and future reality can be shaped by related policies, specifically those on the micro and macro level concerned with gender. Today we live in a period of global transition comparable to the period that followed the Industrial Revolution. It presents us with enormous challenges and opportunities regarding factors we will address in class: economic globalization, government restructuring, work-family balancing, environmental safety at work, gender inequalities and the connection between human rights and dignity at work.

This introductory Graphic Design course is for students interested in visual communication, type, and its use. This is a project-based course which contains visual, written, and research components. Students will be introduced to the software used in contemporary design practice. Content will address environmental sustainability as well as other social justice issues.

Develop skills for writing as a daily practice and work on your Honors Project in a structured and supportive environment.

Using visuals, this class will explore medieval history through the illuminated manuscripts and art of the period 500-1550 CE. We will discuss medieval religion, politics, war, economics, and delve into deeper issues like sexuality, gender roles, and social traditions and rituals.

“What is going on in the world? How does the media influence how we perceive and analyze international events? In this class, students will learn more about current world news and the analytical and theoretical frameworks necessary to understand them. From TikTok to the New York Times, from the United States to Russia, we will learn about the way media influences diplomacy, power, and shapes international relations.” Watch Prof. Mendes-Fakhoury talk about his seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

Sport is a basic human activity of peoples’ everywhere. Learning about sport through multiple disciplines (philosophy, engineering, political science, American studies, business, history, law, college athletics, science, health and economics…) will help students to better understand contemporary issues of power, including race, gender, sexual orientation, as well as business, science and technology. Introduction to Sports will be taught by 13 different instructors from across all UMass Lowell colleges and departments. These professors will bring to students their diverse expertise as researchers and teachers in a sports related field. They will also share their different disciplinary perspectives and analytical tools (quantitative and qualitative, empirical and theoretical, case study and oral history). There is a course instructor of record, Jeffrey Gerson from Political Science, who will be present for all 15 weeks. The 13 faculty members will each teach one week.

Have you ever received a scholarship and wondered where it came from—or why you were chosen? This is your opportunity to explore the world of philanthropy and discover how you can make a meaningful impact.

Philanthropy plays a vital role in our communities, from responding to crises to driving long-term, systemic change. Nonprofit organizations serve as the bridge between donors and community needs. In this course, funded by a grant from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and the Honors College, students will act as a grant-making board, awarding $10,000 to local nonprofits in Greater Lowell.

Students will learn to: think and act like a philanthropist, evaluate the impact of community programs, analyze nonprofit financials and assess organizational health, and explore current trends and ides in philanthropy and nonprofit management.

This course explores the political, religious, cultural, and economic issues of England from the Roman occupation to the end of the Wars of the Roses. We will look at politics, war, art, gender, the economy, religion and explore England’s relationship with other realms in Europe and the Mediterranean.

For those who like opera and for those who think they might not— this course is a different kind of experience that will bring students closer not only to Portuguese culture but also to European opera and history in general. This course examines the intersection of gender, race, politics, culture, and technology in opera and society. Through historical inquiry and critical analysis, students will gain insight into the ways in which opera has both shaped and been shaped by society across different historical periods. Open to all majors. Conducted in English.

This interdisciplinary asynchronous online seminar provides an in-depth examination of the history of funding higher education, academic opportunity and access, and looks at the current state of student debt and educational spending from a variety of sociocultural and political perspectives, as well as issues of academic access from Oberlin to Operation Varsity Blues to the Great Online Experiment of COVID-19 to censorship, legislation, and college sports. Beginning with an overview of the founding of public and private universities in North America and the Morrill Land Grant Acts of the late 19th century and a survey of academic philanthropy, this seminar then considers the long-range impact of the post-World War II GI Bill, the Higher Education Act of 1965, and the growth of open learning and alternative education on colleges and universities. In this course you will also examine the motivations and purposes behind higher education, take an introspective look at funding and getting the most out of your own education, explore student loan repayment strategies, research government and private funding opportunities and practice developing strong questions of inquiry and literature reviews.

How does one write about the rapidly changing world that we inhabit? How does writing help us to engage with all the complex thoughts and feelings that this change provokes in us?

This seminar will introduce writing as a tool for understanding what it means to be a witness to our transforming planet. Grounding ourselves with mindful and experiential practices, we will experiment with the reflective essay genre, a genre that allows writers to center feelings and engage abstract ideas. As we explore climate emotions and the power of individual action for individual and planetary well-being, we will collectively hold the door open for critical engagement with the extractive and exploitative systems that have led to climate change. We will read widely, examining the narrative and reflective choices that other writers make in essays about nature, environment, and climate change. Students will compose three essays and a creative project.

In this course, we’ll explore how films, music, sports, games, and digital media both reflect and shape politics. More than entertainment, popular culture is a powerful site where identities are negotiated, power is contested, and political ideas take root. Together, we’ll analyze global case studies and ask how pop culture influences the way we see ourselves, our communities, and the world.

People often either overlook or overstate the importance of culture, especially in organizations. This course examines culture as a set of meanings, values, and practices, and considers how it can help explain individual and group behavior in organizational settings. We will explore how culture evolved as a key human tool for engaging with the environment, and we will focus on a central question: how are individuals shaped by groups, and how much explanatory power does culture have in understanding behavior within organizations?

While the course considers practical applications, it is grounded in unpacking a complex and abstract concept. Students will work through theoretical ideas first, then apply them to more concrete cases later in the course.

This Honors Seminar explores the role that power and culture play through Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. We will examine themes of imperialism, empire, identity, resistance, governance, nationalism, culture, and moral responsibility, using frameworks from political theory, philosophy, decolonial studies, gender studies, and media studies. Through discussion, analytical writing, and critical projects, students will analyze Avatar in relation to historical and contemporary social and cultural issues while also examining the role that popular culture plays in understanding complicated topics such as war, justice, and power. No prior familiarity with the television series is required.

The thought of standing up and making a presentation in public is nerve-wracking to many of us. Yet, this skill is critical for our success as professionals, citizens and community members. In fact, “ability to communicate well” is consistently ranked as the top priority for new hires by businesses, and that’s not surprising. You may have great knowledge you want to share, a commitment to social change, or a desire to be given responsibility for an exciting project. You might want to motivate others to join you in a cause, or to fund your ideas. To do any of those things well, you’ll need to communicate your ideas clearly and convincingly, usually in a public forum. The good news is that great speakers are made, not born. In this course, you’ll learn how to make interesting, informative, and even inspiring presentations. You’ll learn how to make nervousness work to our advantage. You’ll study recent research about oral communication and persuasion as well as the great classical theories of rhetoric. You’ll listen to speeches from political, military and business leaders as well as activists for social causes. Through a variety of readings, videos and discussions, you’ll learn how to present facts, when to and how to employ emotions, when to tell stories and use examples, and how and when to use visual aids. You’ll have the opportunity to teach your classmates something, to persuade them to donate money to a charity, to explain a complex issue and to persuade your audience to action. You’ll develop your own speaking style in a supportive environment, with helpful feedback from the professor and your classmates, and you will most likely have some fun doing it! Watch Prof. George talk about her seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

One hundred years ago the United States experienced a period of crisis rooted in rapidly developing technology, immigration and changing ideas about race.  This seminar will focus on early 20th century American literature—especially that of the 1920s—as representations of this rupture in the social fabric, writing that at times celebrates and at others fears pluralism, that questions and crosses borders, and that invents new ways of voicing diverse American experiences. We’ll begin by learning about the dramatic demographic changes in the U.S. at the turn into the 20th century before looking at how they shaped the literary culture of the time. As we turn to that literature, mostly short stories and novels, we’ll consider the following questions, among others: How do people of non-Northern European descent navigate their positions within the dominant culture of the U.S.? In what ways do they manipulate traditional and expected literary forms to express subversive or critical perspectives of that culture? How do the expected and the revisionary come together to form new modes of representation? How do writers from the dominant culture respond to the drastic changes taking place in the early 20th century and increasingly common encounters with the Other? In what ways do the drawing and erasing of borders inform the literature of the time? Authors may include Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, Nella Larsen, Maria Cristina Mena, Sui Sin Far, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Zitkála-Šá.

Investigating the science of energy encompasses a broad range of topics such as fossil fuels, biomass, nuclear energy, and renewable energies such as solar, wind, and hydropower. This seminar course will address the fundamentals of energy with discussions involving the forms of energy, energy conversion and scalability of energy production with a global perspective. Invited speakers will include individuals with field specific expertise and international experience in each type of energy to detail the technological challenges of efficiently harvesting energy resources and establishing distribution and storage networks at home and abroad.

There are no prerequisites for this course. However, students should come prepared to pursue and evaluate topics in the science of energy through the skills of inquiry, research, critical thinking and problem solving.

This interdisciplinary honors seminar provides an introduction to Science and Technology Studies (STS) – the study of the social and political facets of scientific research – by focusing on the case study of debates around the science and practice of transgender medicine. With this case study, along with broader STS readings, we will explore the role of science in society, the ways social values and cultural frames shape scientific research, and the role scientific study plays in public debates and policymaking.

Human experience is in many ways the experience of sickness, pain, and suffering. The English writer and doctor Sir Thomas Browne, in his classic work The Religion of a Physician, was amazed that anyone thought being ill was abnormal, because "I that have examined the parts of man . . . do wonder that we are not always so." In other words, Browne understood the fundamental fragility of the human body and mind, and was surprised that we're ever healthy! Stories, poems, plays, and creative essays are powerful tools for exploring, and for helping us to understand, physical and mental illness and dis-ease. "Sick Lit." invites students to explore literature that, over the centuries, has dug deeply into this intrinsic aspect of human experience. Short weekly response papers; final critical and/or creative project.

Do you sometimes feel like you have to skim or rush through things just to keep up? This seminar offers an antidote to the distracted pace of life today. We are going to read just one novel, slowly: George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which Virginia Woolf famously said was “one of the few English novels written for grownup people.” Middlemarch engages a wide range of topics, including the history of medicine, evolutionary theory, the status of women, and progressive politics. Eliot believed the purpose of her fiction was to encourage her readers to cultivate sympathy for their fellow human beings. To that end, she offers us realistic, flawed characters and invites us to consider how their struggles with career choices, romantic relationships, and personal ethics might relate to our own lives. To embrace those questions, we are going to experiment with nineteenth century reading and writing practices, including listening to passages read aloud and keeping a commonplace book. These practices of slow reading train our attention and deepen our capacity for the kind of sympathy Eliot saw as essential to human understanding.

The Basque people’s origin remains a mystery. The same holds true for their language, which is Western Europe’s oldest. From out of this mystery, the Basques would establish one of the first democracies, become a leader in the Age of Exploration (having possibly made contact with the Americas more than a century before Christopher Columbus), and later fuel Europe’s industrial revolution, all the while preserving their unique culture.

This course’s aim is to immerse students in Basque and Spanish culture while using the stunning seaside city of San Sebastian as a text that will enlarge and enrich students’ three weeks in the city. This will be accomplished through multiple approaches: field trips and excursions, on-site lectures, examinations of Spanish and Basque history, politics, culture, geography, literature, cinema, sport, and art, along with writing assignments that encourage both a comparative analysis between Spanish, Basque, and American history, while reflecting on the moment being lived. Learn about Study Abroad opportunities for the Spanish and Basque Cultural Immersion seminar.

The guiding premise for this course is: we can gain a deeper understanding of a people and a nation through recently published literary fiction. In other words, we learn about the country through the lens of its writers and the stories they tell. For the purposes of this class, we will be testing this premise against two countries: Northern Ireland and Ireland. Two countries that, when combined, total less than six million people, yet whose contemporary fiction writers are among the vanguard of world literature today.

During three weeks this summer in Belfast, students will attend the Belfast Book Festival, study on Queen’s University Belfast’s campus, and work in conjunction with the faculty, staff, and fellows at the Seamus Heaney Center. Along with this, students will also be meeting with a number of the authors whose books they will be reading this summer, providing us with yet another way to approach these texts. Learn about Study Abroad opportunities for the Stories from the Irish Island seminar.

Over the past century, the world has undergone significant technological and social transformations, including increased average lifespan, the expansion of multinational corporations, natural resource depletion, and tremendous advancements in technology and production. These changes create an urgent need for sustainable solutions that balance economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social equity. What is the importance of sustainable development, and how can it be successfully implemented? This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach – drawing from environmental studies, economics, sociology, and political science - to provide a comprehensive sustainable development framework for addressing these multifaceted issues. The course aims to enhance students’ critical analysis, research capacities, and academic writing skills by delivering foundational concepts through lecture slides and case studies, fostering active participation in discussions and peer workshops, and guiding them in formulating their own sustainable development proposals.

Multiple industries now make up the overall “business of sports”. Amateur sports, professional sports, youth sports, athletic performance gear and fashion apparel, fantasy sports, memorabilia and sports media are each multi-billion-dollar industries in their own right. This course will explore the social and economic challenges faced by managers in various sectors of the sports industry as they attempt to address the ever-increasing competition for fans, sponsors, broadcast viewership, media exposure, public financing and athletic talent. Students will learn what it is like to work in various divisions of the sports industry. Industry practitioners will walk the students through the day-to-day operations of these departments and explain successful strategies for obtaining these jobs. Students will go beyond wins and losses on the field to examine the fundamental business challenges that sports managers confront in a variety of industry sectors.

Why was the first half of the 20th century the bloodiest in all of history? This course seeks to explore that question through the lens of the “Three E’s”: Ethnicities, Economics, and Empires. Included in our study: How dissolving empires stoked ethnic conflict; the effects of nationalism on different parts of Europe; Russia’s revolutions and civil wars; the events/culture of the interwar years; the brutalization of World War I and how it led to World War II and the Holocaust. Students will have the opportunity to research niche topics on their own and present their research in both written and presentation formats.

This course aims to provide a critical, interpretative approach to the main themes in the history of the Salazar dictatorship (Estado Novo) from a comparative perspective. It covers the entire lifespan of the regime and encompasses each of its principal dimensions – nationalism, colonialism, corporatism, Church/State relations, repression, everyday life, system of political organization. As a means of emphasizing the importance of transnational connections and comparative approaches in the process of historical understanding, particular emphasis will be placed throughout the course on the wider international context, in particular in Europe and South America. To what extent did the Salazar regime provide a unique response to the broader interwar crisis of liberalism? How did Salazarism influence the rise of fellow authoritarian regimes both in Europe and South America? Can Salazar’s political leadership style be defined as charismatic? Is Salazarism fundamentally different from Fascism? Which factors shaped the relation between ordinary citizens and the political police, and to what extent is the concept of normalization useful in seeking to outline the experience of everyday life under dictatorship? Providing answers to these questions will require drawing from the variegated inputs of political, social, and cultural history. The course should thus be of particular interest to students wishing to deepen their understanding of the Twentieth Century experience of dictatorship through the prism of the Salazar regime in Portugal.

The southern plantation holds a unique place in American cultural memory. Despite being the site of unspeakable historical violence during slavery, Americans since the Civil War have routinely viewed it nostalgically and romantically, as seen with the unprecedented popular success of the novel and film versions of the epic Gone with the Wind in the 1930s or in the contemporary plantation wedding industry, which continues to thrive despite criticism in recent years. In short, the southern plantation is a site of conflict in American cultural memory, variously represented as a place of oppression and violence, a setting for “moonlight and magnolias” romance, and as a haunted, southern gothic landscape. We will consider a wide range of texts over the course of the semester, including: slave narratives, fiction, and memoir; popular and documentary films; and architecture and visual art.

From fierce raiders to powerful rulers, the Vikings left an indelible mark on medieval history. This course explores the Viking Age, tracing the rise of Norse seafarers from their Scandinavian homelands to their conquests, trade networks, and settlements across Europe and beyond. The course will examine Viking warfare, society, religion, and governance through historical texts, archaeology, and Norse sagas. Students will uncover the truth behind the legendary berserkers, navigate the complexities of Viking gender roles and burial practices, and analyze Norse expansion and cultural and economic impact. By the end of the course, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how these seafaring warriors shaped medieval Europe and continue to influence modern perceptions of the Viking world.

This course will cover the history of Dutch speaking peoples from the 16th through 21st centuries. Topics will include Dutch and Flemish revolts against Spain, overseas trade, colonial imperialism, the first stock market, the Tulip bulb mania, engineering of dijk’s and dams, Dutch and Flemish art and architecture, religion, witch trials, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the world wars, and contemporary Dutch culture and environmentalism. Students will be encouraged to explore topics within their areas of interest or branch out into new fields. Learn about Study Abroad opportunities for the Topics in Dutch History seminar. 

What does it really mean to travel? What draws us to new places: the novelty, the escape, or the stories we get to tell? How does travel change the way we see others and the way we see ourselves? In this course, we’ll journey beyond the tourist selfies and souvenirs to explore how travel has shaped, and been shaped by, art, politics, and culture across time. From explorers and travel writers to digital nomads and influencers, we’ll dive into stories that have defined what it means to go “somewhere new.” Along the way, we’ll tackle big questions about sustainability, cultural exchange, and the impact of travel on local communities. By the end of this course, you won’t just want to plan your next trip—you’ll see travel itself in a whole new light. No international travel experiences necessary to take this course, as we’ll discover that even going down the street to the grocery store can be a meaningful journey.

Seen "Six?" Or perhaps "The Tudors?" Maybe "The Witch?' This course investigates the major political, social, economic, and religious issues of the Tudor and Stuart periods (1485-1714). We will delve into the politics of religion, superstition and witchcraft, theatre and art, exploration and science, and war and diplomacy. Scottish and Irish history will be included as well.

Approaches to the study of film are numerous, and seemingly limitless in their possible areas of focus and concern. This is understandable, as people have been thinking about the nature of film since the medium's earliest days. One of the greatest contributing factors to this multiplicity of approaches has been this discipline's great inheritance from the other arts, and the accompanying insights, practices, and theories that these "others" have themselves generated for centuries.

A world cinema course such as this one calls for a great deal of discernment on our part, in both our film selection and our thematic approach. With this in mind, and as a group throughout, we shall follow a pedagogical approach which is twofold this semester. First, we shall explore select films from around the world in search of aesthetic, epistemological, ethical, and ontological points of both connection and concern. Second, in and through this exploratory approach, we shall advance several novel ways of reimagining our various conceptions of ‘perception’ and ‘world cinema.’ Watch Professor Hersey talk about his seminar in the Honors Seminars YouTube Playlist.

*World Cinema may be petitioned to count as a World Ready elective.