Spring 2023 Honors Courses

***Please Note that CHP classes petitioned for gen ed credit will not show up on your DARS report until mid-semester.***

ARCH 199 DAY: Daylighting, Architecture & Health, Mohamed Boubekri, Ph.D.

67522 | TR | 9:30 – 10:50 a.m. | 301 Architecture Bldg | 3 Hour

This is a lab/discussion type of course where students will learn about the basic principles of the use of natural light (daylighting) and how daylight impacts visual comfort and building occupants’ health and well-being. We will use the building occupants as the primary focus in this course in terms of success or failure of an architectural design solution. To do so, the course will be based on a series of lectures, round table discussions led by students focusing on daylighting strategies, and how daylight informs health and well-being of building users. Topics to be discussed are light and circadian rhythm, sleep disorders, vitamin D, and daylighting and human performance. Another portion of the course is lab-based in which students will design a small building (e.g. small office, small town library, etc.) with a sub-focus on daylighting computer and scale model simulation.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Social & Behavioral Science: Behavioral Science*

Instructor: Mohamed Boubekri earned his Ph.D. in Architecture from Texas A&M University in 1990. His work focuses on sustainable architecture and the intersection of the built environment and human health. Through numerous publications (two recently published books), he explores the impact of the lack of daylight inside buildings on people’s health, behavior and overall well-being. More generally, his work also examines the relationship between architectural design, sustainable technologies and building energy/environmental performance.


ASTR 350 CH: The Big Bang, Black Holes, and the End of the Universe, Brian Fields, Ph.D.

***This course will begin online, synchronous, and may remain that way for the entire semester***

48250 | MWF | 10:00 – 10:50 a.m. |Online | 3 Hours

Cosmology is science on the grandest of scales. It is one of the hottest areas of research today, weaving together a wide range of disciplines, including observational astronomy, astrophysics, relativity, and the physics of elementary particles, and quantum gravity. We will study the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe, and the scientific tools used to study these issues. Topics include aspects of special and general relativity; curved spacetime; the Big Bang; inflation; primordial element synthesis; the cosmic microwave background; dark matter and the formation of galaxies; observational evidence for dark matter, dark energy, and black holes–including supermassive black holes that lurk at the hearts of most galaxies including our own. Credit is not given for ASTR 350 if credit in ASTR 406 has been earned.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Natural Science & Technology: Physical Science.*

Instructor: Brian Fields is a professor of Astronomy and of Physics at the University of Illinois, and a member of the Illinois Center for the Advanced Study of the Universe. He is fascinated by the “inner space/outer space” connections that link the science at the smallest and largest scales. His research studies the highest-energy sites in nature–the big bang, exploding stars (supernovae), and high-energy particles in space (cosmic rays)–where nuclear physics and elementary particle physics play a central role. He enjoys using the Universe as the “poor person’s accelerator” to probe high-energy physics that is far beyond the reach of terrestrial experiments


BADM 199 CHP: Exploring Leadership: Insights from Philosophy to Pop Culture, Elizabeth A. Luckman, Ph.D.

54976 | TR | 3:30-4:50 PM | 212 Honors | 3 Hours

In this course, we will explore the concept of leadership and corresponding leadership behaviors through a variety of conceptual lenses. The purpose of the course is for students to engage in dialogue that encourages them to cultivate personalized mental models of leadership based on perspectives from organizational science, social sciences, philosophy, history, literature, and pop culture.

This course will utilize the Harkness method of discussion. Harkness is a method of “student-led learning” that is rooted in student curiosity and enquiry.

*This course was approved by all colleges for general education credit for Social and Behavioral Science: Social Science.*

Instructor: Professor Luckman favors a teaching model that combines a dynamic classroom with mentorship. In addition to content mastery, she emphasizes broader themes: problem-solving for complexity, continuous learning and improvement, how ethical, adaptive leaders cultivate higher performing organizations, the vital roles of communication and social interaction, and the paramount goal of creating value for stakeholders, especially the end customer. She is specifically interested in leadership, ethics, negotiation, management, organizational development and change.

Her significant experience with a major corporation, including five years in management, adds valuable insight to her teaching. Having led teams that successfully battled to achieve demanding performance objectives amplify her ability to prepare students to lead with impact.


CHP 199 ON: Immigration: A Global Phenomenon with Local Implications, Gioconda Guerra Pérez, Ph.D.

67744 | MW | 12:30 – 1:50 p.m.| SIS 614 E Daniel, Rooom 3080 (3rd Floor)| 3 Hours

The course will provide a historical perspective on the issue of immigration and discuss immigration to the U.S. and its historical implications (voluntary immigration, involuntary immigration, forced immigration). We will study the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) from 1790 to 2017 and review some immigration laws and policies. Current immigration policies and how non-U.S. citizens are affected, immigration issues in the context of K-16, refugees and asylum and DACA/undocumented immigrants will also be studied.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Cultural Studies: U.S. Minority Cultures.*

Instructor: Born and raised in Panama, Gioconda Perez joined La Casa in August 2013. Before joining La Casa, she served as visiting assistant professor in the School of Education and as Socio-Cultural specialist for the New Neighbors Center at Indiana University Southeast. She has taught courses on Multicultural Education, Current Social Issues in Education, and Intercultural Relations. She has developed professional development workshops on issues related to institutional barriers affecting Latino/a college students; undocumented/DACA students: policies and practices; as well as intersectionality & identity. She has developed curricula for K-12 schools to work with Latino families and English Language Learners (ELL). She has provided professional development for K-12 teachers on issues related to ELL and Latino/a students and their cultures. She received a M.A. in Sociology and Communication and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development from the University of Louisville. She attended the Universidad de Panam, Panama where she studied Journalism. Her professional and personal interest has been finding ways to help Latino/a students achieve higher education.


CHP 395C: Shipwrecks, Peter Fritzsche, Ph.D.

31308 | TR | 12:30 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. | 212 Honors | 3 Hours

This course is designed to allow students to explore the themes of shipwreck, sailors, and castaways in the early modern and modern world. It is centered around six shipwreck stories. Along the way, we will examine both literature on shipwrecks themselves and on the imagination and metaphor of shipwreck which like the ship itself has broad social and political resonance. We will look at how shipwrecks refashion individuals, bind and break apart society, and create new political worlds of authority and freedom, and we will examine the idea of society as a ship and its self-destruction in war or rearrangement in strife as shipwreck. The course will begin with the Cameron’s Titanic (yes, the movie) and end with Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (also a movie), and along the way examine shipwrecks and castaways in a variety of original sources from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.

**This course is now full. Contact Anne Price to be added to the waitlist.**

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Humanities & the Arts: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives, and Cultural Studies: Western Comparative Cultures*

Instructor: Peter Fritzsche has taught History at the University of Illinois for nearly thirty years. He has received Guggenheim, Humboldt, and NEH fellowships, has written seven books in German and European history including Life and Death in the Third Reich, Germans into Nazis, Reading Berlin 1900, Nietzsche and the Death of God, and Stranded in the Present, and, most recently, An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler. Fritzsche has served as chair of the Department of History and has been recognized for his excellence in teaching, including regular inclusion on the “List of Excellent Teachers.” He has taught honors courses on the Holocaust and on World War I as well as the wars in Iraq. His pedagogy emphasizes the close analysis of key texts through discussion and debate and the creation of defensible interpretations of human behavior through writing and rewriting and an empathetic understanding of narrative, documentary, and argumentative strategies. His ultimate aim is to give students confidence in speaking about the world and ultimately in judging it.


CHP 395A: Journalists in Popular Culture, Matthew Ehrlich, Ph.D.

31307 | MW | 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. | 212 Honors | 3 Hours

Why should we care about the image of the journalist in popular culture? The main reasons are simple: First, journalism is supposed to provide us with the stories and information that we need to govern ourselves. Second, journalists have long been familiar characters in popular culture, and those characters are likely to shape people’s impressions of the news media at least as much if not more than the actual press does. Third, popular culture is a powerful tool for thinking about what journalism is and should be. This class will examine depictions of journalists in movies, TV shows, and other media over the past century – depictions that are at once repellent and romantic, villainous and heroic—and it will consider their implications for the news media, the public, and democracy. It is intended as a provocative and entertaining way of generating insight into not only journalism, but also ourselves.

**This course is now full. Contact Anne Price to be added to the waitlist.**

*This course has been approved by all colleges for Social & Behavioral Sciences: Social Science general education credit this term.*

Instructor: Matthew Ehrlich is Professor Emeritus of Journalism. He has won the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois. He also has appeared on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students 41 different semesters (including multiple times for this Campus Honors Program class). Professor Ehrlich’s books include Heroes and Scoundrels: The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture and Journalism in the Movies. His most recent book is Dangerous Ideas on Campus: Sex, Conspiracy, and Academic Freedom in the Age of JFK; it focuses on two high-profile controversies at the University of Illinois in the 1960s. Professor Ehrlich has served as Interim Director of the Institute of Communications Research at the U of I. Before becoming a professor, he worked for several years as a public radio journalist, including at Illinois Public Media.


CHP 396A: Gender Communication, Grace Giorgio, Ph.D.

46862 | TR | 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. | 212 Honors | 3 Hours

This course investigates how gender and sexuality are communicated. Language, our statements as well as our demeanors, both explains and defines us. It sends covert as well as overt messages about us and our culture. In a complicated and not generally symmetrical fashion, our gender and sexuality inform our language and our language informs our gender and sexuality. This course focuses on the ways in which we discuss and enact – the ways in which we verbally and physically speak – gender and sexuality. This course interrogates social and cultural notions of gender and sexuality, and examines the way in which language serves to both reinforce and challenge these notions.

Develop a fundamental understanding of how gender and language interface in contemporary social and political contexts; analyze and critique how gendered language shapes individual subjectivity in social, cultural, and political spheres; increase skillfulness in analysis, theory, and praxis; apply qualitative research methods to the study of gendered communication.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Social and Behavioral Sciences: Social Science and Advanced Comp.*

Instructor: Grace Giorgio has been teaching in the Department of Communication since she arrived on campus as a graduate student in 1995. In 2001, she began teaching fulltime for the University, developing and teaching courses in popular media, gender communication, public policy and sustainability, and the geography of culture. Dr. Giorgio began teaching for Campus Honors in the fall of 2012, launching a course on place making, Communicating Public Policy: Our Cities/Ourselves (CMN 220). She also taught Gender Communication for CHP in the fall of 2015 and 2019. In 2013, Dr. Giorgio received the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Teaching Award. In the fall of 2015, she received two Provost Office grants to develop and launch Writing Fundamentals, an online, interactive grammar program for Illinois writing courses. In concert with Engineering faculty, Dr. Giorgio received a Strategic Innovations Instructional Program grant to support Engineering students with public speaking. Her research interests include an experimental use of qualitative research methods to investigate the intersection of self, culture, and the public sphere.


CLCV 133: Archaeology of Israel, Brett Kaufman, Ph.D.

70705 | TR | 2:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. POTA| G36 FLB | 3 Hours

This course explores the archaeology and history of the Near East with a specific focus on the development of Israel. Cultures of the Near East adapted to a rapidly changing world by pioneering the world’s earliest innovations in agriculture, urbanism, bronze technology, and writing. We will investigate the Near Eastern background of the Israelites and their neighbors from the beginnings of agriculture during the “Neolithic Revolution”, to the formation of the world’s first cities in the Bronze Age, to the archaeological remnants of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. The course will investigate the materials remains and societal ramifications of wave after wave of military conflict and how this has shaped the Middle East, including the Babylonian Exile, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and the Jewish Revolts against the Romans.

**This course is now full. Contact Anne Price to be added to the waitlist.**

*Campus has granted this course general education credit for Humanities and the Arts: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives and Cultural Studies: Western Comparative Cultures.*

Instructor: Brett Kaufman is an assistant professor in the Department of the Classics, joining the Illinois faculty in 2018. He is an archaeologist specializing in the Mediterranean and Near East, ancient engineering and design, the formation and maintenance of sociopolitical hierarchy, and reconstructing ecological management strategies of ancient and historical societies. He has directed or supervised archaeological excavations in Tunisia, China, Italy, Israel, and New York. He received a BA from Brandeis University, and a MA and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining UIUC Classics, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University and a faculty appointment at the University of Science and Technology Beijing where he still maintains a visiting affiliation. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.


ECON 103 CHP: Macroeconomic Principles, Stephen Parente, Ph.D.

62176 | MW | 12:30 – 1:50 p.m. | 115 DKH | 3 Hours

Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that examines the aggregate behaviors of firms, consumers and government and their implications for an economy’s output, employment, inflation and interest rates. This is done within the context of business cycles, i.e., the short-run, and in the context of economic growth, i.e., the long-run. After taking the course, the student should have a thorough understanding of the data that underlies macroeconomic analysis and be able to evaluate government policies that are intended to either smooth out the business cycle or grow the economy. As an honor’s course, added attention will be given to current policy debates such as the 2007-2009 Great Recession, social security, soaring public debt, China’s growth miracle, Brexit and Grexit.

*Campus has granted this course with General Education credit for Social and Behavioral Sciences: Social Science.*

Instructor: Stephen L. Parente is an associate professor of economics at the University of Illinois. Since receiving his Ph.D., he has taught at Georgetown University, Northeastern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Illinois. Dr. Parente’s research primarily seeks to understand why some countries are so much richer than others. While most of his research fits squarely in the field of development and growth, some overlaps with the fields of international trade and political economy. He has written over 20 articles on this subject, many of which have appeared in the top professional journals. He has also coauthored a book on this subject with Nobel Laureate Edward C. Prescott titled The Barriers to Riches, which has been translated into French, Italian and Chinese. His work is heavily cited both within academic and non-academic circles.


ENVS 101/AL1/NPRE 101, AY1: Introduction to Energy Sources, Daniel Andruczyk, Ph.D.

**This Course Has Been Cancelled Due to Low Enrollment**

34678/34671 | MWF | Lecture 3:00 – 3:50 p.m. | Lecture 1024 Chem Annex;

41173/34625 | T |Lab 10:00 – 10:50 a.m. | Lab 204 Transport Bldg | 3 Hours

Energy is an exciting and far-reaching topic to study because it affects everything you do from social activities to scholastics. This course is fun and stimulating. There is a demonstration or field trip every day, including a tour of the University’s power plant and nuclear reactor. The course examines energy technologies and their environmental significance from a simple elementary approach which presupposes no prior scientific or technological background. All present and potential future energy sources are studied, including fossil fuels and solar, hydro, wind, and nuclear power. Energy-related incidents will be studied with emphasis on their environmental, economic, and social consequences.

*Campus has granted this course with general education credit for Natural Sciences and Technology: Physical Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning II.*

Instructor: Prof. Andruczyk is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering and is in charge of the HIDRA device at the University of Illinois. Previously he was a Research Engineer at the Princeton Plasma Physics Labs from 2012 – 2014. He currently is an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions, a multidisciplinary center at the University of Illinois. Prof. Andruczyk conducts research into plasma edge studies and PFC materials as well as research related to manufacturing in the semiconductor industry. Prof. Andruczyk has previously worked as a post-doc at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald where the W-7X Stellarator is being built. He has extensive expertise in plasma diagnostics including the development and running of diagnostic He beams and has installed two on H-1NF Heliac in Canberra, Australia and the WEGA Stellarator in Greifswald, Germany.


EPSY 199A: Understanding Adolescent Development Through Literature, Christopher Napolitano, Ph.D

46232 | TR | 12:30 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. | 37 Education Bldg | 3 Hours

Is adolescence inevitably a period of “storm and stress?” Are all adolescents bound to rebel against their parents, challenge social norms, and engage in problem behaviors? In this class, we complicate popular – and inaccurate – perceptions of adolescence. Students will complete this course with an understanding of the dynamic changes that take place during adolescence across four core developmental concepts: identity, autonomy, intimacy, and achievement.

We explore each of these concepts along three core tracks: (1) deeply debating contemporary theoretical and conceptual work; (2) unpacking contemporary empirical research; and (3) closely reading popular middle grades fiction novels written for adolescents. This seminar also presents a unique opportunity for students to interview active middle-grades fiction writers during seminar meetings to better understand how they integrate adolescent concepts into their books. To conclude the seminar, students will link information from theories and research by selecting a middle grades (or young adult) fiction book and leading a discussion on that book’s core adolescent developmental concepts and the contemporary research.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Social & Behavioral Sciences: Behavioral Science.*

Instructor: Chris Napolitano is a life-span developmental psychologist. His primary research interest is in the development of adaptive self-regulatory action across the life span, and how to best translate this research into programs that promote positive development. His work explores how people produce their development through striving for dynamic, unpredictable goals, and is now particularly focused on the self-regulatory actions that maximize gains from unexpected, positive events and the actions that often minimize losses from expected shortcomings.

Chris was trained at Tufts University’s Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development. At Tufts, he worked on the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development and Project GPS, a mentoring-based intervention to promote adolescent self-regulation. In August 2017, he became an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology (Developmental and Counseling divisions) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Zurich in the Developmental Psychology: Adulthood lab.


FAA 110D: Exploring Arts and Creativity, J.W. Morrissette, MFA, MA, Brad Mehrtens, M.S.

69421 | R | 1:30 – 2:50 p.m. | 164 Noyes Lab | 3 Hours

High and street art, tradition and experimentation, the familiar and unfamiliar, international and American creativity provide this course’s foundation. Students will attend performances and exhibitions, interact with artists, and examine core issues associated with the creative process in our increasingly complex global society. Faculty from the arts, sciences, humanities, and other domains will lead students through visual arts, music, dance, and theatre experiences at Krannert Center and Krannert Art Museum to spark investigation and dialogue. The class meets twice per week: once a week for discussions, and a second time to attend performances and/or exhibitions at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and/or Krannert Art Museum. Event dates will vary. Admission to all events will be provided without charge to students enrolled in the course.

*Campus has granted every section of this course for general education credit for Humanities and the Arts: Literature and the Arts.*

Instructor: J.W. Morrissette – Assistant Head, Department of Theatre. J.W. has served in the Department of Theatre for 21 years. He has also served as the chair of the BFA Theatre Studies Program as well as the assistant program coordinator for Inner Voices Social Issues Theatre. He earned his BFA in Acting at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, and both his MFA in Acting and MA in Theatre History at the University of Illinois. J.W. has taught and directed for the past 17 years with the summer Theatre Department at Interlochen Center for the Arts, has directed and taught at Parkland College, and teaches acting, directing, and Introduction to Theatre Arts at Illinois. He has been integral in developing components for the online course offerings in the department, as well as supervising all senior Theatre Studies Thesis Projects.

Instructor: Brad Mehrtens – Instructor and Advisor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Brad earned his bachelor’s in biology from Truman State University, and his master’s in microbiology from Illinois. His research interests include educational pedagogy; course design; and assessment; his advising interests include transitions for freshmen and transfer students; preparing for professional or graduate programs; understanding the undergraduate research experience; acknowledging and addressing academic or personal issues. As for hobbies, Brad enjoys acting, theatre, movies, music, and sports.


FIN 199 HON: Finance for non-Finance Majors, Richard Excell, MBA

32516| TR | 3:30 – 4:50 p.m. | 2007 BIF | 3 Hours

This class is intended to introduce the concepts of Finance to non-Business majors. The purpose of the class is to prepare students for their lives after they graduate. You will learn how overall financial markets function, looking at each asset class, which will help you as begin to save and invest for retirement. We will discuss the concepts of the time value of money and discounted cash flows -important when considering whether to pay cash or pay credit, whether to buy or to rent, and whether to borrow or to lend. Finally, you will learn to write a business plan and gain practice presenting that to potential investors.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Quantitative Reasoning.*

Instructor: Richard Excell is an Instructor of Finance at the University of Illinois, Gies College of Business. He has recently retired as a Senior Portfolio Manager at Wolverine Asset Management in Chicago where he ran a global equity long/short hedge fund portfolio.

Excell holds a B.S. in Finance with a minor in Accounting and Japanese Studies from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He was a member of the inaugural Campus Honors Program class. He became a CFA® charter holder in 1999 while living in Singapore and became a CMT charter holder in 2018. He is on the Board of Directors of the CFA Society Chicago and serves on the Education Advisory Group and Communications. Outside of work, he is Director of the Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation and a board member of the Bright Promises Foundation in Chicago.


FR 199: French Food for Thought!, Dan Maroun, Ph.D.

32731 | TR | 12:30 – 1:50 p.m. | FLB G20 | 3 Hours

Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” – Brilliat Savarin.

Food is a foundational element to understanding culture and contemporary identity politics, in particular those of France. This course aims to not only unlock insight into the construction of a national culinary ideology that has shaped French culture, but also its global impact on food culture. It examines food from a cultural and anthropological sense using theoretical and ethnographic texts to help link concept to reality especially regarding how French food has impacted perceptions of luxury and quality.

By exploring “French” food from this perspective, students will gain insight into the maintenance of social boundaries: individual vs. collective, private vs. public. They will also use this topic to discuss questions of power as well as the maintenance or expression of inequalities and hierarchies that food and culture create.

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Social & Behavioral Sciences: Social Science and Cultural Studies: Western Comparative Cultures.*

Instructor: Dan’s research focuses on the intersections of race, sexuality, and citizenship in French-speaking communities both within France and outside. Additionally, he has a strong passion for French food and its impact on western eating habits and perception of quality. He trained under Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France in 2004.


FSHN 101 CHP: The Science of Food and How It Relates to You, Shelly J. Schmidt, Ph.D.

74717| MW | 2:00-3:20 p.m. | 122 Bevier | 3 Hours

Welcome to FSHN 199! This semester we will explore together the overarching focus of the course “better food for a better life and world” by investigating the interconnected areas of nutrition, food science (chemistry, microbiology, processing), and consumer safety and satisfaction, as influenced by a multitude of factors, including sustainability, innovation, ethics and culture, using three main viewing lenses, as a professional, as a consumer, and as a citizen. Everything you have wanted to know about food and nutrition discussed using current events and basic science concepts, answering the questions you have about the food you eat!

*Campus has granted every section of this course with general education credit for Natural Science & Technical: Physical Sciences.*

Instructor: Dr. Shelly J. Schmidt received her Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1986 under the direction of Dr. Marvin P. Steinberg. Before obtaining her Ph.D., Dr. Schmidt was employed at General Foods in Kankakee, IL for two years. Currently, Dr. Schmidt is a Professor of Food Chemistry in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. In 1994-95, Dr. Schmidt spent her sabbatical leave at Tate & Lyle (formerly A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company), in the Research and Development Department and in 2007-08 she spent her second sabbatical leave in conjunction with the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois developing visual explanations for the courses she teaches and teaching Water Relations in Foods courses for Kellogg’s Company in Battle Creek, MI.


HORT 223A: The Intelligent Behavior of Plants, Sara Refi Hind, Ph.D.

68723 | TR | 2:00 – 3:20 p.m. | W223 Turner | 3 Hours

This course serves as an integrative guide to understanding the complex behavior of plants. The course is divided into 2main sections: plant structure and function, and plant senses and behavior. In the first section of the class, we will learn about basic plant structures and examine how these parts function in ways that make plants well-adapted to diverse environments. Then in the second part, we will explore what constitutes senses, behavior, and language, and explore the concepts of intelligence and consciousness from different perspectives in order to create our own personal philosophies about plant intelligence.

*Campus has granted every section of this course with general education credit for Advanced Composition and Natural Sciences and Technology: Life Science.*

Instructor: Dr. Sarah Hind is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Crop Sciences in the College of ACES. She has a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of South Carolina. She did her postdoctoral research at the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University, and has been at the University of Illinois since 2017. Her research program focuses on how plants interact with bacterial pathogens and insect pests, specifically in vegetable crops including tomato and pumpkin. Besides this course (HORT 223: The Intelligent Behavior of Plants), Dr. Hind also teaches CPSC 486: Plant Growth and Development and instructs the bacteriology portion of PLPA 403: Advanced Plant Pathology.


LAW 302A: Transitional Justice, Colleen Murphy, Ph.D.

65462 | TR | 12:30 – 1:50 | Law Building Room K (first floor)| 3 Hours

Wrongdoing is part of the history of many, if not most, political communities around the globe. Transitional justice refers to the process of responding to wrongdoing in the context of a transition away from extended periods of conflict and/or repression. The wrongs of interest constitute mass human rights violations and often implicate state officials. In this course, we survey a range of legal processes used to respond to such wrongdoing, including amnesty, criminal punishment, truth commissions, reparations, and official apologies. The central question the course takes up is: are (all/some/none) of such varied processes are just responses to wrongdoing? To answer this question, we consider the point(s) or purpose(s) of each type of response. Are responses oriented towards fulfilling claims of victims or demands on perpetrators? Forward-looking goals and objectives? Both? We also consider their effectiveness: To what extent, and under what conditions, does a given legal response facilitate its stated purposes and goals? Our discussions draw two cases, South Africa and the United States. The United States has as part of its history the enslavement of Africans and their descendants, and racial segregation in the Jim Crow period. South Africa in 1994 held its first democratic elections, following a multi-decade period of apartheid.

*Campus has granted every section of this course with general education credit for Humanities & the Arts: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives and Cultural Studies: U.S. Minority Culture.*

Instructor: Colleen Murphy is the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law. Professor Murphy holds courtesy appointments as a Professor of Philosophy and of Political Science, and she is the Director of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program in the Illinois Global Institute. Since joining the faculty at Illinois, Professor Murphy has served as the Acting Executive Director of the Illinois Global Institute, a Humanities Research Institute – Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellow in Legal Humanities, a Public Voices Fellow and an Associate of the Center for Advanced Study at Illinois, as well as a Visiting Professor at the 4.TU Centre for Ethics in the Netherlands. Prior to joining the Illinois faculty, Professor Murphy was on the faculty at Texas A&M University and held a Laurence Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellowship at the Princeton University Center for Human Values.

Professor Murphy is a scholar and teacher in the areas of moral, political, and legal theory. Her research focuses specifically on political reconciliation and transitional justice in response to entrenched injustice, and on the legal and ethical dimensions of risks. She is the author of The Conceptual Foundations of Transitional Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2017), which received the 2017 North American Society for Social Philosophy Book Award and the Wayne R. LaFave Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship from the University of Illinois College of Law.

Murphy holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.


LING 199 CHP: Hittite Language and Culture, Ryan Shosted, Ph.D.

50888| MWF| 1:00 – 1:50 p.m. | 217 Gregory Hall | 3 Hours

In this course, students explore the grammatical structure of the oldest‐attested Indo‐European language. They use clay and reeds to master the art of composing texts in cuneiform, one of the world’s oldest writing systems. They read and comment on primary texts relating to the decipherment of the language, as well as cuneiform ‘autographs’ of Hittite inscriptions. They investigate how nineteenth‐century orientalists with a thirst for empire used the re‐discovery of Hittite to promote themes of racial supremacy. They observe how the earliest predictions of modern linguistics were borne out once Hittite was dec3iphered and fully understood. They reflect on the truly ancient nature of multilingualism and multiculturalism by better understanding how Mesopotamian cultures strongly influenced the language, religion, and culture of the Hittite world. For an article with more information about this class, go to https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/804992

*This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Humanities and Arts: Historical Perspectives, Social & Behavioral Sciences: Social Science and Cultural Studies : Non-Western.*

Instructor: Prof. Shosted studied Czech language and literature at the College of Wooster and Beloit College before transferring to Brigham Young University and graduating in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics. He was a Student Fulbright Fellow at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, where he studied Changana. He then began his post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007. He was a Visiting Professor at the State University of Campinas, Brazil in 2015 and has was promoted to the rank of Professor at Illinois in 2020. He is interested in phonetics, phonology, and the development of sound-symbol correspondences, particularly in cuneiform.


MATH 199 CHP: Conversations in Math, Alexander Yong, Ph.D

46559 | MWF | 2:00 – 2:50 p.m. | 341 Altgeld | 3 Hours

This course is for those who wish to experience mathematics through experimentation, reflection, intuition, and conversation. We will explore a number of provocative, interesting, and important ideas from the canon of mathematics. The goal of this course is to offer the student memorable, lifelong topics of conversations about math. Assessment will be through evaluation of student journal entries.

The course will utilize journal entries as the basis of evaluation. A number of different mathematical topics which are of broad interest will be presented and the student will experiment with the concepts and write up a journal entry that will describe what they discovered. For example, one of the topics will be the Nobel prize winning “marriage algorithm” which is a process for pairing two groups of people according to their stated preferences among the other group such that the pairings are “stable”. The student will have a chance to try to discover the algorithm themselves, describe failures and mistakes, and also check the reasoning of the prize winning algorithm.

* This course has been approved by all colleges for general education credit for Quantitative Reasoning.*

Instructor:

Alexander Yong is a professor in the Department of Mathematics. He has won awards for both teaching and research. He has been on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent every academic year he has been at Illinois going back to 2008. He hails from Toronto, Canada.


PSYCH 144: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination, Chadley Stern, Ph.D.

70435 | MWF | 9:00 – 9:50 a.m. | 32 Pysch Bldg | 3 Hours

This course is intended for undergraduate students who are broadly interested in learning about behavioral science methods and questions related to inequality. This class will introduce students to the basics of utilizing behavioral science methods, methods ca be applied to understand factors that shape societal inequality. Throughout this course, students will have opportunities to experience the inner workings of behavioral science research process through gaining information about UIUC behavioral science laboratories, discussing measures of stereotyping and bias employed in the behavioral sciences and proposing how behavioral science can be used to address questions related to inequality. A particular focus will be given to research methods that span across multiple areas of inquiry in the behavioral sciences (e.g., social, psychology, organizational behavioral). Additionally, students will learn basic skills of how to read, analyze, and critique behavioral science research, as well as how to convey their ideas in written and oral formats and provide critical feedback on others’ ideas. In doing so, student will build critical thinking skills and gain competence in communicating their ideas to others.

**This course is now full. Contact Anne Price to be added to the waitlist.**

*Campus has granted every section of this course with general education credit for US Cultural Studies: US Minority, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Sciences.*

Instructor: Chadly Stern completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at New York University before joining the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. His research broadly examines how belief systems and motivations guide the way that people perceive and interact with the world. For example, one line of work concerns how political belief systems (e.g., whether a person is liberal or conservative) shape the way in which people evaluate and categorize others based on group membership (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation).

THEA 110 CHP: Broadway Musicals and US Culture, J.W. Morissette, Ph.D.

74646 | TR | 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. | 4503 KCPA | 3 Hours

A cultural context of the uniquely “American” Broadway musical through an introduction to the art form, an analysis of the pertinent time period, and historical and critical placement of the work as a reflection (and development) of the identity of the United States. This course will introduce the collaborative artistry of the musical, survey specific iconic works, and explore the socio-economic impacts of the Broadway musical.

*Campus has granted every section of this course with general education credit for Cultural Studies: Western, and Humanities and the Arts: Literature and the Arts.*

Instructor: J.W. Morrissette is the Assistant Head, Department of Theatre. J.W. has served in the Department of Theatre for 21 years. He has also served as the chair of the BFA Theatre Studies Program as well as the assistant program coordinator for Inner Voices Social Issues Theatre. He earned his BFA in Acting at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, and both his MFA in Acting and MA in Theatre History at the University of Illinois. J.W. has taught and directed for the past 17 years with the summer Theatre Department at Interlochen Center for the Arts, has directed and taught at Parkland College, and teaches acting, directing, and Introduction to Theatre Arts at Illinois. He has been integral in developing components for the online course offerings in the department, as well as supervising all senior Theatre Studies Thesis Projects.