Honors Course Offerings

McMinnville Campus

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: TBD
Professor: Nathan Sweeton
CRN: 85901

Imagine you are a staff writer for a Madison Avenue advertising firm or a Hollywood film reviewer. These are just some of the real-world careers that rely on the rhetorical skills covered in this course. Join us to learn effective strategies for engaging an audience, selling a product, persuading a crowd, and analyzing a work of art (like a book or a film). Then you'll be ready for your writing career, whether it be in New York, Hollywood, or closer to home.

HIST 2310: Early World History

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: MC 136
Professor: Ramona Shelton
CRN: 85166

In this course, students cover material from the beginning of ancient civilizations to the Renaissance and early modern eras. The honors dimension is a focus on scholarly research, writing, and presentation skills as students complete two scholarly research projects, one of which is the basis for their presentation at the undergraduate research symposium. Upon successful completion of course requirements, students will earn several high impact practice (HIPS) badges on their digital transcript at graduation; these include honors, global cultural awareness, technology enhanced learning, and undergraduate research.

COMM 2025: Fundamentals of Mass Communication

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 9:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Location: MC 103
Professor: Christie Gilispie
CRN: 85792

Bonjour! Konnichiwa! Hola! Ni hao!

This honors course is designed to cover the basics of public speaking and build confidence in speakers with an international twist. Throughout the semester, students will research various countries, customs, and international speakers. Orators will report their findings to classmates while gaining public speaking experience and a global competency through presentations.

By giving opportunities to make several speeches in a smaller, controlled setting, the class fosters familiarity with speaking in front of others in an encouraging atmosphere. Upon completion, students should be able to prepare and deliver well-organized speeches and participate in group discussion with appropriate audiovisual support. This is an introductory communication course.

Moore County Campus

BIOL 1110: General Biology I

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: Tuesday 12:30 - 1:50 PM & Thursday 12:30 - 3:20 PM
Location: SH 245
Professor: Dr. Janet Forde
CRN: 85875

Students will examine in detail the physical and chemical basis of life. Topics discussed will include cell biology, cell metabolism, photosynthesis, cell respiration, genetics, DNA, etc. Different groups of organisms will be explored to show how these structures and functions are uniquely utilized.

Laboratory activities will focus on enhancing the comprehension of lecture topics and developing proficiency in the use of laboratory equipment. Laboratory exercises will cover topics such as biochemistry, cell metabolism, genetics, viruses, microbiology, protists, and fungi. Opportunities for open classroom discussion and laboratory extensions will be emphasized.

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 9:30 - 10:50 AM
Location: SH 240
Professor: Stuart Bloodworth
CRN: 81892
Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 2:00 - 3:20 PM
Location: SH 240
Professor: Stuart Bloodworth
CRN: 85769

This course focuses on essay writing using a variety of expository patterns and emphasizes critical reading and discussion of selected essays, logical thinking, and an introduction to incorporation and documentation of material from sources.

HIST 2310: Early World History

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: SH
Professor: Dr. Charles Wexler
CRN: 85876

This honors world history section features the use of a Reacting to the Past game looking at Renaissance-era Florence. This three-week game, Building the Italian Renaissance, examines connections between history, art, architecture, and life within 1400s CE Florence.

MATH 1530: Introduction to Statistics

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 9:30 - 10:50 AM
Location: SH 130
Professor: Tabitha Parker
CRN: 85874

Want to perform statistics like a modern scientist? In this course, we will be discussing introductory statistics topics while learning to use the statistical programming language R. R software is free and open source, making this language the preference of scientists, academics, and researchers of all fields. This course will help you discern between truthful and deceptive statistics in media, support you in creating your own statistical reports, and encourage your numerical curiosity – all while learning a programming language that you can directly apply to your field of study!

MUS 1030: Introduction to Music

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: SH 247
Professor: Dr. David Bethea
CRN: 85765

Honors Intro to Music pursues a more active and interactive learning environment in which the students take greater responsibility for attaining a more creative and comprehensive understanding of basic musical concepts and perspectives essential for understanding musical expression. The honors course pursues deeper analytical interpretations of course concepts and their applications in an interdisciplinary context.

PSYC 1030: Introduction to Psychology

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 8:00 - 9:20 AM
Location: SH 130
Professor: Dr. Stephen Guerin
CRN: 81623

This honors course is coded as a high impact practice – undergraduate research course and emphasizes critical thinking and writing using research in psychological science. Students who complete this course may receive the undergraduate research designation on their transcript. In addition to the usual scientific content covered in this course, students will be coached in the research and writing of individual student research papers on an approved topic using American Psychological Association (APA) style. Students will learn the importance of peer-reviewed research published in professional psychological science journals and the use of various academic and scientific e-databases. Students will present their papers (either in-person or virtually) at the honors symposium at the conclusion of the course.

Online & Zoom

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: Nathan Sweeton
CRN: 85137 / 85556

Imagine you are a staff writer for a Madison Avenue advertising firm or a Hollywood film reviewer. These are just some of the real-world careers that rely on the rhetorical skills covered in this course. Join us to learn effective strategies for engaging an audience, selling a product, persuading a crowd, and analyzing a work of art (like a book or a film). Then you'll be ready for your writing career, whether it be in New York, Hollywood, or closer to home.

ENGL 1010: English Composition I – Space Exploration in Film and Literature

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: Dr. Dawn Copeland
CRN: 85566

Space Exploration in Film and Literature—
ENGL 1010 is an asynchronous online course with an emphasis on critical thinking and research-based writing that offers students a chance to learn more about space exploration as depicted in contemporary films and literature. Students in this course will have the opportunity to study recurring themes depicted throughout the films and reading selections, including the human desire to travel through space and time and to explore the unknown. The professor will provide access to all course materials at no cost to students.

ENGL 2330: Topics in World Literature

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: John Hart
CRN: 83826

Come and feast at a literary buffet. Sample the literary cuisine of classical Greece and India. Dine on Dante's Divine Comedy and sample the haiku of Japan and the sijo poetry of Korea. This semester we will delight in literary dishes from around the globe and across the timeline.

ENGL 2235: Topics in British Literature

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: John Hart
CRN: 83580

Jump across the pond to England and meet the monsters! Grendel, the Green Knight, Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and others. This semester, we will explore the lasting impact that English literature has had on the stories that we tell today in our own fiction and film.

HONS 1001/1002/1003: Service Learning I/II/III

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Director: Jenna Caviezel
CRN: 83188 / 83189 / 83204

In this one-credit service learning course, students will engage in semester-long service projects that connect with their academic, professional, or personal goals. At the conclusion of the semester, students will reflect on the impact of those service experiences—both on the community and on themselves. This course fulfills the service learning requirement for honors completion.

HIST 2310: Early World History

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: Ramona Shelton
CRN: 85134

In this course, students cover material from the beginning of ancient civilizations to the Renaissance and early modern eras. The honors dimension is a focus on scholarly research, writing, and presentation skills as students complete two scholarly research projects, one of which is the basis for their presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Upon successful completion of course requirements, students will earn several High Impact Practice (HIPs) badges on their digital transcript at graduation; these include Honors, Global Cultural Awareness, Technology Enhanced Learning, and Undergraduate Research.

HONS 1022: Disaster in Film & Literature

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: Dr. Dawn Copeland
CRN: 85877

This online seminar course offers students the opportunity to study contemporary disaster films and the novels that inspired the cinematic adaptations. Students will explore the human experience, including the fear of death and the unknown, the hope for life, and some of the everyday heroes who fight for survival, as the world faces invasions from outer space, extreme forces of nature, plagues, and failures in technology. The professor will provide access to all course materials at no cost to students.

PSYC 1030: Introduction to Psychology – Harry Potter

Days: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Professor: Dayron Deaton-Owens
CRN: 84623

This is an introductory honors course focused on the scientific study of behavior and mental processes that will be discovered by connecting the world of psychology to the Harry Potter series. Topics include the history of psychology, critical thinking and research methods in psychology, the biological and biological bases of consciousness, sensation, perception, memory, learning, cognition, development across the lifespan, motivation, emotion, sexuality, stress and health, social psychology, personality, psychological disorders, and psychological therapies.

COMM 2025: Introduction to Communications

Days: Wednesday Only
Time: 9:30 - 10:50 AM
Location: Zoom/Online
Professor: Dr. Phyllis Adams
CRN: 84551

In this three-hour course, honors scholars will be afforded an opportunity to study communication skills, including researching, preparing, organizing, practicing, and delivering speeches to entertain, to introduce, to inform, to commemorate, and to persuade. Classes will consist of lectures, roundtable discussions, presentations, delivery critiques, and opportunities to enhance both one's written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills. Scholars will have opportunities to study, witness, analyze, and critique student as well as professional speeches. There will be working sessions for students to research and prepare outlines, and opportunities to have outlines critiqued by the professor during this draft process. Scholars will have opportunities to enhance their listening skills through the use of guest speakers, videos, listening activities, and the like. As a means of global and diverse learning experience, a highlight for this class is to travel outside of the classroom to the world-at-large and engage in a professional environment, experiencing the total communication process utilized and demonstrated with inclusive excellence.

SOCI 1040: Social Problems

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: Zoom
Professor: Dayron Deaton-Owens
CRN: 85328

This introductory honors course examines social problems in American society, including poverty, crime, social deviance, family issues, war, terrorism, health, education, and substance abuse. Students will explore the sociological perspectives on these topics and discuss potential solutions.

Smyrna Campus

BIOL 1110: General Biology I (With Service Learning)

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 12:30 - 1:50 & 2:00 - 3:20
Location: HSC 208
Professor: Stacy Dowd
CRN: 85449

Students will examine in detail the physical and chemical basis of life. Topics covered include: an introduction to science, basic chemistry, cell biology, metabolism, photosynthesis, cell respiration, genetics, DNA and more. Students are introduced to living organisms including prokaryotes, protists, and fungi. Laboratory activities will focus on developing proficiency in the use of laboratory equipment and enhancing the comprehension of lecture topics. Exercises will cover topics such as biochemistry, cell biology and metabolism, genetics, microbiology, protists, and fungi. Opportunities for open classroom discussion and laboratory extensions will be emphasized. This course fulfills the service learning requirement for honors completion.

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 9:30 - 10:50
Location: HSC 305
Professor James Stringfield
CRN: 85814
Days: MW
Time: 12:30 - 1:50
Location: MLA 124
Professor James Stringfield
CRN: 85767

Students will explore the impact of technology on our society. We will consider benefits and challenges presented by artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual reality, and other developing technology systems. Class discussion will also present specific examples that students will practice synthesizing into support for argumentative stances about the current state of these issues and the possible directions they may lead.

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 11:00 - 12:20
Location: HSC 305
Director Jenna Caviezel
CRN: 83784

The goal of this course is to start you on the path to becoming a competent and confident college writer. And as writer Siddhartha Mukherjee once said: “I think the cardinal rule of learning to write is learning to read first. I learned to write by learning to read.” In this class, we will read a variety of contemporary American short stories in recently published literary journals and respond to them in writing. Our writing will take many forms: analytical, argumentative, researched, and reflective. We will also have the opportunity to (virtually) meet and interact with at least one of the authors we will read this semester.

ENGL 1010: English Composition I

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 3:30 - 4:50
Location: HSC 305
Professor Tom Cruz
CRN: 85897

This section of English 1010 focuses on writing as an on-going and collaborative process. This class will rely on both lecture and workshop lessons that will see students producing work in class that leads to the major writing assignments. Reflection and revision also play a major role with students having the opportunity to revise work multiple times before the end of the semester. Students will also have tremendous freedom in selecting their topics for each major writing assignment.

ENGL 2130: Topics in American Literature

Days: Monday
Time: 11:00 - 12:20
Location: HSC 324
Professor: Andrea Green
CRN: 85899

In this honors course, students will read works of prose, poetry, and drama. By examining American literature through a foodways lens, we will explore how writers use food to express the ideas and values that have shaped our world. Students will learn how literary representations of food play a prominent role in defining our understanding of American culture.

HIST 2010: Early U.S. History

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 8:00 - 9:20
Location: HSC
Professor: Dr. Monica Butler
CRN: 85752

This course covers the history of North America from the Paleo-Indian era through post-US Civil War Reconstruction. Students will explore key differences between fact, opinion, and interpretation by analyzing primary and secondary sources of historical data. This course aims to build research and writing skills as we examine the lasting impact of revolutionary ideas and transatlantic industries.

HONS 1021: Horror Films

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 3:30 - 4:50
Location: HSC 332
Professor: Sam Reilly
CRN: 85135

Welcome to Horror Films class where we take classic horror monsters like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the Frankenstein monster and place them into modern society to see how those classic character archetypes best reflect societal trends as well as the human condition. As a class, the horror genre will give students a lens in which to explore different facets of the human psyche that are inherent to our existence.

MATH 1530: Introduction to Statistics

Days: Tuesday/Thursday
Time: 8:00 - 9:20
Location: HSC
Professor: Keith Terrill
CRN: 85873

Students will learn how to create descriptive statistics and inferential statistics from data. We will then use those statistics to gain insights into how a large population behaves. Unlike traditional introductory statistics courses, which rely on antiquated graphing calculators, we will instead work with computational software in pursuit of drawing conclusions from "big data," bootstrapping, and nonlinear regression. Students can look forward to learning how to explain complicated mathematical ideas in ways that nonexperts might understand, and they can also look forward to our day out with local small businesses in Smyrna.

PSYC 1030: Introduction to Psychology

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 9:30 - 10:50
Location: HSC
Professor: Kate Hayes
CRN: 81764

The honors section of this course will analyze human behavior and cognition using a biopsychosocial perspective. This course is certified as a high impact practice (HIP) course for the undergraduate research domain. Students will get to investigate a research question in depth with a chance to earn a HIP badge on their transcript at the end of the semester. Students can expect not only to learn about relevant psychological theories but also to apply the knowledge they learn to their own lives.

SOCI 1010: Introduction to Sociology

Days: Monday/Wednesday
Time: 2:00 - 3:20
Location: HSC 229
Professor: Liala Syler
CRN: 85775

Ready to challenge the way you see the world? Honors Introduction to Sociology goes beyond the basics, offering an in-depth, discussion-driven exploration of society, culture, and human behavior. Designed for motivated students, this course dives into major sociological theories, real-world case studies, and critical thinking exercises that will expand your perspective. The class culminates with an intriguing sociological experiment!

Through engaging debates and hands-on analysis, you’ll uncover how social structures shape our daily lives—while honing the skills needed for academic and professional success. If you’re looking for a dynamic, thought-provoking course that pushes you to think deeper, this is the class for you!

THEA 1030: Introduction to Theater

Days: Wednesday
Time: 11:00 - 12:20
Location: TBA
Professor: Dr. Phyllis Adams
CRN: 84568

In this three-hour course, honors scholars will be introduced to the historical perspective of theatre, with a specific emphasis over 100 years of theatre: changing stages from drama to dramatic realism. This will serve as the foundation for studying various genres, notable and classic plays, playwrights, venues, and artists. Scholars will be introduced to the mechanics of acting and characterization, artistic engagements and professions, stage space, rehearsal and audition techniques, and how to critically analyze and evaluate a play or a theatrical performance.

Various teaching techniques will be utilized: lectures, role playing, script analysis, roundtable discussions, watching videos, and discussing and unpacking characterization and performances. The hallmark for this class is the opportunity for the scholars to travel to New York City and experience Broadway, up-close and personal. The professor will provide the scholars an opportunity to engage in a master class in New York, to be taught by professional Broadway actors and artists (playwrights, directors, artistic designers, etc.). This global, cultural, and theatrical student engagement will serve as a capstone project for the scholars.

Graduate with Honors