HON 201 & HON 301 required courses available starting the week of 6/14.
These one-credit hour highly interactive seminars meet once per week for 8 weeks. Grading is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
HON 201 Sincerity in the City (new course) – SYNCH – CRN 23273
Kathryn Burns-Howard, Thursdays 10:45am-12:25pm
In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, geographical and cultural boundaries were shifting. A nation of villagers was becoming a nation of migrants who settled in rapidly-expanding cities. Urban spaces offered economic advancement and self-reinvention for some, while others struggled to maintain stability despite the chaos surrounding them. City dwellers in this era were acutely aware of the shift from knowing everyone around them (at least within a few degrees of separation) to feeling besieged by a multitude of strangers. The ingenuity of self-made men and women occasionally turned into confidence schemes and deception. We will discuss studies of social and cultural dynamics as well as popular narratives by self-made men and women. These include stories of escaped slave William Wells Brown; newspaper satirist Fanny Fern; and infamous entertainer P.T. Barnum. (Course is online synchronous, but if all students desire it, we might meet in person on a sunny day.) Email kbh@uic.edu with questions or to request the draft syllabus.
HON 201 City at a Crossroads: Local, National & Global Politics in Chicago, 1968 – SYNCH – CRN 23317
David Greenstein, Wednesdays 10:00am – 11:40am,
In 1968, Chicago was being reshaped by migration from the American South, changing immigrant communities, increasing suburbanization, and downtown redevelopment that led to contested patterns of housing, urban space, and local politics. Social movements including the Black Freedom Movement and anti-war activism made Chicago center stage in challenging segregation, economic inequality, Cold War foreign policy, forms of social justice protest, and police tactics. A national political convention put Chicago at the epicenter of a controversial battle for the presidency and heated discussions about the future of the country and its role in the world. This seminar will put students on the front lines of these issues through close work with archival materials. Class members will ask and answer their own questions about local/national/global connections, race and urban space, social movements, and political campaigns using the records held in the Richard J. Daley Collection in UIC’s Special Collections and University Archives. Discussions and activities will introduce class members with varied disciplinary interests to working with archival records, interpreting primary documents, developing research questions that can be addressed with available materials, and explaining the results of their research. In addition to discussing issues that still face Chicago and the nation, students will gain skills in critical thinking, interpreting evidence, and producing effective arguments.
HON 301 – Foundations for the Future SYNCH
CRN 23279, Michael Slager, Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:40pm
CRN 23274, Michael Slager, Mondays 2:00 – 3:40pm
Students should take this seminar before their final year with the Honors College. Divided into four major units—research and other forms of creative scholarship, awards, career/internship/graduate school, and long-term future goals—this course will provide specific information about the next steps of your academic and professional career. In research and other forms of creative scholarship, we will examine different research methods, consider the selection, execution, and value of a Capstone project, and learn how to read and present a journal article. In examining awards, we will show you how to locate and apply for academic and travel awards, understand their professional and personal value and prepare resumes and personal statements for scholarship applications. The career/internship/graduate school section will aid you in preparing for life after graduation: gap year possibilities, graduate school and career decision making, and networking and mentoring strategies. The last unit—long-term future goals—will promote broad thinking concerning civic engagement and life-long learning as well as deliver specific information on practical post-grad concerns.
Please note:
- Check what tuition and fees apply in your specific situation before you making a decision about registering for any course.
- The above HON 201 and 301 courses are offered in Online Synchronous format: an online course in which students use video conferencing technologies (such as Blackboard Collaborate, Zoom etc.) to join class at set meeting times each week. Blackboard may be used for students to participate in online learning activities.
- If you are already registering for other courses, a summer Honors Activity or Capstone must register for either HON 222 or HON 322.
HON 222 - Honors Activity – 0 hours
CRN: 14178
HON 322 - Honors Capstone Activity – 0 hours
CRN: 18559
