Spring 2027 Advanced Honors Seminars

HON 205: Interdisciplinary Investigations

Section 1: Why We Read: Text and Context in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway

Section 1: 
1st 8 weeks of the semester; Mondays and Wednesdays; 9 - 9:50 am; Schroeder 215
Dr. Taylor Soja; History

Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway is one of the most important English-language novels published in the twentieth century. When it appeared in 1925, it changed the way writers and readers thought about what books could be. It played with time, perspective, narration, and story; it centered the everyday, mundane lives of women; it considered the effects of themes like love, war, and memory.

Our seminar will focus on this one book and the many ways we can approach reading it. On the one hand, we will spend time reading just to read. Together, we will practice ways to appreciate language, extend our attention spans, and to find joy in the act of reading fiction. On the other hand, we will think about Mrs. Dalloway in context, and consider what we can learn about Virginia Woolf and her world from this novel. Woolf was at the center of the famous Bloomsbury group of London intellectuals, but she was also an ardent feminist activist, the owner of a small publishing house, and a mentor and friend to some of the most famous British writers, artists, and thinkers of the twentieth century. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf crafts a world that reflected her own - we meet shell-shocked veterans of the First World War, grapple with what marriage and motherhood mean when old loves come to visit, and think about how wealth and the urban world shape our intimate lives. In other words, together we will read one book for its text and its context. We will think about what it means to read fiction, and what we can learn about history from a novel.

Students will need Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. A physical copy is preferred. This book is widely available at used bookstores (in person and online) as well as academic and public libraries. Any edition is fine.

Section 2: Tying the Knot or Untying Tradition? A Debate on Modern Marriage

1st 8 weeks of the semester; Wednesdays; 3 - 4:50 pm; Fairchild 301
Dr. Julie Campbell; Psychology

This seminar offers a comprehensive exploration of factors that influence views of modern marriage including family upbringing, culture, media, religion, identity, and education. We will examine research on the topic of marriage and divorce as we contemplate the institution of marriage and its history and future in our society. Key topics include the historical evolution of marital practices; the influence of culture and religion on marital norms; and the legal rights and responsibilities associated with marriage and cohabitation. The seminar is designed to foster critical thinking about the future of marriage as an institution and its enduring relevance in a rapidly changing world.

Students will need to purchase Without a Chair by David Schel, ISBN: 10-1978018185, publication date; Nov. 6, 2017.  

Section 3: Fundamentals of Sustainability

1st 8 weeks of the semester; Tuesdays and Thursdays; 9:35 - 10:25 am; Honors Program Building 113
Christine Bruckner; Office of Sustainability

This seminar provides a foundational understanding of sustainability, exploring its environmental, social, economic, and personal dimensions across multiple disciplines and industries. Students will learn about the principles of sustainable development through application of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will utilize a systems thinking approach to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainability.

Section 4: The Oppression and Criminalization of Women

1st 8 weeks of the semester; Tuesdays and Thursdays; 3 - 3:50 pm; Honors Program Building 113
Cristina Prestin; Honors Program

This seminar will explore the systemic oppression and criminalization of women. Topics will include historical and modern forced sterilization, reproductive autonomy, racial injustices, criminalized pregnancy, gender-based violence and criminalized survivors, sex workers, juvenile delinquency, personhood laws, limited access to healthcare and education, and abortion rights. Come prepared to educate yourself and strengthen your desire to make changes for the future.

HON 206: Innovation and Inquiry

Section 1: Artificial Intelligence and Oppressive Infrastructures

1st 8 weeks of the semester; Mondays and Wednesdays; 11 - 11:50 am; Schroeder 201
Dr. Nathan Kapoor; History

Often "new" systems and technologies feel unprecedented, but, often, they are reiterations of long-standing systems that are just given "new life." The dialogue around “AI” or Large Language Models that emerged during the last five years often ignores, or intentionally obfuscates, the ways that much of "AI" is not new. Historians of technology have argued for a long time that the ways we imagine “invention” are not only inaccurate but grant technologies an incredible degree of agency in ways that not only obscure the people responsible, but also make some systems seem inevitable. Whether it is the bicycle or a small-hydroelectric engine at a mine in Aotearoa New Zealand that I study in my own work, no technology was destined to appear or become consequential. We made them that way.

Instead of merely reacting to the emergence of LLMs as though they came from nowhere, we can reorient the discussion to include the long processes, peoples, and materials that manufactured these technologies. To best understand "AI" and what it means to use it (or not use it), "AI" must be situated within the history of urbanization, industrialization, and the internet. These processes, though they may seem benign and ubiquitous, are not. They represent a history of numerous technologies and systems. The developers of our current "AI" infrastructure needed those uneven systems for LLMs like ChatGPT or Anthropic to succeed. We will explore the history of those decisions, the decision makers, and those forced to adjust to the consequences. Students will learn to see and understand patterns that are not new, or even distinct, but typical, which is in fact even more disturbing.

Section 2: Technology & Social [In]Justice

1st 8 weeks of the semester; Mondays and Wednesdays; 1 - 1:50 pm; Schroeder 208
Dr. Christopher Brewer; Criminal Justice Sciences

Technological systems have drastically shaped our world, facilitating evolutions in communication, transportation, commerce, and governance. Though these technologies have enabled desirable conveniences and efficiencies, they have also contributed to substantial social and environmental harm. From algorithms and data systems to platforms and surveillance tools, we'll investigate how profit-driven tech systems have shaped behavior, how "neutral" code can carry racial and gendered biases, and how everyday digital tools are entangled with systems of power, surveillance, and control.

To effectuate a more fair and informed society, we must cultivate an awareness of the more "political" dimensions of technology so that we may design more equitable ones. This seminar is designed to build critical technological literacy: the ability not just to use technology, but to question it, analyze who it both serves and harms, and imagine more just alternatives.