University Honors Program

Photo of students

Courses

»View Course Schedule

 

HONR 111 Perspectives and Understanding – Professor David Craig
3 cr. Explores classic and contemporary works of literature, art, and philosophy with an emphasis on cultural and historical contexts in order to develop critical and multi-disciplinary analytical skills. For fall 2015, the course will explore such interrelated issues as: 1) learning how to live in this world, 2) the frequent conflict between individual longings and societal values, and 3) the search for meaning and value in personal life.

 

COMX 111-002 HON Introduction to Public Speaking – Professor Melinda Tilton
3 cr. Develops speaking abilities; students acquire an understanding of basic rhetorical theory and its application in a variety of speech situations. Listening, speaking and critiquing abilities are emphasized. This course addresses the following topics: speech preparation and delivery, forming and fielding questions, audience analysis, listening skills, critiquing and speaker anxiety.

 

EDU 105-001 HON Education and Democracy – Professor James Strecker
3 cr. Explores what it means to be an educated person in a democratic society. Although schooling is generally the primary formal means whereby societies educate citizens, this course focuses on education broadly to examine a) the ways people create and share knowledge, b) society’s responsibilities to provide the rich and varied opportunities needed by all citizens who would be educated, c) the consequences of disenfranchising anyone from those opportunities, and d) the critical link between democratic society and education.

 

ARTZ 105-002 Visual Language/Drawing – Professor Jodi Lightner
3 cr. Introduces the beginning student to the basic fundamentals of drawing including line, form, value, composition, and linear perspective. Instruction will include drawing of various subjects and many include the nude figure.

 

WRIT 101-005 HON College Writing I – Professor Bernard Quetchenbach
3 cr. Provides instruction in writing competencies expected of college students. Pays special attention to writing as a problem-solving process, patterns of organization in personal and informative writing, and logical thinking style in argumentative/persuasive writing.

 

HONR 294-002 Historian as Detective – Professor Emily Arendt
3 cr. Examines the basic research methods of History. Includes basic research writing and information gathering skills appropriate to History. Students will be instructed in the use of the Turbian/Chicago Manual of Style system of documentation. The course also prepares students to delve more deeply into the discipline of History by equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in more advanced study through upper division courses in the History program.

 

HONR 294/494-003 Finding Your Way into Fiction – Professor Tami Haaland and Guest Writer Craig Lancaster
3 cr. Uses works from across the spectrum of contemporary fiction—from flash (Meg Pokrass) to short stories (Alyson Hagy) to humor (Steve Hely) to novels that blend literary values and genre elements (Montana authors Gwen Florio and Craig Lancaster) to examine fiction in terms of structure, voice, plotting, scenes and resolutions. Readings and discussions will look at literary sensibilities, the craft of writing, and how readers consume stories. Assignments will include literacy narratives, reflective essays, and evaluations of texts. A final project will be either a short story of 5,000-plus words or the beginnings of a novel.

 

HONR 294/494-005 The Environmental Vision – Professor Bernard Quetchenbach
3 cr. Examines how we understand and represent the relationship between “self” and “environment” through American art, writing, and film. The course begins with a consideration of how visual culture in early American life shaped attitudes toward geography and landscape that persist in various forms today. After a brief detour through the history of oil in America, we will turn our attention to 20th century writers who challenge how we think about “nature” and our place on the earth.

 

HONR 294/494-006 The Body in Contemporary Culture – Professor Leanne Gilbertson
3 cr. Surveys visual representations of the body since the 1990s and explores what those representations suggest about evolving cultural values. Topics such as the grotesque and the abject, nature and technology, and identity politics will be investigated through a series of case studies which combine theory and artistic and cultural performances. The artworks of Yoko Ono, Joan Jonas, Guillermo Gómez Peña, Huang Yong Ping, Yinka Shonibare, and Jimmie Durham, among others will be considered.

 

LANG 292-001 Language, Culture and Identity – Elena Petroska
3 cr. This course is an exploration into the interaction of language, culture and identity. We will explore how language shapes and is shaped by identity, and how individual’s identity is constituted through a variety of different factors, including the social, cultural and ethnic contexts, and issues such as bi- or multilingualism. There will be discussion on how individuals and social groups distinguish themselves on the basis of language in the different regions in the world and the USA.

 

HONR 290/490 Internships (1-3 credits)
Provides an opportunity for students to engage in field experience not offered in other courses. Contains a research component to be developed in conjunction with supervising faculty member.

 

HONR 298/498 Independent Study (1-3 credits)
Provides an opportunity to receive credit for individualized or special experimental learning opportunities (including a senior thesis) at an upper-division level and to count up to 3 credits towards the University Honors Program’s 21-credit requirement for Honors Scholar designation.

 

HONR 499 Hunger and Food Security – Professor Virginia Mermel
3cr. Builds on the food insecurity work completed by students who took this course in prior years. Students will explore and implement strategies to improve the emergency food distribution system, reduce food waste, and build a food safety-net that will increase food availability to low-income people in the short-term as well as build an emergency food reserve that will benefit all Billings area residents in the long-term.

 

Previous Honors Course Schedules