HONRS 201 fulfills the UCC Humanities Tier 1 requirement. The course enables students to
1. Accurately observe and reconstruct major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World via texts, works of art, and other artifacts
By reconstructing major ideas, does that mean we will pull out the main concepts from older texts and analyze them in a new light? I just wanted to clear up that concept. --Susannah
Are we reconstructing our own perceptions about these things? I'm am not sure what you mean by this. - Emma B
I'm going along the same line as Susannah here about this "reconstructing" thing. Are we like recreating these concepts to be our own then? Are we like reinventing them? -Sam
Is this more reinventing our own thoughts/opinions of the ideas an philosophies of the ancient world, or is it more challenging and taking another look at the philosophies of the past that have been established by historians? -Rachel S.
This sounds somewhat like my AP language class in high school where we would read texts and analyze them with rhetorical devices. Except instead of reading more modern texts, it will be ancient works and we won't really be using rhetorical devices. I also like the question Susannah asked. -Jessica A
2. Explain how theory or context influences the use of artifacts in generating new information and insights
Will we be examining the possibilities that errors have been made based on prejudice of the historians who made the original discoveries of new information? -Josh
How are we ever sure we have accurate representations of history? We have previously discovered paradigm shifting artifacts which remolded history as we know it for thousands of years. How, and/or why, do we study a field which may change instantly with the discovery of new information? -Jacob
Uhm, I am slightly confused by the question. As in: using artifacts to uncover the past and help a theory along?
~Christine
3. Analyze and synthesize knowledge from multiple sources to formulate new understandings of the major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World
Uncovering parallels and similarities between works always helps me to better understand what I'm reading. With the literature in class, because they're ancient works, would you suggest trying to make connections with more modern works or works from the same era?- Malia
Going off what Malia said, I think I'd better understand if we, as a class, found parallels/similarities between the ancient ones we were looking at and more modern ones. -Taylor
I agree with Malia and Taylor. I think it'd be really cool if we could find parallels between more modern literature and ancient literature, and see just how similarly authors have written for the past thousands of years. -Sam
I want to know how/why Ancient Civilizations were captivated more by the metaphysical and cosmogonical aspects of the universe versus reason and when/why that took a shift towards more a more "grounded" focus of the world.- Devin :)
I definitely agree that it would be beneficial to compare and contrast the major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World with those of the modern world. -Jack
I also agree with Malia and Taylor. I would like to find out if the styles used in the ancient world are still present in works of literature today. - Sarah
It does sound like we are going to be reading a lot of ancient texts but analyzing them in a new/different way. That is very cool, and I am also interested in learning about the different styles of writing in the ancient world and finding out if they are still prevelent. -Jessica
Ooooooh this sounds awesome! I am definitely up for "drinking from a fire hydrant" as my planning professor put it lol. Being able to learn from a variety of sources really gets me excited because then I feel like you get more of the whole picture.
~Christine
4. Compare new information to existing knowledge of the Ancient World to identify consonance and dissonance
Identifying with information that we may have already learned in the past will help us to draw parallels in the subject matter now. Studying the course material will also help us as students to see differences of opinion between the historians who we studied previously and those that we are studying now. ~Adam
This and objective two work together to broaden and deepen our understanding. -Kate F.
I believe the texts/artifacts we examine and discuss in class will give us a new perspective on the history associated with the item or text. Is historical information an important focus when reading/analyzing? -Tory F.
I would love to compare current works of literature and old works of literature to draw parallels between them. I think this would deepen our understanding of ancient literature and discover alikes and differences. -Jessica
I'm confused. What does consonance and dissonance mean? What is true and what is false? What may be told in solid fact and what could be mere myth?
~Christine
5. Form knowledge both independently and collaboratively within a student centered, student driven, exploratory learning environment
Discussion based learning has always helped me develop my opinions more throughly. I read a text and develop my own opinions and thoughts, but when I sit in class and listen to others discuss the text from their point of view it always helps me to see themes and ideas that I did not notice myself. I find that this type of learning environment, where you collaborate with your peers, helps me learn so much more. Is that all an exploratory learning environment entails? - Emilie C
Will this be somewhat in the form of a Socratic Seminar, where the instructor guides the discussion in the direction he is hoping to go, but the students are ultimately the ones who come to the conclusion? - Danny D
I would have to agree with Emilie here in that the combination of forming ideas through both independent and group ways will be very helpful to me. This goal seems to bring out the point of the Honors classes, the professor will be talking with us, not at us. This will definitely be a much better way of learning. - Wesley W.
I am also wondering if this will be in the form of a Socratic Seminar. I did enjoy them in high school and it is much more fun when everyone participates, which I'm sure there will be less of a problem with that here than in high school. -Jessica
6. Communicate their knowledge through well-crafted discussions, writing, presentations, and projects
I definitely enjoy a good discussion. Also, I've found that putting the desks in a big circle during discussions and socratic seminars is helpful. It makes it easy to see everyone. -Daniela S.
I love writing about...well, writings. Literature is my favorite thing to discuss in papers, and I enjoy writing about themes and parallels between certain works of literature. I also love discussions too, and I also don't mind the Socratic Seminar idea. -Jessica
I think this is the best idea because it takes so much pressure off of the speaker when he/she knows she is just speaking to a couple of peers. And the projects and presentations are great because the best way to learn something, I think, Is to teach it. -Elisabeth
I really like the idea of using a circle as a discussion group idea! I've done that before and have found that when people are all facing everyone people generally get more into the discussion :)
~Christine
I love classes that have a lot of discussion in them. Talking or debating about a subject can be, in my opinion, a great way to learn, and is one of my personal favorites.
--Adriana H.
I love this because I have always found that when I have questions about something, one of my peers usually has the answer. -Lauren
Course Goals
HONRS 201 fulfills the UCC Humanities Tier 1 requirement. The course enables students to
1. Accurately observe and reconstruct major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World via texts, works of art, and other artifacts
By reconstructing major ideas, does that mean we will pull out the main concepts from older texts and analyze them in a new light? I just wanted to clear up that concept. --SusannahAre we reconstructing our own perceptions about these things? I'm am not sure what you mean by this. - Emma B
I'm going along the same line as Susannah here about this "reconstructing" thing. Are we like recreating these concepts to be our own then? Are we like reinventing them? -Sam
Is this more reinventing our own thoughts/opinions of the ideas an philosophies of the ancient world, or is it more challenging and taking another look at the philosophies of the past that have been established by historians? -Rachel S.
This sounds somewhat like my AP language class in high school where we would read texts and analyze them with rhetorical devices. Except instead of reading more modern texts, it will be ancient works and we won't really be using rhetorical devices. I also like the question Susannah asked. -Jessica A
2. Explain how theory or context influences the use of artifacts in generating new information and insights
Will we be examining the possibilities that errors have been made based on prejudice of the historians who made the original discoveries of new information? -JoshHow are we ever sure we have accurate representations of history? We have previously discovered paradigm shifting artifacts which remolded history as we know it for thousands of years. How, and/or why, do we study a field which may change instantly with the discovery of new information? -Jacob
Uhm, I am slightly confused by the question. As in: using artifacts to uncover the past and help a theory along?
~Christine
3. Analyze and synthesize knowledge from multiple sources to formulate new understandings of the major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World
Uncovering parallels and similarities between works always helps me to better understand what I'm reading. With the literature in class, because they're ancient works, would you suggest trying to make connections with more modern works or works from the same era?- MaliaGoing off what Malia said, I think I'd better understand if we, as a class, found parallels/similarities between the ancient ones we were looking at and more modern ones. -Taylor
I agree with Malia and Taylor. I think it'd be really cool if we could find parallels between more modern literature and ancient literature, and see just how similarly authors have written for the past thousands of years. -Sam
I want to know how/why Ancient Civilizations were captivated more by the metaphysical and cosmogonical aspects of the universe versus reason and when/why that took a shift towards more a more "grounded" focus of the world.- Devin :)
I definitely agree that it would be beneficial to compare and contrast the major ideas, philosophies, and modes of thought of the Ancient World with those of the modern world. -Jack
I also agree with Malia and Taylor. I would like to find out if the styles used in the ancient world are still present in works of literature today. - Sarah
It does sound like we are going to be reading a lot of ancient texts but analyzing them in a new/different way. That is very cool, and I am also interested in learning about the different styles of writing in the ancient world and finding out if they are still prevelent. -Jessica
Ooooooh this sounds awesome! I am definitely up for "drinking from a fire hydrant" as my planning professor put it lol. Being able to learn from a variety of sources really gets me excited because then I feel like you get more of the whole picture.
~Christine
4. Compare new information to existing knowledge of the Ancient World to identify consonance and dissonance
Identifying with information that we may have already learned in the past will help us to draw parallels in the subject matter now. Studying the course material will also help us as students to see differences of opinion between the historians who we studied previously and those that we are studying now. ~AdamThis and objective two work together to broaden and deepen our understanding. -Kate F.
I believe the texts/artifacts we examine and discuss in class will give us a new perspective on the history associated with the item or text. Is historical information an important focus when reading/analyzing? -Tory F.
I would love to compare current works of literature and old works of literature to draw parallels between them. I think this would deepen our understanding of ancient literature and discover alikes and differences. -Jessica
I'm confused. What does consonance and dissonance mean? What is true and what is false? What may be told in solid fact and what could be mere myth?
~Christine
5. Form knowledge both independently and collaboratively within a student centered, student driven, exploratory learning environment
Discussion based learning has always helped me develop my opinions more throughly. I read a text and develop my own opinions and thoughts, but when I sit in class and listen to others discuss the text from their point of view it always helps me to see themes and ideas that I did not notice myself. I find that this type of learning environment, where you collaborate with your peers, helps me learn so much more. Is that all an exploratory learning environment entails? - Emilie CWill this be somewhat in the form of a Socratic Seminar, where the instructor guides the discussion in the direction he is hoping to go, but the students are ultimately the ones who come to the conclusion? - Danny D
I would have to agree with Emilie here in that the combination of forming ideas through both independent and group ways will be very helpful to me. This goal seems to bring out the point of the Honors classes, the professor will be talking with us, not at us. This will definitely be a much better way of learning. - Wesley W.
I am also wondering if this will be in the form of a Socratic Seminar. I did enjoy them in high school and it is much more fun when everyone participates, which I'm sure there will be less of a problem with that here than in high school. -Jessica
6. Communicate their knowledge through well-crafted discussions, writing, presentations, and projects
I definitely enjoy a good discussion. Also, I've found that putting the desks in a big circle during discussions and socratic seminars is helpful. It makes it easy to see everyone. -Daniela S.I love writing about...well, writings. Literature is my favorite thing to discuss in papers, and I enjoy writing about themes and parallels between certain works of literature. I also love discussions too, and I also don't mind the Socratic Seminar idea. -Jessica
I think this is the best idea because it takes so much pressure off of the speaker when he/she knows she is just speaking to a couple of peers. And the projects and presentations are great because the best way to learn something, I think, Is to teach it. -Elisabeth
I really like the idea of using a circle as a discussion group idea! I've done that before and have found that when people are all facing everyone people generally get more into the discussion :)
~Christine
I love classes that have a lot of discussion in them. Talking or debating about a subject can be, in my opinion, a great way to learn, and is one of my personal favorites.
--Adriana H.
I love this because I have always found that when I have questions about something, one of my peers usually has the answer. -Lauren