Honors Courses Fall 2018
Fall 2018 Honors Classes!
All Honors Classes meet at the Des Plaines Campus in room 2735 unless otherwise noted.
All Honors Classes meet General Education Requirements, unless otherwise noted.
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Core Seminars: Honors Core Seminars are learning communities that integrate courses from different disciplines around a common theme. They always meet for at least 2 class periods, both professors are always present, and the assignments and material are integrated. Core Seminars are recognized to be high impact learning experiences and Oakton Community College is one of the few places where you can take one. You must take at least one Core Seminar to graduate or transfer with the Honors Scholars designation on your transcript. Remember: Even if you have taken ONE of the two courses offered in a Core Seminar, the work us usually different enough that it is possible to take that class again and receive credit for a different course—such that you do not double up on credit. JUST ASK! (Send an email to honors@oakton.edu.) This Fall (2018) we are offering TWO Core Seminars: |
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Just Stories: Constructing a Sustainable Life This Honors Core Seminar combines Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Fiction to engage students in core questions of social and environmental justice. Using classical and contemporary texts in philosophy as well as fiction and film, this course will explore how humanity’s entanglement with nature as home and resources has shaped and been shaped by our social, political, and economic communities. The stories we tell—whether as fiction or history or philosophy—offer an essential point of engagement of the important questions of environmental justice. This seminar is worth 6 credits. Both classes transfer as Gen. Ed. credit; and fulfill an essential requirement for the Honors Scholars Certificate; they also count towards completion of the Environmental Studies and Peace and Social Justice Certificates! Days/Times: This Core Seminar meets on MW from 9:30 to 12:15 Professors: Professors Marian Staats & Thomas Bowen Register for: EGL 127 0H1 (CRN: 31751) & HUM 127 0H1 (CRN: 31750) |
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Ethics and Global Society This class combines Introduction to Global Studies and Ethics and explores topical issues relating to questions of global justice. This seminar is worth 6 credits. Both classes transfer as Gen. Ed. credit; and fulfill an essential requirement for the Honors Scholars Certificate; they also count towards completion of the Environmental Studies and Peace and Social Justice Certificates! Days/Times: This Core Seminar meets on TR from 9:30 to 12:15 Professors Professors Hollace Graff & Richard Stacewicz Register for: SSC 201 0H1 (CRN: 31748) & PHL 106 0H1 (CRN: 31749)
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Single Section/Stand Alone Honors Courses: These classes are not part of a Core Seminar, but are Honors classes! You should take them! |
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EGL 101 0H1: Honors: Composition I Composition I is a core General Education Credit. It is required for completing an Associates degree and is required for most (if not all) Bachelors degrees. It always looks good on a transcript for transfer! Days/Times: This course meets on TR from 12:30 to 1:45 Professor: Professor Madhuri Deshmukh Register for: EGL 101 0H1 (CRN: 31388) |
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EGL 290 0H1: The Prophetic Vision of James Baldwin This faculty/student seminar will focus on the works of James Baldwin in the context of his time and ours. Taking the documentary I am Not Your Negro as our jumping off point, we will read his novels, essays, speeches and articles, with particular focus on drawing out his deep insights on what it means to be an American in a nation founded on white supremacy. We will read about the black prophetic tradition, queer theory, as well as works about the Civil Rights Movement to help us contextualize Baldwin's works. We will end the semester with a consideration of how Baldwin is being recuperated by a new generation in the Movement for Black Lives today. Days/Times: This course meets on R from 2:00 to 4:50 Professor: Professor Madhuri Deshmukh Register for: EGL 290 0H1 (CRN: 31754) |
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Co-listed Honors Sections: These classes are listed along with non-Honors sections of the same class. However, registering for these classes count as taking an Honors course (rather than an Honors Contract) when working towards the Honors Scholars Certificate. |
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EGL 135 0H2: Honors: Introduction to Native American Literature What is Native American Literature? Is it only the oral traditions passed down through generations? Can the writings of Native Americans that use European forms (like the novel, short-story, plays) also count as Native American Literature? Is there an easy separation between the political and spiritual writings of figures like Black Elk or Vine Deloria Jr and the novels of Momaday or the Broadway musicals of Lynn Riggs? These are important and essential questions to consider for anyone interested in modern culture (literary or otherwise), and this class is the best place to engage in that work! Days/Times This course meets on TR from 11:00 - 12:15 Room 2806 Professor Professor Marian Staats Register for: EGL 135 0H2 CRN: 31931 |
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PHL 204 0H1: Honors Environmental Ethics Climate change. Rising sea levels. Species extinctions. Toxic pollutions. Chemical spills. Lead in our drinking water. Contemporary headlines are often filled with the human and planetary costs of modern industrial society. Can modern civilization continue? Are there solutions for environmental problems? What are our moral and ethical responsibilities to the environment? Whose responsibility is it? This fall, this course will focus specifically on the interlocking processes of production, consumption, and waste. Understanding and tracing these interlocking processes in relation to some of our basic commodities (cell phones, clothes, food) enables a perspective that can potentially tie together orientations of environmentalism and environmental justice. Days/Times This course meets TR 9:30 - 10:45 Room 2609 Professor: Professor Thomas Bowen Register for: PHL 204 0H1 CRN: 31390 |
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EGL 117 0H1: Introduction to Poetry You can not, this is in all seriousness, really appreciate life and the world around you without poetry. Our English word comes ultimately from the Ancient Greek word: poesis (ποίησις) which means, among other things: creation. What better way to study the processes of creation than by reading poetry? Days/Times This course meets MW 11:00 - 12:15 Professor: Professor Madhuri Deshmukh Register for: EGL 117 0H1 CRN: 31932 |
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Explore International Relations in Two Fall 2018 Courses Instructor: George Lungu PSC 202 001 [CRN 31056], Co-listed with PSC 202 0H1 [CRN 31417] 3 credit hours PSC 202 002 [CRN 31350], Co-listed with PSC 202 0H2 [CRN 31418] 3 credit hours "May you live in an interesting age!" is a reputedly Chinese proverb and curse that seems to capture the essence of the world today. This course is designed to provide students with a working understanding of the complexities of international politics, and enable them to develop the ability to critically evaluate and interpret such contemporary international events and processes as war, intervention, poverty, economic competition and development, and the environment. These courses fulfill the IAI General Education, Transfer and Global Studies Requirements. |
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Explore the Islamic Middle East In Two Fall 2018 Courses! Instructor: George Lungu History of the Islamic Middle East from the 7th Century to 1918 – 16 weeks course History of the Islamic Middle East in Modern Times – 16 weeks course What explains the emergence of ISIL (ISIS, IS) and Al Qaeda? Why are large areas of the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen,) engulfed in conflict today? How could a durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians be achieved? Why has the “Arab Spring” largely failed? Investigate the historical roots of events taking place in today’s Middle East through two courses that trace the development of this ever-changing region from the birth of Islam to contemporary times. Explore the major themes of Islamic Middle Eastern history such as the rapid rise of Islam, the Sunni-Shia divide, the evolution of the “gunpowder-empires,” the impact of Islamism, nationalism, and colonialism, as well as the influence of modernity on the region. These courses fulfill the IAI General Education, Transfer and Global Studies Requirements. |
