Prior Course Offerings

Fall 2024

BHP 206 Politics and Literary Form    

Professors Frank Rusciano (Politics) and Seiwoong Oh (English)
MW 2:50 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS-Social or Lit | EDU-Lit | NBCB-Humanities or Liberal Arts

Students will analyze literary texts in the context of selected political periods and ideologies, going beyond literary content to understand how language, genre, and structure mirror, otherwise represent, or criticize the political order within which the author writes.

BHP 212 Children and the Media    

Professors Cara Demant (Psychology) and Aaron Moore (Communications)
TTH 1:10 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.  
Substitutions: CAS- Social | EDU- Social Science or General Studies | NBCB- Social Science or Liberal Arts

This course examines how children and adolescents use and understand media and analyzes the role of media in their social and cognitive development. After studying the socializing presence of the media, students will analyze how exposure to television programs, movies, magazines and the Internet shapes children’s socio-emotional development and their understanding of cultural norms. This course will also explore the effects that media use has on children’s health, aggressiveness, and academic performance.

BHP 305 Representations of Disability 

Professors Laurel Harris (English) and Lauren Delisio (Education)
MW 1:10 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS-Lit | EDU-Lit | NBCB-Humanities or Liberal Arts    

This course explores how literature, film, television, and other media (i.e., podcasts, blogs, etc.) portray disability in ways that contribute to –or challenge– clinical concepts. This course particularly attends to the representation of the education of students with disabilities, and to how literary and cultural texts aim to educate their readers and viewers about disability.

BHP 318 Bible as Literature and Philosophy    

Professors Vanita Neelakanta (English) and Daniel Garro (Philosophy) 
Wednesdays 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.   
Substitutions: CAS-Lit or Philosophy | EDU-Lit | NBCB-Humanities or Liberal Arts    

Discusses selections from the Old and New Testaments alongside philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the existentialists. Stories from the Old Testament such as the Fall of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the sacrifice of Isaac, the exile of the Israelites and their exodus from Egypt, the genesis of Satan, the trials of Job as well as New Testament passages on the miracles, the trial and execution of Jesus, the parables, and the foundation of the early church will be read alongside philosophical writings that engage with these texts.

Spring 2023

BHP 217 (270): Music & Literature

Professors Kelly Ross (English) and Justin Burton (Popular Music Culture)
L period: Tuesday and Thursday 1:10-2:40 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS and CEHS: Literature OR Fine Arts, CBA: Humanities Elective OR Liberal Arts Elective

Developing music literacy can help us become better readers, and, on the other hand, literary methodologies can help us become better listeners. In this class, we will study music and literary terminology in order to recognize and analyze patterns and forms in both sonic and linguistic artworks. We will investigate these works in their social and political context in order to gain an understanding of the art informed by interdisciplinary practice.

BHP 281: The Rhetoric of Science

Professors Danielle Jacobs Duda (Chemistry) and Tim McGee (Rhetoric/ English)
Wednesday evenings, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS, CEHS, and CBA: Social Perspectives/ Social Science (if required for your program) OR Natural Science (without a lab for CEHS)

This course will examine the rhetoric of science in an effort to see how science has used language and various text types to answer questions, resolve disputes, and legitimize the knowledge contained within its disciplinary borders, and conversely how language and communication have guided scientific discovery throughout history. Reading texts from ancient and contemporary scientists, philosophers, historians, and literary authors, we will identify the key linguistic and rhetorical traits employed within the discourse communities of modern science, and consider the consequences of—and the scientific developments enabled by—such language and textual practices. These concepts will be emphasized and elucidated vis-à-vis some of the most significant scientific and medical discoveries impacting the modern world.

BHP 307: Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity

Professors Sarah Trocchio (Sociology) and Laurel Harris (English)
G period: Monday and Wednesday, 1:10-2:40 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS: Fine Arts OR Philosophy, CEHS: Fine Arts, CBA: Liberal Arts Elective

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? In what ways can computers “think”? How is their “thinking” similar to and different from that of humans? Through readings, lectures, discussions, and projects, students will investigate evidence of intelligence and creativity in various disciplines including music composition, art, and human and non-human systems. We will examine historic predictions for AI and ponder likely developments in the twenty-first century. No prior experience with computers or music is required.

BHP 333: Music and Social Justice

Professors Joanna Kubik (Sociology) and Vinroy Brown (Sacred Music)
Tuesday evenings, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Substitutions: CAS and CEHS: Fine Arts, CBA: Liberal Arts Elective

From Folk to Rock & Roll, music plays a vital role in shaping social justice on a global scale. The Music & Social Justice course is designed for students interested in learning how music can engage and advocate for those on the margins of society. Music can provoke and impact social justice movements, which address moral and social problems and allow society to be more equitable, responsive, and inclusive. In other ways, music can also be a response to the current climate, allowing those impacted by social justice movements to express how they think and feel. This course will examine different periods in history, on both a U.S. and global scale, and the impact of music on social movements, specifically including its influence on African Americans in the US, feminism, and global social issues.

BHP 351 (271): Genocide, Human Rights, and Literature

Professors Seiwoong Oh (English) and Barbara Franz (Political Science)
F period: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:45-11:15 a.m.
Substitutions: CAS and CEHS: Literature OR Social Perspectives/ Social Science (if required for your program) OR Global Perspectives, CBA: Humanities Elective OR Social Science OR Global Perspectives

This course is designed to introduce students to one of the most troublesome and unnerving aspects of the modern world: the systematic cleansing and killing of populations defined by ethnicity, nationality, or race. Genocides are not the only form of political killings and are certainly not the only form assumed by violations of human rights. They have existed in some fashion since the beginning of recorded history. But in the modern world, genocides have become more systematic, more extensive, and more deadly.  In response to these and other forms of crimes against humanity, new human rights standards have arisen and the effort to define and prosecute genocides is now a major aspect of international law. Literary writers and cinematic producers and have also begun to examine the causes and effects of genocides in their work. Genocide is a contested term, and we will explore its various meanings. The course will concentrate on genocides and crimes against humanity in the 20th century. We will discuss the meaning of key terms like human rights, humanitarianism, and genocide, and investigate particular cases of mass atrocities, starting with the Holocaust and a number of historic cases of genocide, e.g., the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and focus on contemporary atrocities in Rwanda, ex-Yugoslavia, and Darfur. We will also explore the historical process of establishing human rights standards, and examine critically some of the recent efforts at redress, justice, and memory through criminal tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions, and restitution.

Fall 2022

PSY 102: Explorations in Psychology (Honors)

PSY 102: Explorations in Psychology (Honors)
Professor Cara DiYanni (Psychology)
D period: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11:30-12:30 p.m.
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social Perspectives…maybe Natural Science for majors that allow PSY 100 to count for Natural Science (this course is a direct substitute for PSY 100)
NOTE: 15 seats will be reserved for incoming freshmen; 5 seats are open to upperclassmen; Upperclassmen beyond these 5 who wish to take the course will be put on a waitlist and should contact Dr. DiYanni explaining their need/ desire for the course ([email protected]).

The course introduces the history of psychology and demonstrates how the discipline is a science. It provides students with experience exploring the mind, behavior, and the relationship between the two, from multiple perspectives, including biological, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, humanistic, social, and abnormal. It tackles questions including (but not limited to) how different areas of the brain are involved in behavior and are affected by injury, how humans sense and perceive the world, how states of consciousness differ from one another, how humans learn, remember, communicate, and develop, what motivates humans to behave in particular ways, how social groups affect behavior and decision-making, and what happens when behavior and emotions deviate from what is “typical.”

BHP 201: Age of Shakespeare: A Study in Cultural History 

Professors Frank Rusciano (Political Science) and Seiwoong Oh (English)
I period: Monday and Wednesday, 2:50-4:20 p.m.
Under review for the following substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Literature/ Humanities core/ elective 

We will study the cultural history of Elizabethan and Jacobean England and its visual and literary arts. More specifically, the course will investigate the peculiarly English synthesis of the old and new, Medieval and Renaissance, Continental and English in the arts and ideas of the Age of Shakespeare. To this end, we will read several plays and poems by Shakespeare, paying attention to his use of language and to the historical, political, religious and other cultural issues related to the plays. We will also read various historical documents and artifacts to help us discuss topics such as cultural criticism, aesthetics, canon formation and analytical models. 

BHP 205 (may be listed as BHP 271 for a time): Under the Influence: Drugs, Deviance, and Culture

Professors Sarah Trocchio (Sociology) and Laurel Harris (English)
N period: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:50-4:20 p.m. 
Under review for the following substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Literature/ Humanities core/ elective

This course explores the powerful influence the varied substances we call drugs have had on our institutions and on our culture. Drawing from the social sciences and the study of literature and media, we ask how drug policies and practices within institutions and social systems intersect with representations of drugs and drug use in literature and other forms of art and media. 

BHP 240: Chemistry and Conflict 

Professors Bryan Spiegelberg (Chemistry) and Sara Tridenti (History of Science)
RE period: Thursday, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Substitutions: Natural Science (Science without a lab for CEHS students)

Chemistry and other sciences have radically changed the conduct of war and mechanisms of human conflict. Using case studies from the Chemical Revolution to present day, this course examines how knowledge of matter altered warfare – in terms of its scale, its boundaries, and its meaning. To this end, we study Antoine Lavoisier’s work with gunpowder in the 18th century alongside a more famous case of wartime chemistry: Fritz Haber’s development of chemical weapons during World War I. We also study the Manhattan Project, which produced the world’s first atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. Secondly, this course investigates the many legacies of these new weapons. We follow the development of the military-industrial complex, the use of war chemicals as pesticides, and the deployment of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Finally, we examine more recent uses of chemical weapons, including in Japan, Iraq, and Syria. Throughout the course, students will bring knowledge of chemistry to bear on these historical episodes. They will demonstrate how knowledge of key chemical principles – such as atomic structure, bonding, and reactivity – help to contextualize the development of modern war.

BHP 261: The Online Explosion

Professor Mark Promislo (Business) and Staff (TBA, but with Communication/ journalism background)
K period: Monday and Wednesday, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives 

Compared to the world just one generation ago when business people composed memos on typewriters and communicated with fax machines, the online explosion has brought forward a flood of new communication tools and social media platforms. It has created new types of businesses that would have been unimaginable just a short time ago and has revolutionized the way people communicate, socialize, and work. The explosion of the web has also led to work environments in which employees are always “connected,” and has raised concerns about personal privacy.  We will guide students through a critical evaluation of these radical changes, with an eye on their benefits as well as potential negative consequences.

Spring 2022

BHP 206: Politics and Literary Form

Professors Frank Rusciano (Political Science) and Seiwoong Oh (English)
K period: Monday and Wednesday, 4:30-6:00 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Literature/ Humanities core/ elective

Investigates the relationships between political life and literary form. Students will analyze literary texts in the context of selected political periods and ideologies, going beyond literary content to understand how language, genre, and structure mirror, otherwise represent, or criticize the political order within which the author writes. The course will address such questions as why certain cultures choose certain literary forms to express political messages, how the form affects the message’s expression and the specific messages that can be communicated, and how the politics of the time affects the form chosen for expression. Literary readings will be chosen from a variety of cultures and historical periods, with accompanying readings that reflect the time and place when the work was created.

BHP 253: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Play

Professors Cara DiYanni (Demant) (Psychology) and Yi-Ju Cheng (Graduate Education)
G period (LATE START): Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:10-2:40 p.m. BEGINNING AFTER SPRING BREAK
Japan trip required as part of this course (May 16-26, registration through the Office of International Education required by November 15)
Permission of Instructor ONLY
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Global/ cultural perspectives

This course examines how children from two different countries – the United States and Japan – play, and analyzes the influences of factors such as parents, environment, school, and culture. If travel is permitted, students will directly observe children at play in several different locations in each country – including (but not limited to) playgrounds, schools, play therapist’s offices, museums, indoor play places, zoos, and theme parks. Interviews with parents, teachers, therapists, and potentially children themselves will help to clarify how play is viewed and practiced in each culture. Readings on the evolution of play, the benefits of play, the practical applications of play (e.g., in education and in therapy), and cultural differences in play will be used to support and help to inform the data students will collect through the interviews and observations.

BHP 259: The Environment and Politics: A Conflict of Interest

Professors Daniel Druckenbrod (Environmental Science) and Michael Brogan (Political Science)
L period: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:10-2:40 p.m.
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Natural Science (Science without a lab for CEHS students)

Examines critical environmental issues such as global warming; food, water and energy resources; population trends; and global industrialization. Topics for context will include the origin of the elements, the origin of solar systems, and the origin of life as well as the basic principles of the current biotechnical revolution. Scientific understanding will be combined with knowledge about strategies for raising community awareness in order to (re)formulate public policy. In teams, students will be asked to define the problems; research available and prospective solutions; identify the technical, social, political, and economic constraints; and finally propose a workable strategy for making progress toward solutions.

BHP 360: Moral Psychology

Professors Mack Costello (Psychology) and Marius Pascale (Philosophy)
WE period: Wednesday night, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Substitutions: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Philosophical perspectives/ elective

This course will cover moral philosophy and moral psychology and where they intersect. What are moral development and moral injury? What does our taste in aesthetics say about our morality? Topics covered will include character, responsibility, naturalism and psychological science, ethics, and aesthetics are covered.

Fall 2021

COM 105 Honors: Communication, Culture, and Media

Professor Aaron J. Moore (COM)
I period: Mon/ Wed 2:50-4:20 p.m.
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CEHS/ CBA: Social Perspectives/ Social Science

This seminar will introduce students to the major questions and issues confronting the contemporary mass media and their impact on society. The course will examine the historical and philosophical roots of those questions and issues while also exploring the work of major thinkers on those topics. The course will emphasize the use of primary sources to which students will respond in writing and class discussion.

BHP 203 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Context: George Orwell’s Enduring Legacy

Professors Pamela Brown (Communication and Journalism) and Arlene Wilner (English)
N period: Tuesday and Thursday 2:50-4:20 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Social perspectives/ Social science OR Literature/ Humanities core. CBA: Social science OR Humanities OR Global/ Cultural Perspective elective

“Big Brother is watching you.” Contemporary discussions of politics, journalism, and social issues regularly reflect the influence of George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The term “Orwellian” routinely appears in contemporary speech and writings. Terms such as Newspeak, Thought Police, Doublethink, and Memory Hole have become a perennial lexicon of political discussion. Conceived against the ominous backgrounds of the twentieth-century World Wars, Orwell’s provocative writing--crowned by his unnerving dystopian projection--reflects the turbulent world experienced by this courageous and prescient thinker from the waning of British colonialism to the rise of the Cold War. To contextualize the composition and importance of his final haunting novel, this course will explore a wide range of Orwell’s writings, the historical and cultural contexts that shaped him, and the use of his work and ideas by his contemporaries and by subsequent artists, critics, and social analysts.

BHP 251: Idea to Innovation

Professors Bryan Spiegelberg (Chemistry) and Michael Saraceno (Business)
TE period: Tuesday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA: Scientific Perspectives/ Natural Science core or elective

The pharmaceutical industry comprises an incredibly diverse team of thinkers, including accountants and biochemists, who are all on a quest to improve human health. The development of medical treatments relies on pivotal insights from the scientific laboratory, but turning these ideas into practical medical innovations requires the solving of many problems outside of the scientific field. Through the examination of historical and contemporary case studies, this course will investigate the nature of science as it is practiced in the real world. How are problems identified and ideas generated and refined? What political and sociological challenges does the industry encounter? Who pays for all of this? By exploring growth in the pharmaceutical industry from the inside, students in this class will gain a deeper understanding of both science and business and how these disciplines interact in order to extend and enhance human life.

BHP 290 Shakespeare: From Page to Stage and Screen

Professors Vanita Neelakanta (English) and Trenton Blanton (Theater and Dance)
L period: Tuesday and Thursday 1:10-2:40 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA: Literature/ Humanities or Fine Arts core/ elective; CBA: Humanities elective

This course aims to explore in depth the translation of Shakespeare’s texts into performance by combining theatre history, cinematic adaptation, and textual analysis with a strong emphasis on practical, creative, and collaborative work. We will study 5 plays over the course of the semester and consider each as a performance piece as well as a literary artifact. Each play will be examined from multiple perspectives that are theatrical/ performative/ cinematic (staging, costume, sets, dramaturgy, camera, editing) as well as literary (historicist, psychoanalytic, gender and sexuality focused, Marxist, eco-critical, post-colonial), thereby bridging the artificial divide between Shakespeare as literature and Shakespeare as performance.

BHP 301: The Law and Racial Progress

Professors Sarah Trocchio (SOC) and Matthew Stieglitz (Associate Provost)
G period: Mon/ Wed 1:10-2:40 p.m.
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CEHS/ CBA: Social Perspectives/ Social Science

This course is designed to enhance knowledge of the ways in which racial progress intersects with the law. Different areas of the law are emphasized, as well as the criminal justice system, with an emphasis on understanding the role and behavior of different stakeholders and participants in these areas. Ethical issues are discussed throughout the semester in order to sensitize the students to the ethical considerations integral to bringing legal disputes to closure. The course will focus on three primary fields to illustrate the complicated relationship between the law and racial progress: 1) The Workplace, 2) The Police, and 3) Higher Education.

Spring 2021

BHP 212: Children and the Media

Professors Cara DiYanni (PSY) and AJ Moore (COM)
L period: Tues/ Thurs 1:10-2:40, Heavy hybrid, blend of synchronous and asynchronous components; accommodations can be made for students who need to take this class remotely
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA/ CEHS: Social Science

This course examines how children and adolescents use and understand media and analyzes the role of media in their social and cognitive development. After studying the socializing presence of the media, students will analyze how exposure to television programs, movies, magazines and the Internet shapes children’s socio-emotional development and their understanding of cultural norms. This course will also explore the effects that media use has on children’s health, aggressiveness, and academic performance.

BHP 222: Existentialism in Literature

Professors Vanita Neelakanta (ENG) and Daniel Garro (PHL)
K period: Mon/ Wed 4:30-6:00 p.m., remote and synchronous
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA: Literature OR Philosophy core
CEHS: Literature elective
CBA: Humanities elective

This course introduces students to Existentialism as a 20th-century movement with roots going back to the 19th century and as a philosophy that has special relevance and importance for understanding today’s world. Reading and discussion are based on topics of special concern to Existentialist philosophers: lying and the nature of reality, faith and reason, revaluation of values, and the meaninglessness of life. Readings will comprise a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres. Authors may include Dostoevsky, Unamuno, Camus, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Brecht, Kafka, Pirandello, Weil, and Beckett.

BHP 227: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Age of Empire

Professors Erica Ryan (HIS) and Terra Joseph (ENG)
G period: Mon/ Wed 1:10-2:40 p.m., remote and synchronous
Substitutions: LAS: Literature core and Global Perspectives
SFPA and CEHS: Literature elective
CBA: Humanities elective and Global perspectives
HIS Majors/ minors or GSS minors: Can count toward your major/ minor requirements

This course examines the history and literature of British and American imperialism from 1890 to the present, focusing on the intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality. The course will cover themes of national identity, representations of colonized peoples, and imperialism as a cultural project. The history of imperialism as understood through literary and cultural analyses will focus on the functioning of gender, sexuality, and race in the ideologies and strategies of imperialism and anti-imperialism and in the psychological impact of colonial rule. Overall, we will consider how such analyses can inform a(re)defining of the colonial project.

BHP 340: Nature and Nurture

Professors Robert Isenhower (PSY) and Julie Drawbridge (BIO)
D period: Mon/ Wed/ Fri 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., light hybrid, blend of synchronous and asynchronous components
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CEHS/ CBA: Social Science OR Natural Science (without a lab for CEHS)

This course explores questions of innate and environmental influences on who we are. The history of the false Nature v Nurture debate as well as our current understanding of how innate and environmental factors influence human characteristics are explored via discussion of current scholarly articles from the social and life sciences.

Fall 2020

HIS 150 Honors: World History to 1500

Professor Anne Osborne (HIS)
N period: Tues/ Thurs 2:50-4:20, Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA/ CEHS: HIS 150 (Historical Perspective)

This course traces both regional histories and global interactions, covering the development of societies and states in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe from prehistoric times until about 1500. It explores major themes including the interaction of human societies with their environment, the major world religions, the development of different political and social structures, isolation and globalization, and issues related to identity, the family and gender.  Students will participate in several debates in which they use primary sources and contemporary scholarship to analyze the past to shed light on key issues in the present. 

BHP 281: The Rhetoric of Science

Professors Danielle Jacobs (Chemistry) and Tim McGee (English)
WEO period: Wednesday, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA: Social Science OR Natural Science core; CEHS: Social Science elective OR Science (without lab)

This course will examine the rhetoric of science in an effort to see how science has used language and various text types to answer questions, resolve disputes, and legitimize the knowledge contained within its disciplinary borders, and conversely how language and communication have guided scientific discovery throughout history.  Reading texts from ancient and contemporary scientists, philosophers, historians, and literary authors, we will identify the key linguistic and rhetorical traits employed within the discourse communities of modern science, and consider consequences of—and the scientific developments enabled by—such language and textual practices. These concepts will be emphasized and elucidated vis-à-vis some of the most significant scientific and medical discoveries impacting the modern world. 

BHP 302: Mirrors of the Mind

Professors Nadia Ansary (Psychology) and Arlene Wilner (English)
L period: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:10-2:40 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CEHS: Social Science OR Literature core; CBA: Social Science OR Humanities core

How does reading of literature affect our judgments and our responses to real-world situations? How can our understanding of psychological theory enhance our reading of literature? How can literary texts aid psychologists in refining theories of human behavior?  In addressing these questions, Mirrors of the Mind explores the fascinating partnership between literature and psychology. Readings include literary fiction as well as selections by recent writers and theorists representing both disciplines. We will discuss themes such as the struggle to achieve an adult identity; complexities in social interactions (peer, familial, romantic); the development of empathy; loss and grief, morality; and the influence of culture on personality and behavior. 

BHP 315: 20th Century European Ideologies

Professors Barbara Franz (Political Science) and Daria Cohen (Foreign Languages and Literature)
O period: Tuesday and Thursday, 4:30-6:00 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CEHS: Social Science/ OR Literature core; Global PerspectivesCBA: Social Science OR Humanities core OR GCLA elective

This course covers the origins and development of four twentieth-century European ideologies – Nationalism, Fascism, Communism, and Conservatism/Liberalism – in a comparative and cultural perspective.  Europe’s experience in ideological conflict shaped the twentieth century not just in Europe but globally.  We will analyze the term “ideology” and the condition of European politics and society, historically, politically and through a number of cultural lenses. We will assess the varieties of Nationalism, past and present, with a look at the methods of spreading nationalism and manifestations of national culture, including literature and film.  Adhering to chronology, we will focus on the emergence of radically new ideological movements – Fascism and Communism – that challenged the post World War I order.  We will also consider the origins and consequences of World War II and the Cold War and compare and contrast the development and fate of the socialist and capitalist systems.  The ideology of Conservatism/Liberalism also looms large in the European experience and serves as our fourth “ism.”  Lastly, we will reflect upon the meaning of these ideologies for the condition of European political cultures in the 21st century, with a specific emphasis on rising right-wing populism.  

Spring 2020

BHP 206: Politics and Literary Form

Professors Frank Rusciano (Political Science) and Seiwoong Oh (English)
I period: Monday and Wednesday, 2:50-4:20 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Literature/ Humanities core; CBA: Social Science OR Humanities elective
Investigates the relationships between political life and literary form. Students will analyze literary texts in the context of selected political periods and ideologies, going beyond literary content to understand how language, genre, and structure mirror, otherwise represent, or criticize the political order within which the author writes. The course will address such questions as why certain cultures choose certain literary forms to express political messages, how the form affects the message’s expression and the specific messages that can be communicated, and how the politics of the time affects the form chosen for expression. Literary readings will be chosen from a variety of cultures and historical periods, with accompanying readings that reflect the time and place when the work was created.

BHP 259: The Environment and Politics: A Conflict of Interest

Professors Daniel Druckenbrod (Environmental Science) and Michael Brogan (Political Science)
L period: Monday and Wednesday, 1:10-2:40 p.m., Westminster campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA: Social Science/ Social perspectives OR Natural Science core 
Examines critical environmental issues such as global warming; food, water and energy resources; population trends; and global industrialization. Topics for context will include the origin of the elements, the origin of solar systems, and the origin of life as well as the basic principles of the current biotechnical revolution. Scientific understanding will be combined with knowledge about strategies for raising community awareness in order to (re)formulate public policy. In teams, students will be asked to define the problems; research available and prospective solutions; identify the technical, social, political, and economic constraints; and finally propose a workable strategy for making progress toward solutions.

BHP 270 Shakespeare: From Page to Stage and Screen

Professors Vanita Neelakanta (English) and Trenton Blanton (Theater and Dance)
N period: Tuesday and Thursday 2:50-4:20 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA: Literature/ Humanities or Fine Arts core/ elective; CBA: Humanities elective
This course aims to explore in depth the translation of Shakespeare’s texts into performance by combining theatre history, cinematic adaptation, and textual analysis with a strong emphasis on practical, creative, and collaborative work. We will study 5 plays over the course of the semester and consider each as a performance piece as well as a literary artifact. Each play will be examined from multiple perspectives that are theatrical/ performative/ cinematic (staging, costume, sets, dramaturgy, camera, editing) as well as literary (historicist, psychoanalytic, gender and sexuality focused, Marxist, eco-critical, post-colonial), thereby bridging the artificial divide between Shakespeare as literature and Shakespeare as performance.

BHP 271: Idea to Innovation

Professors Bryan Spiegelberg (Chemistry) and Michael Saraceno (Business)
TE period: Tuesday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/ SFPA/ CBA: Natural science core or elective
The pharmaceutical industry comprises an incredibly diverse team of thinkers, including accountants and biochemists, who are all on a quest to improve human health. The development of medical treatments relies on pivotal insights from the scientific laboratory, but turning these ideas into practical medical innovations requires the solving of many problems outside of the scientific field. Through the examination of historical and contemporary case studies, this course will investigate the nature of science as it is practiced in the real world. How are problems identified and ideas generated and refined? What political and sociological challenges does the industry encounter? Who pays for all of this? By exploring growth in the pharmaceutical industry from the inside, students in this class will gain a deeper understanding of both science and business and how these disciplines interact in order to extend and enhance human life.

Fall 2019

BHP213 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Context: George Orwell’s Enduring Legacy

Professors Pamela Brown (Communication and Journalism) and Arlene Wilner (English)
RE period: Thursday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Social perspectives/Social science OR Literature/Humanities core. CBA : Social science OR Humanities OR Global/Cultural Perspective elective
“Big Brother is watching you.” Contemporary discussions of politics, journalism, and social issues regularly reflect the influence of George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The term “Orwellian” routinely appears in contemporary speech and writings. Terms such as Newspeak, Thought Police, Doublethink, and Memory Hole have become a perennial lexicon of political discussion.  Conceived against the ominous backgrounds of  the twentieth-century World Wars, Orwell’s provocative writing--crowned by his unnerving dystopian projection--reflects the turbulent world experienced by this courageous and prescient thinker from the waning of British colonialism to the rise of the Cold War. To contextualize the composition and importance of his final haunting novel, this course will explore a wide range of Orwell’s writings, the historical and cultural contexts that shaped him, and the use of his work and ideas by his contemporaries and by subsequent artists, critics, and social analysts.

BHP240  Chemistry and Conflict

Professors Bryan Spiegelberg (Chemistry) and Alison McManus (Department of History, Princeton University)
TE period: Tuesday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Westminster campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA/CBA: Natural Sciences core
Technology and warfare have intersected for millennia, but modern chemistry and theoretical physics radically changed the conduct of war. Using case studies from the Chemical Revolution to present day, this course examines how knowledge of matter altered warfare – in terms of its scale, its boundaries, and its meaning. To this end, we study Antoine Lavoisier’s work with gunpowder in the 18th century alongside a much more famous case of wartime chemistry: Fritz Haber’s development of chemical weapons during World War I. We also study the Manhattan Project, which produced the world’s first atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. Secondly, this course investigates the many legacies of these new weapons. We follow the development of the military-industrial complex, the use of war chemicals as pesticides, and the deployment of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Finally, we examine more recent uses of chemical weapons, including in Japan, Iraq, and Syria. Throughout the course, students will bring knowledge of chemistry to bear on these historical episodes. They will demonstrate how knowledge of key chemical principles – such as atomic structure, bonding, and reactivity – help to contextualize the development of modern war.

BHP271  The Online Explosion: Radical Changes in Business and Communication

Professors Mark Promislo (Management) and Nancy Wiencek (Communication and Journalism)
I period: Monday/Wednesday 2:50-4:20 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA/CBA: Social perspectives/social science core
Compared to a world just one generation ago when business people composed memos on typewriters and communicated with fax machines, the online explosion has brought forward a flood of new communication tools and social media platforms. It has created new types of businesses that would have been unimaginable just a short time ago and has revolutionized the way people communicate, socialize, and shop. The explosion of the web has also led to work environments in which employees are always “connected,” and has raised concerns about personal privacy.  We will guide students through a critical evaluation of these radical changes, with an eye on their benefits as well as potential negative consequences.

Spring 2019

BHP212 Children and the Media

Professors Cara DiYanni (Psychology) and A.J. Moore (Communications/Journalism)
F period: Tuesday/Thursday 9:45-11:15 a.m. Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Social Science core/Social Perspectives disciplinary perspective OR may count for Psychology major/minor (consult your academic advisor); CBA: Social Science core; CHES: General studies elective
This course examines how children and adolescents use and understand media and analyzes the role of media in their social and cognitive development. Students will analyze how exposure to television programs, movies, magazines and the Internet shapes children’s socio-emotional development and their understanding of cultural norms. Diverse course readings emphasize theories of child development as well as communication theory. Students will conduct primary research throughout the semester.

BHP 222 Existentialism in Literature

Professors Daniel Garro (Philosophy) and Vanita Neelakanta (English)
RE period: Thursday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Westminster campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Philosophy core OR Literature core; CBA: Humanities core OR Global/Cultural Perspective Core; CHES: General studies core OR Literature core
This course seeks to introduce students to Existentialism as a 20th-century movement with roots going back to the 19th century and as a philosophy that has special relevance and importance for understanding today's world. Reading and discussion are based on topics of special concern to Existentialist philosophers: lying and the nature of reality, faith and reason, revaluation of values, and the meaninglessness of life. Readings will comprise a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres. Authors may include Dostoevsky, Unamuno, Camus, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Brecht, Kafka, Pirandello, Weil, and Beckett.

BHP270 Special Topics – The Rhetoric of Science

Professors Danielle Jacobs (Chemistry) and Tim McGee
TE period: Tuesday 6:30-9:30 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Natural Sciences core OR Social Science core; CBA: Natural Science core OR Social Science core; CHES : General studies core
This course will examine the rhetoric of science in an effort to see how science has used language to answer questions, resolve disputes, and legitimize the knowledge contained within its disciplinary borders, and conversely how language and communication have guided scientific discovery throughout history.  Reading texts from ancient and contemporary scientists, we will identify the key linguistic and rhetorical traits that identify the discourse communities of modern science, and consider consequences of—and the scientific developments enabled by—such language practices. These concepts will be emphasized and elucidated vis-à-vis some of the most significant scientific and medicinal discoveries governing the modern world.

BHP302 Mirrors of the Mind: The Interplay of Literature and Psychology

Professors Nadia Ansary (Psychology) and Arlene Wilner (English)
L period: Tuesday/Thursday 1:10-2:40 p.m., Lawrenceville campus
Substitutions: LAS/SFPA: Social sciences/Social perspectives OR Literature OR may count for Psychology major/minor (consult your academic advisor); CBA: Social Science core OR Humanities core; CHES: General studies core OR Literature core
How does reading of literature affect our judgments and our responses to real-world situations? How can our understanding of psychological theory enhance our reading of literature? How can literary texts aid psychologists in refining theories of human behavior?  In addressing these questions, Mirrors of the Mind explores the fascinating partnership between literature and psychology. Readings include literary fiction as well as selections by recent writers and theorists representing both disciplines. We will discuss themes such as the struggle to achieve an adult identity; complexities in social interactions (peer, familial, romantic); the development of empathy; loss and grief, morality; and the influence of culture on personality and behavior.

Fall 2018

• BHP 209 Law and the Arts
• BHP 268 Love and Chivalry in the Arthurian Tradition
• BHP 309 Genetic Engineering and the Philosophy of Science

Spring 2018

• BHP270  Shakespeare: From Page to Stage and Screen
• BHP271  The Psychology of Creativity Across Disciplines
• BHP302 Mirrors of the Mind: The Interplay of Literature and Psychology
• BHP-312 Musical Expression and Political Culture

Fall 2017

• BHP 206: Politics and Literary Form
• BHP 270: Special Topics – Chemistry and Conflict
• BHP 271: Special Topics – Human Nature, Biased Brains, and the Challenge of Living Together
• BHP 318: The Bible as Literature and Philosophy

Spring 2017

• BHP212 Children and the Media
• BHP259 The Environment: A Conflict of Interest
• BHP271 Special Topics – The Rhetoric of Science
• BHP321 Gender and Sexuality in Hip-Hop and R&B

Fall 2016

• BHP 209 Law and the Arts
• BHP 213: Honors Seminar: Text and Context
• BHP 222 Existentialism in Literature
• BHP 231 Natural Adventures: Journeys in American Ecology and History

Spring 2016

• BHP215 Universe and the Origins of Life
• BHP224 Worlds Apart: Global Perspectives on Development and Inequality
• BHP232 Science and Politics of the Jersey Shore
• BHP260 Education and the Arts

Fall 2015

• BHP227: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Age of Empire
• BHP271: Special Topics – The Psychology of Creativity across Disciplines
• BHP318: The Bible as Literature and Philosophy
• BHP 330 Campaign Persuasion

Spring 2015

• BHP-206 Politics and Literary Form
• BHP 212 Children and the Media
• BHP-268 Love and Chivalry in the Arthurian Tradition
• BHP271 Special Topics -- Language and Power: The Art of Verbal Seduction
• BHP-309 Genetic Engineering and the Philosophy of Science

Fall 2014

• BHP-209 Honors Seminar: Law and the Arts
• BHP-259 The Environment: A Conflict of Interest
• BHP-321 Gender and Sexuality in Hip-Hop
• BHP-325 Honors Seminar: Literature and Political Realities: From Dictatorships to Democracy in Latin America

Spring 2014

• BHP 211 - Seminar: Theories of Justice and the American Common Law
• BHP 213 - Honors Seminar: Text and Context
• BHP 224 Honors Seminar:  Worlds Apart: Global Perspectives on Development and Inequality
• BHP 259 – Honors Seminar: The Environment: A Conflict of Interest
• BHP 300 - Honors Seminar: Cultural Politics

Spring 2013

• BHP-212 Children and the Media
• BHP-232 Science and Politics of the Jersey Shore
• BHP-268 Love and Chivalry in the Arthurian Tradition
• BHP-303 The Politics and Philosophy of the Sixties
• BHP-312 Musical Expression and Political Culture

Fall 2012

• BHP-206 Politics and Literary Form
• BHP-259 The Environment: A Conflict of Interest
• BHP-260 Education and the Arts
• BHP-307 The Presence of Mind: Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity
• BHP-330 Campaign Persuasion: Theory into Practice

Spring 2012

• BHP 212 Children and the Media
• BHP 259 The Environment: A Conflict of Interest
• BHP 318 The Bible as Literature and Philosophy
• BHP 323: Capitalism: on Trial!
• BHP 300: Cultural Politics