FALL 2022
HON 240 – Where are we going? Florida’s Future – Climate Change at Home
4 credits, MWF 1-2:10pm by Drs. Kristian Taylor, Tim Ridlen, & Suzanne Dieringer
In this one-semester, team-taught course, students will explore the future by studying cutting-edge thought innovations shaping tomorrow’s world. The subject of this course is Florida’s Future: Addressing Climate Change at Home. This course will integrate knowledge from the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Humanities to address climate change’s negative effects. Specifically, this course will evaluate the effects of climate change on various stakeholders with a focus on three specific themes: 1) sea level rise; 2) global warming; and 3) increasing hurricane intensity. The Social Sciences will be engaged using economic theory to analyze how society chooses to efficiently allocate scarce resources and how those choices affect, and are affected by, changes in the natural environment. The Natural Sciences will be addressed using biology to analyze impacts to the natural environment. The role of the Humanities and creative practice will be in translating the meaning, significance, and scale of these problems for local audiences, communities, and stakeholders.
Hon 257: Idea Lab Social Science
Dr. Ru-Shiun Liou, MWF 10-11:10am
This course investigates the intersection between business and society in the global business environment. We will examine the economic, social, and environmental impacts of foreign firms in relation to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a local community. Students will conduct a semester-long team project to identify a practical solution for a foreign firm to take part in contributing to SDGs in the Tampa Bay community.
Hon 257: Idea Lab Social Science
Dr. Kevin Fridy, TR 12-1:50pm
A widely held assumption in the literature on environmentalism suggests human needs are arranged hierarchically. Only after a person’s physiological and safety needs are met, the theory goes, do people turn to post-materialist ambitions like the environment. But there are environmentalists in many parts of the world still struggling to meet basic human needs. Does this environmentalism differ from that found in richer parts of the world? Are there different triggers for environmentalism among people living in poverty? These are the questions we explore in this class from both a theoretical perspective and as a research design.
Hon 253: Idea Lab Natural science
Dr. Jauna Royal, TR 10-11:50am
The purpose of this class is to identify how conditions in which a person is born, lives, grows, works, and ages impact their health and health outcomes. Students will participate in research activities looking at the following social determinants of health domains: economic stability, education access and quality, healthcare access and quality, neighborhood and built environments, and social and community context.
Hon 255: Idea Lab Humanities
Dr. Gary Luter, TR 12-1:50pm
This course explores the concept of theatre as a laboratory for empathy. Empathy derives from imagination. All students, including art and non-arts students, need to exercise and strengthen their empathy. Business students, entrepreneurs, pre-law and pre-medicine students should train cognitive processes that elevate imagination and empathy. These students will design and provide things for people. So, they must understand the people for whom they are designing and providing things. By experiencing and discussing plays and creating performances, students can sharpen their imaginative skills and consciously build empathic advancements.
Hon 255: Idea Lab Humanities
Dr. Christopher Boulton, F 1-4:50pm
Students will produce short media projects across three digital storytelling modalities: 1) an audio podcast about a pivotal moment from their childhood; 2) a 360-degree immersive/spherical video about a historic place in Tampa; and 3) a co-created micro-documentary film about an issue important to one of their classmates. The final project will take students out into the community to listen to, understand, and help amplify the voice of a marginalized individual, campus organization, local non-profit, social service agency, volunteer group, or arts advocacy group by using one of the three modalities.
You can view the Honors classes in Workday by searching “Plan my Registration (Live Course Search)” and searching for HON classes.