The Smittcamp Family Honors College

Curriculum

Challenging. Stimulating. Engaging.

A hallmark of the Smittcamp Family Honors College is its innovative and challenging curriculum. Courses are selected from among proposals submitted by members of the university’s distinguished faculty. Our goal is to always be at the cutting edge of learning, innovation and exhilarating investigation. Therefore, our courses are not only discipline based but are also cross disciplinary—by design.

At the Smittcamp Family Honors College, being at the front of the class means being at the front of the world of learning.

Honors Coursework
General Education (small classes-25 students usually)

Lower Division: 2 Honors GE courses each semester for the first two years, for a total of 8 Honors lower division GE courses
Upper-Division: 3 Honors GE courses satisfy all upper-division GE requirements

Other Special Courses

Honors Colloquium (town hall format with guest speakers): 4 in first two years, 1 in subsequent semester
Honors 180 Special Project: Research Opportunities in one’s major

HONOR 1 – Honors Colloquium (1 unit; max total 6 units)

Colloquium for students in the Smittcamp Family Honors College. Overview of the university. Presentation and discussion of current topics. Special presentations by faculty, campus guests, and senior honors project students.

HONOR 10 – Beginning Workshop in the Writing of Poetry (3 units)

Beginning workshop in the writing of poetry; appropriate reading and analyses. This course will encourage students to discover creative and innovative ways to ameliorate conditions while deploying cultural diversity and vitality found in our Valley and University. G.E. Breadth C1.

HONOR 11 – Introduction to the Humanities (3 units)

Inter-relationships among art, literature, music, and philosophy, from Antiquity through the present. This course will encourage students to discover creative and innovative ways to ameliorate conditions while deploying cultural diversity and vitality found in our Valley and University. GE Breadth C2. Prerequisite: GE Foundation A2.

HONOR 12 – U.S. in the Twentieth Century World (3 units)

This course studies the role of the United States in the world during the long twentieth century. This course will encourage students to discover creative and innovative ways to ameliorate conditions while deploying cultural diversity and vitality found in our Valley and University. G.E. Breadth D1.

HONOR 13 – Human Fragility and Cultural Transcendence (3 units)

This course explores human nature through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing primarily upon the social sciences but also garnering insights from the natural sciences and the humanities. This course will encourage students to discover creative and innovative ways to ameliorate conditions while deploying cultural diversity and vitality found in our Valley and University. G.E. Breadth D2.

HONOR 20 – Public Communication and Civic Engagement

In this course, you will learn how to develop informative and persuasive messages on topics relating to science and how to present messages effectively in face-to-face and mediated contexts. G.E. Foundation A1.

HONOR 101 – Global Creativity in the Arts and Humanities (4 units)

This course explores interrelationships among self, society, and culture through analysis of creative works in the arts, literatures, and philosophies from antiquity to the present day. Students can also fulfill this with a pre-designed and approved travel experience culminating in a research paper. G.E. Integration IC blended with M/I. Prerequisite: completion of FOUNDATION and Area C courses.

HONOR 102 – Global Social Issues: Exploring Challenges and Solutions (4 units)

This course examines fundamental issues in social sciences with a view to exploring historical and contemporary global social problems, challenges, and proposed solutions from an array of methodological and cross-cultural perspectives. G.E. Integration ID blended and M/I. Prerequisite: completion of FOUNDATION, Area D, and PLSI 2.

HONOR 103 – Natural Sciences, Culture, and Human Behavior (4 units)

This course explores the interactions of humans with their environments and analyzes relationships between human behaviors at the individual and collective levels, the environments they evolved in, and their relationships with the modern world. G.E. Integration IB blended with M/I. Prerequisite: completion of FOUNDATION and Area B courses.

HONOR 180 – Special Projects in Honors (1-3 units; max total 9 units)

Individual projects in the Smittcamp Family Honors College. Projects related to Honors College courses; for example internships, research papers, community service projects, new classroom approaches and learning communities.

POLITICAL SCIENCE 2H – American Government and Institutions (3 units)

Meets the United States Constitution requirement and the federal, California state, and local government requirement. Not open to students with credit in PLSI 101. Development and operation of government in the United States; study of how ideas, institutions, laws and people have constructed and maintained a political order in America. U.S. and California Government Graduation Requirement.

CHEMISTRY 10H – Chemistry and Society (4 units)

Discusses significance of chemical principles in contemporary society; benefits and hazards relative to areas such as energy, health, diet, environment and agriculture.

NATURAL SCIENCES 4H – Science and Nonsense: Critical Thinking and the Philosophy of Science (3 units)

Shows the use of language, rational inquiry, and logic in science, distinguishing science fact from science fiction. Inductive and deductive methods, judgment, opinion, origins of knowledge, belief and actions. A critical examination of contemporary pseudoscientific issues (creation science, UFOs, astrology, etc.)

Shows the use of language, rational inquiry, and logic in science, distinguishing science fact from science fiction. Inductive and deductive methods, judgement, opinion, origins of knowledge, belief of actions. A critical examination of contemporary pseudoscientific issues (creation science, UFO's, astrology, etc.) G. E. Breadth A3.

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 8H – Natural Disasters and Earth Resources (4 units)

Processes and materials that produce the different geologic resources and hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, landslides). Plate tectonic theory (including continental drift) as the unifying model to explain geologic phenomena. Emphasizes the relationship between geology and humans. (3 lecture, 2 lab hours: required field trip(s)). Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation B4.

DRAMA 75H – Theatre in Contemporary American Culture (3 units)

Introduction to the practice and scholarship of American theatre today. Application of critical methodology for four areas of theatrical production: (1) theatre architecture, (2) acting, (3) directing, and (4) design. Attendance at 2-3 theatre performances is required.

ENGLISH 42H – Creative Writing (4 units)

Beginning workshop in the writing of poetry and fiction; appropriate readings and analysis.

CHILD AND FAMILY SCIENCES 38H – Honors Life Span Development (3 units)

Basic theories, research, and principles of physical, cognitive, and psychological development from conception to death presented from the perspective of diverse families. This honors course emphasizes reading original theoretical and empirical works by prominent developmentalists and student conducted research project. G.E. Breadth E.

NUTRITION 53HS – Nutrition and Health: Realities and Controversies (3 units)

Application of chemical and biological principles to carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water in human nutrition. This course is offered as a Service-learning which is an essential component for this course since it will allow students to "learn by doing" In this course "learning by doing" is accomplished through students' educational presentations, guided reflection assignments, and participation in a comprehensive diet analysis project where students will collect, analyze and compare their own intakes and some other designated sample group in different communities. G.E. Breadth E.