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T 1:30-2:20
Prof. Craig Cady, Biology Department
The first two class periods will focus on clarifying the field of regenerative medicine, particularly the general biology, function, and vocabulary. After establishing a basic level of understanding, we will have the tools to discuss the many ethical topics that exist in this field. Students who attend will understand general stem cell biology and therefore have the tools to rationally consider the many ethical problems/questions in the media and literature.
M 2:00-2:50
Prof. Shannon Sandoval, Communications Department
Love Disney? So do I! Arguably, Disney has had a tremendous influence on my life and likely on yours too. It is often said that “art imitates life” and in this seminar we’ll put that theory to the test as we re-examine stories and characters from Disney films through the various lenses of Critical Theory. We’ll focus on Disney animated feature-length films but will also interweave Walt Disney company history, culture and history, and literature review to give us a broader understanding of the impact they’ve had. The goal of our seminar isn’t to condemn or praise but rather to examine this form of media with a more critical eye and a more nuanced understanding of the messages and representations that influence us throughout our stages of life. Weekly meetings will be discussion-centered and you’ll need access to the Disney+ streaming service for assigned viewings. There will also be assigned short readings, which will be provided to you. The seminar will conclude with a research oral presentation on a topic of your choice.
TH 4:00-5:15 (10 weeks)
Prof. Anthony Bedenikovic, Mathematics Department
The idea of a fourth dimension–of reality beyond what can be seen–has attracted thinkers from various fields throughout history. In this seminar, we will study references to the fourth dimension in the work of artists, mathematicians, philosophers, scientists, and others. In general, a different aspect of the fourth dimension will be explored at each meeting. While most studies will include a mathematical perspective, the goal of this seminar is to investigate diverse perspectives. All majors are welcome. To help further convey the nature of this seminar, a list of sample questions follows: Can we learn to visualize the fourth dimension? How is a 4-dimensional universe different from a 3-dimensional universe? Is the fourth dimension just time? How has the idea of higher dimensions influenced the work of visual artists and writers? How has it influenced current scientific theories?
T 5:00-6:15 (10 weeks)
Prof. Jacob Young, Entrepreneurship, Technology and Law
How can you protect yourself in an increasingly connected world? This seminar will introduce threat modeling techniques, discuss information collected by data brokers, and increase awareness of surveillance technologies. Students will learn how to reduce data breach risk, strengthen privacy practices, and preserve individual liberty.
M 3-3:50
Prof. Seth Katz, English Department
This course is offered to incoming first-year students only.
Through reading, writing, and conversation, we will approach different answers to this question, and a number of others, including but not limited to
Assigned readings will include classic and contemporary texts, all available online.
W 10-10:50
Prof. Heidi Rottier, Marketing Department
Why do we use social media? What about social media keeps us coming back again and again? Around the globe, nearly half the world’s population turns to social media for information, social interaction, shopping advice, and so much more. Although you may use social media every day (2+ hours/day!), you may not be aware of the psychology behind it. This seminar will explore the reasons why social media keeps us coming back for more. We will also discuss the impact social media has on our mental health, relationships, and perception of the world around us.
W 1:00-1:50
Prof. Robert Prescott, English Department
All of us have our own music–not simply the songs on our playlists, but those songs that mean so much to us that they express at some level who we are. This seminar will examine a wide array of songs through the lenses of many disciplines: literature, music history and performance, history, cultural anthropology, world languages, and religious studies. We will analyze lyrics together, consider how songs have changed through the ages, and share with one another those songs that are most important to us personally. We will also study what goes into writing an original song.
W 2:00-3:15 (10 weeks)
Prof. Wendy Beanblossom, Biology Department
Open to first- and second-year Honors floor students.
Please contact Dr. Dzapo to enroll. This seminar focuses on using practices of science to evaluate conventional wisdom and potential myths and misconceptions. As students leave home and start to live independently, this course will focus on practical science that will help them make decisions about everyday life. The class is built around collaborative projects that extend from the classroom into the dorm. Projects will be used to generate discussion about how we choose to live, which practices we grew up with are scientifically accurate, which are just tradition, and which we want to continue practicing. This interdisciplinary approach branches both physical and life sciences. Is it really ok for your dog to lick your face? What is the purpose of adding salt to boiling water? The class will work together to determine which questions will be explored.
W 3:00-4:15 (10 weeks)
Prof. Melinda McBee Orzulak, English Department
This section is offered to incoming first-year students only.
Students will read This is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are by Melody Warnick, in addition to their choice of an approved companion book. Students will engage with the concept of placemaking to explore what it means to be a better neighbor, wanderer, or citizen of the world. The course will encourage you to design action projects in your living-learning community (and beyond!) in order to apply what you’ve discussed related to place attachment.
T 3:00-5:00 (8 weeks)
Prof. Dan Getz, Philosophy and Religious Studies Department
This section is offered to incoming first-year students only.
Bradley University has announced in its 2021 Strategic Plan that your education at Bradley is an “investment in the life you want.” This declaration bears the weight of all of your aspirations, hopes and dreams for the future, promising that your Bradley education will lead to a life of success. As satisfying that promise might be, it leaves a sense that something is missing. The question of what kind of life one might want is reframed in this class, suggesting that a more fundamental question must first be pondered: What should one want? Focusing on this prior question of how one should lead one’s life, the seminar will examine the issue through a lens created twenty-five hundred years ago by Confucius. Participants will read The Analects of Confucius, a text that has had an outsized influence in shaping Chinese civilization. While one of the goals of the seminar is to challenge participants to understand this text in its original Chinese cultural and linguistic context, this classic will at the same time be explored for its manifest wisdom in offering universal insights into the human condition. You’ll be pondering these questions in an intergenerational community of learners, half of whom are undergraduates, with the other half drawn from retirees participating in the Bradley OLLI Program. As an undergraduate, you will, in witnessing the dedication of your older classmates, be rewarded with the realization that learning is a life-long pursuit. They in turn will derive benefit from the excitement, energy, and fresh ideas that you will be bringing to our conversations.
W 7-10 pm (Full semester)
Prof. John Williams, History Department
Open to first- and second-year Honors floor students. Please contact Dr. Dzapo to enroll.
How have European filmmakers been using their art form to deal with the uncertainties of our new century? What kinds of conflict and modes of survival have Europeans been engaging in since 2000, and how do filmmakers represent this history? Students in this seminar will watch one significant recent film each week and discuss the relationship between history and art that each film exemplifies. They will also read the professor’s new edited collection of essays entitled Conflict and Survival in Contemporary Western European Film.
TH 1:30-2:45 (10 weeks)
Prof. Shannon Sandoval, Communications Department
Love Disney? So do I! Arguably, Disney has had a tremendous influence on my life and likely on yours too. It is often said that “art imitates life” and in this seminar we’ll put that theory to the test as we re-examine stories and characters from Disney films through the various lenses of Critical Theory. We’ll focus on Disney animated feature-length films but will also interweave Walt Disney company history, culture and history, and literature review to give us a broader understanding of the impact they’ve had. The goal of our seminar isn’t to condemn or praise but rather to examine this form of media with a more critical eye and a more nuanced understanding of the messages and representations that influence us throughout our stages of life. Weekly meetings will be discussion-centered and you’ll need access to the Disney+ streaming service for assigned viewings. There will also be assigned short readings, which will be provided to you. The seminar will conclude with a research oral presentation on a topic of your choice.
W 3-3:50
Prof. Dakota Horn, Communications Department
Prerequisite: COM 103 or its equivalent.
This course is designed as an opportunity to research, organize, practice and present your ideas for several different types of speech situations in which you may find yourself throughout your professional and personal life. It is not designed to teach you the skills gained in COM 103, but rather a chance to use those basic skills to further create, practice, hone, personalize, and professionalize your own way as a speaker.
T 3:00-4:15 (10 weeks)
Dr. Kyle Dzapo, Music Department
This seminar will introduce the extraordinary achievements of one of Western music’s greatest artists. Each of the class sessions will include discussion of significant events in a particular period of Mozart’s life and an introduction to one of the major compositions written during that time. Peter Gay’s Mozart will serve as our text, and we’ll enjoy viewing Miloš Forman’s highly acclaimed film Amadeus. Students of all majors are encouraged to participate; no prior musical training is necessary.
TH 4-4:50
Dr. Andrew Kelley, Philosophy and Religious Studies Department
This class will look at the issue of the role of work in the life that a person wants by focusing on two texts: The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us & How to Build Better Lives by Jonathan Malesic, a scholar of religion, and also Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, by the philosopher Matthew Crawford. Several other short readings and videos will also be assigned. This course is part of a three-seminar sequence that includes “The Life that You Want: Confucius Speaks” [Dr. Dan Getz] and a third class in Spring 2024 that involves a study abroad trip to Copenhagen over Spring Break. Dr. Getz’s seminar will be offered again in Fall 2023.
TH 12-1:15 (10 weeks)
Dr. William Bailey, Accounting Department
Why do we use social media? What about social media keeps us coming back again and again? Around the globe, nearly half the world’s population turns to social media for information, social interaction, shopping advice, and so much more. Although you may use social media every day (2+ hours/day!), you may not be aware of the psychology behind it. This seminar will explore the reasons why social media keeps us coming back for more. We will also discuss the impact social media has on our mental health, relationships, and perception of the world around us.
TH 3-4:15 (10 weeks)
Dr. Sara Netzley, Communications Department
What is it? What isn’t it? Where does it come from? How can you guard against it? This seminar will explore concepts such as misinformation, propaganda, bias, and gaslighting using recent and historical examples, with an emphasis on the origin, spread, and implications of fake news for citizens, society, and democracy.
W 12-12:50
Dr. Ted Fleming, Biology Department
Antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms are occurring worldwide, endangering the usefulness of antibiotics that have transformed medicine and saved millions of lives. During this course, students will discuss the use of antibiotics, the origin and history of antibiotic resistance, efforts to address the problem, and possible alternatives to current antibiotic therapy. This course will include time in the microbiology lab during which students will work with bacteria, and potentially isolate antibiotic-resistant organisms. Students’ general knowledge and understanding of the topic will be demonstrated and evaluated by active participation and oral and written presentations.
W 4-5:15 (10 weeks)
Dr. Anant Deschwal, Biology Department
Climate change is a phenomenon that is going to affect us all irrespective of our majors or disciplines. In this seminar, we will aim at understanding what is climate change. We will also be visited by the ghosts of Climate Change Past, Climate Change Present, and Climate Change Future. In addition to understanding the science behind climate change and its impact, we will also explore climate change from indigenous knowledge perspectives. We will explore how the indigenous knowledge of farmers, hunters, and fishermen in Illinois can help in mitigating climate change. Through this seminar, I hope to empower you in understanding how climate change will impact your field and how you can be equipped to tackle the challenges thrown your way by climate change.
T 12-12:50 Online, Synchronous
Dr. Kevin Swafford, English Department
In this seminar we will read sections of Henry David Thoreau’s masterpiece, Walden (1854) and all of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (1968). Both books are autobiographical, detailing the experiences of their authors as they explore the possibilities of “living deliberately.” In their writing, Thoreau and Abbey examine the virtues of simplicity, the spiritual and intellectual significance of Nature, the moral responsibilities of individual self-reliance and social cooperation, and the limitations of materialism and “civilization.” Walden and Desert Solitaire are books that will engage and challenge you like few others. For the course you will be expected to read the assigned texts, to keep a reader response journal (minimum 300 words a week), and to write an essay (5-7 pages in length) that analyzes and discusses central issues that emerge from our readings and discussions. Welcome!
W 3-3:50
Dr. Seth Katz, English Department
A White, middle-aged, middle-class college professor will attempt—through readings, videos, reflection, writing, and discussion—to learn—and to guide you to learn—something about what it means—and has meant—to be Black in America. The lives, work, and creativity of Black people are essential parts of the foundation, structure, and life of our country. At the same time, anti-Black racism is baked into the very origin, fabric, and ongoing construction of American society, culture, and economic life. How can we repair the damage caused by 400 years of White supremacy? To do something, we must first begin to know something.
M 12-12:50
Dr. Sherri Morris
Freshman Biology majors may register in the Biology Dept. office.
Each enrollment in BIO 190 will satisfy one Honors seminar requirement.