University Honors Courses
University Honors students can complete their UH course enrollment one of two ways:
- Complete one UH course per year.
- Complete two UH courses in either the first or second (sophomore) years. If a student chooses this option, they can combine the remaining two UH courses in any way that works; however, it is not an option to complete two courses a second time.
In summary, students must take at least one class their first and second year. Below is an outline that displays five UH course completion options:
| Year in School | Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 | Option 4 | Option 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Second | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Third | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Fourth | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Spring 2027 Courses
DN 1151 - 550: Modern Dance Technique I, 2 cr
Class# 68491
Brianna Hall-Nelson |MWF, 10-11:10pm | MPAC 21
Fine Arts
Previous dance training or experience is welcomed but not required for this class, just a desire to move and a willingness to try! Modern Dance Technique I is designed to introduce Modern Dance as both a historical form and contemporary practice and intended to develop Modern Dance skills with emphasis on placement, coordination, balance, and musicality. Concurring with Liberal Education objectives, the course will provide opportunities for creative expression through active participation and presentation of dancing via class exercises and projects. In addition, students will develop an appreciation for the diverse cultural influences on, and stylistic variety in, Modern Dance as a performance dance form. The majority of course work is the actual dancing; it will be supported by video viewings, selected readings, and some written reflection work
ENGL 1586 - 550: Race and 21st Century Literature: America and Beyond, 4 cr
Class #: 66161
Paula Derdiger | M & W, 12 - 1:50pm | Humanities 464
Theorizing Race, Power and Justice
In this course, students grapple with significant works of twenty-first-century literature, film and other cultural media in which race is a central concern. How have some of the major writers, artists, and other culture producers of our students' lifetimes engaged with the concept of race and the sources and effects of racism, from the experience of microaggression to the significance of structural racism on scales local, national, and global? How do literature and culture generate particular kinds of knowledge and feelings about race and structural racism? To what extent do they (or might they) affect social change? This course intentionally situates American literature and culture alongside texts from other national traditions to help elucidate both the specificity of racial politics in the United States and its interrelation with global histories of imperialism and postcolonialism.
HON 3398 - 550 Special Topics: Natural Sciences in Our Daily Life, 3 cr
Class # 66706
Dr. Ahemd A. Heikal | MWF 1-1:50 pm| UH Classroom KAML 119
Natural Science and Sustainability
This interdisciplinary, systems-thinking, student-driven course will engage the students in active learning towards discovering the role of natural sciences in our daily life as well as its social and environmental impacts. The students will be engaged in discussing contemporary scientific issues that affect their life at home, at work, on the road, health, and environment. Topics may include beauty products, energy (food, conventional and renewable sources), plastics, health care, and environment. The underlying foundational knowledge in related scientific fields across many disciplines will be discussed while providing the students with many opportunities for active learning, teamwork, and communications skills as well as critical thinking.
TH 4803: Black Theatre in the United States
Class # 68216
Dr. Jenna Soleo Shanks | Mo We, 10 -11:15 am | UH Classroom KAML 119
Theorizing Race, Power and Justice
This course explores the forms and functions of theatrical expressions created by, for, and/or about Black individuals and communities in what would become the United States from the 17th century to the present. Through an examination of key examples of dramatic literature, popular theatrical expressions, business practices, and cultural theory, this course seeks to explore how ideas of race and power functioned in theatre history and how Black theatre makers (individually and collectively) used theatre as a tool for social justice.
WRIT 3180 - 550: UH Advanced Writing, 3 cr
Class#46165
Rebecca Boyle, MFA | T & Th, 9:30 - 10:45 | UH Classroom KAML 119
Advanced Writing Requirement
**Senior and Junior UH students will have priority access, then sophomores and first-year students who are interested if they have completed 60 credits and seats remain.
Develops research, critical thinking, and collaborative writing strategies as well as rhetorical skills to draft documents in multiple genres for multiple audiences. This includes professional correspondence and reports, research proposals, literature reviews, oral presentations, and related documents for the honors project as well as the production and publication of Aisthesis, UH's own interdisciplinary honors journal. If you want to take this course, email Joelle McGovern ([email protected]) to process your request.
Fall 2026 Courses
BIOL 2001, Section 550 - Our Food: Science and Production (3 credits)
Class # 13117
Natural Sciences & Sustainability
MWF 9 - 9:50 am, M W Alworth Hall 191
Dr. Paul Bates
This course will examine 3 large aspects of the food we eat: food science, human nutrition, and agricultural production methods. We will look at the main components of food, and how manipulation of food molecules creates different flavors, textures, and structures. We will then focus on the relative nutritional value of different foods and their effects on the human body, including illnesses related to poor nutrition. Finally, we will explore modern agricultural practices and discuss ways to enhance stability and sustainability in our food supply.
COMM 3625, Sect. 550, Rhetoric of Globalization
Class #33639
Global Perspectives
Wed. 3:30 - 6:30 pm, UH Classroom (KAML 119)
Dr. David Gore
Study and reflection of global civil society, with special focus on the ways that new and changing forms of communication have altered the meaning of a democratic press, civic participation, human rights and shared experience.
HON 3303, Section 550 – The World of Surfing (4 credits)
Class# 33290 | capped at 14 students
Global Perspectives
Mon & Wed. – 9:15 am – 10:45 am, UH Classroom (KAML 119)
Dr. Scott Laderman
Surfing is one of the world's most popular cultural phenomena. While the number of actual surfers is relatively small – probably between five and ten million people – the sport's reach has historically extended far beyond the limited community of wave riders, influencing everything from fashion and music to film, photography, tourism, and marketing. This class will explore how a pastime commonly associated with mindless pleasure has in fact been implicated in some of the major global developments of the last two-hundred years, such as empire-building and the "civilizing mission" in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Hawai'i, modernization and economic development in the so-called Third World, the growth of international tourism following the Second World War, political mass movements and the antiapartheid struggle, American foreign relations and Cold War cultural diplomacy, and the surf industry and corporate globalization. The course also has an experiential component; to develop an appreciation for the subject and for why millions of people have planned their lives around the sport, you will learn to surf.
HON 3341: Encountering Death and Grief (3 credits)
Class #33334
Thursday, 3:30 - 6:20 pm, UH Classroom (KAML 119)
Cultural Diversity in the US
Dr. Mitzi Doane
This class incorporates field trips and guest speakers who come from different cultures, religions or death experiences (such as loss due to suicide, murder, accident). Students have an opportunity to explore death via reading and discussion including such topics as capital punishment, the right to die, war. The class is not a lecture, it is a seminar where there is a free give and take.
HON 3496: Ancient History, Today (3 credits)
Class # 33309
MWF, 11 - 11:50am, UH Classroom (KAML 119)
Global Perspectives and Humanities
Dr. Elijah Fleming
Ancient civilizations around the world had profound effects on the development of human technology and the evolution of society, but why do we tell our history the way we do? Especially in America, the ways in which we talk about our classical history directly inform the ideals and goals we wish to achieve. Ancient wisdom is not an inherited moral compass, it is another tool we can use–or abuse. Using archaeological investigations, primary sources in translation, and modern secondary sources, this course will track the impacts of retelling our ancient history, today.
IS 3401 - 550 Engaging Voices, Building Communities
Class #33050
WF 9:30-10:45 am - UH Classroom (KAML 119)
Social Science
Dr. Aparna Katre
This is a community-engaged course and requires off-campus meetings and engagement in situ with community partners. The course is designed to facilitate long-term collaborations between the University and the Twin Ports community to respond to community issues. It provides a framework for thoughtful, sustained engagement where responses to community issues are developed organically, collaboratively, and with grassroots participation. Supported by academic theories about systems thinking, intersectionality, community development, and social change, students immerse themselves in projects to strengthen the community. The emphasis is on building a sound grasp of the topics by connecting them to community issues and social change projects.
This semester, students will work with the Nourish program to build their Food Box service, which supports low-income households on their journey toward healthier eating habits. This video provides information about the course and the experiences of previous Honors students.
Credit will not be granted if already received for HON 3495 Special Topic course by the same name.
Note: The 45-credit prerequisite is waived for Honors students. Please email the instructor with your student ID and your intention to register for the course. The instructor will issue permission, after which you can sign up for the course.