Spring 2007 Courses

Seminars for First-Year Students
(First-year students must take one of HNR 172 or 175)

HNR 174: Re-reading the 19th Century
Professor Janet Myers (English)

Meeting time: MW 1:40-3:20
General Studies Distribution: Expression (counts for Literature requirement)

This course will approach the study of nineteenth-century literature—and primarily the novel—through the lens of contemporary culture and the recent cult of popularity for all things Victorian.  Our exploration of twentieth-century appropriations of nineteenth-century culture will range from Jane Austen in Hollywood to contemporary novels that make use of Victorian contexts and aesthetics.  Our explorations will center around several related questions: Why have so many contemporary authors and filmmakers chosen to rewrite the nineteenth-century?  How do these rewritings respond to their predecessors and with what effects?  What do they reveal about nineteenth-century literature and culture, about contemporary literature and culture, and about the relationship between the two?  The primary goal of the course will be to gain an understanding of the literary and cultural concerns that preoccupied nineteenth-century writers, and by extension, to gain insight into our own cultural preoccupations and values. 

HNR 130: Childhood in Cultural Context
Professor Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler (Psychology)

Meeting time: TTh 10:30-12:10
General Studies Distribution: Society

This course is designed to investigate the study of child and adolescent development from psychological and socio-cultural perspectives.  "Development" will be broadly construed, and include topics in social development encompassing relationships with family and peers; cognitive development including learning and problem-solving; and physical development such as genetics and motor skills.  Cultural patterns of behavior and beliefs will be examined both within and across cultures.  For example, we will consider bedtime routines and sleeping arrangements in Mayan and U.S. families; children's play and work in urban and rural societies; effects of gender, social class and cultural beliefs on adolescent rites of passage; and changes in puberty around the world.

(Honors courses taught or co-taught by Psychology Department faculty members may count for up to 4 hours of credit toward the Psychology major.  See the Psychology Department chair for approval.)

Optional for First-year students

ENG 110-H College Writing
Professor Ashley Hairston

Meeting time: TTh 12:25-2:05

This course is designed to prepare you for writing in the multiple realms in which college graduates are likely to find themselves living as citizens, working as professionals, governing and adjudicating as public officials, and cultivating and improving as artists, educators, and cultural activists. You will seek to gain command of persuasive skills in writing and oratory, explore and refine rhetorical strategies, and become comfortably engaged in research and critical analysis of texts from the humanities, the sciences, medicine, law, and public policy, among others. Our activities will encourage you to move easily between academic writing contexts and develop skills that will prepare you for both more advanced university courses and independent research and writing. 

Team-Taught Courses for Second-Year Students

HNR 275: American Working Class
Professors Sharon Spray (Political Science) and Ken Hassell (Art)     

Meeting time: MWF 9:25-10:35
General Studies Distribution: Society or Expression (non-literature)

This course is an exploration of how the American working class has changed over the last thirty years and the ramifications that such changes have had on the social fabric of our communities. There are certainly many ways in which a researcher could explore these questions. One method is to use non-anecdotal, systematic empirical research to understand trends and identify variables that explain such trends. Such inquiry, however, when not coupled with a normative or experiential framework can fail to fully illuminate the magnitude such changes have on individuals. Research that seeks only to understand social problems through anecdotal examples, however, runs the risk of misunderstanding aggregate social change (positive as well as negative). This course is designed to bridge the gap between empirical, normative and experiential research by asking students to explore working class issues through two very different methodological frameworks.

HNR 231: To Be a Sex Object: Representation, Gender, and the Body
Professors Ann Cahill (Philosophy) and Kirstin Ringelberg (Art) 

Meeting time: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30-12:10
General Studies Distribution: Expression (non-literature) or Society

There are precious few instances of consensus in today's political climate, but one of them seems to be that our visual culture is overrun with sexually objectifying images.  Most people, whether conservative or liberal, seem to agree that such images are harmful; yet few can defend this position with clarity and coherence.  Perhaps this difficulty has its roots in the confusion surrounding the concept of objectification itself.  This course will explore the social, cultural, visual, philosophical, and ethical aspects of the phenomenon of sexual objectification.  As we explore images from a variety of sources, both classical and contemporary, as well as a diverse set of texts, we will also investigate questions concerning gender inequality, the relation of sexuality to identity, and the Western tendency to marginalize, ignore, or vilify the body.  We will wonder: who is sexually objectified, and why?  Is sexual objectification always ethically unacceptable?  Are there ways of representing bodies that do not constitute objectification?  Students will complete a variety of assignments, ranging from short daily papers to a semester-long research project, and will be expected to take a lively part in class discussions.

Courses for Upper-Class Honors Students

Upper-level GST seminar - GST 305 H
The Elon Film Heritage
Professor Ray Johnson

Monday-Wednesday 1:40-3:20

During the decades of the 1930's and 1940's two extraordinary men, Martin Ritt and Kenneth Utt, were students at Elon College. Working on films like Hud, Sounder and Norma Rae, Martin Ritt became a significant director, one of the most important directors of films of social consciousness.  After a successful career in theater and television, Kenneth Utt produced motion pictures like Midnight Cowboy, Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia. Three of his films are on the American Film Institute's list of the one hundred greatest American films of all time. This course examines the lives and artistic achievements of these two filmmakers and explores the impact Elon College had on their careers.