Current Students

The Powers of War and Peace: The President, Congress, and the Courts
IDH 3400-001
Instructor: George Peirce
M/W | 9:30 - 10:45 a.m.
Location: SMC B335

This seminar examines historical and contemporary American constitutional questions of national security focused on the powers of war and peace vested in the President and Congress, together with the role of the federal courts in the national security arena. Historical examples will span the period from the nation’s founding to the current conflict in Ukraine. Students will apply constitutional and international law principles to real-world and notional scenarios to assess the separate but sometimes overlapping powers of our three branches of government. Readings and class discussions will also provide the basis for student-led class presentations focused on national security scenarios, including a “presidential debate” on war powers, with questions from both the commentator and student audience. During the final two class sessions, students will assume the roles of Members and legal counsel of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and counsel from the Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State, to address pivotal issues concerning war powers in the context of two crisis situations. Course grades will be based on a seminar paper and student presentations.    

Undergraduate Research
IDH 4910-001
0-1 credit hours
Instructor: Cayla Lanier
T | 2 - 3 p.m.
Location: SMC C138

Military veterans are considered both a protected and vulnerable population in the U.S., with veterans being less likely to access physicians and more likely to endure health problems. They have a slightly higher unemployment rate and experience housing insecurity and a higher rate compared to the general population. USF is hosting a Veteran’s Resource Expo in January 2024 to share resources with veterans in our local community. Students in this undergraduate research group will design and execute a project to engage with and collect data from veterans that attend the expo, and will then analyze and summarize the data to share with the general public. You may register for 0-1 credits; 0 credit courses will not charge tuition or receive a grade, but will be listed on your transcript to document participation. This is not a core course and does not meet Honors requirements.

Promoting Literacy in Children’s Literature
IDH 4950-001
Instructor: Lindsay Persohn
T | 11:00 a.m. -1:45 p.m.
Location: Off-site

With a $4-billion-a-year industry, children's literature shapes literacy rates, societal norms, politics, finance, education, history, and art. Structured through stages of literacy development, you will explore the wonderful world of children's literature, learning theoretical and critical perspectives as well as practical engagement with children’s literature through community-engaged and virtual reality settings. By developing your own critical literacy skills to analyze multimodal texts and explore diverse viewpoints expressed in children's literature, we will work to foster discussion-rich environments, spark creativity, and build literacy development pathways for young learners in our community. You will also learn how to select top-quality children's texts and employ effective instructional strategies for deeper engagement and appreciation. Through this course, we will dive into the dynamic representations of diverse cultures, developmental literacy concepts, and artistic excellence. This multifaceted knowledge and skill set not only enriches personal and professional lives but also contributes to the betterment of communities and society at large. Understanding children's literature, developing critical literacy skills, and working with young learners empower individuals to make a positive impact on the next generation. This course will take place at a local elementary school. Be sure to include a buffer for drive time.

Business Consulting Course
IDH 4950-502
Course Meeting Times TBA
Course Cap: 8
Modality: 100% Online
Instructor: Gregory Smogard

In this high-impact, experiential learning course, student teams will be paired with a real company located in another country to learn about, research, and address a real-world business problem. The consulting projects are based on specific client needs and will address a wide range of business, industry and/or organizational issues in a global context. Each client will have a unique focus and will 1) provide students with an existing business challenge 2) require applying multi-disciplinary concepts, data collection and analysis, critical thinking, dynamic collaboration, fact-based decisions, and high-performance teamwork and 3) conclude with the consultants presenting actionable recommendations to the client and the faculty advisor. Student teams will meet with the faculty advisor weekly for coaching and problem-solving sessions, while working on their own to research issues and develop recommendations. The culminating project will be presented to the client’s management team. Teams will determine their weekly meeting time after the first week of class. Email Dr. Greg Smogard at gsmogard@usf.edu for a permit.

Business Consulting Course
IDH 4950-503
Course Meeting Times TBA
Course Cap: 4
Modality: In person
Location: TBA
Instructor: Gregory Smogard

In this high-impact, experiential learning course, student teams will be paired with a local company to learn about, research, and address a real-world business problem. The consulting projects are based on specific client needs and will address a wide range of business, industry and/or organizational issues. Each client will have a unique focus and will 1) provide students with an existing business challenge 2) require applying multi-disciplinary concepts, data collection and analysis, critical thinking, dynamic collaboration, fact-based decisions, and high-performance teamwork and 3) conclude with the consultants presenting actionable recommendations to the client and the faculty advisor. Student teams will meet with the faculty advisor weekly for coaching and problem-solving sessions, while working on their own to research issues and develop recommendations. The culminating project will be presented to the client’s management team. Teams will determine their weekly meeting time after the first week of class. Email Dr. Greg Smogard at gsmogard@usf.edu for a permit.

Thesis II
IDH 4970-002
Instructor: Cayla Lanier
Day/Time: TBA
Location: SMC C138

Literature of Diaspora, Migration, and Exile
IDH 3100-601
Instructor: Tracey Maher
TR | 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

While migration is as old as humanity, the 20th and 21st centuries have seen an unprecedented amount of human movement across the globe. In this course, we will read and analyze a broad range of literary narratives of migration, diaspora, and exile. Our texts will include novels, novellas, short stories, memoirs, and poetry. These texts address displacement and movement in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa, and across deserts, seas, and borders. In addition to the key concepts of migration, diaspora, and exile, we will explore ideas such as home, homeland, border, travel, émigré, and refugee. We will think about motivations and reasons for displacement and movement, as well as the complexities of departures, journeys, arrivals, and returns. As we explore these texts and concepts, we will consider how the experience of human displacement is refracted by factors such as gender, class, religion, race, and historical context. We will contemplate how past experiences of displacement can shed light on migration, diaspora, and exile in our own historical moment. We will also venture outside the classroom to visit museum exhibits pertinent to our subject. Throughout the course, students will be invited to reflect on how their own personal experiences and family histories may relate to the narratives we are reading and the concepts we are discussing. 

Happiness and the Meaning of Life
IDH 3600-601
Instructor: Blaze Marpet
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

This course explores two concepts that are often thought central to a good human life: happiness and meaning. Believing that one’s life has meaning seems integral to being happy, and many people maintain that “to be happy” is a good answer to the question “What is the meaning of life?” But what, after all, is happiness, and does human life even have a meaning? If life does have a meaning, what does it consist in? The purpose of this course is for students to formulate their own answers to these questions in a logically rigorous and methodical manner. Along the way, we will consider several subsidiary questions, such as: How does happiness relate to other import concepts, like well-being and morality? Can happiness be measured, should it be, and if so, how? How does the meaning of life relate to other import concepts, like freedom, creativity, absurdity, and mortality? Does the fact that each of us will die and that humanity will go extinct (by our own doing, by the death of the sun, or by some other cataclysmic event) mean that our lives are meaningless? In probing these topics, we will read classical philosophical texts, such as those by Plato and Aristotle, as well as recent scholarship by philosophers, psychologists, and economists. 

IDH 3600-602
Happiness and the Meaning of Life
Instructor: Blaze Marpet
MW 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

This course explores two concepts that are often thought central to a good human life: happiness and meaning. Believing that one’s life has meaning seems integral to being happy, and many people maintain that “to be happy” is a good answer to the question “What is the meaning of life?” But what, after all, is happiness, and does human life even have a meaning? If life does have a meaning, what does it consist in? The purpose of this course is for students to formulate their own answers to these questions in a logically rigorous and methodical manner. Along the way, we will consider several subsidiary questions, such as: How does happiness relate to other import concepts, like well-being and morality? Can happiness be measured, should it be, and if so, how? How does the meaning of life relate to other import concepts, like freedom, creativity, absurdity, and mortality? Does the fact that each of us will die and that humanity will go extinct (by our own doing, by the death of the sun, or by some other cataclysmic event) mean that our lives are meaningless? In probing these topics, we will read classical philosophical texts, such as those by Plato and Aristotle, as well as recent scholarship by philosophers, psychologists, and economists. 

Mindfulness, Meditation, and Modernity in a Global Context
IDH 4200-601
Instructor: Blaze Marpet
MW | 2 – 3:15 p.m.

This course examines the theory and practice of Buddhist meditation from its inception to modernity. We will pay particular attention to the historical origins and developments of various Buddhist meditative practices and their interpretations. We will also investigate the causes, implications, and possibilities of the popularization and proliferation of mindfulness meditation in mainstream U.S. culture. Central questions to this examination will be: What have been the aims and functions of Buddhist meditative practices in their historical, social, and religious contexts? Is “secular” meditation practice possible, and relatedly, can one be Buddhist “without beliefs,” as one author recently put it? Finally, what are the potential dangers and pitfalls associated with meditation? Materials for our study include ancient meditation manuals and expository treatises, as well as contemporary writings by religious studies scholars, psychologists, and philosophers.

Healing Arts at the James Museum
IDH 4950-601
Instructor: Catherine Wilkins
R | 2 - 4:45 p.m.

In this collaboration between the USF Judy Genshaft Honors College and the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, Honors students learn by experience how interactions with the arts can benefit individuals on both sides of the health care equation – patients and physicians alike. By the end of the semester, students will have learned how particular methods of engaging with art can help people access and express memories, improve communication skills, externalize emotions, relieve stress and anxiety, increase observation abilities, and promote positive feelings. We will consider how these benefits relate to people dealing with a range of medical conditions, providing therapeutic relief. We’ll practice facilitating these methods ourselves, in preparation for helping our community partner, the James Museum, deliver their Art in Mind program. Community members diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and related conditions will come to the museum to receive therapeutic tours from us, as a class! Finally, this capstone course will allow students to participate in furthering the research at the intersection of art, medicine, and community engagement. Please note: this class will be primarily held at the James Museum in downtown St. Petersburg, a 10-minute walk from campus (.5 miles). Please allow time in your schedule for traveling to and from the museum. 

Honors Thesis
IDH 4970-601
Instructor: Blaze Marpet
F |1-2 PM

Acquisition of Knowledge

Ranging from classical philosophy to the digital age, this first-year Honors course invites students to explore the different ways in which knowledge is created and consumed, how understanding is cultivated, the various relationships possible between knowledge and the self, and the implications of these in our contemporary world. Through an examination of common topics, studio experiences, and assignments, all sections of this course will explore different ways of knowing (e.g., historical, philosophical, scientific, creative, etc.) 

Note: This freshman seminar is intended as an introduction to the Judy Genshaft Honors College community for incoming students. There will be one section of this Honors core course on the Tampa campus in Spring 2024.

Rooted in Place 
IDH 2930-001
Instructor: Andrew Hargrove (with Dora Rodriguez) 
MW | 12:30PM – 1:45 PM 
Sustainable Futures 
 
This 0 credit course fulfills 50 hours of community service. Some seats are reserved for students residing in the Honors LLC.  If you are an LLC student, please fill out this form to submit an application for one of the LLC seats. Dan Woods will confirm your placement in this course. 
 
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” -Alfred Austin 
The great challenge of our time is to build and nurture sustainable communities. Gardening is an act of compassion – for one’s self, their community members, and ecological partners. Planting and growing food and flowers can promote the health and wellbeing of all our community members – whether in the JGHC, USF, or our surrounding areas. 
 
This spring, I welcome you to build our JGHC community garden. You will learn valuable skills you can take with you beyond the classroom, including how to reduce the impact of food deserts through community gardening, improve air and soil quality, increase biodiversity of plants and animals, reduce waste through composting, increase physical activity through gardening maintenance, improve mental health and promote relaxation, and promote community wellness through education. In this experiential learning class, you can gain the tools to create a better world for yourself and others through establishing the community garden. 

Honors Orchestra 
IDH 2930-090 
Instructor: Calvin Falwell  
T | 5PM – 6:15PM 
 
Did you play an instrument in high school, or were a member of your local youth orchestra or band?  Have you been looking for an artistic outlet for your creative personality?  Then you are in the right place!  Join the USF Honors Orchestra this semester and explore the world of classical and popular music. This flexible and inviting group of musicians is open to all levels. We hope that you will join us. 

Honors Choir  
IDH 2930-091 
Instructor: Adam Davidson 
F | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.

“The only thing better than singing is more singing.” - Ella Fitzgerald

Love to sing? Like to sing? Interested in singing? Join the Honors Choir. All musical backgrounds are welcome. No prior choir experience required. If you enjoy singing, want a break from your studies, and you’re interested in a warm, welcoming community of like-minded students, please add your voice to the Honors Choir. The choir offers a solo concert once per semester and may perform at other events, including Honors Convocation and the USF School of Music Choral Concert.

The Afterlife in the Ancient World 
IDH 3100-001 
Instructor: Jeffery Donley  
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

It’s a universal truth: Everyone — including you — will eventually die. After thousands of years of pondering it, we still find death one of life’s most perplexing mysteries. This interdisciplinary course integrates religious, ethical, psychological, sociological, and cultural dimensions of death and the afterlife in four of the most influential ideologies of the ancient world as seen through a cultural history of ideas and geographical practices, architecture, reliefs, and archaeology — relating to death and the afterlife. The focus of this course will be one of multi-media presentations, reading, reflection, writing, collaborative inquiry, discussion, and understanding the diversity of the four most dominant ancient global ideologies of death, judgment, and the afterlife. 

Students will investigate the four most influential ancient geographical and world ideologies and their primary sources for the concept of the afterlife. First, we will begin in ancient Egypt with its Egyptian theology of death, mastabas, pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, astrophysics, zoomorphism, mummification, judgment, and the afterlife. Second, students will explore ancient Greece and Rome with its Greco-Roman concept of Hades, anthropomorphism, monsters and deities, and heroes such as Heracles (the Roman name is Hercules), Aeneas, Sophocles’ Antigone (441 BC), Virgil’s Aeneid (29–19 BC), Tartarus, and katabasis (descent into the underworld). Third, we will investigate ancient Israel with its Hebrew concept of death and Sheol (the Hebrew word for the Greek Hades). And fourth, students will learn ancient Christianity’s ideology of death, Hades, Heaven, Tartarus, Judgment, Resurrection, and Hell that became a global movement throughout the Roman Empire and beyond to our modern twenty-first century. In this course, we will write to understand what we are thinking, what we’re seeing, what it means, what we desire, and what we fear.

Narrative Cartography: Mapping the Stories of Your Life 
IDH 3100-002 
Instructor: Ulluminair Salim  
W | 11 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship

“You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach; because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” — Frederick Buechner, author and theologian 
 
Cartography is the study and practice of map-making, and Narrative Cartography invites students to map the stories of their lives. Through reading, writing, and multilayered forms of journeying, students will tell stories that matter to them, from the mundane to the profound. This practice-oriented course leverages written narrative to visit personal places seldom explored such as the meaning in and of our names; how and why we hold the political values that we do; the stories that our bodies tell; death, dying, and remembrance; our personal foodways; and what it means to celebrate our failures, among other concerns. At its most expansive, this course is a foray into our shared humanity and recognition of the universal in the particular. 

Writing for the Ear: Radio Features, Podcasts, Documentaries 
IDH 3100-003 
Instructor: Deepak Singh  
MW | 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

In this course, students will get to explore the art of writing for the ear, and the unique characteristics of audio as a storytelling medium. In the world of audio journalism and storytelling, where every word resonates and every sound matters, effective writing takes center stage. This course will immerse the students in the art of crafting compelling narratives specifically tailored for radio, equipping them with the skills to create engaging radio/audio features and documentaries. 

During the first part of the semester, they will analyze renowned radio programs, podcasts, and documentaries for inspiration, and develop an understanding of pacing, tone, and style in radio writing. In the second half of the course, students will write and produce their own audio features, and workshop their peers’ work.  

Art in Motion  
IDH 3100-004 
Instructor: Tina Piracci 
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Engaged Citizenship 

From the currents in our oceans, to the electrical current in our bodies, energy moves all things around us. In this course, we will explore how we harness these different energies to produce forms of kinetic artwork through the investigation of the expressive nature of computational approaches to art and design in order to create interactive works of kinetic sculptures or installations. Along the way, we will also look at a variety of strange, whimsical, and beautiful works created by historical and contemporary artists and technologists, and we will re-think computation from a poetic, provocative perspective.

To create art that moves you, we will explore the locomotion at various scales, including the kineticism of small motors and actuators using microprocessors and the study of various hand operated, nature-driven or electrical mechanisms. We will introduce Arduino, an open-source library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for makers, students, hobbyists, artists, and professionals, as well as other tools for kinetics and prototyping, such as 3-D printing. These tools will be utilized to explore various modes of creative expression.

Curatorial Practices + Public Art  
IDH 3100-005 
Instructor: Tina Piracci 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship 

Through an exploration of artists, public artworks, curatorial practices, and research, this course will provide insights to the behind the scenes of the artworld. In hopes of granting accessibility through the arts, we will venture into social, environmental, abstract and other emergent themes in the artworld. Additionally, we will delve into topics and processes about the art selections for the Judy Genshaft Honors College building and exercise skills needed to curate an exhibition. Students will immerse themselves in this practice through various activities such as creating their own gallery mock-ups as they work towards proposing a gallery exhibition as a class for an on or off campus venue. By visiting local art galleries and museums, we will refine our understanding of the creative world around us. Each student will first identify and research their individual curatorial voice as they strive to investigate their interests and goals as a member of the art realm and then work collaboratively as a group to make real-world contributions to their community. 

Art + the Environment  
IDH 3100-006 
Instructor: Tina Piracci 
MW | 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 

With rising sea levels and global temperatures climbing, our earth is in need of immediate regenerative action. This studio art course will propose various forms of restorative design and art activism to address climate change, threatened ecosystems and the environment. Utilizing design, fine art, and other creative modes of expressive solutions, we will research potential calls for creative action, whether via art activism and awareness or design implementation and fieldwork. This class does not require previous art experience and various mediums will be open for exploration. Through community partnerships, we will investigate opportunities for impact design with a focus on local oyster restoration via 3D printing ceramic habitat bricks, propose or implement a mural project in collaboration with the USF Botanical Gardens, as well as other topics curated by students. Our oyster brick restoration project is done in collaboration with Dr. William Ellis from the Integrative Biology department and will involve research, partnerships, and field work. With opportunities to ideate and develop design proposals with the environment in mind, we will collaborate with community researchers and organizations to take creative action for a cleaner tomorrow and bring awareness to sustainability. 

History of Electronic Music 
IDH 3100-07 
Instructor: Calvin Falwell 
M | 5:00PM - 7:45PM 

This course will explore how, in the early 20th century, composers began redefining the concept of instruments and organized sound, in turn redefining music, with modernism, futurism and postmodernism, ultimately leading music into a new era. We will dive headfirst into Classic electronic music of the Avant-garde, Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and its collection of sub-genres such as House, Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Trap, and Hardstyle. While this is a history course, there will be a considerable amount of sound collecting and electro-acoustic composing.

Stop Motion Animation 
IDH 3100-008 
Instructor: Tamara Nemirovsky 
R | 9:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship

In this course, students will create socially conscious stop-motion animation artwork. Students will explore textural imagery and conceptual animation filmmaking by developing their own creative research projects. Projects will examine community issues while incorporating multiple perspectives into production decisions when creating a meaningful and reflective stop-motion animation film.

Emphasis is on animation film language, experimental stop-motion animation techniques, concept development, and narrative structures as well as all the production stages (pre-production, production, post-production) and technical aspects required to produce a stop-motion animation film. This course does not require previous animation knowledge or experience.

Creator, Images, and Sounds 
IDH 3100-009 
Instructor: Tamara Nemirovsky 
R | 12:30 – 3:15 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship

In this class, students will learn how to produce a video that reflects their understanding of current events and their own response to them through the creation of a fictional narrative. They will become creators of images and sounds that capture their own subjective interpretation of problems that local communities are facing today.

This class will focus on concept development, image, and sound composition, research, storyboarding, film language, and construction of meaning through the creation of multiple visual layers and sounds during filming and editing as well as all technical aspects (camera, lighting, sound, editing software) required to produce a creative video. This course does not require previous film/art knowledge or experience. You will use a DLSR camera. If the students do not have access to a DLSR, they will use their smartphone cameras. 

Everything Now is Mashups, Remix, and Hybrids 
IDH 3100-010 
Instructor: Alan Blanchard 
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Although terms like mashup, remix, and hybrid (MRH) seem so 21st century, humans have been blending themselves for quite some time - think centaurs, mermaids, and Dracula. The goal of this course is to explicate this human MRH tendency as it manifests in art, media, and technology in the modern world. From a theoretical standpoint, the course will focus on the human response to mashups using bits of theories from Soviet Montage, emotion, nostalgia, rhetoric, agnotology, scientific knowledge, legacy, digital media, and utopia as well as address the demands of the 24/7 attention economy. We’ll investigate digital media mashups, specifically mashup music videos and the mimetic effect of so-called reaction videos. For remixes, we’ll focus on memes, deep fakes, and reimaged music videos. For hybrids, we’ll wrestle with the blending of analog and digital technology surrounding us (the internet of things), hybrid cars, AI art, and hybrid humans. For their final project, students may choose to create a portfolio of MRH art, produce a 10-minute video essay reflecting on an important MRH artifact, or write an 8-10 page MRH seminar paper.

100 Days of Discovery: Cultivating Your Curiosity and Finding Relevance
IDH 3100-011 
Instructor: Francesca Arnone-Lewis 
M/W | 8 – 9:15 a.m.

While facing the demands and routines of a degree program, you may not necessarily cultivate opportunities nurturing your awareness of the journey as much as your progress toward graduation. Drawing cultural, societal, and community connections aligned with their plan of study, this course affords each student the chance to construct a unique and personally meaningful 100-day project connecting their curiosities and passions to aspects of their desired degree outcomes. Coursework emphasizes continuous reflection on the process, encouraging students to investigate new directions and possibilities as their projects transform over the semester. 

Deconstructing What We Love 
IDH 3100-012 
Instructor: Dylan Scott   
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship

We have access to media from around the world. Our experience is limited only by our imagination. “Philosophical” deconstruction can help to orient us as we engage with this developing global perspective. By critically analyzing the logic and rhetoric of contemporary media –- and, when necessary, subverting this logic and rhetoric – we may obtain a more true and just reflection of reality. Or we may open ourselves up to a variety of risky misinterpretations.

This course first surveys some exemplary writings on the philosophical method of deconstruction. These frame the method rehearsed for the remainder of the course. The course progresses by analyzing and deconstructing contemporary pieces of media, including but not limited to: film, music, literature, digital content, and public presentations. Students should expect to devote time primarily to engaging with assigned content and to attending class. At least once, students will be asked to attempt a philosophical deconstruction of a piece of media of their own choosing. 

Electric Lit 
IDH 3100-013 
Instructor: Dennis Mont’ros   
MW | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m. 

We are surrounded by the powerful influence of stories. Likewise, our daily lives are immersed in technology. It seems only natural to merge these two forces which guide much of our human experience. This course is designed to enhance students’ storytelling ability by introducing Generative Artificial Intelligence tools as a supplement to creativity.  

The primary goal of this course is to build a digital text- and image-based story (true to life, fictional, or a little of both). Students will learn the elements of storytelling to present compelling characters, a vivid setting, and a compelling plot, then utilize AI tools to enhance the text and images they conceive. The culminating project is a digital story featuring text and images such as manga, a graphic novel, an animated short, or a web comic. Along the way, we will study generative AI technology fundamentals, digital ethics, and practical uses of generative AI tools.

Solarpunk: Imagining a sustainable future 
IDH 3100-014 
Instructor: Andrew Hargrove  
MW | 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 

It is becoming increasingly difficult to escape the alarming and dystopian news, media, and narratives that the Earth is being destroyed and the world is ending. These messages can, understandably, lead to feelings of anxiety and helplessness in the face of problems outside of our control. But what if I told you there was an alternative, or dare I say punk, way to view the climate change problem we have found ourselves in? For a message rooted in care for each other, the other, and the planet, and imagining a more sustainable future – join us as we explore the radically hopeful world of Solarpunk. In this seminar style course, we will experience the power of art while we read, watch, create, and enjoy Solarpunk media to reveal the stories of nature, community, and empathy we need to save the world. 

Monsters, Sages, and Supercrips: Disability in Pop Culture 
IDH 3100-015 
Instructor: Adam Davidson   
TR | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Medical Humanities

Disability is everywhere when you start to look for it, but are you listening, seeing, sensing, or attending to its many manifestations? Have your reflective abilities been diminished (disabled?) by over-exposure to old tropes and assumptions? This course will attempt to reanimate your faculties and to hone your critical skills on how popular media wields and expresses bodily and cognitive difference.  
  
From the freak show to Oscar winning films, through stories, music, TV, and including social media and video games, we will identify and analyze the varied representations and consider their possible meanings. In this course we will unpack scholarly and everyday perspectives on disability. We will explore the meanings of “popular,” consider the role of technology, and develop tools for cultural analysis. We will also explore the work of disabled people in popular media and consider how their experiences and efforts shape cultural perspectives. 

Shakespeare and the Early Enlightenment: Liminal Space for Liminal Times 
IDH 3100-016 
Instructor: David Garrison 
MW | 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

Liminality and transitional space is nearly an obsession of the plays of Shakespeare and reflect the time in which he lived and his own personal experience.  We will explore many of these liminal experiences through Shakespeare's Plays: between royal and citizen, superstition and science, Catholic and Protestant, male and female, rural and urban, et cetera.  We will examine Shakespeare's dramatic influence on history and culture along with the political, social, and cultural forces most influential to his own work. We will read, discuss, and perform several of the works of Shakespeare. Our discussions will range in topics from the performance of his plays and poetry, to the history of their performance, their political relevance and importance, the philosophical and political movements and events that influenced his works and reception, the political and philosophical movements that were influenced by his works, and more. 

Fight Club and the Crisis of Modern Masculinity
IDH 3100-017
Instructor: Zachary Purdue
MW | 2:00PM - 3:15PM

Almost three decades since its original publication, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club continues to attract new readers and media attention. In addition to its film adaptation, Palahniuk has more recently released two sequels as graphic novels (Fight Club 2 and Fight Club 3), as well as a prequel short story and vast interview commentary. In this class, we consume all of the Fight Club universe's source material, along with Palahniuk's related interviews and the academic articles of selected commentators on the book. We focus on how Palahniuk articulates a perceived lack of purpose and meaning in modern constructions of masculinity, and the dark and dangerous paths this lack opens up. Classes consist of seminar-style close readings and discussions of primary sources. There is little to no classical lecturing. Evaluation methods are almost entirely writing and participation, with no tests.

 

Climb Every Mountain: Geology of our National Parks 
IDH 3350-001 
Instructor: Judy McIlrath 
TR | 8 – 9:15 a.m. 
Study Away Option 

We won't actually be climbing mountains, unless you participate in the optional field trip where we will climb some small cinder cone volcanoes. Instead, we will see how mountains are built along with discussing other geological processes occurring in varied landscapes as we journey through many of the National Parks across the country. Take an adventure with me to discover how these landscapes formed and how they've changed through geologic time, why some house explosive volcanoes and why others provide tranquil scenery. We'll discuss the basics of Geology and how they apply to park landscapes. It is said that the National Parks are America's greatest idea. During our travels through the parks, we'll contemplate the controversy and dilemma their very existence presents and learn some practical life lessons along the way.

The optional field trip is offered so that you can experience some of the parks first hand. Come climb with me, and I think you will agree that setting these lands aside for all people and for future generations truly is America's greatest idea. 

The Engaged Citizen - Accomplish Real Change Today 
IDH 3350-002 
Instructor: Michael Cross 
TR | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Engaged Citizenship 

All assignments in this course are in service to a community partner whose mission is to make the local Tampa Bay region a better place to live, work, and play. In prior terms we worked with the Glazer Children’s museum to expand a program, “Tampa Bay Learn & Play,” which served pre-kindergarten low-income children with opportunities that would enhance their school-readiness. As a result of adopting proposals by JGHC students, they significantly expanded the population served as well as securing a renewal on an existing grant and being awarded a new grant. In this course, we will work on behalf of a similar community partner by conducting discovery activities to understand their needs, leveraging scholarly research to inform our suggestions, all of which will be presented to mentors from USF’s Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation. A final cumulative proposal will be delivered to the community partner for their use in advancing their mission. Examples of UNSDGs that may be covered in this course are UNSDG (4) Quality Education and UNSDG (8) Decent Work and Economic Growth. 

Local Health in Global Society - How to Be Effective in Systems, Bureaucracies, and Institutions 
IDH 3350-003 
Instructor: Michael Cross 
TR | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Medical Humanities 

Experts from USF’s Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation (IADI) will join our course at key points to provide insight and mentorship from their experiences in the world of health and institutions. You will be assigned work geared to support the mission of a non-profit organization in the local Tampa Bay region that includes understanding their challenges, building a network of support on their behalf, and navigating complex problems. In previous semesters, we have worked with WeNourish, an organization founded to ensure that those undernourished in our local community due to the pandemic were provided with hot meals. They were able to do this through a grant from Hillsborough County which empowered them to sustain local restaurants which would otherwise close from lack of business. With mentorship from IADI faculty, you will develop a substantive proposal on behalf of a non-profit as well as present your progress throughout. Examples of UNSDGs that may be covered in this course are UNSDG (2) Zero Hunger and UNSDG (3) Good Health and Well-being. 

What is the Environment? 
IDH 3350-004 
Instructor: Andrew Hargrove 
MW | 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 

You may think the answer to the question ‘what is the environment?’ is simple, but this seminar style course will critically explore the way the social construction of the environment has changed through history and how our conception of what the environment is affects how we treat it and what we determine is acceptable. In this course, we will take a global and local perspective on how the environment is perceived around the world, what we are doing about solving the many environmental problems globally, and how a shift in perspective can spark change.

Natural Hazards of the Earth's Surface 
IDH 3350-005 
Instructor: Timothy Dixon 
MW | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship

In 2003, heat waves killed more than 70,000 people in western Europe, while an earthquake in Iran killed 23,000 people. In 2004, nearly a quarter of a million people were killed around the boundaries of the Indian ocean due to a huge earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. In 2005, the US experienced its costliest natural disaster, as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. In 2011, Japan experienced an earthquake and tsunami similar to the 2004 Indonesia event. Despite Japan’s long experience with such events, its economy was devastated, mainly from secondary consequences. In the last five years unprecedented wildfires have devastated parts of California, Hawaii, Australia, Canada, and the Amazon rain forest, while the recent Covid-19 pandemic killed millions of people. Despite their obvious differences, the events described above have several common causes. This class will discuss the background science behind these disasters, look at associated costs and mitigation strategies, and attempt to answer the following question: if we know so much about the science behind these events, why do they continue to afflict human society and impose ever-increasing costs?

The course will provide a basic understanding of Earth and environmental sciences with a focus on natural hazards and discuss ways society can improve its responses to natural and human-caused hazards to reduce fatalities and costs. For non-science majors, it will also provide an introduction to the scientific method and quantitative analysis. 

Power: The Greatest Civilization—Ancient Rome 
IDH 3400-001 
Instructor: Jeffery Donley  
MW | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.

One of the most central concepts in sociology is "power," which is employed in three ways: 1) Authority (power justified by the beliefs of the voluntarily obedient); 2) Manipulation (power wielded unbeknown to the powerless); and 3) Coercion (the use of brute force to compel one to do something). The greatest civilization in ancient times was the Roman Empire. Power is the single word that best describes Rome's social, political, religious, cultural, and historical beliefs and behaviors. The course timeframe will be 1260 BC–AD 180, where students will investigate the social and political power struggles that occurred from Aeneas, the Father of the Romans, to the founding of Rome with Romulus and Remus, through the Age of Kings, the Roman Republic, and Imperial Rome. Students will examine the contributions that Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, Marcus Lisinius Crassus, Cleopatra the 7th, Octavian (Caesar Augustus), and others brought to power, including the development of imperial institutions, the Roman War Machine (army and navy), geographical expansion (Romanization), monumental architecture, engineering, and language. As part of this course, students will examine Rome's organization of power as it transitioned from the Age of King's to a representative democracy (the Republic) to a centralized imperial authority (The Roman Empire).

Students will investigate social life in the Roman Empire, including daily routines, the privileges enjoyed by citizens, social and familial ties, and religious activities. A bonus will be learning the amazing parallels between Roman social relationships, culture, history, and institutions and their intersections with modern American life and determining how that affects people today. This is a multi-media course with in-class discussion of the material and how it hermeneutically applies to them as they develop their own views. Students will also investigate Lord Acton's famous saying, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" (1887).  

Popular Culture and Social Change 
IDH 3400-002 
Instructor: David Jenkins  
TR | 2 – 3:15 p.m.

This course examines popular culture as a vehicle for social change. Looking at contemporary popular culture in context of both the "culture wars" and the push against global neoliberalism in comparative perspective with culture and social movements of the past, this course examines how power and resistance operates in society. In varying ways, cultural products force new perspectives and call for new ways of being through the creation of what Kenneth Burke referred to as "alternate ethical universes," operating as "equipment for living." We will explore relevant debates, historical and contemporary, concerning the impact of popular culture on society. There is a focus on social media, television and film, music, comics, video games, and the arts. The approach to this course is theoretical, practical, and transnational. It draws from sociology, communication, critical theory, cultural studies, postcolonialism, and other related fields.  

This course introduces students to key sociological concepts and their relevance for understanding and explaining major issues in both culture and social change. It aims to define and interrogate fundamental concepts in sociology and cultural studies, while also illustrating these through timely and topical social issues of global scope in the news. By the end of the semester students will possess a methodological toolkit to analyze and interpret cultural artifacts, allowing them to participate more confidently in the "unending conversation."  

The Melting Pot: Food, Migration, and Globalization 
IDH 3400-003 
Instructor: David Jenkins  
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

The U.S. is a country of various regional cuisines, influenced by waves of forced and voluntary migrations consisting of Native Americans, European settlers, enslaved Africans, and successive waves of European, Asian, African, and Latin American immigrants. Even the national narrative of the country as an ostensible melting pot of cultures implies a culinary aspect and aspiration: to be American, and to become American, means to live in a country of immigrants who have all given it a flavor with their distinct traditions. Yet throughout the country’s history, what has been considered ‘proper’ food has always been intricately connected to complex questions of race, class, and ethnicity. In this class, we explore questions such as: How and why does food matter for national identity? What is American food? What type of foods are accepted as American? How should one eat to be accepted as an American? How does one’s physical and social space in the U.S. food system affect the types of foods available for consumption? What is 'authentic' anyway? 

Eco-Consciousness: New Horizons in Work and Travel
IDH 3400-004 
Instructor: Catherine Vazquez
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 

Our planet’s resources are finite and with contemporary climatic and environmental pressures our acceptance of sustainable approaches to living is becoming progressively urgent. Industries are increasingly recognizing the need to shift away from a linear assumption in which economic engagement and material consumption continue to rely on the production of waste while disregarding environmental needs, but how to approach such changes and what changes can/should be made is widely disputed.

In this course, students will learn ways in which industries are engaging on a variety of platforms to imagine and create sustainable approaches to human existence that encourages the development and implementation of sustainable futures for how we interact with the world around us. Specifically, we will look at changes in our approach to work and travel to learn about the effectiveness of these changes in terms of sustainability and explore alternative approaches which are both environmentally and economically sound. Students will examine the ways in which governments, industry leaders, and today’s scholars are imagining sustainable futures through consideration, discussion, and research while focusing on how we might reimagine key concepts for the economic survival of billions of individuals around the globe.

For the Good of the Community
IDH 3400-005 
Instructor: Michael Tkacik
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Engaged Citizenship

Why do people serve others? As an educated person in a democratic society, do you have an obligation to serve others? What is community? What role do communities play in communicating values, providing meaning and shaping the character of its members? What factors contribute to, challenge and threaten communities and communal membership? How do diversity and plurality edify communal experiences, and how are some marginalized from communities due to race/ethnicity; social class; sexual orientation; etc.? What principles can serve as foundational for service and decision-making which might transform communities and facilitate the common good?

Informed by the mission and values of the Judy Genshaft Honors College which espouses experiential learning and community service, this course will provide students the opportunity to examine the foundations of service and community and learn to view social, economic, political and religious aspects of community and community organization from various perspectives. Students will have the opportunity for hands-on learning by serving their community during the course. Students will also share about their service experiences and reflect on those experiences while considering course readings. Serving others can be perspective-altering and life-transforming.

Global Health with People First 
IDH 3400-006 
Instructor: Holly Singh  
TR | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Medical Humanities  

This course introduces students to the general principles and foundations of public health using a global framework and giving particular emphasis to qualitative and mixed methods health research. This approach centers the experiences and perspectives of people who comprise health systems, experience health systems, and face the consequences of policy. It introduces students to the social and behavioral sciences through cultural and sociopolitical inquiry and aims to cultivate ethical ideas and practices pertaining to civic engagement, dimensions of human experience, and the complexity of social interaction. 

The Challenge of Becoming an Environmentalist 
IDH 3400-007 
Instructor: Gregory McCreery 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 

What does it take to be an environmentalist? What should one eat? How can one responsibly engage in a consumerist culture? How should one spend one’s time? What sorts of beliefs are required for environmentally friendly, sustainable actions? In our post-industrial era, heavily influenced by scientific and technological advancements, we face serious questions concerning how to relate to the environment, to one another, and to future generations. In this class, we will take up the task of considering such questions and embracing notions of sustainability in ways that combat wasteful tendencies and the loss of indigenous knowledges of architecture and agriculture. We will consider technological advancements that push us toward a “posthuman” future that offers promising benefits, but not without possible dangers. How might humanity embrace different ways of knowing that influence how we act and what we do with technological advancements? How might humans flourish by considering alternative ways of living, while incorporating technologies and alternative knowledges for the sake of sustainability? We will explore subjects such as genetic enhancement, cloning, genetically modified organisms, and life extension. In this course, we will work through theoretical approaches to environmental issues, posthumanism, technological advancement, sustainability, and indigenous knowledge, with a focus on case studies and how to engage pragmatically in the community as environmentalists. 

Communism, Fascism and Democracy: Theoretical Foundations and Contemporary Use and Abuse 
IDH 3400-008 
Instructor: David Garrison  
TR | 2 – 3:15 p.m.

"Communism," "Fascism," "Socialism," "Nationalism," "Patriotism," "Democracy," and "Capitalism" are terms that are bandied about with some abandon.  Everyone seems to have a vague notion of what they mean, but we often use them in incoherent and even contradictory ways. These concepts and terms become increasingly important during election cycles that seem to be lasting longer and becoming more polarizing and vitriolic. In this course, we will attempt to come to grips with some of the most important "isms" of contemporary politics by examining both their theoretical, historical, and cultural foundations, but also how they have evolved and changed in different social, political, and economic environments.  

Government Accountability, Democracy, and Public Trust 
IDH 3400-009 
Instructor: Stephanie Williams  
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Engaged Citizenship  

This course discusses the concepts of government accountability, democracy, and public trust by examining famous political scandals from the 20th and 21st centuries. Students in this class will look at how leaders across political parties and levels of government have abused the powers of their office, and in turn the trust and confidence of the public.  Each class will review controversies related to a wide range of topics including war and foreign policy, impeachment, the misuse of tax dollars, political bullying, fraud, and electoral misconduct. Materials for the class will include news sources, interviews, and political speeches. Each student will select one controversy for their in-class presentation and final research paper. This course fosters critical thinking, promotes civic engagement, and fosters civility among all participants in the class. 

Medicine, Drugs, & Culture 
IDH 3400-010 
Instructor: Rebecca Todd  
TR | 3:30PM – 4:45PM 
Medical Humanities   

This course will survey the relationship between a variety of mind-altering substances and cultural processes. We discuss the physiological and psychological effects of these substances – ranging from alcohol and caffeine to LSD and ecstasy – and ask why different drugs are sanctioned and prohibited by different societies. We explore the history of mind-altering substance use and its relationship with such phenomena as health, poverty, religion, popular media, inter-generational conflict, and politics. Students will explore the evolution of substance use from their indigenous roots to the modern global pharmaceutical industry. Topics will include (but are not limited to): bioethics and the medicalization of drugs; discourse and debate around medical vs. holistic, healing vs. harming, mind-controlling vs. mind-altering, and recreation vs. addiction; legal sanctions and countercultures; global trade of sugar, coffee, and nicotine; and the rise of popular pharmaceutical products (i.e., Prozac, Viagra, Adderall). Finally, we evaluate America's current drug laws with particular emphasis on the opioid epidemic.

Through seminar discussion, we will apply a variety of theoretical perspectives toward a more holistic understanding of how medicine and drugs, drug use, and addiction are conceptualized, constituted, materialized, and commodified through social and cultural norms and practices. Students will complete a generative solution-focused research project exploring how these tensions shape the way we experience our own individual and collective health and well-being. 

Food, Culture, and Communication 
IDH 3400-011 
Instructor: Rebecca Todd  
TR | 2PM – 3:15PM 
Medical Humanities 

This course will survey the relationship between food, identity, human culture, and communication. Students will challenge themselves to explore the unique roles that food plays in shaping cultural worldviews and individual identities through a cross-cultural and holistic perspective. Topics will include (but are not limited to): how food is defined, how it is produced and consumed, who does and does not eat different types of food, and how this all fits together throughout the human story.

In this class, we will apply a variety of different theoretical perspectives toward a more holistic understanding of how food is conceptualized, constituted, distributed, and materialized through social and cultural norms and practices. We will explore the static yet evolving nature of humanity’s relationship with food while exploring questions about the structural viability of past and present food production technologies, ethical food procurement strategies and decisions, and cultural variations regarding food and what is good to eat. Through course readings, discussions, and a research project, we examine different patterns of food acquisition, procurement, distribution, and health as we question the role food will play in the future of human health. 

James Baldwin and the Origins of White and Black
IDH 3400-012
Instructor: Zachary Purdue
MW | 5PM – 6:15PM
Sustainable Futures
Engaged Citizenship

When asked about the future of Black Americans and the future of America, James Baldwin remarked that the two were "insoluble". White Americans, Baldwin argued, would largely determine the country's future to the extent that they could confront the historical and existential origins of American distinctions between Black and white. Failing this task would inevitably lead to "a breaking point" in which the country's race relations would erupt into violence. America's only options for sustainable futures all required a searching, honest appraisal of the relationship between Black and white identities, identities Baldwin saw as interdependent. This course investigates Baldwin's comments surrounding what it means to be Black and white in America. We sift through Baldwin's letters, essays, and interviews to draw out his positions on the phenomenology of racial identity. Additionally, the course examines Baldwin's commitment to optimism and criticisms of pessimism, his views on gay and straight identities, and his relationships with other intellectuals and activists of the civil rights era. We also compare Baldwin's views with studies from history and the social sciences on the origins and development of Western racial distinctions. The course's approach strongly resembles courses in the history of philosophy. Classes consist of seminar-style close readings and discussions of primary sources. There is little to no classical lecturing. Evaluation methods are almost entirely writing and participation, with no tests.

Germany Beyond the Classroom* 
IDH 3400-013 
Instructor: Peter Funke 
MW | 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. 
Engaged Citizenship

Spend the semester learning about German history, culture, and language, to help us understand what it means to be German over the past 150 years and today. Then travel to Germany at the conclusion of the spring semester to immerse in facets of everyday life, cultural realia, and create connections with German students! Our home base is the University of Osnabrück, in northern Germany, with planned excursions to Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg. Osnabrück, known as the City of Peace, is a welcoming, student-friendly city with plenty to explore! For more information click here.

*You must apply and be accepted to the Honors Germany Study Abroad program before enrolling in the course.

 

Introduction to Medical Ethics through Case Studies 
IDH 3600-001 
Instructor: John Dormois 
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. 
Medical Humanities 
 
This course is permitted for students in the 7-year BS/MD program. Information explaining how to register has been emailed to 7-year students.
 
This seminar in applied medical ethics will cover a variety of subjects that will be primarily practical rather than purely philosophical. Topics to be explored include experimentation on human subjects, access to care, health care disparities, abortion, and the right to die. The primary objective will be to develop a method for approaching ethical issues in medicine. Students will be responsible for leading discussions with minimal formal lecturing. An emphasis will also be placed on the development of good communication skills, both orally and in writing. 

Argument: Democracy’s Greatest Gift? 
IDH 3600-002 
Instructor: Ralph Wilcox 
TR | 2 – 3:15 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
At a time when contemporary democracies are threatened by growing discord and divisiveness, this class examines the critical importance of argument, debate and civil discourse to citizenship and civic responsibility. From the ancient Greek city states to the contemporary world, students will evaluate the essential role of free speech, viewpoint diversity, and the exchange of ideas to strengthening the foundation across many forms of democracy. The class will explore decline in the debating tradition and the consequent threat to democracy along with the importance of individual and collective resiliency in an increasingly divided and dangerous world most often characterized by technological mediation. The class will also consider the importance of recognizing and responding to the rise of demagoguery, bullies and authoritarianism, the antithesis of democracy, in both domestic and global contexts.  
  
Students will critically assess the great debates in western civilization and beyond, the importance of presidential debates throughout the history of American democracy, and advance their own rhetorical skills through demonstrating active listening, critical thinking, forming a substantive and persuasive argument, and rebuttal.

Pilgrimage of Purpose: Meaning Making in Education, Career and Life 
IDH 3600-003 
Instructor: Mark Lane-Holbert 
TR | 8 – 9:15 a.m.
Community Partner 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
This interactive and interdisciplinary course explores current theory and practice around purpose development and meaning making, with a focus on ethical decision-making at quarterlife/college student transitions. It draws from philosophy, ethics, psychology and cultural studies as it uses the framework of pilgrimage (movement towards a destination with engagement of body, mind and spirit) to understand life purpose and discernment of goals in one's life. Methods include interactive discussions, small group tasks, reflection, guest speakers, goal setting activities, and values identification; to facilitate understanding of local and civic responsibility, social connectedness, and intrinsic motivation. We will be reading book chapters and essays from experts and visionaries in these areas, including Dr. Viktor Frankl, Paul Coelho, Dr. George Valliant, Dr. Elizabeth Lukas, and Dr. Carol Dweck, among others.   
  
Major assignments include weekly discussion tasks, a recorded Purposeful Conversation with someone around an ethical issue of civic concern, a Life Story Interview with someone having very different goals, background / life experiences than themselves, and a Capstone Reflection and Presentation. The curriculum is also built to understand and foster research-based positive emotions, values and discernment of purpose among college students. This includes weekly journals and guided activities dedicated to understanding purpose literature and stories of others’ life experience or “pilgrimage of purpose” as case studies. Students will also watch three feature length documentaries in the genre of pilgrimage and purpose and read several associated texts across various cultural and spiritual traditions. 

Controversies in Medical Research 
IDH 3600-004 
Instructor: David Diamond 
M | 2 – 4:45 p.m. 
Medical Humanities  
 
In this seminar we will investigate flaws, conflicts of interest, outright deception and breaches of ethics in medical research. This will be an active learning course in which students study the literature in specific health-related topics, and then they present the research in an engaging discussion with the class through the use of PowerPoint presentations. Examples of topics we will cover are: Diet controversies; drug safety issues; environmental causes of brain diseases; safety and efficacy of fluoridated water, mammograms, vaccines and cholesterol lowering medications. 

Building Sustainable Futures: Environmental and Technological Transformations 
IDH 3600-005 
Instructor: Gregory McCreery 
MW | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m. 
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
The further we move into our post-industrial era with the influence of scientific and technological advancements upon the world and human relationships, the more aware we become of the dependency between environmental health, human flourishing, and technology. These advancements are encouraging and discouraging insofar as technology introduces a “double-edged sword” of advantages and disadvantages into our lives, which often affects the possibility of a sustainable future. Some argue that we are moving toward a posthuman/transhuman future in which humans will go beyond their current restraint within their natural bodies and environments. Will such future humans discover means to sustainability or should we act now and why? In what ways may we need to alter lifestyles, governmentality, and the production/consumption nexus in order to achieve sustainability? What role might automation play toward this? Much of the issue pertaining to environmental and technological transformations also involves risk, and how this is communicated to the public, particularly when a particular kind of future is often only a possibility. It is important not only to emphasize the benefits of technological advancements, but to seriously consider their long-term implications for humanity and the environment so that we can mitigate the problems that may arise, possibly disrupting entrance into an authentic sustainable future. Humans have already begun to modify themselves via emerging sciences, such as with genetic engineering, digital technology, and bioengineering, and humans continue to modify and transform the environment itself. All of this produces fertile ground for an emerging human existence never seen on the planet, and this raises the question concerning what kinds of ways of living are sustainable? In this course, we will work with theoretical approaches to environmental ethics, the philosophy of technology, and transhumanism/posthumanism, with a focus on sustainable futures. 

Legitimacy, Morality and Governmentality 
IDH 3600-006 
Instructor: Gregory McCreery 
MW | 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Engaged Citizenship 
 
In this course, we will review several influential, historical texts that provide theoretical reflection upon what governance is and does, with a focus on how legitimacy plays into the public’s relationship to its government. We will address a variety of political philosophies from the past and present, evaluating the morality of their administrative functions and structures, their perspectives on war, slavery, domination, economics, policing, and civil disobedience. Such theoretical considerations enable us to reflect upon and discuss contemporary governance and its legitimacy in relation to the people. The aim is to gain an understanding of the ways in which the legitimacy of governments and political leaders have been defined, and the extent to which such legitimacy exists today. Indeed, with a focus on the differences between authoritarian and nonauthoritarian governance, we will be able to assess the extent to which nonviolent resistance is thought to work as a moral-political mechanism toward positive, political change, as well as to gain an appreciation for non-authoritarian governance and what it is. We will look at works produced by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Max Weber, Friedrich Nietzsche, Benito Mussolini, Carl Schmitt, Michael Foucault, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Gene Sharp, Erica Chenoweth, Todd May, Hannah Arendt, Michael Sandel, John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and others who reflect upon the functions of government, law, justice, policing, war, authoritarianism, fascism, totalitarianism, conservativism, and liberalism. These scholars also enable us to reflect upon distinctions between systemic, symbolic, linguistic, revolutionary, oppressive, and other kinds of violence and the ways in which individuals form groups in relation to which kinds of violence they interpret as legitimate. 

Corporate Personhood:  Identity and Responsibility 
IDH 3600-007 
Instructor: David Garrison 
TR | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
 
Corporate personhood is the legal notion that a corporation, separately from its associated human beings, has at least some of the legal rights and responsibilities enjoyed by natural persons.  While controversial, Corporate Personhood is well established in U.S. legal history, and is based upon practice and theory with complex and ancient philosophical roots. In this course, we will examine the nature of corporate personhood not only in the modern legal sense of a Limited Liability Corporation, but also with respect to institutions, communities, and government bodies. To what extent does any institution constitute a person? What characteristics of personhood meaningfully attach to that institution?  Does this personhood have moral or social ramifications beyond the legal realm? 

The Ethics of Political Grievances, Freedom, and the Response to Tyranny 
IDH 3600-008 
Instructor: Stephanie Williams 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship  
 
In this course, we will examine the questions surrounding the concepts of political grievances, freedom, and tyranny through the study of conservative, centrist, and liberal-leaning political speeches. These readings include politicians and political activists from the Revolutionary War and the founding of America through the Biden Administration. Students will discuss what it means to express and hold political grievances and debate what a "just" society must look like. The class will also look at the issue of ethics through their arguments related to political freedom from the right to vote, the right to be free from political violence, the right to determine which citizens have “the right to rise," who may make demands of our political systems through protest and make changes to government policies and institutions that don’t serve their political interests and make demands to preserve tradition and culture. By the conclusion of the course, students will improve their skills in political discourse and writing by learning how to research and articulate the major topics that shape our national values. The professor ensures that all students of all political views are engaged in productive conversations that are civil and fair by allowing students of all political views to be heard in class in a respectful environment. 

Ethics at the End of Life 
IDH 3600-009 
Instructor: Lindy Davidson 
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Medical Humanities  
 
Death is a taboo topic in American culture in spite of the 100% chance that every human will eventually experience it. This aversion to serious consideration and conversation regarding death, even among physicians, results in a lack of preparation for many people at the end of their life. In this course in applied ethics, we will examine the intersection of medical ethics and end-of-life care. We will look at the history of ethics and decision-making by examining notable cases from U.S. history; consider multiple end-of-life contexts including pediatric illness, cultural perspectives, the impact of religion, and institutional influences; and examine the tools used by health care professionals to address ethics at the end of life. This interactive course will engage students by using creative arts activities, reading responses, and perspective taking. The course will culminate in students producing a creative or educational project for patients, families, students, and/or clinicians that relates to end-of-life.

Experience Japan — from Hospitals to Hospitality (Omotenashi)* 
IDH 4200-001 
Instructor: Atsuko Sakai 
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m. 
Medical Humanities 
 
What does it mean and what does it take to “care” for others? This course asks these basic questions through explorations of Japan. Throughout its history, Japan has fought to survive natural disasters, famines, and disease in addition to the fighting between Samurais to unite the country’s leadership. The customary practices — extending from daily habits (such as taking a bath or drinking tea) to superstitious rituals — often came from the fear of sickness, hope for a cure, and prayer. We will study the history of Japan and examine various artifacts (literature, arts, designed objects and spaces, etc.), which reflect these customary practices and beliefs from different time periods. Modern Japan also faces serious social issues including suicide, overwork, unbalanced demographics due to low birth rates, and negative environmental effects associated with industrialization, natural disasters, and war. While these current issues are not unknown to other countries, there are some public health systems and services unique to Japan such as a Mother-Child Pocketbook. Thus, we will analyze the “caring” system in Japan from various perspectives including medical, health, nursing, and childcare.   
 
*This course is permitted for students who have been accepted to the Japan Beyond the Classroom study abroad program.

Beasts and Burdens: Survival, Imagination, and Risk in the (Global) South 
IDH 4200-002 
Instructor: Ulluminair Salim 
T | 11 a.m.  – 1:45 p.m. 
Medical Humanities 
Engaged Citizenship 

"Can the subaltern speak?" – Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, social theorist and scholar

Beasts and Burdens: Survival, Imagination, and Risk in the (Global) South will investigate health (inequality) and risk in southern, (postcolonial) spaces —  including the American South — examining critical, creative, and unconventional responses to subjugation. Through thematic and geographic “travels,” students will examine axes of inequality, subalternity, and survival among people across the globe, leveraging audio, video, imagery, and narrative as windows into the social imaginary.  

Several questions animate the course: "What are ways in which minority voices emerge in the humanistic social sciences, and how do their voices circulate?  How can students and scholars of the (global) south envision alternative narratives and intervene upon existing characterizations? That is, what are elsewheres and elsewhens of representing power and agency in southern spaces? Finally, what are ways in which we can critically theorize gender inequality, health, and resilience in risky spaces?  How can we map them and map onto them?" As such, the study of (gendered) violence, power, and socioeconomic and environmental conflict are central to the issues that this course takes up.  

During our symbolic travels, we will watch films and analyze other discursive texts to critically (de)construct narratives about survival and resilience in southern riskscapes. Beasts and Burdens will investigate artistic and ethnographic expressions by, for, and about communities in the American South, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and/or Oceania.

Women in Conflicts in the World 
IDH 4200-003 
Instructor: Raheleh Dayerizadeh 
TR | 5 – 6:15 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
This course will be taught from an interdisciplinary perspective and engage with the causes, lived experiences, outcomes, and resolutions of selected modern conflicts from the 1950s to the present. In particular, this course will intentionally also examine various forms of global conflicts through the eyes of women. In overlooking the important roles that women have had during conflicts and the aftermath, women have been depicted historically, as having no agency and as victims. This course is designed to further student abilities to think critically about international relations and feminist studies to re-explore contemporary questions and debates surrounding conflicts in the world. Conflicts in today’s world are dynamic and can include a state against another state, against its own people, non-state actors such as organizations vs. the state or another organization, a fight for independence, civil war, ethnic conflict, or simply when one group of people are fighting for resources such as social, political, or economic power, etc.  Among the cases of conflicts to be researched, presented, and discussed are the following: Algerian independence, Argentinian military dictatorship, the Iran/Iraq war, Rwandan Genocide, Bosnian Ethnic conflict, and the current Myanmar conflict. Through the study of these particular conflicts, the role of women as fighters, survivors, leaders, peacemakers, and activists will be examined.  

This course will be treated as a seminar, allowing each student to actively participate, present to class, contribute to online discussions of current conflicts, collaborate on a group project, and research and write a final paper demonstrating their knowledge and critical thinking in the field of conflict studies. 

Access to Justice 
IDH 4200-004 
Instructor: Alma Dedic-Sarenkapa 
TR | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship 
Sustainable Futures

People need protection from possible harm inflicted on them. All of us can find ourselves in harmful situations, especially when we engage in disputes or conflicts of interest. In these situations, we start looking into actions or remedies we can use to redress the harm. When remedies are guaranteed by law, they are called legal remedies. Legal remedies involving a third party such as a legal institution lead to resolving disputes mostly through compensation or restitution. The ability of people to access and seek remedies through different mechanisms is the main concern of the Access to Justice concept. In this course, we will explore different models of Access to Justice and human rights standards linked to them in the Americas, Europe & Asia, and Africa. We will also look at the connection between access to justice and social justice. This connection can be examined from different perspectives such as equal or unequal opportunities, privileges, and economic justice.  

Following current events shaping the world we live in students will better understand (human) rights protection in the country and around the world. Students will engage in facilitated discussions, team presentations, student-led working groups, workshops, and final research. 

Sick Around the World: Geographical Perspectives on Global Health 
IDH 4200-005 
Instructor: Donna Gambino 
T | 9:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Community Partnership 
Medical Humanities  
 
This course is designed as a comparative presentation of current issues across international health care systems with a focus on South Africa, Italy, Japan, and France. Emphasis is on discussing diverse areas of health and is appropriate for students of any major interested in health care delivery, personal health, or health education. We will discuss and debate health care delivery systems, medical malpractice, physical/mental health, physician-assisted suicide, the opioid crisis, women’s reproductive health, medical devices, and health care disparities in the United States and abroad. This is a ‘hands-on’ class and students will be actively engaged and working in teams to complete a project.

Although health and health care in other countries might seem far removed from our daily concerns in the United States, many nations face issues of uneven access, constrained resources, and a focus on improving the efficiency of services. Understanding how different nations confront issues of universal coverage, access, equity, and quality will enhance students’ ability to develop new ideas and approaches for addressing these challenges in the United States. Students will be introduced to community partners of USF's Area Health Education Center (AHEC) for project ideas. 

US – UK: The Special Relationship, Myth or Reality? Trans-Atlanticism in the Contemporary World 
IDH 4200-006 
Instructor: Ralph Wilcox 
TR | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
 
The “special relationship” between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain has been a central feature of trans-Atlantic and Anglo-American relations since 1945 and before. This course examines the nature and significance of the alliance over time utilizing a multi-faceted framework that includes political and diplomatic relations, strategic and security matters, trade and economic cooperation, social, legal, religious, environmental considerations and cultural appropriation. Set in historical perspective, students will assess trans-Atlantic tensions and threats to the “special relationship” throughout time and consider the current state and likelihood of sustaining a mutually beneficial partnership in the future.   
Utilizing documentary evidence to better understand individual (including presidents, prime ministers and the monarchy) and institutional (big business and media for example) connections, and critically evaluating the symbolism, myth and reality of trans-Atlanticism, the class will explore notions of empire, American and British exceptionalism, and the significance of the alliance to the world today. 

The Ukraine War: A New Battlefield for the West 
IDH 4200-007 
Instructor: Arman Mahmoudian 
TR | 2 – 3:15 p.m. 
Sustainable Futures 
 
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 escalated rapidly from a regional dispute between two neighboring countries to a broad-scale power struggle. In this context, NATO and Russia once again found themselves on opposing sides. Today, while NATO supports Ukraine in its resistance against Russia, several countries, including Iran, North Korea, and China, back Russia. This situates Ukraine as a fresh battleground between Western powers and their Eastern adversaries.

In this course, we will delve into the impact of the Ukraine war on the international order. Topics include the historical origins of the conflict, the post-Cold War landscape, the factors leading to the resurgence of Russia as a major global power, and an analysis of the war's implications for Ukraine. To enrich their understanding, students are encouraged to actively participate in class discussions, complete brief weekly assignments, and ultimately write a comprehensive paper on a topic of their choosing related to the Ukraine War. 

Power Politics in the Middle East 
IDH 4200-008 
Instructor: Arman Mahmoudian 
TR | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship

The Middle East has consistently been at the forefront of both public and academic discussions. However, recent events, such as the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, protests in Iran, the War of Arbitration, the China-US rivalry in the region, and escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf between the United States and Iran, have intensified international concerns about the region's stability.

In this course, we aim to dissect the intricate power dynamics at play in the Middle East. We will examine the socio-political origins of regional conflicts, assess the impact of the Cold War and Iran's 1979 revolution on regional stability, explore the rise and fall of the Arab Spring, and delve into the resurgence of great power competition in the area. To augment their understanding, students are encouraged to actively participate in class discussions, complete weekly assignments, and produce a final analytical paper on a related topic. 

Healing and Everyday Crises in South Asia 
IDH 4200-009 
Instructor: Holly Singh 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Medical Humanities  
 
This course will engage students in examining comparative approaches to health and healing in contexts of social and economic inequality and environmental crisis, with a focus on South Asia in global perspective. The course will address multiple healing traditions in South Asia, including the particulars of biomedical practice in medically plural South Asian contexts. The course will expose students to aspects of social life, literature, film in South Asia to analyze medical practice, health, and illness across healing systems, in public health, and in social policy.   

The Non-Citizen Experience and Finding Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Exiles 
IDH 4200-010 
Instructor: Nazek Jawad 
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship

Population movement and displacement has been an increasingly powerful phenomenon in our global age. This course considers the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and exiles from the perspective of human rights theory. The aim of this course is to instigate critical thinking of the complexity of their experiences, which is critical for an informed debate. We begin our conversations by examining the state as a moral agent, and state boundaries’ function of inclusion/exclusion. We will examine the causes and consequences of displacement. Why do people migrate across international borders? How do we understand the politics of immigration and the policies that let some people in, but keep others out? We will also spend considerable time learning about immigrants’ process of integration and “learning” their new home. We will look at socioeconomic integration and consider broader questions of belonging and membership. 

Global Perspectives of Nineteenth Century Literature: Interconnectedness 
IDH 4200-011 
Instructor: Jeffery Donley 
MW | 3:30PM – 4:45PM 
 
The purpose of this course is to critically engage with the global literary masterworks of thought from the nineteenth century. Great nineteenth-century literary masterworks and films made from them have the capacity to make students identify with fictional and non-fictional characters in ways that show possibilities and potential vulnerabilities for themselves. This kind of empathic identification is important for diverse and pluralistic communities. Students will engage the nineteenth century literary themes of free-will, crime, one's own worst enemy, childhood and adulthood, obsession/revenge, religion, identity, humanity vs. nature, feminism, the individual vs. society, environmentalism, and good vs. evil.

From eight geographical countries, thirteen authors, and thirteen perspectives, students will analyze the interconnectedness of global community themes in the following nineteenth-century masterworks and films made from them: from England: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843), H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895), and Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), from America: Lew Wallace's Ben Hur (1880), Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851), Louis May Alcott’s Little Women (1868/69), from Russia: Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Karamazov Brothers (1879–80), from France: Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862) and Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1864), from Germany: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (1806/29), from Scotland: Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819), from Japan: Higuchi Ichiyo’s Takekurabe (1895/96), and from India: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Krishnakanter Will (Krishnakanta’s Will, 1878). The focus of this course will be one of multi-media presentations, reading, reflection, writing, collaborative inquiry, and discussion of an authentic global understanding and appreciation of the inter-dynamics of the diversified, multi-layered facets of the literary masterworks of the nineteenth century. 

How to Save a Planet 
IDH 4200-012 
Instructor: Andrew Hargrove 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
We are currently in a state of emergency about the future of our relationship with the natural environment. We are experiencing the 6th mass extinction, global warming over 1.5 (2.7F) degrees Celsius, ecological damage, rising sea levels, more natural disasters, and population displacement. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer size, scale, and scope of these crises. Our natural inclination may be to feel hopeless and powerless. BUT you do not have to feel this way! This class will discuss the many facets of the climate change problem, how people are ALREADY working on addressing it, and what YOU can do to contribute to making the world a better and safer place for us all to live. We will engage with the scientific literature, with calls for action, with NGOs around the world, and with people right here in our own community fighting climate change. Join us and learn how to save a planet! 

Food and Culture in the Arab and Eastern World 
IDH 4200-013 
Instructor: Raja Benchekroun 
MW | 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Medical Humanities  
Engaged Citizenship 

Food often carries significant social and cultural magnitude to many societies. In this course, we will learn about Food in the Middle East and North Africa, its intrinsic identification as Arab Cuisine, and the paradox this identification causes in the face of the region's multicultural identities from East to West. We will explore how recipes and dietary practices transmit knowledge from generation to generation, what stories Food tells, and how it preserves cultural heritage and restores family values.   
Students will learn about the Eastern cuisine in Tampa Bay communities. What does Food tell us about the nature of its people and the identity of its origins? How had taste travelled across the Arab region and to the West? How has "comfort food" conserved its authentic flavours and cooking techniques? We will explore Food's journey to tell us about critical historical events in the Eastern world and agricultural hardships, celebrations, religion, and diet. Students will learn how to navigate cultures through Food, networking with diverse community members, and engaging in field trips to local food festivals and Arab and Eastern restaurants in the Tampa Bay area. 

Arab Literature, Culture, and Film 
IDH 4200-014 
Instructor: Raja Benchekroun 
MW | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Medical Humanities  
Engaged Citizenship 
 
Ahlan Wa Sahlan! Welcome to Arab Literature, Culture, and Film, a gateway to the Arab World based on scholarly research, authentic voices, textual, translated resources, media, and literature by authors of Arab origins. The course will introduce the region's various languages, dialects, and cultures, which comprise a kaleidoscopic wealth of the world's most ancient societies and major past/ current events that transformed the Arab region.  

This course explores how the interconnectedness of diverse spaces, places, and peoples constitute the community. By examining locales, historical periods, and the people who inhabit them, students will take an interdisciplinary approach to the local, regional, and global relationships to create intentional learners. 

Service Learning In Ghana* 
IDH 4200-015 
Instructor: Elizabeth Doone 
TR | 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
This course provides a broad examination of major historical periods in Ghana West Africa, and those factors that have influenced and shaped the people and culture. Students will virtually collaborate with local mentors to develop a Service-Learning Plan through a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge about real world issues that challenge communities across the globe. Using a multidisciplinary approach, students will form teams based on a shared interest in the the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Teams will collaboratively communicate with a Ghanaian mentor, to review the viability and feasibility of their ideas, critically weigh options and create and implement an action plan. This course is relevant to students desiring to immerse in a cultural exchange of ideas and understandings while honing their communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills.

*This course is permitted for students who have been accepted to the Ghana Beyond the Classroom study abroad program. 

South Korean Culture and Identity (Beyond the Classroom)* 
IDH 4200-016 
Instructor: Kevin Lee 
TR | 3:30 – 4:45 p.m. 
 
This course will begin with building a historical and cultural context through which we can further examine the many facets of Korea. Through an interdisciplinary exploration of various topics such as language, cuisine, traditions, Hallyu (Korean Wave), and more, students will develop a rich and diverse understanding of Korean culture and identity. In addition, students will participate in experiential learning by participating in group projects, analyzing media, hearing from guest speakers, and a variety of activities to create a dynamic approach to cultural learning. This course will require active participation, lots of discussion, regular attendance, and a few activities outside of class time for optimal learning. There may be optional experiences outside of regular class times for a small cost, such as meals.  

*This course is permitted for students who have been accepted to the South Korea Beyond the Classroom study abroad program. 

Global Perspectives on Health and Wellness 
IDH 4200-017 
Instructor: Nivethitha Ketheeswaran 
R | 11 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. 
Medical Humanities 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
What does it mean to be well in this world? How does context influence our health, from individual personality, to social structures, to global positioning? This course examines these questions through in-depth examination of various global cultural perspectives on health and wellness. Students will consume diverse authorship and engage in creative expression to explore their own perspectives on health and wellness along with the diverse perspectives that surround them in today's ever globalizing context. We will examine major health and wellness subjects from a variety of global contexts. We will begin with defining the bio-psycho-social model and how it is applied in different regions of Asia, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. We will then work through different health subjects and their various global applications such as bodily autonomy, access to health care, alternative wellness, and community wellness. Students will be asked to create a portfolio which includes 1) One proposal for a community wellness center 2) One arts-based representation of health and wellness, 3) A recipe contribution to a class wellness cookbook and 4) One written reflection of their own health and wellness experiences which apply course learnings. 

Around the World in 13 Things: Global Perspectives on Culture and Materials 
IDH 4200-018 
Instructor: Nivethitha Ketheeswaran 
M | 11 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. 
Sustainable Futures 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
The evolution of humanity can be understood through the evolution of materials. How does the creation of glass impact different cultures? How does the use of paper impact how societies form? How do we understand our interconnectedness and differences by examining the evolution of materials and their cultural manifestations? This course asks these questions and more by focusing on a new material each week and exploring its various cultural manifestations. We will explore around the world looking at steel, rose petals, sand, fungi, chocolate, and many more materials that inform cultural knowledge, global sustainability, and engaged citizenship. Students will be asked to produce a portfolio made up of 1) Two auto-ethnography based research papers, 2) Three creative art pieces, 3) One recipe to contribute to a class cook book, and 4) One course reflection. 

Global Health is Local Health 
IDH 4200-019 
Instructor: Lydia Asana 
W | 8  – 10:45 a.m. 
Medical Humanities 
 
In an age where technological and logistical advancements facilitate global interactions, health considerations once considered foreign have increasingly become an integral part of local health systems and healthcare experiences. In this course students will identify, explore, and contextualize health determinants, experiences, and solutions using diverse local health examples and perspectives from around the world. Through course content, contributions from health professionals and independent research, students will critically evaluate aspects of health at a locality of choice with the aim of identifying challenges and opportunities leading to recommendations that could benefit their locality of interest. In addition, students will be challenged to explore ways in which the benefits of proposed recommendations for local health could impact global health efforts.  
  
Anticipated outcomes of this course include expanded knowledge, sharpened critical thinking skills, fostered research skills and expanded intellectual and professional skills. Finally, the benefits of collaboration will be enjoyed through the integration of ideas, experiences, methods, and findings resulting in an informed understanding of ways in which global health is local health.  

(Global)2 Perspectives of Health: Exploring Components of Holistic Health in the Global North & South 
IDH 4200-020 
Instructor: Lydia Asana 
W | 11 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. 
Medical Humanities 
 
This course focuses on comparative explorations of holistic health in the Global North and Global South. In this course, students will identify existing narratives of health in terms of the Global North and South while becoming familiar with four primary components of holistic health namely: Body, mind, spirit (faith/culture) and environment (geographical/societal). Students will explore the significance of the four primary components with respect to a selected country and will be challenged to objectively compare and contrast predominant narratives and alternative perspectives in light of course content and independent research findings. Towards the end of the course, students will each present their findings and collaborate to bring forth conclusions and contributions to the understanding of, and approaches to, addressing holistic health around the world.

Anticipated outcomes of this course include expanded knowledge through instruction and contributions from global experts including guest speakers and sharpened critical thinking through interactive, guided discussions leading to informed perspectives on holistic global health. Students will foster their research skills, enhance their communication skills, expand their intellectual and professional skills, and deepen their appreciation for the benefits of collaboration. 

Soundscapes of the Indian Ocean
IDH 4200-021
Instructor: Bertie Kibreah
MW | 12:30PM – 1:45PM

This course centers the Indian Ocean as an ancient maritime expanse that catalyzed new forms of intercontinental trade and diplomacy, multi-religious discourses, oceanic paraphernalia, as well as financial and technological networks. Exploring trajectories from the Swahili coast to Colonial Burma, and the Bay of Bengal to Imperial Mecca, we will develop strategies to hear and listen to the Indian Ocean that is inclusive of music, ritual, noise, labor, vocality, textuality, visual art, ecology, borderlands, citizenship, and coloniality. Our discussions will peruse legal documents, navigational tools, hymns, musical instruments, pilgrimage artifacts, travelogues, architecture, and foodways. We will ponder the geopolitics of seafaring, revolutionary ports of encounter, and the migratory experiences of humans and non-humans that have shaped, and continue to shape, an Indian Ocean world.

Students will have various options to produce a final project, such as digitally mapping the trajectory of a specific Indian Ocean item or concept, producing a non-functional replica of an Indian Ocean instrument, or creating a sound collage that recounts an Indian Ocean narrative.

International Service, Living and Working Abroad: Cultural Immersion and Language Acquisition
IDH 4200-022
Instructor: Mark Lane-Holbert
TR | 9:30PM – 10:45AM
Engaged Citizenship

This course focuses on the experience of cultural immersion through service and work experiences abroad from an interdisciplinary perspective, including ethnographic study, applied linguistics, anthropology, and psychology. It is discussion-based and utilizes a flipped classroom model primarily. We will make use of international case studies or ethnographies as a means to understand the way we learn, integrate into and reimagine ourselves within a new culture. These will include stories of third culture kids (TCKs), expatriate corporate workers, returned Peace Corps volunteers, Fulbright scholars, faculty serving at educational institutions abroad, and UN peacekeepers. Students will conduct a novel case study in groups and also participate in an immersion cultural experience themselves, as well as plan and lead an in-class workshop for other students based upon their learning from both of these.  

Cultural study, ethnographies and cultural analysis are ways of understanding key aspects of culture; this course navigates in all of these perspectives within a larger global context, which encourages both problem-solving and problem-awareness. This course also engages in a broad interdisciplinary perspective to understand how individuals and their host culture or environment interact; including the role of language acquisition (linguistics), human cultural expression (sociology/anthropology), educational psychology and pedagogy (exploring how we learn new things and pass them on to others), and finally how all of the above shape an individuals’ worldview. This course will also engage in exploration of different geographical areas through case studies and guest speakers for their comparative value, with specific examples from Europe, Latin America, Africa, and East Asia.  Assignments will include a weekly reflection journal and language journal, group discussion tasks based upon ethnography/case study for the week, a novel case study done in groups, and finally presenting a workshop based upon a personal cultural immersion experience in Tampa Bay.  

Post World War II History & the Concurrent Evolution of Television and Social Media 
IDH 4200-023 
Instructor: Daniel Ruth  
M | 8AM – 10:45AM 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
This course explores how television and eventually social media covered the major news events of post-World War II history, from the Army-McCarthy Hearings to the Gaza/Israeli war. The course will examine the impact on public perception and opinion the camera and emerging technology had on explaining major news events. 

Government Policies and Everyday People 
IDH 4930-001 
Instructor: Gus Bilirakis 
F | 2 - 4:45 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
*This is a 3-credit course delivered in a hybrid format due to the Congressman's travel schedule. Some course meetings will occur in person on the Tampa campus. 
 
This course explores how the interconnectedness of federal government policies, both domestic and foreign, affects the lives of everyday citizens. Through analysis and discussion of national and world events, students will gain an understanding of the nexus between government action and its consequences. This course will enhance critical/analytical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. At the same time, students will attain knowledge and skills related to American government and how it affects their daily lives. 

Identity, Democracy, and Citizenship in the Evolving International Order
IDH 4930-002
Instructor: Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish
F | 12:30 PM – 3:15 PM
February 2, 9, 16, & 23 only

1 credit course, satisfies one Global Experience Requirement

Honors students have a unique opportunity to take this 1-credit 4-week course from February 3 through February 23 taught by The Right Honourable Henry McLeish, a Scottish politician, author and academic who served as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Since leaving politics, McLeish has written several books, lectured widely in the United States, and voiced his opinion in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership. Hear from an international politician on his engagement with what it means to be a global citizen.

**Restricted to juniors and seniors.** Please email Mr. Kevin Lee (clee24@usf.edu) for a permit.

Seminar in Pharmacy 
IDH 4930-003 
Instructor: Yashwant Pathak
W | 2 PM – 4:45 PM 
 
Learn about innovation in the pharmaceutical sciences directly from faculty researchers of the Taneja College of Pharmacy! In this seminar, you will have the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences about technological advances in pharmacy, basic sciences in pharmacy, pharmacogenomics, geriatrics, and drug discovery. You will work on a culminating project with mentorship by faculty of the Taneja College of Pharmacy. 

Seminar in Medicine 
IDH 4930-004 
Instructor: Edwing Daniel
M | 12:30 PM – 3:15 PM 
 
*This course is restricted for 7-Year BS/MD students admitted to MCOM for Fall 2024. 

The Seminar in Medicine course will address aspects of the medical school pre-clinical curriculum and examine professionalism for physicians. The course will involve several faculty members within the Morsani College of Medicine speaking on various topics including diversity, curriculum, business in medicine, law in medicine, ethics, and scholarly concentrations. 

Connections: Mental Healthcare, Community Engagement, and Art 
IDH 4950-001 
Instructor: Ulluminair Salim 
R | 1 – 3:45 p.m.
Community Partnership  
Medical Humanities  

“Develop your senses-especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”—Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance artist

In collaboration with the Tampa Museum of Art's Connections program, Judy Genshaft Honors College students will garner skills to facilitate therapeutic interactions with works of art for patient groups dealing with diagnoses such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, depression, substance use disorder, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

During the semester, students will acquire methods that have been found to help (neuro)diverse museum attendees to access and express memories, improve communication skills, externalize emotions, relieve stress and anxiety, and promote positive feelings as they share their personal artistic interpretations without fear of judgement or failure. Students also will practice observation, deep listening, and critical thinking to aid in the facilitation process.  

At the end of the term, students will facilitate therapeutic interactions with art during Connections-inspired museum tours with friends and family, drawing upon Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) and other forms of artistic engagement such as tactile and musical experiences, culminating in the development of a research project at the intersection of mental health care, community engagement, museology, and art.  
We will conduct class onsite at the Tampa Museum of Art, so please allow time to travel back and forth when you are planning your schedule. While transportation is not provided, parking is validated. 

Perspectives in Performing Arts Healthcare 
IDH 4950-002 
Instructor: Nancy Burns 
F | 8 – 10:45 a.m. 
Medical Humanities  

Performing artists are individuals who engage in creative and artistic activity as discipline and career that includes dance, music, drama, and other expressive arts. Identifying the occupational risks affecting performing artists is an emerging interdisciplinary field of study among artists, educators, and health care professionals.

In this course, performing artists will be framed as workers whose occupational craft (dancing, playing music, singing, etc.) is their employment. Students will be introduced to the values and culture of performing artists and learn about health concerns among this population. For the culminating project, students will tailor health and wellness recommendations from peer-reviewed research and governmental organizations specific to performer populations.

Visual Narratives 
IDH 4950-003 
Instructor: Tamara Nemirovsky 
T | 9:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship

This course is an exploration of how to produce a short documentary to re-tell the stories of our community in a meaningful and reflective way. Emphasis is on documentary/film language, concept development, narrative structures, how to interview participants, as well as all the production stages (pre-production, production, post-production) and technical aspects required to produce a documentary. Students will make a short documentary.    

This course does not require previous film knowledge or experience. You will use your smartphone to shoot. 

Quality makes ¢ent$: Healthcare Research & Quality Outcomes 
IDH 4950-004 
Instructor: Donna Gambino 
T | 12:30 – 3:15 p.m. 
Medical Humanities  

What ethical and legal obligations do hospitals have to patients? What challenges and issues arise while conducting healthcare quality projects? How are quality of care and cost of delivery related? Using literature (Foucault's The Birth of the Clinic, Gawande's Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, and others) and film (The English Surgeon, Malice, and others), this course purposes to instill the knowledge of community needs through cultural enlightenment, interdisciplinary practices, and real-life experience.

This course will primarily focus on clinical outcomes, process change, and emphasizes analysis of the patient care process to identify specific interventions. Students will learn to incorporate the research process as they conduct an actual health care outcomes study utilizing a quantitative research approach. Students will be prepared to present findings and practical applications to hospital administrators. Designed for students interested in interprofessional health care delivery, this course seeks to assist students with developing competencies expected of professional programs. Additional topics include an overview of accreditation standards; licensure agencies; reimbursement systems; legal/ethical issues; healthcare computerization; documentation, quality, compliance, and regulatory requirements and HIPPA compliance. 

Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice 
IDH 4950-005 
Instructor: Holly Singh 
TR | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Medical Humanities

This course examines contemporary social movements around reproductive health, rights, and justice in global historical contexts. The historical and cross-cultural examination of debates about, and advocacy around, reproduction will ground students' research into current medical, legislative, and social reform movements aimed at changing the ways people imagine human futures and work to create them through policy, education, and advocacy. Students' research will serve as the basis for creating their own projects aimed at increasing public understanding of their topics in the form of a public event, a podcast, an exhibition, a website, a course syllabus, a documentary, or another form. 

Sustaining Your Future - Become A Consultant For A Better Tomorrow 
IDH 4950-006 
Instructor: Michael Cross 
TR | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Community Partnership 
Sustainable Futures 
 
You will serve on a consultant team of peers to develop a comprehensive proposal for adoption by a local community organization. An example of an organization we will work with is the Tampa Innovation Alliance (now Soaring City) who, in partnership with the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, sought to identify development opportunities in the urban corridor now known as Uptown Tampa. Students worked on their behalf by interviewing residents, riding transit routes, and mapping businesses. Likewise, in this course we will gather peer-reviewed literature, analyzing unstructured data, and synthesizing these into a formal series of presentations and a final proposal. Faculty from USF’s Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation will serve as mentors providing feedback on your presentations. The community partner will join throughout the semester to provide context for their needs and direction during the development of the proposal. Examples of UNSDGs that may be covered in this course are UNSDG (9) Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and UNSDG (12) Sustainable Consumption and Production. 

Transitional Justice 
IDH 4950-007 
Instructor: Alma Dedic-Sarenkapa 
TR | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m. 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
In the realm of international politics, countries in transition from an authoritarian regime to democracy or from war to peace often face multiple transitions and different challenges, for instance, the challenge of overcoming past abuses of human rights such as political executions, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, or genocide. Such societies at times reach for transitional justice mechanisms to redress past atrocities and human rights violations. Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms consist of judicial and non-judicial measures, including truth-seeking mechanisms, reparation programs, and institutional reforms. This complex set of measures if applied in countries in transition can offer reconciliatory elements for grieving and often divided societies on their path to democracy and global trends.  

This course will offer an exploration of Transitional Justice mechanisms using real-life experiences. Yet together we will reach even further and look into our own society and the communities we live in. What can we learn from societies in transition? Can we apply such measures and experiences in our own society and communities? In this course, students will practice how to bridge the gap between academic concepts and real-life experiences in a complex environment using a problem-solving approach and TJ tools. Through a series of thematic sessions, case studies, and student-led workshops students will learn how to obtain input for project ideas they wish to work on.

Programming Pathways: An Inquiry-Driven Approach to Instructional Technology
IDH 4950-008
Instructor: Reginald Lucien
MW | 3:30PM – 4:45PM

Throughout this course, students will learn how to create instructional resources by using inquiry-based learning skills and programming concepts. The course mainly focuses on how instructional technology, programming concepts, and inquiry-based learning intersect with each other. Students will explore how technology can enhance critical thinking, problem-solving, and deeper engagement in the learning process. They will develop the skills to design, implement, and evaluate technology-driven inquiry-based instruction, ultimately aiming to ask better questions and encourage improved learning outcomes. The course aims to equip students with the ability to create educational materials for instructional and training purposes.

Civic Literacy & Current Events 
IDH 4950-009 
Instructor: Daniel Ruth  
W | 8AM – 10:45AM 
Engaged Citizenship 
 
Over the course of the semester this class will explore the breaking news issues of the day as well as examine social institutions such as the three branches of government, the Federal Reserves, the Supreme Court, the United Nations, NATO, etc. Students will examine the historical background of breaking news events and the shaping of public opinion toward these events. 

The Honors Thesis is a two-semester program where students will conduct an independent study under the guidance of their own thesis chair selected by each student. The thesis process mirrors a mentorship system common in graduate schools (e.g., dissertation for a Ph.D. program). By closely working with your own chair, you will come up with a research topic, develop research methods, and produce your own creative work such as a research paper, artwork, a business proposal, etc. It is a great opportunity to create your own unique research project, learn from faculty about the research process, and gain research skills. We recommend that students who are interested in the Honors Thesis prepare early. 
 
Thesis I 
IDH 4970-001 
Instructor: Atsuko Sakai

Students should enroll in Thesis I when they are in the final 2-4 semesters of completing their degree. Please go to Honors Thesis for more information and compare different Research Track options. No permit required. Only juniors and seniors may enroll in thesis. 
 
Thesis II 
IDH 4970-002 
Instructor: Atsuko Sakai  
Permit required. Only students who have completed Thesis I may enroll in Thesis II.