Seminar registration for the fall semester will open on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at noon. Please contact Honors staff at honors@iastate.edu with inquiries.

The descriptions below indicate whether a seminar counts toward the International Perspective or US Diversity requirements.

There are no reference numbers this year due to the change to Workday. Should you try to enroll in a course that is full, you will be placed on a waitlist. If openings become available, you will be sent a message via Workday allowing you 24 hours to enroll.

Make sure you plan ahead and take at least two Honors courses and two Honors seminars, or the number required by your college Honors committee. Don't wait until your last year to meet the requirements because you may find that you will have some scheduling conflicts. You cannot enroll in more than 2 seminars in a single semester.

Important: Attendance at Honors seminars is expected. Be sure to read the entire seminar description and requirements. Be courteous and notify your instructor in advance if you are unable to attend class.

Check back regularly for updates!

• HON 3210-1: Art and Science of PEACE
• HON 3210-2: Are you what you eat?
• HON 3210-3: Kaiju Cinema: Godzilla, Gamera, and the Japanese Monster Movie Tradition
• HON 3210-4: Machine Learning for Protein Biology
• HON 3210-5: Ancient Legends to Modern Science Fiction - What They Got Right and Where They Went Wrong
• HON 3210-6: Tiny House Design (full)
• HON 3210-7: Everyday Leadership
• HON 3210-8: Understanding War beyond the Global News Headlines: The Russia–Ukraine and Israeli–Palestinian Conflicts
• HON 3210-9: Constitutional Correction: How the Civil War Amendments Remade the United States
• HON 3210-10: From "granja" to "mesa" - Food, Drink and Culture of Spain
• HON 3210-11: Comedy College
• HON 3210-12: Impact Your World: Blue Science Style
• HON 3210-13: Data in Society
• HON 3210-14: My Life as a Fetal Parasite
• HON 3210-15: Entrepreneurship
• HON 3210-16: The Game Shapes You: Objects & Objectives in Video Games
• HON 3210-17: Saving Ourselves: Rising to the Meet Humanity’s Greatest Challenges
• HON 3210-18: Business Life Skills - things you need to know the day after graduation
• HON 3210-19: Food as/is Medicine (full)
• HON 3210-20: The soil is eroding and so am I: Grieving, honoring, and transforming climate anxiety to climate action
• HON 3210-21: Human Trafficking 101
• HON 3210-22: Theory of Computation
• HON 3210-23: Conflicts in the Middle East
• HON 3210-24: Fantastic Worlds and How to Build Them
• HON 3210-25: A Study of Francophone Cinema
• HON 3210-26: Exploring Environmental Issues through Documentaries

HON 3210-1, Art and Science of PEACE, F 11-11:50 a.m., Jischke 1151, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives 

About the Course: Join us to explore the art and science of peace for a lively discussion based on interaction with a variety of medium including film, photography, podcasts, poetry, classic literature, advertisements, and music. Engage in what it means to be a peace-builder grounded in cultural appreciation and respect for human dignity. A group of ISU Sustainable Peace Faculty Learning Community members will introduce topics of peace, including: 1) human rights, 2) development and social impact, 3) environmental awareness, and 4) conflict transformation. Peace is often defined as the absence of war and conflict. In this course, we will focus on what it means to create a life grounded in peace and a community member striving for peace rather than the avoidance of conflict. We will engage in conversations to inspire critical optimism, compassion, collaboration and a sense of community.

About the Instructor: J. Arbuckle is Professor of rural sociology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. His research and education efforts focus on improving the environmental and social sustainability of agriculture. E.J. Bahng is an Associate Professor of science education in the School of Education. She teaches a science methods course and Nature of Science for future science teachers; Erin Bergquist is a Clinical Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition; Mark Bryden is the founding director of the Simulation, Modeling and Decision Science program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and is a professor of mechanical engineering; Christina Campbell is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and the Uelner Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition. She studies the intersection of food and peace in the context of promoting healthy lives and sustainable food systems; Simon Cordery is Professor in and chair of the ISU Department of History. His teaching covers the modern world, with an emphasis on transatlantic social history; Ramesh Kanwar is the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Water Resources Engineering in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.

HON 3210-2, Are you what you eat?, T 12:40-1:30 p.m., 305 Kildee Hall, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: What nutrients are essential for life, and what foods and food supplements will improve quality of life? Why? Why not? This seminar will emphasize the role of nutrition provided by food and food supplements in promoting a healthy life through the prevention of diseases and disorders. The physiological function of nutrients and the provision of those nutrients by common foods will be the topic of the first part of the course. Then, the role of nutraceuticals as food supplements in a healthy life will be emphasized. Popular topics of nutrition will be discussed via 15-minute oral presentations by the students. By the end of the semester, students will be in a stronger position to make difficult decisions about their diet composition and supplementation and to evaluate nutrition information that is advertised to them from TV, magazines, and the internet. I will lead discussions of subject matter via handouts given to students at the class meetings.

About the Instructor: Don Beitz is a Distinguished Professor of Agriculture who has taught biochemistry (e.g., BBMB 420 and BBMB 405) for five decades at Iowa State University. In addition, he teaches an Agricultural Biotechnology Colloquium for Scholarship for Excellence students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. His research program focuses on the application of molecular biology and biochemistry to animal food production and animal diseases. He has participated actively in Honors programs (e.g., Freshman Mentor, Honor research projects, Honors seminar teacher, and advisor) throughout his tenure at Iowa State University.

HON 3210-3, Kaiju Cinema: Godzilla, Gamera, and the Japanese Monster Movie Tradition , T 5:30-7:20 p.m., 1151 Jischke, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: Long before the MCU conquered the box office, the Japanese franchise Godzilla invented the cinematic universe. Across nearly forty movies, from his screen debut in Godzilla (1954) to the recent Godzilla Minus One (2023), Godzilla defined the “kaiju” genre of giant monster movies. Sometimes depicted as a terrifying symbol of atomic war, but sometimes as an environmental hero protecting Earth, Godzilla battled other kaiju like Mothra, Rodan, and Destroyah. Other Japanese studios created competing franchises like Gamera, the giant turtle monster and protector of Earth who appeared in 12 interconnected movies of his own. In this seminar, we will watch classics of the twentieth-century kaiju genre like Godzilla (1954), Mothra (1961), King Kong vs Godzilla (1963), Gamera (1965), Son of Godzilla (1967) Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995), and the Heisei Gamera Trilogy (1995-1999). We will also watch a few American appropriations of kaiju films, such as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) and Godzilla (1998), to study the global impacts and re-interpretations of the kaiju film genre. Along the way, we will ask what goes into a cinematic universe, why we are so fascinated by giant monsters, and what makes the Japanese kaiju film tradition still feel so relevant today.

About the Instructor: Zachary Calhoun is a Lecturer in the English Department. He taught recent Honors seminars about monster movies and environmental justice cinema. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Tulane University and an MFA in Creative Writing & Environment from ISU. He has taught courses in film history, existentialism, fiction writing, creative nonfiction writing, public speaking, and the history of philosophy. He worked in a hydrogeology laboratory, he served as the Assistant Director of an environmental nonprofit in New Mexico, and he has published research articles on environmental ethics and the history of philosophy, as well as short stories and poems in literary journals. Originally from New Mexico, his fiction is set in the American Southwest, and he is working on a book project about environmental cinema, film representations of nuclear monsters, and post-apocalyptic wastelands.

HON 3210-4, Machine Learning for Protein Biology, M 8:50-10:40 a.m., ATRB 1330, 1 Credit, First Half Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: This will be an interactive seminar where we will use origami to draw parallels with machine learning in biology. We will specifically focus on understanding the protein folding problem. This seminar will collaborate in Google Labs, but no prior experience is needed.

Proteins are stringy polymers in living systems with twists and turns that make them take complex 3-dimensional shapes of varying sizes. The polymer never clashes with itself. The folded polymer chain offers several grooves and pockets where other molecules can come and sit, depending on shape/size and the attractive force exerted by the pocket. In nature, all proteins have their known partner molecules for each of their grooves. Proteins, with their partner molecules, perform specific tasks important in sustaining life.

We use computers to study and learn about protein shapes and how the shape affects their task. With the knowledge about how proteins operate in nature, we modify them to do the tasks we want them to do!

About the Instructor: Ratul Chowdhury is an assistant professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Iowa State. His research group – focuses on devising and deploying new machine learning strategies to accurately predict the structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence alone for several use cases. The research group utilizes explicit protein structure information for drug discovery, biomaterial design, room temperature breakdown of complex molecules, and precise molecular separations.

Chowdhury received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University, in 2019. During his PhD, he developed optimization tools for redesign of (a) channel proteins for separations, (b) enzymes for altered substrate and cofactor specificity, and (c) de novo design of non-immunogenic antibody variable fragments against any disease-causing protein. Next, Chowdhury was a structural computational structural biology postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. He devised machine learning strategies to accurately understand the molecular mechanisms behind pain medications and cancer-mitigating drugs. This work was aimed to serve a foundation for discovering novel drugs. This work was published in Nature Biotechnology.

HON 3210-5, Ancient Legends to Modern Science Fiction - What They Got Right and Where They Went Wrong, R 11:00-11:50 a.m., Location TBA , 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: The night sky has fascinated even our earliest ancestors. Ever since we have been mature enough to recognize patterns in the skies, we told stories about those patterns. Some of those stories tried to explain why things up there happened the way they did. As human history made its march forward, we came to learn the real explanations for what went on in the skies. Our stories became truer to the facts, yet sometimes those facts are bent or even ignored for the sake of storytelling. In this seminar, we will explore some of the ancient stories of the constellations, how they explained the placement of the stars, and how the ancients explained astrophysical phenomena such as comets and eclipses. Later, we will discuss how physics, astronomy, and biology are handled in various works of science fiction, each with their own degrees of faithfulness to accurate science. Pre-session readings will provide necessary (100-level) scientific background. Part of each period’s preparation for discussion will involve reading and/or watching clips of ancient legends or science fiction media. Should you find any of these materials objectionable, alternative materials may be explored. 

About the Instructor: Ian Roland Clark is an astronomy PhD. student here at ISU. Clark's been interested in the sciences since he was a young kid. It was some time into his sophomore year of college that he knew for sure that he wanted to go into astronomy. Clark's first research experience during his undergrad at BYU was with exoplanets. He shifted to studying pulsating white dwarfs partway through my undergraduate experience. Clark was amazed by these stars. He wondered how something so insanely dense could actually pulsate, or how those pulsations could cycle in just a manner of minutes. Clark still has a great wonder for pulsating white dwarfs and all other aspects of astronomy, and today he studies outbursting white dwarfs, a kind of pulsating white dwarf that expels a lot of energy on an irregular interval. His experience with astronomy has given Clark the deeper insight into how physics and astronomy are handled in various works of science fiction media. Rather than ruin these stories for him, this knowledge has helped him enjoy those stories even more, except for possibly the most egregiously inaccurate cases. Clark continues to enjoy science fiction today. Indeed, he has been reading more sci-fi as he's continued in his studies.

HON 3210-6, Tiny House Design, M 1:10-2 p.m., COD 0003, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: What is a tiny house? Have you ever considered living small? Are they a fad, or will they stick around and evolve into the future? Students will explore a variety of tiny houses. Learn about local zoning laws that allow or limit their potential. In the second half of the course, students will learn the basics of design and create their own tiny houses inspired by what they have learned.

About the Instructor: Clark Colby is a professional tinkerer who loves learning new things and exploring the world. Currently teaches digital photography in the Art and Visual Cultures department. Works with the ISU Extension and Outreach program to develop learning opportunities and curriculum for 4-H Youth across Iowa in the Arts, Communication, and Design. He spends many nights and weekends renovating old houses in Ames, tending the gardens, and removing all the grass he can legally replace with native pollinators and productive vegetable gardens. Raises backyard ducks and chickens and harvests 800-1500 pounds of delicious produce from his yard annually. He travels extensively in a Promaster cargo van, self-converted into a camper van with solar and lithium batteries, 92,000 miles, 40 states, ten provinces, two territories, and counting!

HON 3210-7, Everyday Leadership, T 9:30-11:20 a.m., 3219 Sukup Hall, 1 Credit, First Half Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: What is leadership? How do you identify your leadership potential? How do we lead every day? This seminar will emphasize the servant leadership model and strengths-based leadership principles. The seminar will explore servant leadership and formal versus informal leadership roles and opportunities. The role of how our individual strengths impact our leadership style and how we can use those strengths to make a positive difference in our personal and professional responsibilities will be discussed. We will also discuss formal and informal leadership examples from history and current affairs. By the end of the semester, you will be in a stronger position to recognize and then act on leadership opportunities to put into practice everyday leadership.

About the Instructor: Steven A. Freeman, University Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, is the director of the Graduate College Emerging Leaders Academy. He is also a past president of the ISU faculty senate and worked in the President’s Office for a decade as the Faculty Advisor to the President. He also spent a decade in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, serving as the associate director for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and faculty mentoring. Dr. Freeman’s teaching and research areas include occupational safety, SoTL, and professional development.

HON 3210-8, Understanding War beyond the Global News Headlines: The Russia–Ukraine and Israeli–Palestinian Conflicts, T 9:55-10:45 a.m., 518 Ross Hall, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course:

-How does the news media shape our views and opinions toward international actors?

-How do you analyze what the news headlines/reports present to you?

-How do ideologies fuel conflict as well the response to it?

- Why do we need to know history to understand conflict?

-Why do political conflicts escalate to war? (is war inevitable?)

In our seminar, we will attempt to answer the above questions by focusing on two conflicts that have recently been heavily featured in the global news: the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This seminar will broaden your understanding of the causes of war and the factors that fuel it. It will also provide you with useful skills for parsing through the information featured in the global news headlines about current or ongoing conflicts.

About the Instructors:

Daniela Dimitrova is Professor of Journalism and Communication at ISU. She teaches courses on Global Journalism & Communication Technology, Research Methods, Mass Communication Theories, as well as Political Communication seminars.

Scott Feinstein is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at ISU. His research and teaching focus on the relationship between identity and conflict. He has spent time conducting research in several former Soviet countries, including Russia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Nell Gabiam is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Political Science at ISU and the director of ISU's Middle Eastern Studies Minor program. Her current research focuses on the effects of the ongoing war in Syria on the country's Palestinian refugee population.

Amy Rutenberg is Associate Professor of History and Coordinator of ISU’s secondary social studies education program. She is a historian of the modern U.S., who focuses on military history and the history of women and gender. 

Jean-Pierre Taoutel is Teaching Professor of French and Arabic at ISU. He has taught several honors seminars, including Conflicts of the Middle East. He enjoys traveling and has been to 50 countries.

HON 3210-9, Constitutional Correction: How the Civil War Amendments Remade the United States, W 3:20-5:10 p.m., Location TBA, 1 Credit, First Half Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: “To form a more perfect Union”: this declaration in the U.S. Constitution’s preamble was aspirational but perhaps not the reality. Seventy-seven years later, after a bitter and divisive conflict, three amendments remade this country in ways that are still reverberating today. We will examine the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments: what they say, how Congress has implemented them (or not), and how the Supreme Court has interpreted them. No special legal knowledge needed--just interest in the topic and willingness to participate in class discussions.

About the Instructor: Amanda Knief is the director of Iowa State University's Lectures Program and the university's parliamentarian. She received her B.S. in Journalism and Communication from Iowa State and her J.D. from Drake University Law School. She worked as legislative counsel for the Iowa Legislature before working in Washington, D.C. as a nonprofit lobbyist, nonprofit legal director, and analyst for the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service. She always wins constitutional trivia night, which is why there are no more constitutional trivia nights.

HON 3210-10, From "granja" to "mesa" - Food, Drink and Culture of Spain, W 8:50-9:40 a.m., Location TBA, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: One of the most defining characteristics of Spanish culture is its food and drink. Spanish cuisine is the result of nearly 3000 years of evolution, influenced by many different civilizations that have left their mark on the Iberian Peninsula over the centuries. This course will examine the diversity of the foods and drinks that Spaniards consume, as well as the social, economic and political contexts surrounding them. Included in this course will be discussion of Spain’s agriculture, the economic factors related to agriculture and consumption, social customs and issues related to food and drink, and other areas where food and drink intersect with the culture of Spain.

About the Instructor: Erik Ladner is an Associate Teaching Professor of Spanish at Iowa State University. Dr. Ladner received his BA in Spanish and French and his MA in Spanish from the University of Northern Iowa. He later received his Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, specializing in Modern Spanish theater. Dr. Ladner has studied and researched abroad in several locations in Spain. Among the courses Dr. Ladner teaches are Spain Today, a course on contemporary Spanish culture, and courses in Spanish for the Professions as part of the Language and Cultures for the Professions (LCP) program at ISU.

HON 3210-11, Comedy College, M 6:10-8 p.m., Location TBA, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: In this seminar, you will learn to be funnier. Humor is not a mystical process of divine intervention granted by the Comedy Gods to just a chosen few. There are tricks, techniques and theories that, when studied, can make a person funnier. When put into practice, these skills can help with self-confidence, public speaking and communication skills. While some reading and watching of stand-up routines is required, the majority of the class focus will be on creating and sharing original humor with your classmates. The seminar culminates in a live comedy showcase where you will share your newfound humor skills with the world.

About the Instructor: Gavin Jerome has been a professional entertainer for well over 20 years. He has worked with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser and Steve Harvey. For the past decade, Gavin has been providing humor workshops for companies and associations nationwide. His extensive standup comedy experience plus many years of leading workshops on humor in the workplace makes him most qualified on creating and sharing comedy.

About the TA: Peter Orazem, University Professor Emeritus of Economics, has been a student of Gavin’s, and has served as the Teaching Assistant for all ISU Comedy College classes. He performed at the first American Economics Association standup comedy session in San Francisco.

HON 3210-12, Impact Your World: Blue Science Style, T/R 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Location TBA, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: The Blue Science seminar is a virtual exchange with Hochschule (University) Ruhr West, Germany. In this interdisciplinary seminar, you will look beyond your horizons and chart a path by engaging in an (inter-)active approach to social and ecological responsibility. This program encourages you to explore your personal values and engage in meaningful discussions with your peers. Moreover, the teaching and learning process is student-centric, empowering you to take ownership of your educational journey and contribute to the ongoing development of the course. Ultimately, you will enhance your learning gained from your primary courses of study by acquiring valuable professional skills and competencies. These newfound abilities will enable you to understand your role in both technology and society, by collaboratively shaping a better future.

About the Instructor: Laurie Smith Law is the Administrative Director of the University Honors Program. Ms. Law has been working with high-ability students for the past 30 years and has taught several honors seminars. She has offered seminars on culture through celebrations, urban language, Jack the Ripper, and social discussion. She has a background in student affairs and has worked with several learning community programs. Ms. Law is familiar with service-learning programs and has supervised students on alternative spring break programs in different areas of the country.

HON 3210-13, Data in Society, R 3:40-4:30 p.m., 1076 Student Services Center, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: Everyone in society - social scientists, educators, agriculturalists, marketers, artists – create and use data, not just scientists, engineers, and statisticians. A lot of data. Collectively, we create over 3.3 quintillion (1018) bytes of data every day (one quintillion bytes = one billion gigabytes). Where does all that information go? How is it used? How can it be used? How should it be used? In this class, we will read about and discuss data as they relate to society – education, commerce, healthcare, communications, and transportation. We’ll spend some time considering the ethics of data collection, manipulation, and use. Ultimately, we’ll look at how data is used, affected by, and drives today’s society. We will strive to answer how data should – not can – be used, and to what ends.

About the Instructor: Dr. Matt Pistilli has been at Iowa State since 2016, and currently serves as the director of the Office of Assessment, Research, and Divisional Effectiveness in the Division of Student Affairs. A recognized expert in learning analytics, Dr. Pistilli has published and presented internationally on the implementation of analytics in higher education and the ethics of data use. He grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, and holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish and psychology from Southwest Minnesota State University, a master's degree in college student affairs and counseling from Purdue University, and a doctorate in higher education administration, also from Purdue.

HON 3210-14, My Life as a Fetal Parasite, F 8:50-9:40 a.m., Location TBA, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: My life as a Fetal Parasite will cover human fetal development, newborn care, and some domestic animal development comparisons. Together we will discuss how different organ systems develop, each role that they play in-utero, and the birth process. You will read the book Life Before Birth: The Challenges of Fetal Development by Peter Nathanielsz and have in-depth class discussions regarding it. In addition, we will discuss neonatal intensive care and management as well as factors that impact survival of newborns, such as nutrition, housing, disease control, maternal bonding, and neonatal adaptation. Our discussions will mostly focus on human development with the exception of a few domestic animal comparisons. Together we will discuss and debate different current day controversial topics/methods. At the end of the semester, you will be required to submit at 5-7page paper on a relevant current topic of their choosing.

About the Instructor: Greer Potadle is a graduate student in Animal Physiology with a passion for doing research on various aspects of placental physiology and pathology. She has served as a teaching assistant in animal physiology laboratories and in a graduate course in perinatology. Howard Tyler is the Assistant Dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a professor in the Department of Animal Science. His research program has focused on comparative perinatal physiology and development and he has taught a variety of animal science courses, including a graduate course in perinatology.

 HON 3210-15, Entrepreneurship, R 4:10-6 p.m., Gerdin 3164, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: This course is designed to help students acquire sound business acumen. The class would include a series of lectures on business models for different types of business. Students will have an opportunity to directly interact with the business professionals and learn from their expertise in this field. The learning outcomes include helping students to become familiar with the overall business environment, brainstorm start up ideas, understand legal and capital needs for different types of business organizations. The class will include field trips to Ames Ford Lincoln.

About the Instructor: Shoba Premkumar is a Teaching Professor of Finance and the coordinator for this class.

HON 3210-16, The Game Shapes You: Objects & Objectives in Video Games, R 6-7:50 p.m., Jischke 1151, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: Whether we’re breaking boxes in search of treasure or running for our lives from a giant vacuum, objects we’d normally overlook offscreen earn our attention in video games. Can the way we interact with a cup of coffee in a game shape the way we view the mug on our office desks? How does interacting with digital space or augmented reality change the way we understand the material world? In this seminar, we’ll play games such as Florence, The Stanley Parable, Five Nights at Freddy’s, It Takes Two, and Donut County to understand the ways game designers have crafted everyday objects to mirror and expand the way we interact with our own worlds outside the screen.

About the Instructors:

Emily Riley is a lecturer at ISU who earned her MFA in Creative Writing & Environment here at Iowa State. She co-founded The Writers Lab, a program at Dog-Eared Books where any creative writer is welcome to join and perform experiments with the craft of creative writing. She specializes in creative writing (fiction, sci-fi, fantasy), worldbuilding, mythology and retellings, creative process, the interface between written word and visual art, and other narrative media like film, TV, and video games.

Dr. Natalie Deam was the founder and director of Stanford University’s Critical Gaming Workshop from 2015-2018, as well as a founder and co-director of the Stanford Humanity Center’s Digital Aesthetics Workshop from 2017-2018. They have presented papers on digital ecologies, The Last Guardian, and Pokemon Go and are working on a manuscript on digital animality.

HON 3210-17, Saving Ourselves: Rising to the Meet Humanity’s Greatest Challenges, M 3:20-4:10 p.m., Elings 3306, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: Time is running out. Our species stands on the precipice of a potentially disastrous future. The actions as well as inactions of many societies pose a continuous threat to countless species of plants, animals, entire ecosystems, and even humanity itself. Can we rise to this challenge? How do we reduce our impact on the planet and improve living conditions for all humans? The United Nations has outlined a comprehensive plan in the form of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a roadmap to addressing many challenges that we face. These goals encompass crucial objectives such as curbing global warming, eradicating hunger and poverty, enhancing health, education, equality and equity, ensuring water sanitation, and promoting the development of clean energy, and education for all, to name just a few. By adopting the U.N.’s SDGs as a framework, we aim to guide you in achieving three central learning outcomes: 1) attaining a deep understanding of key global issues, 2) familiarizing yourself with diverse initiatives aimed at mitigating these issues, 3) synthesizing how you can apply this knowledge to both your career and personal life.

About the Instructor: Dr. Kurt Rosentrater is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. He is a teacher, researcher, scientist, engineer, and author. He works with grain, food, and agriculture in the U.S.A. and in many countries around the world – and he has been especially focused on eradication of poverty and hunger for the last 20 years.

HON 3210-18, Business Life Skills - things you need to know the day after graduation, F 2:15-4:05 p.m., Gerdin 2128, 1 Credit, First Half Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: What do you ABSOLUTELY need to know once you graduate?

This seminar will take a deep dive into life skills necessary for young business professionals. These include growing one's professional network, understanding an apartment lease, buying your first vehicle, as well managing your professional persona. The seminar will also help you manage setbacks including crisis management.

This seminar is co-hosted by Valentina Salotti, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Ivy College of Business, and Doug Moore, President of Ames Seed Capital, Iowa’s oldest community-based venture fund. Doug is a serial entrepreneur, having founded several businesses, as well as mentoring startups.

About the Instructor: Doug Moore serves as President of Ames Seed Capital, Iowa’s oldest community-based venture fund. Doug is a serial entrepreneur, having founded several businesses, as well as mentoring startups. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Iowa State’s College of Business on distressed assets and liquidation.

Valentina Salotti is the associate dean for academic affairs and diversity and the Iowa Bankers Association Fellow. She leads all undergraduate academic programs and the professional master’s programs, undergraduate and graduate student services, Business Career Services, the Writing and Speaking Center, and study abroad programs at the college. Her research has been published in premiere academic journals in banking and finance, such as the Journal of Corporate Finance and the Journal of Banking and Finance.

HON 3210-19, Food as/is Medicine, T 2:10-3 p.m., 117 MacKay, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: We all have to eat and nutrition represents a modifiable variable in both the prevention and treatment of disease, thereby contributing significantly to a healthy life. Food as, or is, Medicine is the concept that specific foods, like medications, can be used to treat health issues. However, access to the most healthy foods is not universal and affordable. Integrating nutrition into our healthcare system would enable healthy food to be prescribed for a patient. Food is Medicine programs use food-based interventions aid in the prevention and treatment of diet-related diseases. In this honors seminar, we will discuss the definition and scope of food is/as medicine; implications for the healthcare system; inequities across populations to have access to healthy foods; and precision nutrition, that is individual nutritional recommendations based on genetics, the microbiome, and other environmental variables.

About the Instructor: Kevin Schalinske is currently a Morrill Professor in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, teaching advanced nutrition, nutritional genomics, and epigenetics. He is also the current President of the American Society for Nutrition, which is heavily engaged at all levels with the Food is/as Medicine initiatives.

HON 3210-20, The soil is eroding and so am I: Grieving, honoring, and transforming climate anxiety to climate action, M 2:15-3:05 p.m., Lagomarcino, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: Are you intrigued by the challenge of mitigating climate change and wonder what role soil might play? Are you wondering what role YOU may play in climate change, and how we can take individual and global action? Join us for a novel seminar with interdisciplinary perspectives from agriculture, soil management, psychology, and wellbeing at community and individual levels. The goal of this seminar is twofold: 1) to gain a basic understanding of the linkage between soil and climate change and 2) to leave this class with a deeper, more specific understanding of their strengths as a climate conscious human in relationship with our natural world. Join Dr. Song and Corrine Schwarting, PhD Candidate, for a collaborative understanding on the global affects of climate change on soil, geology, and vegetation in addition to the individual and community actions we may take to respond to climate change from a place of hope.

In the second half of the class we will discuss applied strategies to live a more sustainable lifestyle. This class is NOT therapy or intervention, but rather, a chance to practice wellbeing strategies alongside peers. Students will feel equipped to manage their own anxiety (climate related or otherwise) and become aware of local eco-friendly organizations in town to get connected to the greater Ames community.

About the Instructors:

Corrine Schwarting: Hey all! My name is Corrine (she/her) and I incorporate a climate focus lens to my work within mental and physical wellbeing as a PhD Candidate in Counseling Psychology. I have taught past courses on the Psychology of Measurement and Abnormal Psychology in addition to leading conference talks centered on mental health and climate research with Reiman Gardens and the Women Food and Ag Network. Teaching and mentoring students brings me joy and I am looking forward to facilitating our Fall 2024 cohort of honors students.

Hyeonji Song: I completed my Ph.D. in Soil Science in South Korea, then joined Iowa State University as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Agronomy from 2023. My research focus has been on how to manage soil to minimize environmental effects, particularly on climate change. Also, I have investigated the effect of future climate change on soil ecosystem. My postdoc work is also related to greenhouse gas emissions and agricultural ecosystem in the USA. One of my goals as a researcher is to increase the accessibility of science to the public. Hopefully, this seminar can help diminish the gap between scientific works and the knowledge of the public. I am also a member of the Science Communication Fellowship of Reiman Garden in 2024. If you have any questions on soil and climate change, please reach out (hyeonjis@iastate.edu)!

HON 3210-21, Human Trafficking 101, W 9:55-11:45 a.m., Location TBA, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: This seminar will explore the phenomenon of human trafficking within the United States and beyond. Students will learn about the history of and concepts that define trafficking; the intersectionalities of race, gender, nationality, etc.; legal and political ramifications of trafficking, and how they can make a difference in their community by educating peers about this crime against humanity. Guest speakers include trafficking survivors as well as representatives from law enforcement, The Set Me Free Project, ISU Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery, etc.

About the Instructor: Dr. Alissa Stoehr is an Associate Teaching Professor in both the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. She teaches a variety of courses, including Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, Gender and Sexuality in American Popular Culture, Gender and Sexualities in Society, and Human Trafficking.

HON 3210-22, Theory of Computation, F 2:15-3:05 p.m., 1226 Howe, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: Computers are everywhere around us and they seem to have unlimited potential and capabilities. The principles on which they operate, however, are relatively simple and can be captured with several abstractions. The relevant theoretical developments go back more than a century to the days before any computers even existed. This seminar will cover both the theory and applications of different models of computation and how they led to the development of modern computers. We will discuss Boolean logic, Gödel numbers, primitive and general recursive functions, Turing machines, register machines, and universal machines. Applications of the theory to basic microprocessor design will also be covered. Previous exposure to programming or mathematical logic is recommended, but not required.

About the Instructor: Alexander Stoytchev is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests include computational perception, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital logic, theory of computation, and autonomous robotics. (http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~alexs/)

HON 3210-23, Conflicts in the Middle East, W 2:15-3:05 p.m., Location TBA, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: What are the current political conflicts in the Middle East?

How to understand the wars in the Middle East?

In this seminar, we will examine the current political conflicts and wars in the Middle East.

We will discuss in depth the Arab-Israeli conflict, The Lebanese War, the Palestinian question and other regional issues (Iraq, the Kurds, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, etc).

We will understand the “complicated Middle East” and how these conflicts have been impacting the war on terrorism.

About the Instructor: Jean-Pierre Taoutel, Teaching Professor of French and Arabic, has been teaching at ISU since 1999. He holds an M.A and a D.E.A in French literature from the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France. He has taught several Honors seminars. Jean-Pierre enjoys traveling and he has been in 50 countries.

HON 3210-24, Fantastic Worlds and How to Build Them, F 11-11:50 a.m., 1113 Jischke, 1 Credit, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: Have you ever wanted to create worlds that are striking, compelling, or just plain weird? Are you interested in writing fantasy, science-fiction, or any other kind of genre? In this seminar, you will craft, and breathe life into, a fictional world of your own design. You will also read, and watch, works of fiction rich in worldbuilding and world-centric storytelling to enhance your understanding of this vital element of creative writing. Additionally, you will have a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, many of the interesting complexities which compose the world(s) that we live in every day. This seminar is for fiction writers both new and veteran, in any genre.

About the Instructor: Michael Wettengel is a Lecturer in English at Iowa State University. He received his MA in Literature in Fall 2018 at Iowa State and his MFA in Creative Writing & Environment, also at Iowa State, in Spring 2021. He's taught Honors Seminars in the past and loved every one of them. As a writer, he specializes in crafting textured, complex fictional worlds and the characters who, often messily, navigate them.

HON 3210-25: A Study of Francophone Cinema, W 8:50-10:40 a.m., Location TBA, 2 Credits, Full Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17, International Perspectives

About the Course: The French have had a massive cultural impact on the world through their language, cinema, and political power. In this seminar, we will explore the social impact of francophone cinema and the social events that inspired the films presented. We will watch films covering contemporary retellings of French history, films that cover world events, and films that tackle socio-economic struggles in francophone countries. Films will be from the 1920s to the present day. We will watch films possibly including: The Passion of Joan of Arc, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Cleo from 5 to 7, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Battle of Algiers, La Haine, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, etc. Through a series of reflections and discussions, we will engage each other to discuss the impact of these films on France, the world, and cinema. Films will be watched in French with English subtitles.

About the Instructor: Jacob Wheaton has been a Ph.D. candidate in Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University since 2020. He received his B.S. in Materials Engineering and French in 2020 from ISU. Jacob has spent over a year of his life living in France as either a student or research assistant and has a passion for francophone cinema. He is currently studying glassy materials for use in solid-state battery applications and hopes to be a professor in the future.

HON 3210-26: Exploring Environmental Issues through Documentaries, R 11-11:50 a.m., Online, 1 Credit, First Half Semester, Enrollment Limit: 17

About the Course: In this online seminar we will explore current issues related to overpopulation, overconsumption, industrial livestock production, climate change and species extinction. We will analyze these issues through award-winning documentaries, online lectures, readings, online discussions, and final group projects. You will gain a better understanding of some global environmental problems, learn how to reduce your ecological footprint, and practice your critical thinking skills via documentary critiques.

About the Instructor: Lidia R. Skrynnikova is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. She has taught all levels of undergraduate courses including Animal Ecology and Wildlife Management, Introduction to Renewable Resources, Foundations in Natural Resource Policy and History, and Controversial Issues in Natural Resource Management. She also developed new courses for WLC and NREM: Environmental Issues in Modern Russia, Influential Environmental Thinkers in Russia and the U.S., and Seminar on Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability.