Accy 420 Section 1, Independent Study (Accountancy Practicum)
ACCY 420 is a two-course sequence which serves as an alternative to the traditional honors thesis for accountancy majors. The class will be an evening class meeting one day per week (3 credit hours for each semester) that will meet throughout the fall and spring semesters of the junior year. Case Studies: Every other week, the students will work through a research case that utilizes the professional literature. The topics will begin with what students are concurrently learning in the Intermediate Accounting series, but will expand beyond the mechanics and disclosure requirements to cover the gray areas that require professional judgment. They will alternatively play the roles of management and the auditor/tax professional to utilize either the Codification or the IRS Code to solve and prepare a written brief on each week’s case. The cases studies will take place throughout the year. Professional Speakers: In the alternative weeks throughout the year, representatives from the accounting profession will speak to the class. The topics will be regarding current topics in the profession. We encourage the professionals to engage the students in active discussion. Case Competitions: This part of the course will be focused on developing presentation and communication skills through preparation and participation in case competitions. Each fall, Patterson School of Accountancy hosts two professional case competitions, in which the student will participate: 1) PwC Challenge and 2) KPMG International Case Competition. Final Thesis Document: The final thesis work will include the many case briefs worked on over the course of the year in addition to the case competition materials.
AH 102 Section Section 1, Introduction to Non-Western Art
This course is designed to introduce students to works of art in various media developed in isolation from the European tradition. Lectures focus on the major artistic traditions of South/Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the Islamic World, Oceania, the Americas, and Africa from ancient until modern time. Using visual arts as a tool, this course introduces students to the diverse social customs, religions, and beliefs of Non-Western peoples. The Honors College section of this course differs from other sections of the course by incorporating active learning strategies in the form of a museum visit, a small group discussion, and an individual student presentation. The assessment of this Honors section is based on several quizzes, “blue-book” essay exams, an oral presentation, and several written assignments.
Bisc 165 Section 2, Honors Recitation
This is a discussion-based course that is intended to provide a broad overview of current research topics in the biological sciences. The goal of the course is to familiarize students with historically important findings and current research trends in order to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for major biological principles. Students will read, summarize, and discuss overviews of topics from the popular literature. Topics to be covered will broadly fall under the realm of evolutionary biology and will include discoveries and advances in animal behavior, neurobiology, endocrinology, paleontology, genetics and ecology. Learning Objectives and Outcomes. Upon completion of this course, students should: Gain a greater understanding of basic biological principles and current biological research; Develop the ability to critically evaluate findings reported in the literature; and Hone their communication skills by presenting summaries of papers and discussing the broader implications of the findings reported in the literature
Bisc 165 Section 8, Honors Recitation
This is a reading and discussion course, focused on the book, Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake, which deals with the fascinating biology of fungi. The course is not meant to comprehensively aid students in preparation or review for Bisc 160-163 (although occasional reviews of portions of that material may occur). Rather, it is designed to provide inspiration about how fascinating biology can be, to provide a broader perspective on biological science not provided by the lecture and lab portions of the course, and especially to help student develop communication and critical thinking skills related to biological science. The participatory nature of this course is intended to provide for a deeper level of intellectual engagement and growth beyond what is possible with lecture and lab. Upon completion of this course, students will have a deeper understanding of the ecology, evolution, edibility, and medicinal benefits of fungi, as well as how to discuss and critically think about biological science.
Bisc 322 Section 5, General Ecology
This course will give an overview of the field of ecology. In the course, we will cover a broad range of ecological topics, including the maintenance of biodiversity, disease ecology, physiological ecology, evolutionary ecology, animal behavior, biogeography, among others. We will address these topics from conceptual building blocks, and then highlight the main ideas with examples from diverse biological systems. The smaller class size of the Honors College section will allow for more in-class discussion of interactive readings and small group work to supplement lectures. The lab portion of the course will feature a mixture of outdoor labs around the Oxford area, interactive computer simulation labs, and independent small-group research projects. Upon completion of this course, students will have an understanding of key ecological principles, their many applications, and an increased understanding of the biological world around them.
Bus 250 Section 2, Legal Environment of Business
The purpose of the course is two-fold. First, the course will instruct how business/transactional law works and how the subject matter practically applies in the “real world”. Subjects to be covered include, but are not limited to: court systems and procedures, contracts, corporations, real property transactions, and regulation of business and transactional law. Second, the student will learn how the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judiciary) operate. Over the course of the semester, the students will hear from the instructor as well as guest presenters who work in a particular field.
CSCI 433 Section 2, Algorithm and Data Structure Analysis
This course seeks to introduce to the students the basic theory, concepts, and techniques of analysis of the efficiency of computer algorithms and concepts of computational complexity. Upon successful completion of this course, the students should: understand concept of computational complexity; be able to analyze a class of computational algorithms; and be able to apply the concept of computational complexity to real world applications. Topics to be covered will include basic asymptotic notations and basic efficiency classes, brute force and exhaustive search, divide-and-conquer, space and time trade-offs, dynamic programming, greedy technique, data structures, graph algorithms, and limitations of algorithm power.
Econ 203 Section 3, Principles of Macroeconomics
The main objective of this course is to introduce the world of macroeconomics, the study of the economy at the national and the international levels. We will begin with learning basic concepts such as gross domestic product, inflation, and unemployment rates to measure the economy. We will explore how those macroeconomic variables are related and how they are affected by the external shocks such as technological innovation and globalization by using simple mathematical tools. We also study the roles of fiscal and monetary policies to stabilize the effect of the external shocks in the short-run and long-run. The Honors section of this course will offer an opportunity of policy-evaluating project in which groups of students can write a short country-specific report and present it in the class. This project can help the students know how to collect the economic data and to provide useful information by analyzing it with simple tools. Also, students are strongly encouraged to ask questions and participate constructively in class discussions, which will lead us to study our topics in depth.
EDCI 353 Section 1, Planning & Teaching Strategies for Effective Classroom Practice
Introduction to teaching strategies and models including direct instruction, discovery and inquiry, cooperative/collaborative learning, concept teaching in a developmental-constructivist context; attention to taxonomies for cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains; reflection of classroom practices; curriculum design and planning; classroom management; evaluation and assessment; use of technology across the curriculum. Participants in the Honors/METP section of this course will be required to teach multiple days from an original unit plan developed during the course.
Hon 392 Section 1, Honors Conversations II (Current Social Issues)
This Honors 392 Conversations section will tackle some of the biggest social justice issues of the day–race and civil rights, the environment, women’s rights, labor, immigration, student debt, war, poverty, etc. Given all that is taking place in the world today, this course is particularly relevant at this time. Designed to give upper-level students the opportunity to meet and discuss important topics in a classroom setting, classes meet for 50 minutes, one time per week. Discussions will take place against the backdrop of major unfolding events in the state, nation and world, such as the presidential election. Related literary, art, music, and film issues as well as political and economic developments can be part of the discussion. The main goal is to engage each other in thoughtful, interesting discussion. As such, each student’s main responsibility each week will be to participate constructively in our discussion. Each student will be assigned one class period during the semester for which he or she will assign readings and lead the discussion.
Hon 392 Section 2, Honors Conversations (The South in the News)
There are any number of ways to understand “the South” or “southerners,” whatever either of those are. In this conversations course, we will look at the making and debating of regional identity via current events. Race, class, and gender–and how each intersect with regional identity–will be of import, particularly as expressed via news events of note. Depending on what unfolds in the spring term, we will likely discuss “southern” identity or events in/about the South as they relate in politics, popular culture, social media, sports, business and labor, and/or religion.
Hon 392 Section 3, Honors Conversations II (On Death and Dying)
This course will encourage students’ reflection of an issue of universal human concern: death and dying. In the words of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, “There’s nothing certain in a man’s life except this: That he must lose it.” Beyond death’s inevitability, its sheer facticity, however, is there anything else to be said about it? Much, indeed. For as Peter Berger has noted, “Every society is, in the last resort, [human beings] banded together in the face of death.” Do the social consequences extend beyond the personal institution of the family and medical industrial complex? Absolutely. In this course, students will learn to see death and dying as an important lens for understanding morality, ethics, social practices and institutions in terms of both individual dilemmas and choices. Our vantage point will be from inside the practice of medicine as each class will be framed with a “case”, an example from physicians’ careers in caring for the dying. Students will interrogate, articulate, and critically analyze their fundamental assumptions about the nature of death and the various human postures toward it. They will consider their own beliefs about a “good life”, a “good death” and what it might mean to “die well”. This is a conversation with a cacophony of voices from different eras and perspectives. We will explore specific questions such as: Is death really all that bad? What difference does the knowledge of death have for the living—for how we approach life, build culture, and organize community and institutions? How has the experience of dying changed in the modern age, and how do people really die nowadays? How does this new reality affect our understanding of the goals of medicine and the ethics of killing and letting-die? What ought we do when medicine cannot save us? And, importantly, how does all of this relate to our everyday lives? How might we deal with loss (when the time comes)? What will we teach our kids about death (if, and when, the time comes)? Our answers to these questions, students will come to see, reflect our deep-seated and often inarticulate beliefs about human nature, moral agency, and one’s vision of the good life.
Hon 392 Section 7, Honors Conversations II (Topics in Medicine and Health Care)
Topics in medicine and health care will be presented as documentaries which students view outside of class. Weekly classroom sessions will discuss and analyze the issues. Topics will include human genomics and personalized medicine, obesity and chronic diseases, antibiotic and vaccine controversies, aging and death, and U.S. and global health care policies.
Hon 392 Section 9, Honors Conversations II (Lessons from The Twilight Zone)
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into…the Twilight Zone. With these immortal words, original series Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling led a mid-2oth century America into a world of terror, chills, and…social commentary? That’s right, Serling was not just out to spin a good yarn or urban legend. His show, like all good stories, had purpose beyond just entertainment. Serling was horrified by a post-WW2 world and all of its evils; prejudice in all forms, oppressive government regimes, and continual injustice. There were, and still are, lessons to be learned from the Twilight Zone. Join SMBHC Coordinator of Enrollment and Engagement William Teer as we dive into the legacy of this landmark series and understand how an impassioned television writer from the 1960’s can still teach us about the world we live in today.
Hon 392 Section 8, Honors Conversations II (Sustainability and the Modern World)
This course will present the contemporary theoretical underpinnings of sustainability while exploring multiple aspects of sustainability that affect how we live today and in the future. Through a mix of readings, short videos, and podcasts we will discuss and analyze the sustainability issues associated with federal and state regulations, corporate social responsibility, assessment techniques, research and development, embodied energy and water, and product lifecycles. The vehicle, energy, education, agriculture, and human services sectors will form the base for most of the examples covered in class and course materials.
Hon 399 Section 1, Special Topics in Honors (The American Highway)
This class is about the American highway. We consider the highway as a metaphor for the promise of a better life elsewhere, and we explore it in the development and demise of towns and cities, the highway as it relates to farming, commercial advertising, the shipment of goods across time and space, the highway as a gospel of sorts. We’ll talk about travel and American restlessness, about the family vacation, the hitchhiker, the college road trip. We consider the role of the highway in the American psyche, as offering freedom in and of itself, in addition to the distinctiveness of new places and the thrill of finding a few hours away in a different culture. Reactions to the highway run the gamut, from ecstatic diversions to costly roads of regret. The highway becomes a way to think about what lies around the bend and how we live into hardship and hope. We’ll read fictional and non-fictional meditations on the highway, analyze song lyrics, watch films, archival news reports, listen to oral histories and examine documentary photography. We may conclude the course, with a literal or figurative road trip; thinking about the uncertainties facing us as we begin to emerge from the pandemic.
Hon 399 Section 3, Special Topics in Honors (Film & Social Issues)
This course explores the role Hollywood as well as independent and international feature films have played in bringing light to social issues, whether race, the role of women in society, economic injustice, or other issues. From F.W. Murnau’s silent classic The Last Laugh to Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and beyond, feature films have been called the predominant art form of the last century, and, like music, literature, and painting, an art that often has addressed key issues of the day despite pressures from studio moguls, financiers, and the government. Students in this course encounter German Expressionist film of the 1920s, Film Noir of the 1940s, and modern-day films in which an underlying truth or hard-boiled reality sometimes takes the place of the traditional happy ending.
Hon 399 Section 4, Special Topics in Honors (Influences and Interactions in Art and Music)
This course will explore the influences and interactions between the visual arts and music from the Renaissance to the present day. There will be particular emphasis on works of the Classical, Romantic, Impressionist and Modern periods with focus on such artists as Caravaggio, Fragonard, Goya, Delacroix, Corot, Manet, Eakins, Monet, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Picasso, Ernst, Matisse, Kahlo, Warhol, Basquiat, and Close and their stylistic parallels and influences upon such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Bartok, Schönberg, Cage and Glass. We will also study other related media including film, dance and sculpture. The class will involve looking, listening and analyzing the lives and works of these artists and their eras. It only requires a passion to learn and explore the extraordinary richness of the artistic creative spirit.
Hst 121 Section 7, Intro to European History since 1648
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the main political, social, and cultural developments in European history after 1648. Students are encouraged to acquire a clear understanding of the important people, places, and events that influenced the course of historical change as well as to develop their ability to interpret and analyze sources. The course aims to improve critical thinking, verbal, reading and writing skills.
Hst 130 Section 11, Intro to US History since 1877
This course will present an overview of American history from initial European exploration through the Civil War. By examining the interactions between diverse groups of peoples, including Native Americans, Europeans, European Americans, and African Americans, we will explore the changing meanings of freedom, equality, citizenship, democracy, and American identity. Along the way we will cover such topics as the rise of slavery, the American Revolution, the development of a political party system, the emergence of market capitalism, and the reasons behind the Civil War; approaching these topics through such categories of analysis as race, gender, and class. Special emphasis will be given to the multi-layered complexities and myriad perspectives of the many pasts and historical actors that give American history its richness. In addition, students will learn how to read primary sources as historical documents and, in turn, discover how historians interpret history. The intensive discussion of primary sources, the debating of key events and themes in American history through Reconstruction, and the assigning of essays asking students to craft their own interpretations of the American past will allow students in this honors course to become historians for a semester. Along the way, students will burnish their critical reading, analytical writing, and oratorical abilities—pushing them to become more persuasive and eloquent, and allowing them to master a basic but essential set of skills demanded of several different potential professional tracks that they may go on to pursue.
Hst 492 Section 1, Problems in World History (Crime and Punishment in Modern China)
From the pirates and millenarian rebels of the 18th and 19th centuries, to the heroin and gunrunning gangsters of WWII Shanghai, so-called “criminals” were central to the making of modern China. This course will allow students to explore what can be learned about modern Chinese history from the sources on crime, and contemplate the very notions of crime and punishment from the perspective of modern Chinese history. Simultaneously, students will achieve a level of fluency in late imperial Chinese legal and administrative culture, and strive to analyze how this legal culture changed over the course of modernity: through war, revolution, and international interactions. Our goal in this course is to use the topic of crime and punishment to think about how and why a society – China – changed over a distinct period of time (c.a. 1800-1949). We will work on crafting historical arguments about the changes in Chinese society, by drawing on primary sources and analyzing the interpretations of other scholars. In- and out-of-class assignments will give students a chance to engage with primary sources, including (but not limited to): published collections of translated criminal cases, my own translations of criminal cases, popular fiction, old newspapers and government reports, and the records of British and American consular and Maritime Customs officials stationed in China between 1842-1949.
MGMT 371 Section 7, Principles of Management
This honors section of MGMT 371 expands on the regularly offered course through the use case analysis of current events and topics in the business world. Expect weekly interactive discussions of business management as it occurs.”
Phil 103 Section 2, Logic: Critical Thinking (cross-listed as Ling 103)
Students will develop the ability to uncover the logical structure of ordinary language; to recognize, represent, and assess everyday statements and arguments; and to work competently within formal logical systems. The material will be presented in three distinct sections, with an exam after each section. The first section is introductory. Topics include basic logical concepts, the informal analysis of statements, the nature and analysis of arguments, and fallacies (including statistical fallacies). The second section concerns categorical logic. Topics include categorical statements, the logical relationships amongst categorical propositions, and categorical syllogisms. The third section concerns propositional logic. Topics include the truth-functional operators and the use of truth tables to prove validity. Note that the course is excellent preparation for standardized graduate admissions tests (GRE, LSAT, MCAT).
Phil 395 Section 1, Special Topics (The Ethical Visions(s) of Utopias)
Why is our society the way that it is? Must it be this way? If it could be altered, what should be altered? As we move into the next decade of this century and given the social unrest facing our country, we should consider what we would like to construct Mississippi to be in the future. If we could create a perfect—or at least, an improved—Mississippi, what would it look like? What factors should we consider and why? Most importantly, are there any models that we might make use of in thinking about these questions? Fortunately, questions about the improvement of society and explicit models for idealized societies have been common in philosophy and literature for centuries. We begin with portions of Plato’s Republic by examining the role of the state and the ideal of justice as the impetus for a new society, followed by Thomas More’s Utopia, which introduces additional questions about the role of religion. With Charlotte Perkins Gilman we examine the role of women (and men) in the production of scientific knowledge and the construction of family life and child-rearing. With Bellamy’s Looking Backwards we examine a cooperative, socialist society, and with Sutton Griggs’ Imperium we consider what an ideal society would be like from a black perspective. We end our study of primary texts with B. F. Skinner’s Walden Two as the politico-economic re-vision of society dedicated to happiness. Each of the primary texts presents an ethical vision of what society should value and pursue, emphasizing the egalitarian distribution of goods and economic work, the political vision of harmony and peace, the religious goal of the absence of restriction and devotion to faith, and the scientific vision of maximizing health and long-life through the use of technology and the eradication of sickness and disease. With all these factors and models in mind, we visit (potentially only virtually given the pandemic) a modern intentional community in Tennessee that incorporates the economic, political, religious, and scientific visions found within our primary texts. Our questions in visiting the modern intentional community and applying these historic models to examine it will be to ask: (1) what vision and models could be applied to Mississippi, and (2) which models should we pursue—and why—for a better Mississippi?
Pol 398 Section 2, Special Topics (Politics in a Post-Truth Age)
To a large degree, representative democracy is premised on the idea of a set of shared norms and values. While citizens may prioritize these values differently, there tends to be general agreement on what it means to be a democratic citizen. Much like our Honors citizen-scholars, democratic citizens are expected to develop at least a minimal understanding of pertinent issues so that we may engage in meaningful debate and cast thoughtful votes. All of this is based on a recognition not just of shared values, but of shared facts. That is, we are expected to engage the political process with different viewpoints and opinions, but not from fundamentally different political realities. In our present political environment, there are significant concerns about whether citizens and political institutions are living up to their part in our democratic experiment. What happens to our democracy if we continue to slide down the path of “post-truth,” and into believing whatever is convenient and comfortable? What happens when citizens and elected officials can no longer approach political debate from a common set of facts? In this course, we will examine the arguments and evidence for whether we are indeed in a post-truth age, and the implications this has for our understanding of politics, policy, and representative democracy. Class will be a seminar format, focusing on thoughtful discussion and critical thinking, and evaluation through written essays and research papers. Our approach for the course will be to examine how political science is trying to make sense of and offer insights into “post-truth” politics in our current political environment. Most of the readings will be drawn from political science literature, some of them in original article format, and some in a more distilled summary form. My expectation is that some readings will reinforce preconceived notions, while others will provide important theoretically and empirically-based challenges. Specific topics will include: The nature of public opinion; Misinformation in the political environment; Conspiracy theories and how they disseminate; Partisan motivated reasoning; Political polarization; Political campaigns; The media: structure, bias, and false balance; and Social media as a driver of misinformation.
Pol 398 Section 3, Special Topics (Legal Reasoning in the U.S. Supreme Court)
We will examine the basic methods of “thinking like a lawyer” used by the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the nation’s most important legal disputes. We will survey a wide range of landmark cases–principally on constitutional rights and structures. We will use these cases to explore major modes of legal reasoning while also learning foundational legal doctrines, among others: First Amendment rights of religion and speech; Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures; and, federalism and the Tenth Amendment. We will study legal analysis in all its many forms—from the basic IRAC method (issue, rule, application, and conclusion) at the heart of the first year experience in law school to the more sophisticated approaches to interpretation, policy argument, and doctrinal analysis used by justices and lawyers who argue before them. The latter approaches include modalities of interpretation (constitutional text, original understanding, precedent.), forms of policy argument (empirical cost-benefit analysis, intrinsic human rights, deference to democratic decision-makers), and doctrinal structures (levels of scrutiny, balancing tests, bright line rules). This course will be especially helpful for those who plan to attend law school next year or the following year.
PPL 377 Section 1, Women and Public Policy in the U.S.
In this course, we will explore how a range of public policies specifically affect women in the U.S., paying attention to the commonalities and diversity of women’s experiences, interests, and beliefs. Readings will draw on academic articles, government research, think tank reports, and personal narratives, among others. Writing requirements include short analysis/reflection assignments and longer policy research papers; and class sessions emphasize discussion, debate, and problem-solving, with limited time for lecture.
Rel 103 Section 2, Intro to Judaism, Christianity and Islam
This course provides a survey of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam along thematic lines. We will examine and compare two separate themes that correspond with three units in the textbook: “Scripture and Tradition” and “Ethics and Ritual.” The Honors section, uniquely, will include several primary source readings that focus on gender/sexuality and contemporary Israeli/Palestinian contentions in the Holy Land. If COVID protocols allow, we will also engage in “field work” at a related religious site chosen by students.
Span 211 Sections 4 and 10, Intensive Intermediate Spanish
Spanish 211, Intermediate Spanish, is a continuation of Spanish 111, Elementary Spanish, and is therefore, designed to continue the study of the language and culture in the Spanish-speaking world. By the end of this class, students should be able to complete intermediate-level communicative tasks in Spanish using the communication strategies, grammar structures and vocabulary acquired during the semester, and to understand and be able to talk about the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world. The goals of this course are based on the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. Students in the Honors section will have the opportunity to work with authentic material (news articles, literature, etc.) and will engage reading and writing strategies they have learned in regular classes in the production of class work and homework in Spanish. Because this Honors section will also include Croft students, who will necessarily continue to Spanish 303 and 305, we will spend more time in preparing all the students for excellence in those courses. In sum, Spanish 211 contributes to the Honors College curriculum not only by fulfilling the language requirement but also by emphasizing critical thinking and writing by using original source material, and by contributing to an interdisciplinary approach to learning.
Writ 250 Section 3, Advanced Composition
In this course students will advance their research and writing skills by conducting secondary and primary research within their majors and completing writing projects that report on the results of their research. We will review strategies for developing research topics, questions, and problems; discipline-specific research resources to help students effectively and efficiently locate scholarship in their fields; fundamentals of data collection methods and analysis; research ethics; writing skills, including summary, evaluation, and synthesis; and strategies for presenting research in a multimodal format. The final writing project is a proposal in which students will outline the methods and anticipated findings of a study of their own design. Students may use the class assignments to help inform their future Honors theses, or if they have started their theses prior to enrollment in the class, use that work to help guide their assignments.