HON-151: Honors Colloquium: History and Culture of Detroit

School
Liberal Arts
Division
Honors
Department
Honors Program
Academic Level
Undergraduate
Course Subject
Honors Program
Course Number
151
Course Title
Honors Colloquium: History and Culture of Detroit
Credit Hours
3.00
Instructor Contact Hours Per Semester
47.00 (for 15-week classes)
Student Contact Hours Per Semester
47.00 (for 15-week classes)
Grading Method
A-E
Pre-requisites
Honors Program Acceptance
Catalog Course Description

An interdisciplinary humanities course that examines the history and culture of Detroit.

Goals, Topics, and Objectives

Goal Statement
A primary objective of the course is to encourage a sense of community among honors students and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among them. In addition, the course attempts to encourage students to develop an appreciation of the relationships among several academic disciplines and to broaden and intensify students' intellectual interests.
Core Course Topics
  1. Topic listed below.

    This Colloquium explores the city of Detroit as a landmark of industrial development, labor activism, and cultural complexity. The course focuses on distinctive individuals, significant institutions, and artistic achievements central to the evolution of Detroit through the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.

Detailed Learning Objectives (Optional)
  1. Describe a particular social, scientific, or aritistic problem within a variety of contexts.
  2. Evaluate the commentary of classmates, as well as the remarks of not only the assigned instructor but visiting lecturers  within a seminar context.
  3. Analyze the organizing principle of the Colloquium within both historical and contemporary frameworks.*
  4. Compose an essay that includes a detailed summary, explicit interpretation, and rigorous evaluation of at least one of the seminiar's principal texts.

Assessment and Requirements

Assessment of Academic Achievement
  • 1,500 word (minimum) seminar essay
  • A minimum of four in-class essays and/or journal commentaries
  • Final exam 
General Course Requirements and Recommendations

The Honors Colloquium is organized by a member of the Honors faculty around a humanities theme.  Typically, the convener enlists participation of other faculty from across the College to present guest lectures on an overarching theme.  Students are exposed to a wide variety of faculty and diverse topics, as well as teaching styles, through:

  • Lectures on the context and themes given by various HFC faculty speaking in their areas of expertise and special interest
  • Classroom discussion
  • Reading assignments
  • Site visits to area exhibititions, performances, etc.
Effective Term
Winter 2016