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Course Syllabus

HONR 2100 Intellectual Traditions

  • Division: Administrative Division
  • Department: Honors
  • Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
  • Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites required to take this course.
  • Corequisites: There are no corequisites required for this course.
  • Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
  • Semester Approved: Spring 2025
  • Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2029
  • End Semester: Fall 2030
  • Optimum Class Size: 20
  • Maximum Class Size: 20

Course Description

This course introduces students to the Snow College Honors Program’s outcomes and requirements. It builds foundational skills to help students excel in college courses as it integrates an exploration of intellectual traditions throughout ancient and modern world history. The course emphasizes reading and analyzing seminal works in the history of intellectual development and includes texts from a variety of disciplines. This class is open to all students and fills an honors program requirement.

Justification

Students in this class will learn about the advancements of intellectual thought from antiquity through the modern day as they apply skills essential for participation in the Snow College Honors Program. This course is designed for students in letters and sciences who intend to transfer to a four-year institution to complete a BA or BS degree and allows them to more seamlessly transfer into other USHE institutions’ honors programs. It is comparable to the HONR 2000 and HONR 2100 courses at Utah Valley University and HONR 1040 and HONR 2010 at Southern Utah University.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in the writing process through planning, drafting, and revising their writing.
  2. Students will be able to critically analyze primary texts representative of various time periods and world cultures.
  3. Students will be able to draw interdisciplinary connections to address big-picture issues from multiple disciplines.
  4. Students will be able to identify key intellectual movements and their effects on human experience from past through present.
  5. Students will be able to create ePortfolios and educational plans to prepare them for continued participation in the Honors Program. 

Course Content

Content in this course will vary based on the texts adopted and individual instructors; the course will include formative works of representative intellectual movements between the ancient/classical period and the present. Instructors may choose texts from a variety of cultures and traditions around the world and texts that represent a multiplicity of disciplines and disciplinary approaches. Through various teaching methods, students will examine relevant cultural themes. The course will emphasize close reading, historical influences, contextual and textual analysis, synthesis, interpretation, critical thinking, and application. Students will also create educational plans and begin their ePortfolios as part of the Honors Program. As students develop these skills, they will build a foundation of intellectual rigor that will help them succeed in all future endeavors.