All courses offered through the Summer Honors Program are designed to be dynamic, interactive explorations by the students and professor into the course topic.
Classes meet Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and noon and again between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Half the day will be spent in Honors Core and the other half in the discipline-based class chosen by the student. All classes are conducted by IUP faculty members and local professionals.
Honors Core
Required class for all students
In the Interdisciplinary Honors Core Course, all students will tackle some of the most basic and debated questions of human existence, such as, “How do we discern the good from the bad?” or, “What do we know? What do we believe? Is there a difference?” Working with professors from literature, philosophy, history, and the fine arts provides a unique opportunity for a synthesis of ideas. You will be challenged to develop critical thinking skills through the analysis of great scholars’ arguments, group discussions, writing, and group presentations.
Discipline-Based Class Options (continue to check back for updated course decscriptions)
Archaeology
From Pot Sherds to Gladiators: An Intro to Classical Archaeology
How do we know what we know about the past when written records do not exist or are incomplete? Where the written word is silent, archaeology steps to the forefront. Shipwrecks, volcanic eruptions, burials, and discarded items can all provide crucial evidence for understanding the past. An examination of archaeological sites from Egypt (The Great Pyramids), Greece (Atlantis, Parthenon, and Olympic Games), and Rome (Pompeii, gladiators, and urban living) will shed light on the similarities and differences between these ancient cultures and our society today.
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Biochemistry
Genetic Engineering: Techniques and Application
Covers nucleic acid properties, structure, and functions. The lecture part of the course will cover the principles and techniques of recent developments and findings in recombinant DNA technology. The laboratory component will provide the opportunity to learn and apply hands-on recombinant DNA procedures and the technologies of spectrophotometer analysis of nucleic acids and proteins; restriction enzyme digestion, gel electrophoretic analysis of mutant genes, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis.
Program Prerequisites: High school biology, chemistry or physics
Instructor: Dr. N. Bharathan
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Economics of Sports
Introduces and develops the economic way of thinking as it applies to the sports industry. Topics covered include: the organizational structure of the major American sports leagues (e.g., revenue sharing, salary restrictions, and competitive balance), labor issues in sports (e.g., free agency, reserve clause, unions, strikes, and discrimination), the legal relationship between sports and governments (e.g., antitrust law), and the issue of sports and public economics (e.g., location and financing of sports franchises and public ownership of stadiums and arenas).
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English - Form and Freedom: Poetry Writing
Students will read poems representing a wide range of poetic forms, learn about their history, and gain skill in exploring their thoughts and feelings using form and "free verse."
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English - Music-Based Composition
Memories and Melodies: Exploring Our Lives through Music
Have you ever heard a particular song and felt like it was written exclusively for you? Did the singer’s words align perfectly with your thoughts and feelings at the time? If so, then you, like me, have experienced that magical moment when the singer crawls deep inside your psyche and expresses the very emotions you have been struggling to convey.
No doubt, professional song writers possess a unique gift for creating inimitable experiences for individual listeners. In this course, we will use the song writing process as vehicle for exploring our own lives through writing. In particular, we will craft original song lyrics using the same techniques employed by today’s most gifted song writers. We will spend much of our class time listening to music, analyzing music videos, and interpreting song lyrics. My hope is that this unique experience will help you develop a deeper appreciation for music, a better understanding of the writing process, and most importantly, encourage you to incorporate your own experiences/background into the fabric of your writing.
Instructor: John Ryan Hrebik
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English - Techno Writing
Many writers have said that because of the easy accessibility of the Internet, "everyone is an author." But where does that leave us - those of us who might want to write professionally? This class will work as a traditional writers workshop, but with a twist. Instead of using typical means to do our writing (typing on a screen in word-processing program), we’ll look at various types of technology and software as ways of expanding what it means to write. You’ll develop a web presence for your own writing including a blog; you’ll also practice using social media like Twitter and Facebook as places not just to publish writing but also to do your writing and engage in multi-modal composition (writing that includes video, music, images, and text). We’ll talk about how different publishing mechanisms (like Kindles and self-publishing resources), work to limit and expand our work as writers. Whether you’re interested in poetry, fiction, memoir, play/screenwriting or just want to improve your basic composing skills, all writers are welcome to experience the possibilities of techno-writing.
Instructor: Dr. Bryna Siegal Finer
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Film - The Hunger Games and other Popular Films
In this class we will learn some basics of the art of film-making while we watch recent popular films that focus on people finding their "place" in our current, fast-paced, diverse world. For example, one of the films we will watch will most likely be The Hunger Games, and we will use it to analyze and discuss citizenship, courage, loyalty,and personal moral codes.
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Forensic Science
CSI—IUP
Just how realistic are the crime-scene television shows? Spend two weeks as a member of a crime-solving team. You will learn how to create a search warrant, search different types of crime scenes, collect evidence and then analyze it in lab. There will also be special presentations by detectives, fire investigators, and other forensic professionals. You’ll never see crime-scene TV shows the same way again!
Program Prerequisites: High school biology, chemistry, or physics
Instructor: Mike Baker, Indiana County Coroner
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Journalism/Public Relations
Do you enjoy using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? Do you like to learn, write and socialize with people? Did you know that social media networks are turning the journalism and public relations fields upside-down? At IUP, we teach our students the latest and greatest ways that journalists are adding social media tools to their professional toolboxes. Join me for a two-week adventure full of field trips and challenging projects that will serve you well through your quest for higher education and beyond!
Instructor: Dr. Michelle Papakie
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Law
Amend the Constitution!
Whether it is the issue of same-sex marriage, the right of the unborn to enjoy the status of full personhood, or the limits of the executive branch to push the boundaries of civil liberties in a time of national crisis, the United States Supreme Court struggles daily with the need to balance the rights of its collective citizenry against the individual rights of its citizens, as defined by the Constitution. Justices appointed to this task must wrestle daily with the words of our founding document as they define and interpret the cases that come before it.
You will explore the process of judicial review. We will begin with an examination of several very complex and emotional legal issues that threaten to rend the fabric of our national unity. You will investigate a controversial topic from a constitutional and legal perspective. You will also undergo the very process of judicial review that takes place in the U.S. Supreme Court. After researching and developing positions, the course will culminate in a presentation of a brief that interprets the case and sets the precedent for all future litigation surrounding the issue.
Instructors: Dr. David Chambers and Dr. Gwendolyn Torges
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Mathematics: Patterns, Puzzles and Numbers
The only requirement to enjoy this course is a love of mathematics, patterns, puzzles, and numbers. We will pursue explorations in various topics in Number Theory and Combinatorics. We will also
consider some computer computations and modeling related to mathematics.
Instructor: Dr. Timothy Flowers
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Mathematics: Topics in Linear Algebra
Don’t let the title of this course fool you. Indeed, you will recognize some of the topics if you have ever sat in a basic algebra class. However, this course will be anything but your typical algebra class. In this course, you will be introduced to one of the most influential and applied branches of modern mathematics. Linear algebra, in one fashion or another, touches almost every scientific and technical field including but not limited to mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, computer science, and sociology. One particular instance is facial recognition software, which is used heavily by federal agencies. Other applications include, but not limited to, animation, networks, graph theory, and games. This course is accessible at all levels and no prior background knowledge is required. The only expectation is that you be willing to learn a significant amount of mathematics that you most likely have never seen before. This course will introduce some aspects of abstract mathematics but will focus primarily on computation. Calculators, such as any TI graphing calculator having matrix capability, are recommended but not necessary, and computer software will be introduced and used for time-intensive computations.
Instructor: Dr. John Lattanzio
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Physics
There are multiple objectives of the summer honors physics class. The first is to provide an overview of the content in a first-year calculus based university physics class. Topics such as kinematics, dynamics, work-energy, electric circuits, and modern physics—which includes nuclear physics, special relativity, and quantum mechanics—will be surveyed. This is suitable for any student; good preparation if you plan to take physics in the future or a good review if you had physics in high school and are going to take it again at the university. The second objective is to examine the nature of the physical world from a philosophical perspective. In other words, is knowledge gained from the scientific process different from knowledge gained through other means? Third and last there will be a research project. Projects in the past have been: calculating the mechanical efficiency of a toy car through the process of destroying the car, using radioactive tracers to determine percolation rates of water through various soils, and determining how much aluminum you might need to block radioactive particles. The project done this year might be similar or different from those of the past.
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Psychology
Isn’t psychology all just common sense? Why don’t psychologists believe in punishment? How can psychology be a science when every person is unique? Why do psychologists compare the human brain to a machine; people aren’t machines! The course will address questions such as these to broaden the understanding of psychology as a science. Classic psychological experiments will be reviewed and students will have the opportunity to design their own research study. Students will also learn about the extensive applications of psychology to various aspects of personal life and various careers.
Instructor: Dr. Lisa Newell
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Women’s Studies
Did you ever wonder—Why is pink a girls’ color? Why aren’t boys supposed to cry? Why aren’t girls supposed to get dirty or spit or have messy handwriting? Why is ballet more girly than hip-hop? Why do boys mow lawns while girls babysit?
In this course we will be looking at gender norms, identities, and roles. We will examine gender as a social construct that permeates our culture, defines our sense of self, and has an important impact on economics and power in the family and in larger society. While our primary focus will be on women, we will explore how gender differences and gender socialization shape our society as a whole. We will also examine how ideas about gender shape and are shaped by elements of popular culture like advertising, movies, and television.
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