Coolidge Otis Chapman Honors Program

SAMPLE COURSES

Metamorphosis and Identity

Students may choose one of the following sections:

A. This section of Honors 211 explores identity across the centuries through stories about metamorphosis. The nature of change reflects cultural, intellectual, and social differences that undergird these stories about "self" and "shape" from fifth-century Athens to twentieth-century Germany. The course examines how early cultures both anticipate modern ideas of individualism as well as radically diverge in their assumptions about human nature, personal and communal obligations, and change as a threat to or regeneration of order. All of the "stories", verbal and visual, reflect tensions and paradoxes through a highly conscious working out of the boundaries between the personal and communal, interior and exterior, private and public, animal and human, despite the fact that they do not share a view of "the individual" or "self" that corresponds to a contemporary (and thus diverse) sense of personal identity and autonomy.

B. This section of Honors 211 examines the biblical story of Adam and Eve, one of Western culture's key foundation myths, by following its preoccupation with forbidden knowledge in the works of authors ranging from the 17th-Century poet John Milton to contemporary women writers of the psychedelic movement, who like Eve, ingest forbidden wisdom-giving "fruit." In doing so, we enlist the help of philosophers, neuroscientists, and psychologists to explore such questions as: Should certain kinds of knowledge be forbidden or is knowledge an unqualified good? Who should decide? What does it mean to be in a state of innocence, or of experience? What aspects of the human psyche are involved in occupying these states and what kinds of knowledge are they capable of acquiring? These questions will in turn invite us to (re)assess what we understand to be the nature of reality and the deepest aspects of our human identity.

Code

Humanistic Approaches

Prerequisites

Admission to the Honors Program.

HON 212

What is America?

MEET THE FACULTY

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Alison Tracy Hale

Professor, English

ajtracy@pugetsound.edu

Alison Tracy Hale’s primary teaching and scholarly interests focus on the literatures of early America, with emphases on the American gothic, the early novel, pedagogical practices, and the early Republic. Her recent publications include “Heavenly…

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Suzanne Holland

Professor, Religion, Spirituality, and Society, John B. Magee Professor of Science and Values, and Director, Bioethics

sholland@pugetsound.edu

Dr. Holland teaches in the area of religious ethics and values, including bioethics, science and technology, religion, and Gender Studies. Her research interests range from the ethics of human genetics and stem cell research, biotechnology and…

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Kriszta Kotsis

Professor and Chair, Art and Art History

kkotsis@pugetsound.edu

Kriszta Kotsis is an art historian who teaches ancient and medieval art, including specialized courses on Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Western Medieval, and Islamic art, and art historical methodology. Her research focuses on representations of women in…

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Denise Despres

Professor, Humanities, Honors, and English

ddespres@pugetsound.edu

Denise Despres is an interdisciplinary scholar of medieval literature and devotional culture. She has explored medieval literary and visual hermeneutics in a manuscript culture, medieval women writers and subjectivity, and anti-Judaism in 12th-…

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George Erving

Professor, Honors, Humanities, and English

gerving@pugetsound.edu

George Erving is a scholar of the British Romantic era and its intersections with contemporary culture. He takes special interest in the ways that imaginative works by Romantic period authors inform and are informed by contemporary research in four…

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John Wesley

Professor and Chair, English

jwesley@pugetsound.edu

John Wesley is a professor of early modern British literature. His research focuses on the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century reception of classical rhetorical theory, mainly in terms of its impact on the theatre, language, and education. He is…

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Aislinn Melchior

Professor, Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies

amelchior@pugetsound.edu

I earned my PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004 with a dissertation on the representation and justification of violence in the writings of Julius Caesar and joined the department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies that same year. I…

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David Latimer

Professor and Chair, Physics

dlatimer@pugetsound.edu

David Latimer’s research interests primarily lie in nuclear and particle theory, with an emphasis upon neutrino phenomenology, which has promise as a means of exploring impenetrable and cosmological environments. He has used experimental data to…

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Alisa Kessel

Professor, Politics and Government

kessel@pugetsound.edu

Alisa Kessel’s work in political theory reflects her interest in questions about political membership, power, and agency in democratic communities. She has been focused on the concept of “consent,” particularly in the context of rape and other forms…

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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Ways our students learn through experience:

Emily Wright ’22, summer 2019 internship with USGS
Amanda Melin ’20, summer 2019 NASA grant, wastewater analysis
Lukas Karoly ’21, summer 2019 research on Vorticella
Kylie Gurewitz ’20, summer 2019 research on meditation
Kate Gladhart-Hayes ’20, summer 2019 research on nuclear waste on indigenous lands

AFTER PUGET SOUND

What some of our alumni are doing:

Samantha Lilly ’19, Watson Fellow, "Understanding Suicidality Across Cultures"
Meadow Poplawsky ’19, Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, India
Nicholas Navin ’19, Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, Indonesia
Annie Lamar ’19, Stanford University (classics and computer science)
Megan Sanders ’19, U.S. State Department (foreign service officer)
Andrew Brandt ’18, University of Texas - Austin (architecture)
Helen Tschurr ’19, University of Wisconsin - Madison (law school)
Madeline Brown ’18, George Washington University (public policy and gender studies)
Megan Schowalter ’17, Teach for America
Ada Smith ’17, Japan Exchange and Teaching Program
Rachel Anderson ’17, Peace Corps, China
Sam Scott ’17, Seattle Children's Research Institute (clinical research associate, pediatric cancer)

Puget Sound Podcast: Kyra Zapf '21

Kyra does a deep dive into European history as she describes her summer research project on 16th-century clothing and portraits.

Campus

Community

Students

Raising the Roof

Students build a tiny house to help reduce homelessness

Puget Sound Podcast: Rachael Shelden

Rachael Shelden ‘12, M.A.T.’13 describes her Puget Sound journey, from participating in the Honors Program, to completing her graduate studies in the School of Education, to working in the Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching.

FACILITIES

LANGLOW HOUSE

Built in 1908, Langlow House is an optional residence for sophomores in the Honors Program, including singles, doubles, and triples, as well as multiple common areas.

THOMAS HALL READING ROOM

This special reading room in Thomas Hall is available to students in the Honors Program and provides a dedicated area for our students to study and hang out.

THOMAS HALL HONORS FLATS

Junior and senior honors students are eligible to live in the Thomas Hall Honors Flats, which feature singles, as well as a full kitchen, common areas, and access to the Reading Room.