Spring 2026 Seminars
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“Good Taste?”: Art, Aesthetics, and Experience
HNRS 2011 Gen Ed Credit: Humanities, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Brian Glover
Tuesday & Thursday, 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
What is taste? Why do we love what we love and hate what we hate? What is tacky? What is beautiful? What is sublime? What do these judgments have to do with social, cultural, and political power? In this class we’ll think about these questions as we investigate our own perceptions of movies, writing, pictures, memes, and more.
HNRS 2011 Gen Ed Credit: Humanities, Writing Intensive
Instructor: James Smith
We begin with a story that for more than thirty years has produced the obvious need for the class to discuss moral relativism. That discussion will lead to interrelated topics dealing with the relation of the social sciences to philosophy, with the nature of inference, and with some introductory considerations of the cognitive status of moral claims. These considerations will include issues regarding inferential justification, the nature of the American founding, domestic and foreign diversity, and methods for the presentation of sound argumentation in cases of moral importance in the professions. Students will complete three exams of four or five mini-essays each, a longer semester essay, and a final exam with four or five mini-essays, each of these five requirements weighted equally in the determination of the course grade. Each of the five requirements may be submitted optionally in draft form for instructor critique before final, almost always revised, later submission. Together, this work will result in a course-long conversation about content and how to write about it successfully. This course design has for years emphasized the skills associated with writing and writing improvement as those five different extended essays are submitted for instructor feedback for improvement prior to final submission.
Fat in Performance: Unpacking Stigma, Identity and Representation
HNRS 2012 Gen Ed Credit: Fine Arts, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Jen-Scott Mobley
Tuesday & Thursday, 2-3:15 p.m.
“A World Within Itself”: Popular Music and Philosophy
HNRS 2012 Gen Ed Credit: Fine Arts, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Derek Myler
Tuesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
This seminar centers three branches of discourse in the philosophy of music, taking popular music of the twenty-first century as a broad target for analysis. Our three central concerns are music’s ontology (What are the objects of music? How does music form categories?), aesthetics (What is beauty in music? Does music have a responsibility to affect or please us, or to express or represent nonmusical states?), and time (What can music teach us about temporal experience? How can music exhibit form in time?). As sites for exploring these themes, we will consider music by Kendrick Lamar, Avicii, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Yola, Punch Brothers, Lady Gaga, Meshuggah, Fiona Apple, Dirty Loops, Ariana Grande, Post Malone, Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, and many other leading artists across a wide array of post-millennial popular musics.
How to Invite Laugher and Applause
HNRS 2012 Gen Ed Credit: Fine Arts, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Eric Shouse
Monday & Wednesday, 3:30-4:45pm
This course will teach students the techniques that professional speakers use to invite laughter and applause. Students will be required to learn and analyze these techniques and then to apply them to their own public speaking.
Artificial Intelligence and National Security: An Exploration of Some Key Issues
HNRS 2013 Gen Ed Credit: Social Sciences, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Armin Krishnan
Tuesday & Thursday, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
This is a writing intensive research seminar that explores the applications, limitations, and risks of the use of artificial intelligence in national security, including the uses of AI for surveillance, human enhancement, decision support, and autonomous weapons. Students are expected to develop a relevant research question, present their research project in class, and produce a longer research paper by the end of the semester.
HNRS 2013 Gen Ed Credit: Social Science, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Chad Morris
Tuesday & Thursday, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Explores history and significance of BBQ in North Carolina through the lenses of culture and health. We’ll look at how foods become part of identity, and how identity drives many of the food choices we make. Then, we’ll consider clinical and community health implications of this knowledge, including means of improving community health and policy. Finally, we’ll think about our own place in local food culture, applying lessons learned to personal beliefs and habits, goals, and thoughts on career fulfillment.
The Value of Sport: Research, Economic Impact and Sport in Greenville, NC
HNRS 2013 Gen Ed Credit: Social Science, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Kindal Shores
Monday & Wednesday, 2-3:15 p.m.
In this course students will engage in class discussions, personal reflections, formal research presentations and writing assignments to learn about the social science research process. Using basic social science research principles, students will understand how amateur sport can generate social and economic outcomes in communities. Students will use the Little League World Softball Series hosted in Greenville, NC as a case study to describe how sports leagues, tournaments and special events positively and negatively affect communities. They will recognize how social science research can help us understand and measure outcomes that effect residents and the places they live.
Economics of the Wine and Craft Brewing Industry
HNRS 2013 Gen Ed Credit: Social Science, Writing Intensive
Instructor: Nicholas Rupp
Monday & Wednesday, 2-3:15 p.m.
Students will gain first-hand knowledge of the wine industry by brewing 5 gallons of wine. Students will learn how to do economic analysis as it relates to both the wine and craft brewing industries. Students will use supply and demand analysis to promote their understanding of both of these industries. Students are also expected to gain an understanding core economic concepts and apply them to the wine and craft brewing industries. Students will become familiar with production, distribution, and consumption of wine and beer. Students will learn about the current issues driving these industries. Students will be expected to convey their wine/beer findings both orally and in writing. Students will interview individuals working in the wine/beer industries and write a paper which overviews the industry, summaries their interview with eh individual, and makes recommendations to the individual. Finally, students will develop a worldview of the wine and beer industries and gain an understanding of the U.S. wine and beer industry’s place in the world supply. Students will a local craft brewery to learn from the producers should aid in their understanding.
HNRS 2116 Gen Ed Credit: Writing Intensive
Instructors: Gabe Duggan & David Lagomasino
Monday, 2-4:50 p.m.
This course introduces students to the foundational concepts of Earth and environmental sciences through the lens of artistic expression and cultural interpretation. Students will explore how natural processes—such as mineral formation, weathering, erosion, climate dynamics, ecosystem development, and chemistry —shape the planet and provide materials used by human societies for creative purposes and civil awareness. By integrating science, culture, and creativity, this course fosters a systems-based understanding of people, place, and planet. Students will develop skills in observation, analysis, communication, and critical thinking that prepare them to engage thoughtfully with environmental and societal challenges.
Whale Tale: Big challenges facing ocean’s biggest mammals
HNRS 2014 Gen Ed Credit: Science, Writing Intensive
Instructors: Bonnie Glass & Tammy Lee
Tuesday, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Focusing on systems science and ocean literacy principles, students will investigate climate-related challenges facing the marine ecosystems of NC and Baja California Sur, Mexico. Students will meet once a week to explore climate impacts on marine mammal migration as they prepare for an immersive 6-night/7-day spring break field experience. In Baja, students will travel by boat to observe blue whales, pods of dolphin, blue-footed boobies and sea lions in the Gulf of California. Students will then travel across peninsula through the desert and over the Sierra de Gigantica mountain range to Guerro Negro. There, we will take small boats to observe gray whales and their calves – a truly magical experience!
Entrepreneurship: Regional Transformation Through Entrepreneurship
HNRS 2116 Gen Ed Credit: Writing Intensive
Instructors: Corey Pulido & Emily Yeager
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9-9:50 a.m.
Apply knowledge from previous courses to determine market feasibility, develop a business operations plan, craft a marketing strategy, establish realistic financial projections, and identify appropriate sources of potential funding for businesses in the surrounding community. Formal presentation of business plans at the end of the semester to correlated clients.
Chocolate: Environmental, Economic, Cultural, Social Impact and Medicinal Properties
HNRS 2116 Gen Ed Credit: Writing Intensive
Instructor: Lauren Sastre
Monday & Wednesday, 2-3:15 p.m.
Who doesn’t love chocolate? But- who also could imagine chocolate could be so complex!!?!? This course will cover everything from social aspects of chocolate (Why is it considered romantic? and a gift for Valentines day?!) to the darker economic/historical side (what did people do, globally, to get their hands on it!?!), to the clinical – medicinal side (anti-inflammatory powerhouse anyone?!?!) And yes . . . . there will also be taste testing and a visit from a local chocolatier!
Artificial Intelligence: The Promise and the Peril
HNRS 2116 Gen Ed Credit: Writing Intensive
Instructor: Tom Robbins
Tuesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to become one of the most disruptive innovations ever created by man. Many believe it will usher in new of era of economic growth and abundance. Others feel it is a greater threat than nuclear weapons and could spell the end of the human race. Many notable commentators believe that the chance AI creates an existential disaster is high, some would even say it is inevitable. In this course we will take a serious, but non-technical, look at AI. We will review its history and the current state of the art capabilities across a wide range of domains including games, sports, military and law enforcement, medicine, robotics and autonomous vehicles, business, art and entertainment, and of course large language models and chat bots. We will investigate what the future holds and look at the tremendous economic and social value that this technology can create. We will also examine the risks created by artificial super intelligence; from deep fakes and disinformation, to systemic unemployment, to the annihilation of the human race.
Authentic Leadership: Looking Inward to Grow Outward
HNRS 2116 Gen Ed Credit: Writing Intensive
Instructor: Rebekah Rogers
Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Human beings are ever-changing. We are forever in process of evolving and refining who we are as individuals and leaders. Leadership is dynamic and individuals are always having to realign with their core beliefs and values. The changes, learning, and application in this course will be informed by theory and personal experience. It is through self-reflection and deep introspection that we can ask serious questions about who we are, who are we becoming, and who we want to become.