The University of Florida Honors Program
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Honors sections are versions of regular UF courses, but specifically designed for honors students. Quest 1 & 2 sections are typically available each semester, but are not required.
Genetics presents a comprehensive coverage of the principles, theory and applications of genetics. Topics include the chemical nature and structure of genetic material, gene expression and regulation, gene mutation, molecular genetic techniques, genomics, cell division, chromosome number and structure variation, principles of inheritance, gene interaction, genetic mapping, pedigree analysis, x-linked inheritance, and basic concepts in population and quantitative genetics.
Credits: 3; Prereq: MAC1147 or the equivalent and either a passing score on the ALEKS placement exam or a passing grade in CHM1025; Coreq: CHM2045L.
This course is the first semester of the General Chemistry 1 and 2 sequence (CHM2045/L and CHM2046/L or equivalents) and covers stoichiometry, atomic and molecular structure, the states of matter, reaction rates and equilibria. The course is designed with the needs of Chemistry and Biochemistry majors in mind and will go more in depth into topics they will need in higher level chemistry courses. A minimum grade of ‘C’ is required to pass the course and progress to CHM2046. A minimum grade of ‘B+’ is required to progress to CHM2051 (Honors General Chemistry II).
The biology of honey bees and the craft of apiculture will be examined by exploring the life cycle of honey bees, biogeography and evolution of beekeeping. Equipment, techniques, management practices, pollination ecology, economic practices and current issues within beekeeping will be discussed.
This honors course will cover the standard subject matter covered in MAC 2311, which is the first in the three-semester sequence MAC 2311, MAC 2312, and MAC 2313, with a special emphasis on concepts and theory. Intended topics will include functions and inverse functions, limits, continuity, differentiation of algebraic and trigonometric functions; applications of derivatives; integration and the fundamental theorem of calculus; applications of definite integrals.
Class Number: 28219
Class Number: 28220
Class Number 28226
Examines Russian everyday life and institutions of the 19th and 20th centuries through the media of literature and film.
Prereq: Critical Tracking semester 2 or greater.
Drawing on materials and methodologies from a variety of disciplines, this class explores the diverse experiences of women, both in past eras and in the present, in the U.S. and abroad.
Attributes: General Education - Diversity, General Education - Humanities, General Education - Social Science, Satisfies 4000 Words of Writing Requirement
CLASS NUMBER: 18053
CLASS NUMBER: 18052
Students registering in these honors sections should also register for the following WST4911 section to do the additional honors-specific research/experiential learning activities.
Students registering in WST3015 Class #18053 and WST3015 Class #18052 should also register for the following WST4911 section to do the additional honors-specific research/experiential learning activities.
Quest 1
The ability to listen is a key component to our society. Listening is the very first language skill we develop, before speaking, reading or writing. In addition, we use our listening skills more than any other language skill, listening to the equivalent to a book each day. However, despite the fact that listening is the first and most frequent language skill we possess, very few people understand and excel at listening. As a result of poor listening, we suffer from misconceptions, mistakes, and misdiagnoses, which in turn leads to mistrust in our society. This begins with our failure to listen intrapersonally-understanding one’s self. It continues through our interpersonal relationships-understanding our friends, family and partners. And, as a society, we often fail to reach understanding with each other, especially those who are different from ourselves, primarily due to a lack of listening.
This course examines the essential questions of the human condition, as it relates to listening. How do we see ourselves in relation to others and what role does listening play in shaping those perceptions? How do we listen to natural world around us? How does listening shape the way we develop and express our values? This class examines the complex relationship between humans, communication, technology and listening. This course is multidisciplinary in nature, drawing from psychology, sociology and communication studies. Students will explore these themes through participatory discussions, observational analysis, self-reflections and evaluation. Students will build concrete skills that will help support and promote effective listening skills.
In this course, rather than learning the anatomy of a body, students will learn the anatomy of stories about health and medicine in film, literature, non-fiction, poetry, music, and art to answer the following essential questions: How is our understanding of the human condition constructed through and by the stories that we hear and tell, and how can these stories help us understand health, suffering, illness, disability, or disease?
What are the rights that all humans are expected to share? When, where and how did the idea of human rights start and how did it evolve? How is the concept of human rights applied or neglected in Latin America? What have been the challenges that Latin Americans have confronted to claim and implement human rights?
This class explores theoretical and empirical debates on human rights in Europe and the Americas from the perspectives of history, anthropology, literary theory, and political science. Once students acquire a solid foundation on the topic, they apply what they have learned to a team based mini ethnography on a human rights problem of their choice affecting Latin America or the Latinx community. Students identify a researchable question that pertains to human rights in these communities and use qualitative and interpretive methods to gather evidence and reach reasoned conclusions. Students learn through first-hand experience the ethical dimensions of doing research and how research can have an impact on society. Finally, they compare Latin American and Latinx understandings of human rights to the perspectives found in the Global North.
How is comedy an expression of citizenship: that is, how do we use comedy as responsible citizens in a democratic republic?
Quest 2
What is the Big Data Revolution and where will it lead us? This course will examine how far data can take us by exploring a variety of data sets from a variety of disciplines. We will examine large national and international datasets that transcend disciplinary boundaries and include economic, geographic, health, political, and sociological variables. The purpose of this course is to equip students with the basic skills in how to locate data sets, compose descriptive statistics, and provide meaningful analysis of the data using tables and charts. The concepts learned in the course can apply to data from any field.
This course explores the history, philosophy, and practice of science by analyzing the question, “How has Humanity used science to place itself in the universe?” We will analyze the scientific achievements of a variety of cultures to understand how Humanity has grappled with its unique existence in the face of an ever-expanding understanding of the world. In addition to asking you to explore science historically and philosophically, this course asks you to practice science by performing a variety of experiments and then reflecting on the experience of “doing science.” We will end the course by considering the implications of potential future scientific discoveries for Humanity’s continuing quest to understand its role in the cosmos.
Can nutrition recommendations be customized for each individual based on their unique genetic, metabolic, and environmental factors? This course will grapple with how and where nutrition should fit in an emerging era of precision medicine. We will explore the challenges of malnutrition and the growing epidemic of metabolic disease (e.g., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer). Based on the disciplines of molecular science, dietetics, epidemiology, and data analysis (including artificial intelligence), the course will investigate and reflect on the causes and consequences of malnutrition, and how dietary or nutrient choices can be personalized to prevent metabolic disease. Major themes include the molecular determinants of differences among individuals and nutritional contributions, malnutrition and metabolic disorders, and the application of personalized nutrition in disease prevention. Through a field trip to a local supermarket, food frequency questionnaire, and classroom discussion and debates, students will tackle the question of whether and how personalized nutrition can be applied to address malnutrition and the global epidemic of metabolic disorders. The course will culminate with a project in which students synthesize information and knowledge to develop a mock meal plan for individuals who themselves or whose parents or grandparents experienced malnutrition.
This course is intended to introduce general ideas involving probability and statistics through thought provoking examples from subject areas in the physical and biological sciences. Students will be expected to think through solutions to problems from the various cases to understand the various statistical methods introduced. This can lead to questions such as how can we measure and describe climate change based on available empirical data?
Once the methods have been covered and students have been exposed to the procedures used to answer research questions, they will conduct natural experiments on their own to answer specific questions regarding climate change. This will involve an application of the scientific method of posing a research question, making predictions, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting the results.
The course will focus on “big picture” uses of statistical methods and will use statistical computing software as opposed to “hand calculation.”
These courses are discussion-oriented, one-credit seminars centered around an artistic performance or exhibit.
This discussion based class will examine the themes of the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen. We will explore the content of the script as well as the impact that it has had on audiences. As part of the class, we will attend the live performance of Dear Evan Hansen at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Join in the thrill of live theater: attend Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. In this course will read the play, attend the performance, and work with professional actors in the classroom. The company "Actors From the London Stage" will lead students in exploring performance aspects of the play in depth during their residency week at UF. One actor will visit our class to lead a workshop designed specifically for our course, leading students in acting exercises, examining in depth some of our course themes, and interpreting the text as performance and as poetry. Students will benefit from the actor's expertise as they are invited to read, act, interpret, and engage. The remainder of the course will be devoted to reading the play in depth.
12th Night Shakespeare - Syllabus
Fins up, Honors Parrotheads! It's 5:00 somewhere - or in this case, 5:10pm in LIT 119.
Through this course, we will look at the vast musical catalog of one James William Buffett, starting with A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973) all the way through Equal Strain on All Parts (2023, released posthumously). We'll tackle the Big 8, as well as the songs you don't know by heart and all of the tunes in-between; the musicians who influenced him starting with the University of Bourbon Street, those he himself influenced all over the world, and those who collaborated with him, including the beloved Coral Reefer Band.
We'll also study the cultural legacy of Jimmy Buffett within the state of Florida, including his entrepreneurial enterprises, environmental activism, and philanthropic endeavors in addition to his music. From his early days living in Key West to his environmental work alongside (then) Florida Governor Bob Graham (a UF alumnus) to the recent renaming of A1A to the A1A Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway with bipartisan support, all of our Floridays can see measures of his impact.
And finally, we'll learn more about life at UF when Gainesville and UF were regular tour stops for JB, starting in 1974 when he performed for 400 people at the (now defunct) Great Southern Music Hall. Working with the University Archives, The Independent Florida Alligator digital collection, and other sources, we'll curate a multimedia timeline of concerts, articles, reviews, photographs and setlists from his time around the Gator Nation.
Students will need access to the music streaming platform of their choice that includes complete JB albums in addition to Radio Margaritaville (streaming free without a Sirius XM subscription). Supplemental material includes the License to Chill podcast with Ryan and Patrick, interviews, various articles and readings.
Note: There is a required all-day field trip adventure on Sunday, September 1 (Labor Day weekend), pending us trying to reason with hurricane season. We will be commemorating the 1st anniversary of the oldest surfer on the beach's passing with our own surfing day trip. Thanks to sponsorship from the Honors Program, students in this class will experience their own migration to the beach in St. Augustine with the UF Center for Outdoor Recreation and Education (CORE), transportation and surfboards included. Come Monday, you may be a bit salty and definitely a little sore, but you don't want to be the one to hear, "you had to be there" the next day. Please do not register for this course if you cannot attend.
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Dr. J is excited to share her Parrothead fandom with a new generation. First introduced to Jimmy Buffett before she even hit kindergarten, she was fortunate to join the feeding frenzy 6 different times in person, including 6 different cities, 5 tours, 3 states, 2 time zones, and 1 Jimmy Buffett. Her current top 4 Fruitcakes playlist includes: The Pascagoula Run, The Wino and I Know, Delaney Talks to Statues, and Livingston's Gone to Texas. As a bonus, his cover of Lawyers, Guns, and Money.
These courses are discussion-oriented, one-credit seminars centered around books from a variety of genres.
History + Biography
Just minutes from The Swamp stadium, the world of academia, and shiny new mixed-use developments, one of the nation’s most notable punk rock scenes has thrived for decades – often out of the view of the average Gainesville resident. Since the 1980s, Gainesville’s punk community has carved out its own niche local music scene that has impacted the national punk scene and mainstream music, with the success of acts such as Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake, and Against Me! But how does this underground movement interact, influence, and help shape its surroundings? The University of Florida, the City of Gainesville, and the culture of Gainesville have all been impacted by city’s punk scene and vice versa. In this course, we will explore these topics and more as we focus on the book Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music by Matt Walker (The History Press 2016, paperback) accompanied by other relevant source materials.
Issues relating to climate change, conflicts over religious ideology, and the movement of people are ever present in the science, media, and the culture of today. However, these are not new issues that humanity is facing. "Gods of Thunder" will outline how indigenous peoples of the Americas navigated the Medieval Warming Period (AD 800-1300 CE) a period of major climate change and how these climatic events led to the transformation of native religion and movement, as people migrated long distances in a response to these phenomena. The course will demonstrate how learning about the past can help position our current issues in historical context. The course will use peer annotation software for students to be able to comment directly on the text and will allow us to create a co-reading environment through Canvas. The course assignments will consist of weekly annotations of the readings, participation within weekly discussions in class, and one short reflection paper on the text. Weekly discussions will consist of major overarching topics in
our text and on student’s observation and opinions on the course reading. The course does not require any previous knowledge of archaeology or the history of the Americas. Background to these topics will be given by the instructor. At the end of the semester, students will learn broadly about the archaeology of the Americas and how the past is an important tool for navigating our own lives in the present.
Dr. Patricia Wright is one of the world’s leading primatologists, having studied night monkeys in Peru and lemurs in Madagascar. Her unrelenting support of Madagascar and its natural environment led to the creation of Ranomafana National Park and the Centre Val Bio research station. Her story is an inspiring one – she was a practicing social worker in New York when her purchase of a pet monkey changed her life. She started graduate school in her 30s – after she had been to Peru and published on her research with no real affiliation to academia. Through her remarkable career, Dr. Wright overcame many of the same challenges as other non-traditional students, and as a single mother, she successfully combined research in the field with raising an adventuresome daughter. High Moon Over the Amazon tells this story of Dr. Wright’s transformation from housewife to world-renowned scientist. For the Love of Lemurs details her work in Madagascar, following her from her co-discovery of the golden bamboo lemur, through the creation of the national park and research station, and then her role in the IMAX film Island of Lemurs. Through our readings and discussion, we will explore Dr. Wright’s pathway to scientific preeminence and the evolution of her efforts to integrate conservation and human well-being.
This (Un)Common Read course is perfect for students with an interest in nature, primates, women in science, non-traditional paths to scientific success, exploration, discovery, and field research. Prior to some readings, the instructors will provide short introductions to the localities, wildlife, and people described in the readings, augmented by photographs (unique species, environment, habitat loss, the local people and cultural activities) from recent trips to Madagascar. One of the unique strengths of the class will be the instructor’s first hand experiences and impressions from multiple trips to the country, as well as her personal interactions with Dr. Wright.
Students will be graded on class participation and one or two presentations on additional readings. Students will also complete a class project –academic paper or poster, or artistically creative work related to the course. The last class meeting (or two, depending on class size) will be used for students to present and discuss these final projects. This is an opportunity for students to get creative with class content and what they have learned.
While Dr. Wright’s books stand on their own as engaging and informational reads, this course also makes an excellent primer for BOT4935/ZOO4926: Global Biodiversity and Culture: Integrating Conservation and Human Well-being (part of UF’s International Scholars Program).
Michele R. Tennant, PhD, MLIS has a great love of the tropics, the desert, and coral reefs. Her favorite wildlife experiences have included hiking the trails of Madagascar to find lemurs and chameleons; walking the streams of Costa Rica searching for glass frogs; seeing her first anaconda in the Ecuadorian Amazon; experiencing the giant tortoises of the Galapagos; swimming with whale sharks off Nosy Sakatia; and snorkeling amongst the corals and sponges of Bonaire and Belize. Dr. Tennant is co-instructor for a number of courses related to Madagascar and other developing countries: • The study abroad course ZOO4956: Madagascar – Biodiversity & Conservation in a Developing Country; • the International Scholars Program course Global Biodiversity and Culture: Integrating Conservation and Human Well-being; • UnCommon Read Thank You, Madagascar: The Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly; • UnCommon Read Madagascar: The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in a Lost World; • UnCommon Read featuring two books by Patricia Wright: High Moon over the Amazon and For the Love of Lemurs. Dr. Tennant is the interim Senior Director of the libraries’ Academic Research Consulting and Services department (ARCS), and can direct you to expertise for any of your information needs.
Primatologist's Journey - Syllabus
Science (Non-Health) + Science Fiction
“If it’s free, you’re the product.” is a phrase often touted by those with privacy concerns on the vast amount of data collected in our society. Importance of Ethics in the Advancing the Data Culture is a course that will ask questions about that data collection - by whom? For whom? About whom? Who benefits? A myriad of supplemental readings will be used to spark conversation on the current state of data science and ethics. In particular, we will critically analyze: The role of bias in data collection, use, and dissemination and how that applies to machine-learning systems What is the culture in the data profession around ethics? How can we use data and data collection to advance society, such as in healthcare? The effect of today’s economic framework around data and its collection.
In this class, we will cover these facts and some of the most beautiful and surprising arguments from the history of Calculus. These are beyond the scope of regular Calculus classes, but are within the reach of anyone with a good understanding of Calculus II. Sometimes we will provide some historical context as well.
Our book will be the classic book of George F. Simmons, Calculus Gems.
Ideally, students registering for the class should have already completed Calculus II, though in some cases, it is acceptable if the student takes Calculus II in the same semester.
In this class we will explore the semi-domestication of the house cat and the role cats play in current society. Written by an evolutionary biologist and cat owner, this book looks into the history of cats and how they became our beloved pets. The book uses using all the tools of modern technology including GPS tracking and genomics as well as forensic archaeology to learn more about how cats came to live in our homes. This course will allow students to learn how evolution is tracked as well as to think about why we all love cat videos so much. Discussions will range from evolution to anthropology to pop culture as we explore what it means to be a cat.
Nobody is a perfect environmentalist and, sometimes, making sustainable choices can feel difficult! In this course, we delve into the perplexing phenomenon of why well-meaning individuals often engage in actions that harm the environment. Drawing upon Elizabeth R. DeSombre's book, Why Good People Do Bad Environmental Things, we explore how our societal structures, incentives, habits, and social norms influence the decisions we make. Through an interdisciplinary lens encompassing political science, sociology, psychology, and economics, we analyze the underlying factors that shape our environmental choices, good and bad.
Madagascar is best known in the west for its unique flora and fauna, with over 80% of its wildlife found nowhere else. But this engaging country is also home to 23 million people, comprising 18 distinct ethnic groups, unified by a common language and Malagasy identity. Madagascar - The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in a Lost World introduces the reader to the unique fauna, flora, and cultures of Madagascar through the authors’ travels with researchers in herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians), paleoecology, archaeology and primatology. Not only do readers learn about the biodiversity and cultures of this fascinating “eighth continent”, but they also get a sense for the joy of scholarly exploration and discovery in the natural world, what it is like to be a field-based (rather than laboratory[1]based) researcher, and the rationale for and continued importance of such work. While describing these discoveries, the author interweaves stories of Malagasy history, the mystery of the peopling of the island, and culture (language, music, religion, written and oratory arts) into the conversation, providing much fodder for discussion. Overall, this book is a celebration of the people, the wildlife, and the culture of Madagascar.
This (Un)Common Read course is perfect for students with an interest in/love for nature, exploration, discovery, and learning about distant lands and cultures. We will read the book Madagascar - The Eighth Continent in its entirety. Prior to some readings, the instructor (or students, if interested) will provide short introductions to the localities, wildlife, people, and customs described in the readings, augmented by photographs (unique species, environment, habitat loss, the local people and cultural activities) from recent trips to Madagascar. One of the unique strengths of the class will be the sharing of first-hand experiences and impressions from multiple trips to the country, providing valuable context to the readings. Although Madagascar is the focus of the course, this class will provide students with an overview of field research, and why it remains important in the modern world of science. Students will be able to view Madagascar as a model for research in areas such as conservation and sustainability, and the importance of culture and the buy-in of the local peoples. Students will be graded on class participation and a presentation on one auxiliary reading. Finally, students will complete a class project –academic paper or poster, or artistically creative work related to the course. The last class meeting (or two, depending on class size) will be used for students to present and discuss these final projects. This is an opportunity for students to get creative with class content and what they have learned.
Madagascar: The Eighth Continent stands alone as a great read, but this course makes an excellent primer for BOT4935/ZOO4926: Global Biodiversity and Culture: Integrating Conservation and Human Well-being (part of UF’s International Scholars Program).
Michele R. Tennant, PhD, MLIS has a great love of the tropics, the desert, and coral reefs. Her favorite wildlife experiences have included hiking the trails of Madagascar to find lemurs and chameleons; walking the streams of Costa Rica searching for glass frogs; seeing her first anaconda in the Ecuadorian Amazon; experiencing the giant tortoises of the Galapagos; swimming with whale sharks off Nosy Sakatia; and snorkeling amongst the corals and sponges of Bonaire and Belize. Dr. Tennant is co-instructor for a number of courses related to Madagascar and other developing countries: • The study abroad course ZOO4956: Madagascar – Biodiversity & Conservation in a Developing Country; • the International Scholars Program course Global Biodiversity and Culture: Integrating Conservation and Human Well-being; • UnCommon Read Thank You, Madagascar: The Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly; • UnCommon Read Madagascar: The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in a Lost World; • UnCommon Read featuring two books by Patricia Wright: High Moon over the Amazon and For the Love of Lemurs. Dr. Tennant is the interim Senior Director of the libraries’ Academic Research Consulting and Services department (ARCS), and can direct you to expertise for any of your information needs.
This course will be an introduction to the exciting world of mathematical discovery. We will read and discuss the stories of mathematical journeys into new realms through sequences of (translated) primary sources as told by the mathematical explorers themselves. Through these primary sources, collected by Reinhard Laubenbacher and Davis Pengelley, we will trace central themes in the evolution of mathematics from antiquity to the modern era. In addition, we will also examine the motivation and the broader historical and social context of some great mathematical discoveries.
Fresh water on Planet Earth is under stress for many reasons, depending on location. While our planet is awash with total water, most of it is in the oceans and seas, i.e. its salt water. The course text, "When the Rivers Run Dry" by Fred Pearce does a good job discussing important issues facing fresh water on Earth. The instructor will add additional information to supplement the text. Student will research related topics and write a short paper and also help lead class discussions.
Health
Drugs by themselves are neither good or bad – it is ultimately how they are used that will lead humans to label them as such. Oliver Grundmann, PhD, has researched both synthetic and natural drugs with mind-altering effects for over a decade. Those who have been used for hundreds of years as part of traditional medicine and rituals are often mis- or abused in modern society. Others are solely intended to either create a fantastic escape from reality or get the user hooked to cause a substance use disorder. Numerous personal accounts and the scientific literature are a testament to this growing problem of what is commonly called “addiction”. But there is more to it as seen through the eyes of a researcher. Accompany Dr. Grundmann as he discusses the landscape, effects, and impact of drugs on the individual and society.
In this 1 credit seminar course, students will be introduced to a variety of topics in contemporary medicine such as health care delivery reform, ethical challenges, the evolution of medical science, and major healthcare crises. The course materials will be drawn from streaming media including podcasts and TED/Youtube videos. Class time will be used to explore the topics in open discussion with the course director and selected guest faculty from the College of Medicine and other institutions.
Harvard faculty member Michael Pollan is a journalist and cultural commentator. In this volume, the author describes his own explorations of certain substances classified as psychedelic, and contextualizes the growing interest in the legalization and clinical administering of psychedelic substances for a variety of health issues including PTSD and certain forms of Depression.
HeLa cells are one of the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. Even though the utility of this cell line is vast and important, the history behind how the cells were isolated and used is a bioethical conundrum. Science, medicine, and technology have progressed significantly because of the use of HeLa cells and with this progress have come ethical questions. The intent of this course is to focus on the biological, medical, technological, and ethical issues surrounding HeLa cells.
This course will explore a book about love, patent advocacy, and the desperate search for effective medical treatment, that turned to a little used and controversial practice- phage therapy. In The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug, Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson (2019) describe a serious illness caused by a multi-drug resistant whose treatment was successful only because the victim’s wife pursued every possible avenue and treatment to save her spouse. Along the way, it reads a lot like a thriller- and in many ways it is a thrilling ride as Stephanie Strathdee fights for Thomas Patterson’s life. As a scientist working in the field of infectious disease she has knowledge and a way to connect with researchers, healthcare providers, and administrators who could make decisions about the use of controversial new treatments, so she could do perhaps what other patients and their families could not. As we will find, however, that she uses her platform not just to advocate for her husband, but to work and find ways of further researching and make more widely accessible a form of therapy that differs significantly from antibiotics. And indeed with a
bacteria that responded to no known antibiotic, it took the use of a bacteriophage- a virus that infects bacteria- to target and destroy it. This treatment was used in the past but has not been widely practiced in the US and much of Europe so it took work to find and make available a treatment that was not used and was to some extent feared in San Diego where she works and where Patterson eventually received the successful treatment. How important is family support and advocacy in making all forms of treatment and care available for their loved ones? How do we know when it is time to try new and potentially controversial treatments? Who should have access to these new treatments? And how can they be developed in a timely and safe manner?
Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig is archivist and historian in the Health Science Center Library, and Director of Health Humanities in the UF College of Medicine. She has a courtesy faculty appointment in the Center for African Studies at UF and teaches a course-Culture, Health and the Arts in SubSaharan Africa- through them. She teaches health humanities courses to medical and undergraduate students, works with the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Gold Humanism Honors Society and UF Chapman Society, and studies history of medicine, focusing on eugenics, and theories on race, and comparative. She studies nature and nature/arts-based therapies, promoting access to healing nature.
This course is designed to explore how society and culture can impact how women are able to engage in health care, through the lens of a collection of essays and historical narratives by activists for women's health working with various communities of color. Classes will be supplemented with activities related to a temporary travelling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine about the rise in awareness of domestic violence issues, Confronting Violence: Improving Women's Lives. (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/confrontingviolence/index.html)
Sociocultural Perspectives on Women’s Health Disparities - Syllabus
Literature
A life no one will remember. A story you will never forget. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is one of the most imaginative and unique fantasy novels of recent years. Focusing on themes of life and death, memory, ideas and inspiration, self-expression, and human connections, Schwab explores the beauty and darkness of life and what it means to leave your mark on the world. In this course, through weekly themed discussions based on the reading, we will analyze these themes, how they play out through the novel, what we can learn from them, and the role they play in both Addie’s and our own lives.
Toni Morrison's magisterial novel, Beloved, is her most commonly taught book, but Song of Solomon should be more widely read. It is a young man's coming of age story and addresses the complexities of generational trauma and the competing demands of a culture of masculinity and the debts we both owe our ancestors and from which we must free ourselves in order to live fully. (And it proposes that some people have to ability to literally fly.)
Dr. Jeanne Ewert is a research librarian at the Smathers Libraries. Her specialty is 20th century American Literature. She has taught Toni Morrison for three decades.
Greco-Roman mythology is populated by many female characters who, despite their contributions toward the goals of their male counterparts, are often mistreated, harmed, and abandoned. Compounding their poor treatment is the reality that ancient storytellers almost always focus their narratives on the male characters of the mythological world. Who has their story told is a key element to consider when studying the literature of any culture. So, who tells women’s stories in the Greco-Roman world? Ovid’s Heroides, a collection of poems written as letters from women to men (and some from men to women) offers a unique insight into one ancient Roman’s attempt to uncover the lost stories of scorned women, albeit still from a male author’s perspective. How do the heroines populating Ovid’s work think about their roles in the stories of powerful men, and how do they handle the emotional and physical abandonment and mistreatment of these men? In this course, we’ll explore Ovid’s work in English translation as we consider the plight of
his mythological women letter-writers. We’ll also consider other sources for the Greco-Roman female perspective, including selections from Sappho’s corpus, Euripidean drama, and Ovid’s epic Metamorphoses. Finally, we’ll think about contemporary parallels to Ovid’s Heroides, namely in the realm of popular music.
Society + Culture + Politics
Shoshanna Zuboff’s magnum opus is required reading for those living in the algorithmic age—whether you are technically literate or not. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism meticulously traces the evolution of our contemporary digital landscape, while underscoring the pressing challenges posed by algorithmic technologies, digital platforms, and surveillance practices to human agency and freedom. Zuboff reveals the sociotechnical and economic incentives behind the digital practices that collect data from users to modify and influence behavior. Zuboff's analysis also uncovers intriguing connections—from Pokémon GO's ties to U.S. intelligence agencies to the controversial rollout of Google Maps—offering invaluable insights into the transformative shifts occurring in our modern digital society. Her robust investigation is a structural critique of the current computational political economy of data collection and digital surveillance. As digital technologies increasingly mediate our daily lives, this work creates an opening for cultivating digital literacy in an algorithmic and computational culture.
Kevin Artiga has worked as a technical communication professional for a variety of organizations in medicine, software development, and cultural resource management. His doctoral research is in technical and business communication, computational media theory, and migration studies.
Are you a political junkie? Are you a fan (or hater) of Vermont’s most famously cantankerous politician? Do you want to follow this year’s election cycle while also feeling over- or underwhelmed by the current state of national politics? Then Feel the Bern is the class for you! We will spend the semester following and engaging with the national election that will be held on November 5, 2024, while reading Andrew Shaffer’s political satire Feel the Bern: A Bernie Sanders Mystery. Discussions will help us engage with the political process in a healthy and lighthearted way, as we consider the role of satire in American politics, the current state of political discourse and participation, and how Senator Sanders’ unique approach to politics has helped to bring previously fringe topics to the forefront of political discourse, including political party independence and democratic socialism. Bernie Sanders will be the case study to guide our work, but this class is not an endorsement of him or his policies. Students are welcome regardless of their political views; a diverse range of thought will enhance the depth and quality of our conversations together. Coursework will include weekly Socratic discussions,
occasional short reflection essays, and a presentation.
Issues relating to climate change, conflicts over religious ideology, and the movement of people are ever present in the science, media, and the culture of today. However, these are not new issues that humanity is facing. "Gods of Thunder" will outline how indigenous peoples of the Americas navigated the Medieval Warming Period (AD 800-1300 CE) a period of major climate change and how these climatic events led to the transformation of native religion and movement, as people migrated long distances in a response to these phenomena. The course will demonstrate how learning about the past can help position our current issues in historical context. The course will use peer annotation software for students to be able to comment directly on the text and will allow us to create a co-reading environment through Canvas. The course assignments will consist of weekly annotations of the readings, participation within weekly discussions in class, and one short reflection paper on the text. Weekly discussions will consist of major overarching topics in our text and on student’s observation and opinions on the course reading. The course does not require any previous knowledge of archaeology or the
history of the Americas. Background to these topics will be given by the instructor. At the end of the semester, students will learn broadly about the archaeology of the Americas and how the past is an important tool for navigating our own lives in the present.
What does it mean to be human? Is technology changing human nature? Will your grandchildren be “posthuman” cyborgs? In this course, we will discuss such questions through the lens of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy.
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is widely considered the most important philosopher of the 20th century. In this course, we explore Heidegger’s theories of humanity and technology by reading several of his seminal works. We begin with two weeks of readings on Western humanism for context, starting with selections from Plato and Aristotle. Then, we spend several weeks on selections from Heidegger’s 1927 magnum opus, Being and Time, focusing on his reconceptualization of the human being as what he calls “Dasein.” We then read his 1938 “The Age of the World Picture,” his 1954 “Science and Reflection,” and his 1955 “The Question Concerning Technology.” In the final part of the course, we spend two weeks reading about the contemporary movements known as “transhumanism” and “posthumanism” before re-reading Heidegger’s technology essay for a final 1-2 weeks of discussion.
Allen Porter is a philosopher with interests in phenomenology, ethics, politics, the philosophy of technology, and the history of philosophy. He is currently a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center and will assume the position of Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Center for Arts and Letters at the University of Austin in July 2025
Question Concerning Technology - Syllabus
One night, April May finds a giant samurai-like sculpture in NYC, which she names Carl, so she makes a video with her friend Andy. The video goes viral when 63 more Carls are found around the world, making April an instant celebrity. “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” is a story of internet fame and what it does to a person and their relationships, of polarization and demagoguery, of power and the future of humanity. Each week students will be expected to read the assigned section and supplementary material in order to participate in class discussion. Students will also have small in-class projects like drawing scenes from the book and making memes based on the characters’ experiences. Students will write 2 online discussion posts: an introduction and an analysis of themes. At the end of the semester, students will work with a partner to create a final project of their choosing.
Highly adaptable, we have seen films, television shows, plays, or ballets based on it. Despite this relative cultural ubiquity, what do we really know about the infamous Dracula, the heroes, the heroines, the spaces, and the themes of the epistolary novel itself? By closely and slowly reading this text together, the brilliance of the story can be, against Dracula’s will, brought to light. What does the novel say about the idea of Europe? Of the law? Is it a warning of coming fascism? What is the power of liminality? What are the necessities or dangers of autochthonous attachment? What is a monster? Is Dracula part wolf? Bat? What is a vampire in our political bestiary or demonology? Why is Dracula presented with aristocratic sensibility? What are the political powers of blood? Does the novel critique or reinscribe Victorian views of gender? Is it work of anti-psychiatry? How does it see erotics, abjection, and power? What does it mean to be a Gothic novel? How does horror function? Hopefully, we will come to a resolution on these questions.
Or maybe, we will remain in the cold and quixotic “shade and shadow,” as Dracula so taunts.
Tim is a PhD student in political science. He studies political theory, specifically. With various techniques of criticism derived from German Idealism, psychoanalysis, and Derrida, he theorizes about the United States Intelligence Community, the nature of the political in the United States, fascism, emergency politics, and the connection between erotics and politics. Before coming to UF, he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy, a masters degree in the history of philosophy from Marquette University and another in political science from UW-Milwaukee.
This course explores the ranging narrative essays of Pulitzer-winning Annie Dillard. Considered by some as ecologically-oriented creative non-fiction, Dillard's work is also deeply humanistic in its vision. In this seminar style class, we will explore Teaching a Stone to Talk (accompanied by Holy the Firm), which represents some of Dillard’s most compelling if not mysterious work. How might nature speak to us? And how can we look and listen in order to catch what might be heard? If one follows Annie Dillard into the woods, streams, oceans, islands, meadows, and prairies, and, if one listens closely enough, the sights and sounds of these places will have things to say. In these excursions, Dillard seizes opportunity after opportunity to draw on the mysteries of life and death in the natural world and beyond. In doing so, not only does she see the wonders that come to life when pausing long enough to reflect, but also she allows the non-human world to inform human experience, leading to a fuller picture of what it means to be human.
Todd Best is a faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences where he works as an Academic Advisor and teaches. A long-time instructor of Uncommon Read courses, he has taught on issues ranging several areas of the humanities and social sciences, including on the topics of media literacy, higher education, ecological literature, the self, and the common good. He received a master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Florida, focusing on religious pluralism and educational philosophy.
Dr. Cornel West, a prominent scholar of politics, philosophy, and theology at Union Theological Seminary, is known for holding socialist political views, including the desire to create a Prisoner Bill of Rights and guarantee free pre-K education on a national scale. On the other hand, Dr. Robert George, a legal scholar and philosopher serving as the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, is pro-life and holds traditionally conservative perspectives on gender, the link between censorship and cancel culture, and the place of religion in American society. Despite their divergent and often contradictory views on such issues, Dr. West and Dr. George have set an impactful example with their deep friendship and respect for one another as academics and individuals. In their statement on the importance of truth-seeking, they emphasize the need to “seek respectfully to engage with people who challenge our views.” This course aims to cultivate informed and civil discussions of topical issues by focusing on essential subjects in today’s public discourse, including marriage, freedom of speech, tension between equity and equality, and patriotism. College is the time to discover more about the world and people around us and to challenge our own beliefs to determine what we truly think, and Truth-Seeking and
Democracy will help you do exactly that. Within each focus topic, students will read essays, articles, and other works, including those of Dr.’s West and George, championing viewpoints spanning the gamut of human thought. From Emma Goldman’s essay, “Marriage and Love” to a Christopher Rufo article on critical race theory, students will come out of this course equipped with knowledge and a greater understanding of themselves and the society in which they exist and engage.
Liz is a third-year Political Science and French major on the Pre-Law track. Born and raised in Gainesville, she has always been interested in the importance of civil discourse and productive disagreement, and attending last year’s event with Dr. West and Dr. George spurred her to propose an UnCommon course on the subject. After attending law school, she hopes to work as a Public Defender and eventually as a public interest attorney working with survivors of domestic violence. Fun Fact: Liz has been doing calligraphy for almost ten years!
Why are we called the Gators? What is Century Tower’s purpose? What are the oldest buildings on campus? How did UF begin? The University of Florida has a long, storied history that begs to be explored. In this course, we will do a deep dive into materials held in the University Archives to explore how these materials tell the story of UF, including those silent, undocumented stories that were excluded from the narrative. We will explore how these materials create the story of community and identity for the students at UF. You will be able to discuss your own story here at UF, and think of ways to share your story for the future. How will your experiences today be reflected in UF’s future? What kinds of stories will be told and how will they be told? How can we fill in the gaps in the archival record to ensure all aspects of a story are told? These are some of the many questions we will explore in this course. The course will include short reflections, discussion posts, and a final project. No previous archives experience or knowledge is necessary, and this course is open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the history of UF.
Sarah Coates, CA, is the University Archivist at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. As University Archivist, she saves, secures, and shares the story and history of the University of Florida. To achieve this goal, her work includes acquiring and processing records of enduring historical and administrative value from institutional units, faculty, staff, students, and campus organizations at UF. She has worked at the University of Florida’s University Archives since 2018, becoming University Archivist in 2022. Prior to coming to UF, she worked at Oklahoma State University’s Special Collections and University Archives and taught freshman composition at several universities in Ohio and Oklahoma. She received her Master’s in Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma and her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English Literature from Wright State University in Dayton, OH. She is also a Certified Archivist through the Academy of Certified Archivists.
Class meets in Smathers 208
This uncommon read course is based on the book “The Nonprofit World: Civil Society and the Rise of the Nonprofit Sector,” by John Casey (2016). This book traces the growth of nonprofit sector as a major part of the global civil society. Students will learn the roles, importance and impacts of the nonprofit sector (also known as the Third Sector) locally, nationally and internationally in providing a wide array of vital social, environmental and other services. Assignments will include student-led discussions on various sections of the book and case study presentations by students.
Business + Economics
If you cut off a spider's head, it dies; if you cut off a starfish's leg it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional topdown organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world. What's the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women's rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? The Starfish and the Spider takes a deep dive into these topics and how established companies are starting to incorporate more and more starfish principles to achieve success.
Other
(Un)Common Writes courses are 1-credit themed writing workshops taught by University Writing Program faculty. These courses allow students the opportunity to work 1:1 with experienced instructors while stretching their writing muscles, inspiring their creative side, and releasing their inner writer.
Comedy can surprise us, relieve us, let us laugh at ourselves, and help us confront difficult
topics, but humor writing takes work! While some people make jokes “off the cuff,”
professional comedians just as often “work” and rework a joke to find the exact right wording.
A good joke is a finely crafted piece of art! In this course, we will explore humor as a
wavelength of communication that carries vast potential. We will study some basic rules for
and types of comedy as well as some experimental forms. In the process, we will learn how to
write original, personal material whether it be stand-alone jokes or funny stories.
Simultaneously, we will realize a good bit about how humor is received in different contexts
and by different audiences.
Beyond the end of writing, our probes and transmissions will transit the stars. The symbolic
rhetorics of our messages at once indicate the significance of priorities and serve to mark by
absence what might have been different. By interpreting the messages, analyzing their
formation and genre, and reading their history, we will come to fully appreciate the elements of
scientific semiosis to prepare for the course project: crafting a message with AI.
Students will spend the semester writing about all types of love from platonic to romantic to
unrequited. Students will write love letters in various formats and modalities. Including
postcards, texts, audio recordings, autoethnographic reflections, and even fiction related to
love.
“Scripts and Podcasting”: scripted segments, prep notes for more discussion-based shows, theming, etc.; culminating in a This American Life style podcast at the end with contributions from students.
Making music is a form of writing – or forms, because music is notational, and often, lyrical. And
writing itself, as a practice, is integral to the music industry. Whether one is reviewing a live
performance or an album, or tracing out the emergence of hip-hop or theories of how blues
music inflects rock and jazz, or actually scrawling song lyrics or an artist bio – writing in text and
writing tunes are very much in harmony with one another. This class will be a lab for words and
music; together, we’ll listen, play, and workshop music, and we’ll also write about it.
This course will teach you the ways to write about yourself for different purposes. It will have four
components:
1. Writing to get to know yourself (beginning and semester-long endeavor of letters to your past
and future selves)
2. Writing what you know (an article or essay on a topic you know about and/or writing a how-to
explaining how to do something they know how to do)
3. Introducing yourself professionally (a personal statement for grad school or jobs)
4. Beyond words: communicating yourself with non-text media
Courses created specifically for honors students that cross and combine disciplines
My goal is for you to become an excellent human biologist, by understanding both botany and human physiology, especially how plants, fungi, and medicines derived from them influence human health and how they were discovered. In this context, we will examine the effects from diet, medicine, poison, recreational use, and the environment. We will pay particular attention to the various molecules produced by plants and fungi and examine their interactions with human physiology at the molecular level (e.g. cell membrane receptors, enzymes, etc.). Much of this will be accomplished by analyzing data from published research and case reports.
This course will look at potential legal issues in certain literary texts–texts that are not ostensibly about the law but that nevertheless do involve legal issues. The focus of the course will entail analyzing these legal issues, researching positions on them, and writing persuasive legal briefs in support of these positions. Students will perform mock trials, evidentiary hearings, and depositions both during and at the end of each unit and present the arguments made in their legal briefs before a live jury. Texts for the class include: Miss Julie (August Strindberg), Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson), “A Mother” (from Dubliners, James Joyce), Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton), A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen), and Dirty Work (Larry Brown).
Courses focused on leadership, career development, and other professional development topics. IDH 1700: Introduction to Honors Professional Development is only available in fall and geared towards first-year honors students. Upperdivision professional development courses focus on specific topics such as graduate / professional school preparation, industry engagement, and other similar topics. Students should review any course pre-requisites or recommendations to ensure they take the course when it can create the maximum benefit.
Intro to Honors Professional Development
In this course, we will work with engineering honors students to develop an action plan for careers, internships, research, and engagement on campus. Students will work in small groups with a peer leader and develop resumes, elevator pitches, and cover letters. We'll discuss student organizations and how to get more involved with engineering, honors, and general student groups across campus. Students will learn time management skills, how to approach faculty via email and during office hours, and study techniques for engineering classes. We will also help students find research and identify faculty with similar interests.
Register to gain professional skills and meet some of your fellow first-year students. We will meet once per week in a large group and have four times for smaller group discussion. There are four sections to choose between when registering: Three are open to any and all students, and the fourth is reserved for women students only. This configuration helps ensure our larger class meetings reflect current gender demographics of the engineering industry.
How do you make the most of your time at UF and in the Honors Program? How do you decide what to do both while you’re at UF and after graduation?
This course for first-semester Honors students of all majors (including exploratory) will address these questions through readings, reflections, and discussions on the purpose of a university education as well as through skills-based workshops and assignments intended to produce deliverables with real-world application (resume, elevator speech, interview skills, etc.). The course is casual but heavily discussion based and will include several group presentations led by students.
This one credit course is intended for honors students in their first year who are interested in pursuing admission to health profession schools.
This course is NOT designed for students pursuing medical school.
The course will provide information on how students can begin to prepare for being a healthcare professional and applying to health graduate programs. Topics covered include: statement of purpose, resume building, meaningful involvement, professional communication and building a competitive application.
This one credit course is intended for honors students in their first year who are interested in pursuing admission to medical school. All information in the course will be framed around medical school admission.
This course is not designed for students pursuing other pre-health tracks.
The course will provide information on how students can begin to prepare for being a healthcare professional and applying to health graduate programs. Topics covered include: statement of purpose, resume building, meaningful involvement, professional communication and building a competitive application.
Available Class Numbers
29016
24248
24249
This course is mandatory for first-year Lombardi and Stamps Scholars and will allow those students to interact with and learn from other highly motivated students. This course is an introduction to the life of a scholar-leader and to the many resources available at UF. Students will develop a plan to apply for a variety of opportunities, emphasizing the skills and strategies necessary for a successful academic, community, and personal life.
How can you best use your experience in the Warrington College of Business to prepare you for academic and professional success?
Introduction to Business (also known as Warrington Welcome), a one-credit course for first-year business and accounting majors, will guide you to answer this question by:
Facilitating your transition to the Warrington College of Business and University of Florida.
Providing a foundation for academic, career development, and personal growth.
Providing relationship building and networking opportunities with your peers, student leaders, and staff members.
Helping you build foundational skills in teamwork, career management, and critical thinking.
Class Number: 20456
Class Number: 26256
Advanced Pro Dev Topics
Students in this course will learn the fundamentals of writing speeches, from conceptualizing the speech to organizing the content to writing with clarity and rhetorical force. We’ll delve into the art and science of speaking from the podium. Students will read, watch, and discuss historic and exceptional speeches, explore the mechanics and expectations for different types of speeches – from commencement speeches to eulogies to toasts -- and discuss techniques for delivering speeches. Through writing and giving at least one speech to the class, students will also get practical experience in speechwriting and delivery.
This course is designed to assist students in developing a personal career plan. Career planning involves a thorough self-assessment and alignment of values, interests, and skills, as well as a thorough understanding of the key steps to implement a job search such as networking, interviewing, and negotiating job offers. The target audience is sophomore and junior non-business majors who do not plan to go straight to graduate school upon graduation.
Navigating the Job Search Process with Confidence - Syllabus
Signature Seminars
This course is designed to assist students in developing the skills to engage in respectful and robust debate as well as effectively analyze controversial and divisive issues. Topics include cancel culture, self-censorship, free speech, respectful dissent, rigorously weighing alternatives, aligning on facts, reframing disagreement as a benefit, and breaking down barriers that impact mutual understanding.
Engaging in Respectful and Robust Debate - Syllabus
UnCommon Classrooms
Early Arrival Course-Based Camps
Honors Potion Camp
Mix a glowing lumos potion, whip up your own Honeydukes sweets, synthesize dyes for your own invisibility cloak—do all this and more at HP Camp 2024! This 1-credit course aims to interpret and explain some of the magic of Harry Potter in a way we muggles can understand. Through engaging lectures and hands-on experiments, the science behind potions, spells, and enchantments will be illuminated. While most of our time will be devoted to studying Potions, this course will also feature other subjects such as Herbology, Astronomy, and Confectionery. By the end, students will develop a greater understanding of the unique connections between our world and the wizarding world!
Welcome to your new Village! Gainesville is a lovely place, really. We think you will find that there is a lot of activities and great places to explore! In this course, students learn about Gainesville with the help of trusty resident villagers. Students can expect an Animal Crossing experience full of bug catching, gardening, fossil hunting, and fishing. Gator Crossing is a camp for UF Honors students designed to emulate the open-ended gameplay of Nintendo Animal Crossing. Students are introduced to Gainesville by village experts in entomology, ecology, paleontology, and marine bioscience. Students will be challenged to fill their pockets (hypothetically!) with all the information they learn about Gainesville’s bugs, fish, plants, and fossils. Along the way, students learn how to formulate their own research question, so you can propose a research project based on what you learn from village experts. At the end of the multi-day immersive village tour, students can empty their pockets in exchange for bells by presenting their very own research project to the village.
This experience is a social, informational, environmental, and academic introduction to your new village. Move in and start building relationships with your fellow villagers as you explore the most exciting places on the map of Gainesville. Best of all, meet village experts that show you how they use research to explore, protect, and preserve the natural places we visit.
IDH3931 Gator Crossing - Syllabus
One Credit to Rule them All
First-year students – human, hobbit, elf, or dwarf – are called upon to participate in the “One Credit to Rule them All” Honors Camp to safeguard the One Ring of Power and protect it from the gathering forces of darkness. In this course student teams will learn about the medieval world under five umbrella themes (communication, navigation, the built environment, the natural environment, and conflict resolution) on a quest to create their own fantasy land.
OCRA is a camp for UF Honors students designed as a creative immersion into the drama of Middle Earth as depicted in J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson’s film version The Fellowship of the Ring will get us started). Students will join hobbits, elves, dwarves, and other inhabitants of Middle Earth to preserve their ways of life against the absolutist ambitions of the Dark Lord – and pick up some basic principles of the medieval lifestyle and other important Middle Earth skills (castle building, siege engines, and more) along the way. Student teams will build their own fantasy worlds while competing against each other in various side quests to gain points and safeguard the ring.
As first-year students, making connections is critical. The relationships you form as you complete the OCRA experience with other students who share your interest in this singular fantasy adventure can serve as ongoing “fellowships” that will help you be successful in your endeavors at UF. To introduce students to the vast set of resources offered by the University of Florida and the Gainesville community, we will host guest speakers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UF Smathers Libraries, the Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences, the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and more.
https://www.honors.ufl.edu/student-life/retreats-and-camps/the-think-tank/
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