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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2016-2017
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Resources in literature, history, and visual art will be brought together to study how these
Arthurian motifs have been used artistically and socially to promote cultural ideals from
medieval England and France to contemporary America. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors
Program.
HON 248 Monsters, Monarchs, and Monastics: Legacies of Medieval Literature in
Popular Culture (1)
An introductory course focusing on critical approaches to literature. Using medieval
literature in translation and texts from popular culture the course introduces students to
the fundamentals of literary interpretation. Texts range from Arthurian romances to
contemporary trade-market mysteries. Considerable attention is also given to technology
in teaching and learning. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 250 History of Documentary Film (1)
An introductory survey of documentary film. The course will focus on some of the major
developments in documentary practice, while also considering a number of theoretical
issues in the documentary tradition, including the problem of objectivity, the relationship
between the documentary image and reality, and the mixing of fiction and nonfiction
modes. The goals of this course are to introduce students to the important historical
trends and concepts and to help develop the critical and analytical skills needed to
understand the structure, style, and rhetorical strategies of documentary film. A
Leadership Studies designated course. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 280 The Economics of Poverty (1)
An investigation of the tools and methods economists use to analyze the causes and
effects of poverty and discrimination. The course examines economic theories and
relevant empirical findings, analyzes poverty-related data and measurements of poverty
and discrimination, and examines the effectiveness of public policies aimed at reducing
poverty. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 282 Disputers of the Dao: Major Texts in the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist
Traditions in East Asia (1)
The historical development of the major philosophical and religious traditions of East
Asia (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism) taught through the reading of a selection of
their fundamental texts. The focus will be the texts, the major doctrines and schools of
these traditions, and the patterns of their historical development in China, India, Japan,
and Korea. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 284 Psychology of Mass Media (1)
A seminar examining the intersection between mass media and human psychology. The
course explores how children, adolescents, and adults process and respond to mass media
with emphasis on cognitive, social, behavioral, and personality theories. Topics include
the impact of media on identity development; the ways that media representations of
gender, race, and class affect our social and cognitive constructions of groups; the
influences of media exposure on human behavior; and the role of the active audience in