HON 3253.002 |
HON Sem: Monkeypox and College |
in person |
TR |
4:00-5:15pm |
Garcia, Eduardo Gandara |
3 |
semester |
What is monkeypox? How should public health campaigns respond to the new outbreak, especially one that disproportionately impacts marginalized communities? In this course, student will learn how to design health promotion interventions, using the case study of monkeypox. Students will plan, implement, and evaluate a college-wide awareness and prevention program about monkeypox for fellow college students. Students will examine influencing factors across various socioecological levels (individual, interpersonal, organization, community, policy) and understand how to address these factors in their program. While designed for students with an interest in medicine and public health, the course is open to anyone who wants to take action and create an innovative program to help tackle this health problem.
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HON 3313.005 |
HON Sem: Humanity, Migration, and Borders |
Mostly in person, some online |
W |
1:00-3:45pm |
Santos, John |
3 |
semester |
Long before the U.S.-Mexico border was created, the lands of Texas were crossed by myriad peoples throughout the region’s deep history, seeking refuge, seeking new homelands, seeking to transform their lives for the better. There are such places all over the world, places in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, all shaped by comparable age-old migrations that have been complicated by the appearance of political boundaries that make those landscapes scenes of conflict, violence, and death. There are many borderlands where the meaning of our humanity is being challenged. Does humanity have a right to be anywhere? Is migration a universal human right? How do our understandings of migration and borders change when you view these themes from a borderlands perspective? Using history, philosophy, literature, art, and media, this seminar will explore this worldwide human legacy, examining the meanings of migration and borderlands identities, informed by our South Texas reality. Students will make multimedia proects around course topics. NOTE: there may be local fieldtrips for this class.
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HON 3253.001 |
HON Sem: On Mind and Matter: Theories of Consciousness |
in person |
MW |
11:30-12:45pm |
Witt, Colleen |
3 |
semester |
Have you ever wondered about the nature of consciousness? Exactly what is it? Is it something only humans possess? Or do all living beings have it? Perhaps just some? Maybe you believe your dog is just a ‘little conscious’. (After all, he knows what you’re thinking). If this is true then maybe consciousness is a sort of graded phenomenon, as on a continuum rather than all-or-none. Whatever it is and whoever has it, there remains the mystery as to how it arises. Western biology assumes that consciousness is an emergent property arising from a sufficiently evolved central nervous system. It ‘resides’ in your brain. Matter gives rise to mind. But this is not at all a foregone conclusion in much of the rest of the world which holds quite the contrary view, that consciousness is primary. That is, consciousness exists prior to the material world. In this view, consciousness is the ground state from which all matter arises. Even within Western science, such an idea was debated following the bizzare observations made from within a newly developed physics of the quantum realm. In fact, this debate persists. Such questions and ideas are explored in this course. While it will not offer up many definitive answers, it promises to be an exciting journey into this ultimate of mysteries.
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HON 3233.002 |
HON Sem: Moral Imagination and US Incarceration |
in person |
MW; Th |
11:30am-12:45pm; 5:15-9:15pm |
Webb, Mel |
3 |
semester |
The USA has about 4% of the world’s population but almost 24% of the world’s prison population. This course will examine the ways in which the US prison system provokes our personal and collective moral imaginations. What moral problems are posed by our current system of incarceration? What has punishment to do with accountability? How do rhetorics of incarceration shape our moral imaginations and limit effective responses to harms? How have systemic processes of criminalization and incapacitation affected our understanding of the humanity of those impacted by it? We will grapple with these questions by reading texts from a wide range of disciplines and look for creative ways to address and redress social harms. Course includes travel and time on Thursday evenings, students will join incarcerated scholars in class at the Dominguez State Jail as part of The Philosophy and Literature Circle program. Permission of instructor required; email Dr. Webb at mel.webb@utsa.edu. Note this course is cross-listed; only one of the courses will count toward your degree.
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GLA 4953.001 |
The Global. Cross-Border Governance in a Borderless World |
in person |
T |
10:00-12:45pm |
Hofferberth, Matthias |
3 |
semester |
Global has become the keyword of our time with virtually every activity we engage in spanning across borders. We are concerned about global warming, global pandemics, global human rights, and global democracy. We consume goods that are globally produced and shipped to us through complex global supply chains. We follow global news as developments far away never had that many repercussions for our everyday lives here. And while we have developed a basic global awareness and began to conceive ourselves as global citizens, much of this remains mitigated by a world defined by nation states and the global a space to be filled meaningfully with rules, governance, and order. To come to better terms with the global, this class will explore global imaginaries and the dynamics of cross-border governance in a borderless world. The oxymoron here is chosen with a purpose: much of our global experiences remain unfinished and we are in desperate need for better solutions to govern globally. We will discuss cosmopolitan ideas, review the early excitement of a global village in the 1990s, consider recent backlash and limits, and explore how this affects and eventually changes our notions of politics, governance, and identity.
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IS 4953.002 |
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies |
M in class; W and F asynch |
MWF |
10:00-10:50am |
Choo, Raymond |
3 |
semester |
Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) are no longer buzzwords, as evidenced by the number of real-world use cases and start-ups. In this course, students will be introduced to the concept of the blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), as well as the potential applications of these technologies. In addition, the students will have the opportunity to work with blockchain experts and researchers on research projects. The only prerequisites are that students must be intellectually curious, and are willing to put in extra efforts before the semester (readings will be provided to equip students with the required background) and during the semester (research is hard work but rewarding!). This course will count as a Business upper division elective as well as an Honors Experience. |