University Honors Program

 

Arts and Humanities

Students complete two sections of HONR 2053 between their second and fourth years. HONR 2053 courses offer a thematic, multidisciplinary, and cross-cultural analysis of the arts and artistic expression. 

Spring 2026 Courses

Cross-listed Honors courses

NOTE: Students must be registered in the HONR section in order to receive UHP credit. For courses that are cross-listed with another department, the UHP can add "credit" for a course to the student's DegreeMAP within the major and/or minor's requirements block. Students must have officially declared the major or minor with their respective school, and it must be reflected on their DegreeMAP at the time of the request. Students may also petition their school/major to accept HONR courses they find are relevant to their curriculum requirements. For any questions, please see a UHP Program Manager.

A cross-listed course is a course that is shared with another department, please pay careful attention to the GPAC attributes associated with each cross-listed course.

Upper-Level Course Substitution Option

On occasion, a UHP student may have a particular interest in a certain course or topic outside of their major which we are not able to offer formally through the UHP but which may nonetheless conform to some or all of the ideals of an Honors course. If a UHP student can demonstrate that they will benefit personally and intellectually from that course, they may be granted an exception to count one non-UHP course toward the UHP upper-level course requirements. Please review the upper-level course substitution option webpage for more information.

Keeping the Faith

Professor Jenna Weissman Joselit

HONR 2053:80 - 3 Credits

CRN: 47014

M 3:30PM - 5:25PM

Fulfills:

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 80 (CRN: 47014)***

Course cross listed with JSTD 2002.85 (CRN: 47661), REL 2990.80 (CRN: 47663), and HIST 2001.81 (CRN: 46760)

Course Description:  An untraditional look at religious traditions in modern America, this seminar explores the variety of ways by which faith makes itself felt and visible.  Moving from the 20th century into our own day, it draws on a series of case studies of outsized personalities, distinctive phenomena and the occasional scandal to get at how religion shapes the American landscape.

Bio: Dr. Joselit is the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies & Professor of History. Among her many areas of academic study, she specializes in the history and culture of America’s Jews. Her latest book, a cultural biography of Mordecai Kaplan, an iconic and controversial American Jewish personality of the 20th century, will be published in the Spring by Yale University Press as part of its distinguished "Jewish Lives" series. 

The Crisis of Liberalism

Professor Daniel Schwartz

HONR 2053:81 - 3 Credits

CRN: 47015

MW 3:45M - 5:00PM

Fulfills: 

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 81 (CRN: 47015)***

Course cross listed with HIST 2001.89 (CRN: 46788)

Course Description: These are some of the key questions we will explore in this course. We will devote the first half of the semester to studying the  foundations of liberalism, early challenges to liberalism from its right and left flanks, and 20th-century developments in liberal thought from the Progressives to the political theorist John Rawls. The second half of the semester will focus on the period from the Revolutions of 1989 to the present age of crisis, in which critics on the right and left are waging war against a beleaguered liberalism, and the future of liberal democracy hangs in the balance.

Bio: 

Political Theology

Professor Joseph Trullinger

HONR 2053:82 - 3 Credits

CRN: 45176

TR 9:35AM - 10:50AM

Fulfills: 

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 83 (CRN: 45176)***

Course cross listed with PHIL 3100.10 (CRN: 46494)

Course Description:  Is democracy sacred? Is a king a god of all he surveys? Is God the king of kings? Did John Brown do nothing wrong? For better or worse, we frequently utilize religious language and concepts in our political discourse and even our political philosophy—often without knowing it. Vice-versa, religious people frequently draw from the political sphere for metaphors that will express the majesty, power, immensity, or freedom they discover in their spiritual experience. This course in political theology will philosophically explore this intersection within various strains of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought. Taking the approach of philosophers, we will step beyond whatever we believe or don’t believe, analyzing these familiar ideas for their conceptual coherence or incoherence—and discover the rich multiplicity of ways of looking at politics and religion. All throughout, we will see that the parallel between religion and politics is a live question, no matter what preexisting convictions we have.

Nietzsche & Political Thought

Professor William Winstead

HONR 2053:83 - 3 Credits

CRN: 45977

T 3:30PM - 5:25PM

Fulfills: 

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 83 (CRN: 45977)***

Course cross listed with PSC 2991.80 (CRN: 45907)

Course Description: This seminar will be devoted to a close reading of a selection of Nietzsche’s most important texts, including works from his early, middle, and late periods. We will carefully explore the political orientation and implications of his writings as well as his broad philosophical vision of life. We’ll consider the relevance of Nietzsche’s views to our time, and we’ll ask about the ways in which Nietzsche’s views can empower our lives in a polarized world. Broadly stated, fundamental questions about philosophy, politics, and aesthetics will shape the horizon of our discussions. In addition, the following themes will be central to our conversations: The importance of Greek tragedy for a healthy politics, the relationship between art and politics, the conflict between master and slave moralities, nihilism and the nihilistic character of modernity, the politics of life and the affirmation of life in contrast to the narrowly circumscribed conception of politics characteristic of our age, the dangers of resentment and rage, and the nature of liberation and self-mastery. In addition to Nietzsche’s emphasis on the tragic character of life and his attention to tragedy’s decisive role in ancient Athens, we will also consider the emancipatory force of comedy in Nietzsche’s later writings. Taken as a whole, the seminar will introduce us to a series of non-standard philosophical insights and political themes that will beneficially expand our conception of the political and the possibilities of life. Close reading of texts and active class participation will be expected of all students. 

South Asian Art

Professor Mika Natif 

HONR 2053:84 - 3 Credits

CRN: 45852

TR 12:45PM - 2:00PM

Fulfills: 

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053W section 80 (CRN: 45852)***

Course cross listed with CAH 2191.80 (CRN: 46399)

Course Description: This course introduces students to the visual and material cultures of South Asia from early archaeological settlements to the contemporary period. The history of South Asian art is remarkably rich, diverse, and complex, consisting of many distinct but interconnected traditions and practices. Working chronologically, we will sample objects and sites from some of the key periods and places in its long history. Students will acquire knowledge of different cultures and their artistic practices, as well as the corresponding geographical, political, and religious contexts. While it is not possible to cover every period, culture, and faith in South Asia, the aim is for students to gain an overview of some of the major moments and achievements in the art history of the region and an understanding that ‘South Asian art’ is not a monolithic style or culture but a complex web of ideas, idioms, and interchanges.

Bio: Prof. Natif is an Associate Professor of Art History. A specialist in Islamic art, Mika Natif focuses on the intercultural exchanges and global connections that Muslim societies forged with the European sphere during the premodern period.

Buddhism & Cognitive Science

Professor Eyal Aviv

HONR 2053:85 - 3 Credits

CRN: 46080

TR 2:20PM - 3:35PM

Fulfills:

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 80 (CRN: 46080)***

Course cross listed with REL 2990.81 (CRN: 47664)

Course Description: This course introduces students to the visual and material cultures of South Asia from early archaeological settlements to the contemporary period. The history of South Asian art is remarkably rich, diverse, and complex, consisting of many distinct but interconnected traditions and practices. Working chronologically, we will sample objects and sites from some of the key periods and places in its long history. Students will acquire knowledge of different cultures and their artistic practices, as well as the corresponding geographical, political, and religious contexts. While it is not possible to cover every period, culture, and faith in South Asia, the aim is for students to gain an overview of some of the major moments and achievements in the art history of the region and an understanding that ‘South Asian art’ is not a monolithic style or culture but a complex web of ideas, idioms, and interchanges.

Literary Love Stories

Professor Aaron Hamburger

HONR 2053:86 - 3 Credits

CRN: 48400

MW 12:45PM - 2:00PM

Fulfills:

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053 section 86 (CRN: )***

Course cross listed with ENGL 3210.80 (CRN: 44743)

Course Description:  In this course, we'll examine three classic literary love stories from different time periods which also have been adapted into films: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, A Room with a View by E. M. Forster, and Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. We'll explore the authors' approaches to discover how to spin a romantic tale with memorable characters and settings as well as surprising plot twists while avoiding pitfalls like sentimentality and cliche. We'll also compare scenes from the books with their film adaptations to note the varying ways these stories have been interpreted. Finally, we'll do writing exercises and write romantic stories of our own which we'll critique in a workshop in order to put these writers' strategies into practice. 

Bio:

Being Human

Professor Alexa Alice Joubin

HONR 2053W:80 - 3 Credits

CRN: 46338

TR 2:20PM - 3:35PM

Fulfills:

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053W section 80 (CRN: 46080)***

Course cross listed with ENGL 2800W.81 (CRN: 44067)

Course Description: How has the human condition been re-defined throughout history from Plato and Aristotle through Mandeville, Ovid, and Shakespeare to Michel de Montaigne, Mary Shelley, Franz Kafka, and science fiction? As AI tools provoke rethinking of creativity, it is all the more important to examine what it means to be human, to construct the social spaces of humanity, and how we envision the relationships between human and non-human entities, such as the machine, environment, animals, and objects. This course examines how imaginative literature bears witness to the limits of the human. 

Bio: Dr. Joubin is director of the Digital Humanities Institute and a Professor of English, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Theatre, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Cultures. She is a leading voice in humanistic AI and social justice questions, and she was awarded GW's 2022 Trachtenberg Prize for Scholarship.

Shakespeare on Film

Professor Alexa Alice Joubin

HONR 2053W:81 - 3 Credits

CRN: 48343

TR 3:45PM - 5:00PM

Fulfills:

  • This course has no GPAC designations

***Note that UHP students will only receive Arts & Humanities credit if they are enrolled in the HONR 2053W section 80 (CRN: 46080)***

Course cross listed with ENGL 3441W.10 (CRN: 46089)

Course Description: How did Shakespeare’s plays go from the page to the stage and the screen? What distinguishes the stagecraft from filmcraft? This course examines cinematic representations of Shakespeare’s biographies, tragedies, comedies, and history plays. The history of Shakespeare on film began in 1899, shortly after the invention of the celluloid film. Students will acquire critical tools to appreciate Shakespeare as both drama and as film.

Bio: Dr. Joubin is the author of the open access textbook, Screening Shakespeare. She is Professor of English, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Theatre, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Cultures. She has published more than 20 books on Shakespeare.