Capstone

By the end of their senior year, students will take an Honors Capstone course. The Honors Capstone can be taken either semester and does not need to be taken at the same time as the Senior Thesis

The Honors Capstone is separate from the Honors Senior Thesis and is a 1-credit, pass/no pass course. It invites students to re-engage with core questions and issues related to the Honors Program curriculum, reflecting on their learning in relation to enduring questions and challenges of our world.

As the capstone only meets a few times, you must attend each meeting. Please check your availability on all meeting dates carefully prior to enrolling in a capstone, and be sure to keep each time reserved. If your availability changes, you will need to switch to a different capstone. If you have any questions, please speak with a Program Manager.

Art of Love

Professor William Winstead

HONR 4199:11 - 1 Credit

CRN: 46912

W 7:00PM - 9:00PM

This course will meet on February 4, 11, 18, and 25.

Course Description: Love and work have rightly been described as the great defining activities of our lives. Of the two, love is undoubtedly the more difficult and by far the more fascinating. Love gives meaning to our lives, brings ecstasies and sorrows, and entangles itself in thorny questions of power, possession, knowledge, and truth. If love often seems to liberate, it just as often threatens to enslave. What is love? How is it practiced? What are its historical forms? Is human happiness ultimately dependent upon deep and abiding love? Must love involve submission and possession? These questions and others will inform our capstone seminar this year as we discuss a selection of the most illuminating visions of love through the ages. Readings will include Plato, Freud, de Beauvoir, Ovid, Fromm, and bell hooks.

Games

Professor Bethany Kung

HONR 4199:12 - 1 Credit

CRN: 46914

F 1:30PM - 3:30PM

This course will meet on January 30 and February 6, 13, and 20.

Course Description: Archaeological evidence demonstrates that humans have been playing board games and using dice for over 5,000 years. Today, card and tabletop gaming represents a $10 billion industry which is expected to continue growing in the coming years. Clearly - humans love to play games! Together in this capstone, we will consider the history of gaming and its purpose in culture and society. We will ponder why we love to play games and what lessons we can learn from these games. We will also play games! Course readings will include excerpts from books such as "It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan" by Tristan Donovan and "Your Move: What Board Games Teach Us About Life" by Joan Moriarity and Jonathan Kay. Each meeting will start with a discussion in which we will draw connections between board games and life and then we will challenge each other to the "game of the day" (including classics such as backgammon and modern tabletop games, too). For our final meeting, we will try our hand at an escape room! Please note that this capstone requires a $15 fee, payable to the Honors Program main office in January.

The Happiness Industry

Professor Joseph Trullinger

HONR 4199:13 - 1 Credit

CRN: 46915

T 4:00PM - 6:00PM

This section will meet on January 20, 27 and February 3, 10.

Course Description: This capstone centers on a central irony of our era: everywhere we look we find psychologists, advertisers, city planners, pharmaceutical companies, politicians, life coaches, self-help gurus, economists, sociologists, neuroscientists, spiritual leaders, and seekers of every type willing to help us be happier...and yet nobody can quite pin down what happiness is. This capstone explores the philosophical and scientific reasons why happiness eludes measurement, and the social reasons why businesses and governments are nonetheless so deeply invested in the idea that happiness can be quantified. The happiness industry touches on every aspect of our lives, and William Davies' 2015 interdisciplinary book of the same title will guide our class through this industry's history and limitations. Thinking critically about the immeasurability of happiness will (hopefully) help us reclaim happiness from those who would determine it for us.

Meditation

Professor Eyal Aviv

HONR 4199:14 - 1 Credit

CRN: 46916

F 12pm - 2pm

This course will meet in March 21 and 27.

Course Description: Stress, anxiety, and exhaustion have become inevitable in modern life, especially in college. In this capstone, we will practice several Buddhist meditative techniques that proved successful antidotes for stress. We will learn to cultivate states of mind that lead to insight, spaciousness, and joy. The capstone will include two meetings. The first meeting will be on Saturday, March 21st for a day-long (9 am- 5 pm) experience in a beautiful Buddhist meditation center in rural Maryland. We will meet with the local monks, read and discuss texts, practice different forms of meditation, and enjoy food and nature. The final meeting will be Friday, March 27th to discuss the visit to the meditation center and final capstone discussions. In order to participate in this capstone, you must be present for both class sessions.

A bus will take us and bring us back. Please note that this capstone requires a $30 fee, payable to the Honors Program main office in February (if you would like to participate in this capstone but the fee represents a financial hardship, please speak with Professor Aviv).