Norwich University Honors Program

HN 101: Introductory Honors Seminar: Faculty across the university develop this multidisciplinary seminar to help expand student thinking beyond their major. Students engage in discussion and faculty leverage experiential learning techniques to provide multiple lens to topics covered. The faculty and content change regularly to ensure students are always engaging with current issues. This seminar introduces students to academic research and helps frame a multidisciplinary way of thinking that will inform their time at Norwich. Below are recent HN 101 offerings:

Dr. Laurie Grigg: Associate Professor of Environmental Earth Science and Dr. Jeffrey Kirkland: Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry – Earth System Cycles: Connections, Pathways, People.
Course Description: The Earth is a complex system of interacting spheres (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere) that has evolved over the last 4.5 billion years. Our challenge is to understand the life-sustaining and society-building cycles within this system and to take a close look at the two- directional interactions between these cycles and us prolific humans. We will explore: 1) how elements naturally move through and between environmental compartments (i.e., land, air, water) and how humans impact these processes, and 2) the life cycle of elements as they are extracted from the earth and manipulated to serve a purpose in modern society. While our investigations into Earth system cycles will begin with a foundation of scientific understanding, humanity and society will be integrated at every step and will include historical and emerging ethical challenges, pivotal policies, and geopolitical dynamics. This course will help students use and develop skills to dissect complex phenomena and information. We will employ multiple methods to engage students with the content and each other (e.g., critical reading, data interpretation, discussion, prediction, share-outs, etc.). Students will also engage in group work, problem-solving projects, and case study analyses that require the integration and application of course material. This course will culminate with students choosing a topic to give a short ‘one slide seminar’ to their classmates. 

Dr. Shane Graber: Assistant Professor of Communications – News to Amuse. 
“News to Amuse” introduces students to an interdisciplinary approach to making sense of the world and current events through the satirical work of parody news artifacts from a multitude of media forms. As the research literature illustrates (Becker, 2011; Bode & Becker, 2018; Day & Thompson, 2012; Gutshall, 2019; Hersey, 2022; Long et al., 2021), news satire is an effective entryway into responsibly following the news, especially for college-age adults. As such, this course seeks to cultivate in students both an understanding of the importance of following the news as an exercise in democracy, as well an appreciation of the humor art form as a way to capture and maintain interest in journalism in an increasingly divided and fractured political landscape. To that end, students would learn about significant parody news contributions over the 2,400-year history (Poremba, 2008) via the multimedia world of satirical writings, newspapers, television and radio shows, and websites.

Dr. Katlin Thomas: Assistant Professor of Spanish – Immigration Nation.
Course Description: We will explore in detail the health, family, environment, labor, politics, education, and economics angles of transnational/trans-frontiers movement of people across border boundary lines. We will assess US dependence on noncitizens, examine the morality of exclusion, consider definitions of who has the privilege to claim belonging, identify what factors bleed into how the latter is decided, and explore subsequent consequences via real-time primary and secondary materials.

Dr. Carl Martin: Associate Professor of English – The Scientist – Myth, Mission, Method. 
Course Description: This section will be organized around the theme of “The Scientist”—both a real figure and a cultural “type” shaped by human desires and fears. Our goal will be to cultivate a better understanding of the history and methodology of scientific endeavor while exploring the real ambiguities, limits, and challenges of a process that is carried out by imperfect but idealistic human beings in a changing world. To that end we will read and discuss several short works of science fiction (SF) as well as some theoretical writings in the field before applying our understanding to real-world scenarios and the actual scientific community. Hopefully, we will come to better understand that “science” is not a static thing, a pure idea, or a top-down institution but a multi-party, human-led process of conscientious, communal inquiry. Vision and politics, not just data, play a role here. 

Honors General Education: All students at Norwich University are required to complete General Education courses to expose students to the humanities, mathematics, social science, and the sciences. Learning outside a student’s chosen discipline provides a more robust educational experience and prepares students to engage with diverse perspectives after graduation.

Honors students can enroll in courses specially designed to meet General Education graduation requirements and provide a unique learning experience. Honors students are required to take one Honors General Education course to fulfill Honors Program requirements but can take multiple in pursuit of fulling graduation requirements. Faculty develop new, innovative teaching approaches to engage Honors students in hands-on, experiential learning.

Dr. F. Brett Cox: Aftermath: Post-Apocalyptic Scenarios and Solutions.
Course Description: “Aftermath: Post-Apocalyptic Scenarios and Solutions” is an Honors section of EN 222 in which students will examine representative post-apocalyptic scenarios as presented in creative works, both classic and contemporary, from different national and cultural perspectives, in multiple genres and media. They will discuss and analyze what these works have to say about both world-changing catastrophes and our responses—including possible solutions—to those events, focusing in particular on issues of individualism vs. community: is it inevitable that a post-catastrophe world will descend into anarchy, or is there hope that we can come together to deal with it? The course will culminate in a research project in which the students will select a post-apocalyptic scenario represented in a work not included on the course syllabus.  They will then present their analysis of the work’s representation of the scenario, focusing on the plausibility of both the catastrophe and the human response to it, and offering at least one alternative outcome (e.g., a post-nuclear war landscape in which the survivors do not descend into barbarism).

Dr. Rowly Brucken: Professor of History – HI 122: U.S. History Since 1877.
Course Description: This class will consist of 4 simulations: Reconstruction in New Orleans, the 1912 presidential election, reform/rebel movements in the 1960s, and planning the Vietnam War Memorial. Students will take on historical roles, make speeches, and try to achieve victory points. The class will be writing-intensive and involve research into the roles and events of the simulations.

Dr. John Gartner: Lecturer of Earth and Environmental Science – GL 110: Introduction to Geology.
Course Description: This course explores the processes that are continuously changing our planet. Some of these are sudden and dramatic. Others are so slow that they are imperceptible on human timescales. We study the Earth for many practical reasons—to predict natural disasters, to predict the future of our changing climate, and to determine where valuable resources are located, for example. Even those how don’t pursue geology as a career will learn valuable, transferable skills. But the most rewarding outcome of studying the Earth is that it opens up a new way of understanding the landscapes we travel through. As you learn about rocks, mountains, rivers, and glaciers, you will notice things in your environment that you have always overlooked.

Oluwapelumi Adefarakan – Architectural Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Timothy Parker: Adugbo ni gbogbo wa: We are all neighbors.

Julia Vawter – Architectural Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Matthew Lutz: Comparing Effectiveness of Passive House Standards in Hot Climates and Cold Climates.

Quinn Bennett – Biology, Thesis Chair Dr. Emma Ste. Marie: Synthesis of Ergothioneine Derivatives and Incorporation into Mussel-Derived Radical Scavenging Peptide.

Hannah Kolb – Criminology, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Thesis Chair Dr. Elizabeth Gurian: We should have seen it coming: An analysis of the predicting power of five factors for mass shootings in America.

Sophia Raskosky – Architectural Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Jason Galligan-Baldwin: Interpreting Rothko – An Analysis on How We Perceive Color.

Tristan Ouellette – Mechanical Engineering, Thesis Chair Dr. Danner Friend: Electric Aircraft Propulsion.

Jenifer Nicolas Ramirez – Exercise Science, Thesis Chair Lucas Van Horn: Prevalence of Injuries in the Norwich University Student Population.

David Ignacio – History, Thesis Chair Dr. Zachary Bennett: “The Hopes of a Thorough Reformation”: The Evolution of Freedom from England to America.

Renata Bohac – Computer Science, Thesis Chair Dr. Charles Snow: An Analysis of Game-Based Learning.

Alyssa Brink – Architectural Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Tolya Stonorov: Vertical and Rooftop Farms: Creating Food for Urban Food Deserts.

Grace Ennis – Criminal Justice, Thesis Chair Dr. Stephanie Maass: How Do Different Job Stressors Effect Police Officers’ Mental Health (PTSD)?

Kyla Fielding – CSIA, Thesis Chair Dr. Huw Read: Forensic Evaluation of Roku Streaming Stick 4k.

Jacob Gross – CSIA, Thesis Chair Dr. Matthew Bovee: Phishing: The Relationship Between Technical Experience and Susceptibility.

Matthew Haggerty – Nursing, Thesis Chair Dr. Sarah Manacek: Nursing Students Perception of Online Learning Comparted to Other Majors During Pandemic.

Max McKay – Biochemistry, Thesis Chair Dr. Ethan Guth: Skip the Bankart, go Latarjet: An Analysis of Younger, Athletic Population Experiencing Shoulder Instability.

Cooper Otis – International Studies, Thesis Chair Joseph Bosley: Citizen Soldiers & St-Cyriens: The effect of 9/11 on academic courses at Norwich University and the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan.

Juliana Paddock – Psychology and Criminal Justice Thesis Co-Chairs Dr. Matthew Thomas and Dr. Matthew Fischer: Lens on Leadership: Effects of Pornography Consumption within the NUCC.

Jillian Patria – Psychology and Spanish, Thesis Chair Dr. Matthew Thomas: The Impact of Collegiate Athletics on Mental Health.

Molly Twombly – Biochemistry, Thesis Chair Dr. Travis Morris: Ocean Acidification: The Convergence of Science and Policy with a Concentration on The Sensory Ecology of the Eeltail Catfish Plotosus japonicus in the Detection of pH.

Jacob Andrews-Pestana – International Business, Thesis Chair Neal Anderson: Relationship between FDI, Trade and Bilateral Trade Agreements.

Katrina Babcock-Connor – Nursing, Thesis Chair Dr. Lyndsey Gates: Using the Health Belief Model to Decode COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy.

Sarah Couture – Criminal Justice and Psychology, Thesis Chair Dr. Mark Stefani: Do Images of Police Elicit a Classically Conditioned Physiological Response? 
 
Isabela Ferraro – International Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Kaitlin Thomas: Comparing the US and Spain's approaches to Immigration.

Michaila Furchak - Architectural Studies, Thesis Chair Dr. Tolya Stonorov: Coastal Resilient Architecture: Designing Sustainable Strategies for Coastal Communities.

Timothy Santy – Health Science, Thesis Chair Dr. Dan Morris: Faith, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Health Care in Hospitals: An Argument for Greater Implementation of Resources for Sensitive Care.