Honors Courses & Seminars
Each semester, the Honors General Education course offerings and Honors Seminar topics change. Check here for the latest on current and upcoming course offerings.
Spring 2018 Honors Seminars
IDH 4030-The Art and Science of Brewing
Dr. Joseph Moss, Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation
Brewing is one of mankind’s most important discoveries spanning generations, socio-economic classes, and international borders. This course will directly expose the student to both the scientific and the creative aspects of brewing. Through discussion and active participation, students will discover brewing in its simplest form as well as the complex dynamics of this age-old craft and continually prospering industry. The course is a mixture of lecture and applied science with topics including: brewing
IDH 4031-Making Data Work for You: Database Systems Across the Disciplines
Dr. Dallas Snider, Department of Computer Science and Department of Information Technology
Data pertaining to any discipline can be modeled and stored in a database. Database architects rely on subject matter experts within a specific discipline to assist in the design of efficient data storage models. Having knowledge of database systems will allow subject matter experts to better communicate and assist in the design process; thus allowing for an accurate and efficient model that meets their needs. This course provides an introduction to database systems and database management system architectures. Various database models are discussed with an emphasis on the relational model and relational database design. Students will design and construct a relational database that models entities within their discipline, populate the database, and then select and manipulate their data using structured query language (SQL).
IDH 4032-Shipwrecked! An Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar
Dr. John Odin Jensen, Department of History
Shipwrecks have attracted people’s attention for thousands of years. Frightening and fascinating, shipwrecks have repeatedly determined the course of histories, shaped governments, altered ecosystems, inspired poets, playwrights and artists, and much more. A fact of life in the past, shipwrecks still occur with alarming frequency. Today shipwrecks are investigated from many scholarly and creative perspectives. Shipwrecks are found in archaeology, anthropology, history, English and cultural studies, film, philosophy, marine ecology, engineering and materials science, leisure studies and tourism, art and design, theater, leadership studies, economics and government. Through lectures, hands-on activities, discussions, numerous guest speakers, readings, literature, film, art, and material culture, students in this seminar will use interdisciplinary tools to decode the many meanings of shipwreck. Drawing on the University of West Florida’s world-renown expertise in the interdisciplinary study of shipwrecks, the seminar is designed to be meaningful and useful for honors students pursuing virtually any major.