186 / 293
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
179
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2015-2016
HON 285 Why People Believe Weird Things (1)
An interdisciplinary examination of how we come to believe a range of
extraordinary (“weird”) and rather ordinary claims about human behavior.
Students will learn how to use the philosophy and methods of science to
address the question of how we know what is and is not so, tackling a host
of odd, paranormal, and popular (but erroneous) claims along the way. The
aim is to show why these principles are so powerful, how anyone can put
them to use, and why they are good “whys” to begin with. We will examine
how a variety of cognitive, social, emotional, and motivational biases and
heuristics often are at work as we form and maintain beliefs about human
behavior. Students may not earn credit for both PY 250 and HON 285.
An hour and a half per week laboratory is required. Prerequisite: Harrison
Honors Program.
HON 286 The Vietnam War (1)
An exploration of the Vietnam War from the American and Vietnamese
perspectives, focusing on the era 1945-1975. Topics include Vietnamese
culture and history, French and Japanese occupation, Ho Chi Minh’s
revolutionary movement, national liberation, the American war, and
the experiences of soldiers and civilians on both sides. Memoirs, novels,
scholarly literature, and films will help facilitate our understanding of the
war. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 287 Western Images of Asia (1)
A multimedia exploration of Western attitudes about the “orient.” By
reading scholarly and fictional texts and carefully viewing the visual arts,
this course analyzes the development of Western attitudes toward the
“east,” beginning with important medieval explorers and concluding with
our present concern with the Japanese. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors
Program.
HON 288 Remembering World War II: The War in Asia and the Pacific (1)
A seminar on how World War II in Asia and the Pacific is remembered in
several countries, including China, Japan, Korea, and the United States.
Using a variety of literary (novels, poetry, and memoirs), artistic (film
and painting), and architectural (monuments, memorials, and museums)
evidence, we explore the legacy and memories of World War II in these
various countries, consider some of the many issues related to self-
representation and historical memory, and examine how different cultures
with widely divergent pasts and traditions come to shape memory and
guilt. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.