ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2017-2018
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the flapper, homoeroticism, youth culture, and more. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors
Program.
HON 243 Dissecting the Text: Literature, Medicine, and the Body (1)
An investigation of the relationship between literature, medicine, and the body. This
seminar examines all aspects of the medical humanities as represented in literary texts
about the experience of health, illness, and doctoring from medical professional,
physician, and patient perspective. By analyzing the way we represent, interpret, and
“read” the body, this course dissects the politics of health and suffering, illness and
recovery, hope and healing. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 244 Comparing Buddhist and Christian Ethics (1)
A comparison of the ethical thought and practice in Buddhist and Christian traditions.
The course explores ethnic diversity and specific ethical issues, such as race and
environment, and how they are understood and engaged in each tradition. Exact ethical
subjects covered may vary each term. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 246 Holy Ground: Space and Place in Art, Literature, Politics, and Religion
(1)
A seminar that examines the way we view place and invest it with meaning. Subject
matter ranges from landscape painting as visual storytelling to landscape gardening as
political statement; from a contrast between urban, suburban, and rural spaces to the ways
in which the American frontier myth generated popular culture phenomena; from debates
over sacred ground to clashes over the habitats of endangered species. Prerequisite:
Harrison Honors Program.
HON 247 An Arthurian Primer (1)
An investigation of three prominent strands of the Arthurian legend: the Grail quest, the
adulterous love of Lancelot and Guinevere, and Arthur as the Once and Future King.
Resources in literature, history, and visual art will be brought together to study how these
Arthurian motifs have been used artistically and socially to promote cultural ideals from
medieval England and France to contemporary America. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors
Program.
HON 248 Monsters, Monarchs, and Monastics: Legacies of Medieval Literature in
Popular Culture (1)
An introductory course focusing on critical approaches to literature. Using medieval
literature in translation and texts from popular culture the course introduces students to
the fundamentals of literary interpretation. Texts range from Arthurian romances to
contemporary trade-market mysteries. Considerable attention is also given to technology
in teaching and learning. Prerequisite: Harrison Honors Program.
HON 250 History of Documentary Film (1)
An introductory survey of documentary film. The course will focus on some of the major
developments in documentary practice, while also considering a number of theoretical