Honors First Year Experience: Linked Courses

"Earlier in my life, I thought I was in love with the answers. I found out later that I was really in love with the questions . . . " - Roger Dunsmore.

Into the Depths of Time: a Geological Perspective and Into the Experience of Time: A Literary Perspective

These courses will focus on the many ways that we, as humans, understand and interact with the passage of time, internally and externally, in science and in the humanistic disciplines. Both courses will also stress quality of expression, variability in expression and improving powers of observation and interpretation. Reading and writing skills will be an emphasis in both courses.


HONR 194S Into the Depths of Time: a Geological Perspective (Block 3)

As humans, time is a constraint on our existence, yet our experience on the planet has been shaped by the history of the Earth stretching back 4.6 billion years. In this course we will gain an understanding of the magnitude of time that it has taken to shape the planet and the landscapes that surround us by learning to read the stories told in the rocks and fossils preserved through the eons. To that end, we will begin the course through acquiring basic geological knowledge of rocks, minerals, fossils, plate tectonics, and surface processes so that by the end of the course each student will be able to go out and collect rocks and data that tell the history of Earth. Throughout the course we will improve our ability to make observations, increasingly using the language of geology to describe what we observe and using our own observations, with insights gained from prior scientific work, to interpret the Earth. Each day we will be engaging with real Earth materials and real Earth data, including 4 to 6 days (weather dependent) out in the spectacular geology that surrounds the University of Montana Western. Field observations, written work and outside reading are designed to begin exploring the role of time in shaping our planet and our human existence which will continue into the English portion of the course.




HONR 194T Into the Experience of Time: A Literary Perspective (Block 4)

In this course students will study a variety of literary works dealing with time in interesting ways, including differing experiences of time's passage and measurement, the nature of memory, and varying cultural understandings of life, growth, maturation, and death. Texts will range from Romantic poetry to science fiction to contemporary memoir, with an emphasis on how authors render experience through time. The course will take an interdisciplinary approach, blending philosophy, literature, and cultural studies with the content from the linked geology course. Students will engage in both analytical and creative writing projects.



Honors First Year Experience: Linked Courses
The subject matter in these two courses will be interrelated and each course will substitute for general education requirements in each field of study. The purpose of Honors First Year Experience is to foster extended collaboration among students engaged in the study of ideas that transcend specific disciplines. These courses will emphasize active involvement and project completion. First Year Honors Linked Courses are an excellent way to begin your undergraduate explorations of Experience One. Students must register for both classes, one after the other during Blocks 3 and 4.
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Substitutions:
General Education in English: Lit 163: Science Fiction and Fantasy (Humanities: Literary and Artistic Studies)
General Education in Science: GEO 101/103/107

Instructors: Dr. Rebekah Levine and Dr. Brian Elliot

Time: Fall 2019, Blocks 3 & 4,