Courses

Contemporary Young Adult Literature 

Michael Hock: Section 001 - MW 9am-10:15am

Young Adult Literature has existed for as long as we have had books, but the classification is still relatively new. In this class, we'll take a look at why this is important, why there's been increased scrutiny on these texts, and how these novels have grown in popularity over the years. We will also explore how they can fit into the literary canon and "classics" and just what makes a classic. Topics will include contemporary texts, social media, true crime, short stories, how soon is too soon to write about something, the shared literary experience, and of course the John Green of it all. As a bonus, we'll also take a look into what is literature in the 21st century, as we'll expand beyond the novel to explore digital short stories, webtoons, and a podcast. 

Digital and Visual Bodies 

Collin Hawley: Section 002 - MW 9am-10:15am and Section 003 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

When the camera was first invented in the late nineteenth century, it was a specialized, complex, and costly device used by the wealthy. By the mid-twentieth century, with the development of Edwin Land’s Polaroid and George Eastman’s Kodak cameras, the technology became inexpensive and accessible to the masses. In the present, via smartphones, a significant percentage of the population across the globe constantly carries a camera on their person. Because of this widespread adoption and daily use, scholars are invested in studying the ways that it has become an essential technology of the self, a means whereby users construct and maintain their identity. This visually constructed and digitally embodied identity through photographs is an inescapable component of contemporary life. The course, Digital and Visual Bodies, will contextualize portrait photography within its history alongside theoretical analyses, teaching students to critically engage with the making and viewing of photographic objects.

Visual Media and Environment

Caroline West: Section Section 004 - MW 10:30am-11:45am and Section 005 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

This course asks how environmental issues are represented in various visual media, including films, photographs, art, and performance as well as digital visualizations, and maps. Most of our experience and communication take place within spaces of media so students will be asked to think critically about the many relationships between media and the environmental issues. We will explore visual media from the perspective of different ecological problems and the communities effected to consider how visual media are part and parcel to understanding environmental change. 

Inquiry in Science Fiction

Carlos Chism: Section 006 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

Science fiction is often discussed as primarily speculative, or as a tool for predicting the future. But some of the greatest authors of the genre, from Mary Shelley to Phillip K. Dick and NK Jemisin, demonstrate the genre serves less as a crystal ball to predict the future, and more like a mirror to reflect on and question our present. Through what Ursula K. Le Guin describes as the “peculiar, devious, and thought-experimental manner proper to science fiction,” the genre helps us ask probing questions about the world around us.
  
In this course, we will examine science fiction across a range of time periods, subgenres, and modalities to better understand how the genre can help us ask critical questions about social, cultural, and political issues in the world today. We will read novels, short stories, and screen TV episodes to analyze how various works both use and subvert conventions of the genre to construct piercing questions and probe for new answers. Through engaging with these texts, we will develop skills of critical reading, inquiry, and analysis, so that we can ask revealing questions of the world around us in the spirit of Octavia Butler’s observation that “there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." This is a hybrid course. Monday classes meet in person and Wednesday classes meet synchronously online.

Literature Under 1,000 Words

Ariel Goldenthal: Section 007 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

How do you tell a complete story in only three pages? How do writers convey full emotional arcs in just a few short paragraphs? How do readers engage with writing in unique formats that include lists, diagrams, and even quizzes? This course will introduce you to the short-writing world of flash fiction and creative non-fiction, where every piece is under 1,000 words. As you’ll learn in this course, powerful writers don’t need hundreds of pages to share what they notice about the world around them, and in fact, as lives get busier and attention spans of younger generation shorten, these flash stories and essays are gaining in popularity. Together, we will read and discuss short fiction and non-fiction by authors with a diversity of experiences and perspectives. Throughout the semester, some of these authors will come to our class as guest speakers so that you can hear directly from them about their writing processes and intentions. By the end of the semester, you will have honed your skills in critical analysis and will craft your own short story or essay in, you guessed it, under 1,000 words. This is a hybrid course. Monday classes meet synchronously online  and Wednesday classes meet in person.

Reading Moving Images 

William Beaman: Section 008 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm and 009 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

Is meaning in the eyes of the beholder? If so, how do we read what we see? This course develops scholarly techniques for reading films as ambiguous social texts, always in excess of the any preferred meaning, yet inescapably of our world. Moving through selections from global film history, we will explore and historicize how cinematic forms make meaning in our lives.

Fictions of Identity 

Deborah Forbes: Section 010 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

A central feature of human culture is telling stories that aren’t true. Why do we create fiction, and how does this work relate to our understanding of ourselves and others? How do we judge authenticity in an imagined world? This course follows the development of realistic fiction in English from the origins of the novel in the early 1700s to the present day. We’ll pay particular attention to authors who write from the point of view of characters with an identity different from their own. What can they tell us about the line between representation and appropriation, empathy and exploitation? How have our moral preoccupations evolved over time? Together we will develop individual criteria for evaluating the boundary-crossing fiction involves. The coursework will emphasize critical analysis, but we will also undertake creative experiments to test the limits of our ability to imagine ourselves as someone else.

Knowing Yourself: How and Why

Lauren Kuykendall: Section 001 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

This class explores the significance of self-knowledge for a fulfilling life and the possibilities for knowing ourselves better. We will consider various aspects of self-knowledge including self-awareness (awareness of our traits, strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots), self-insight (awareness of why we think, feel, and act the way we do), values clarity (awareness of our values and purpose), and narrative identity development (integrating our various identities and past experiences into a more coherent and meaningful sense of who we are). We will begin by considering why self-knowledge matters for our relationships, vocational aspirations, and overall well-being—and why it is so hard to cultivate. Then, we will spend the rest of the semester exploring and experimenting with psychological approaches for increasing self-knowledge, incorporating occasional readings from philosophy and other related fields. We will explore contemplative approaches that help us quiet our minds and pay better attention to our thoughts and feelings (e.g., mindfulness meditation), introspective approaches that help us reflect on our priorities and experiences (e.g., value reflection, expressive writing), instructive approaches that highlight common blind spots and strategies for reducing our vulnerability to them, and narrative approaches that help us make sense of our identities and past experiences. We will consider the ways our communities shape our sense of self and learn about the various ways other people can help us know ourselves better. Through practical experimentation with these strategies and reflective discussions with peers, this course will help us articulate personally meaningful reasons and strategies for pursuing self-knowledge.

Subcultures of Music 

Shayna Maskell Yuhasz: Section 002 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

Subcultures have been understood as “imaginative representations” brought into being through narration and narrative – the stories that subculturists tell about themselves as well as those that others tell about them. In this class, we will map music-based subcultures through their most enduring narrative(s) – resistance and identity, both political and cultural, to mainstream values, norms, and practices. Considering subcultures through music, style, and practice, we will explore how subculturalists voice their opposition and their sense of self and community, considering the following questions: how do specific genres of musical act as conduits for the creation of subcultural identities? What role does context – place, space, and time – play in developing subcultural identities and forms of resistance? How does the creative practice and process of music work to inform ideas of self and resistance? In an attempt to answer these questions, we will trace a genealogy of musical subcultural resistance, considering a range of contemporary subcultural groups alongside their historical counterparts. 

Colonial American Lives 

Randolph Scully: Section 003 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

European colonization of the Americas brought diverse groups of people from three continents together in new, often disruptive, and sometimes violent, ways. This course uses a series of biographical case studies to explore this process and what it meant for the people who experienced it: how did people understand and shape their own identities, their relationships with others, and the boundaries of their communities in this new world? We will read and discuss work by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and even children’s authors to think about how identity, community, and difference are constructed, what that meant for people in the colonial era, and what we might learn from that history today.

Thinking Through Identity

Alison Landsberg: Section 004 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

What make us who we are?  Is identity grounded in the psyche? Is identity “natural”? Does it have a biological basis? Is it manifested on the body? Or is identity externally imposed by the social world we inhabit? Do one's memories shape one's identity? How free are individuals to invent themselves, to change their identities, and what limits such attempts? To answer these questions, this course will explore various philosophical, psychological, sociological, and historical conceptions of self.  We will consider aspects of identity such as race, gender, sexuality, nationality, and class. We will also assess the impact of the internet and AI on conceptions of the self. Analyzing a broad range of fictional, theoretical/philosophical and autobiographical texts, we will consider how the self is constructed, and both the potential for, and limits on, personal transformation.

Intersecting Identities

Aziza Ahmed: Section 005 - MW 12pm-1:15pm and 006 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

In this course, students will be given the tools and skills to engage with intersectional identities both interpersonally and professionally. We will begin the course by establishing a common language and practice for discussing and engaging with intersectional identities. Then, we will use mass media such as television, podcasts, and digital media to investigate how intersectionality takes shape in our contemporary society. Topics will include gender, caste, race, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, sexuality, and more. The course will culminate with students producing a final project demonstrating their understanding of intersectional theories and approaches.

Theories and Stories of Friendship 

David Corwin: Section 007 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, argue that friendships are some of our first and most important relationships; however, these relationships are complicated throughout time based on varying norms surrounding gender, sexuality, family, marriage and other social identities and connections. Can friendships be the center of our lives? How does culture facilitate these relationships? Through theory and fiction, we explore what it means to be a friend and how that contributes to what it means to be human. In addition to philosophers and rhetoricians, we will read work from (but not limited to), James Baldwin, Michael Cunningham, Meg Wolitzer, and watch a variety of media texts that center on these complicated but albeit important relationships. 

Black Girls, Black Stories: Reading Narratives of Girlhood 

Stephanie Rambo: Section 008 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

Many are familiar with the phrase #Blackgirlmagic. This hashtag alone carries its own cultural discourse. Some may think of Simone Biles landing the “Biles II,” clips of Halle Bailey’s vocals in the most recent adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2023), or Blue Ivy dancing during the Renaissance tour. #Blackgirlmagic not only provides an anthem but a narrative about Black girls. While we are arguably more familiar with Black girls in popular culture, this is but one sector. What about Black girls in literature? The contemporary moment lends itself to the focus of this course: Black girl stories. We will read a plethora of narratives about girlhood across different genres and time periods. We will examine depictions of fictive Black girls while querying what it means to come of age as racialized, gendered, and youthful figures from enslavement to the present. Though working through literary narratives, we will also consider the semblances between everyday representations of Black girls while pondering the connections between the two. Some guiding questions we will seek to answer and meditate on are: How have narratives of Black girlhood changed or remained the same? Who writes about and for Black girls? How are media narratives of Black girlhood different or the same as literary ones?

Liberalism and its Critics

Ted Kinnaman: Section 009 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

American society is a liberal one that professes to value freedom above all else. But are human beings naturally suited for life in liberal democracy, or must we be taught how to be free? Are people equally suited to be citizens in a democracy? What is this freedom we value so much? We will consider these questions as they are addressed in philosophical works by Plato, Mill, Locke, and Rawls, as well as conservative, communitarian, and feminist critiques of liberalism.

Differences & Commonalities

Khaseem Davis: Section 010 - M 4:30pm-7:7:10pm

Our society is divided. Oftentimes, our identities which makes us unique, are used to create constructs that are manipulated and exploited to create and inflame division. Despite, the desire to exploit differences, what we have in common outweighs our differences. This course is designed to explore the intricate details of identity, division, and commonality within the context of society (US & Global). It addresses four main areas: 1. core values and identity, 2. intersectionality (race, ability, gender, sexuality, class, religion), 3. societal divides (racism, ableism, misogyny, religious bigotry), and 4. leveraging commonalities for social betterment.

Eliminating Global Hunger: Problems, Progress

Phil Thomas: Section 001 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

Global hunger is one of the most critical problems confronting the global community in the 21st Century. Despite numerous efforts over the past 50 years its elimination remains elusive due to a complex array of environmental and human factors. The purpose of this course is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the causes and effects of global hunger and analyze threats to global food security including the climate crisis, environmental degradation, animal and plant diseases, access to clean water, food waste and loss, contaminated food, agricultural terrorism, and antimicrobial resistance. The current intensifying climate crisis, the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine, and the continuing COVID Pandemic have exacerbated the global food security crisis. This course will address food security, in terms of access to critical food supplies including major supply chain disruptions, and the nutritional impact on vulnerable food insecure populations at a global and national level. We will address food security related national and global health, economic, social, and ethical impacts of these disruptive forces. We will also examine strategies for protecting and enhancing the security of global food production and supply systems. In the final analysis, our goal is to gain insight into the interrelationship between food security and national security and develop an understanding of policies and programs necessary to achieve sustainable food security that is environmentally appropriate to ensure availability, access, utilization, and stability of adequate nutritious food for all people at all times.

Gender, Work, and Culture 

Alyssa Cazier: Section 002 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

How does gender shape our social and cultural norms and vice versa? How do work and culture function as social institutions? What is the role of gender, work, and culture in upholding systems of oppression and injustice? In this course, we will investigate these questions and others as we consider the many ways gender shows up in a variety of social settings and institutions. Students will explore topics related to inequality, types of capital, work and labor, and other cultural phenomena all through the lens of gender as a social category. The course will incorporate various forms of learning materials and students will be engaged in class discussions, small-group activities, and a final project which connects concepts from the course to their own personal, academic, and/or creative interests.

Sustainable Tourism For All

Nicky Wu: Section 003 - TR 9am-10:15am

Get ready to explore the dynamic world of tourism through real-world case studies with a focus on sustainability and responsible travel. This course goes beyond traditional tourism concepts—products, services, and stakeholders—and challenges you to critically assess tourism’s impacts on communities, economies, and the environment. You'll engage with complex real-world tourism development issues such as over-tourism, gentrification, and economic inequalities, while applying core principles to analyze tourism's broader impacts. At the heart of the course are sustainable tourism criteria and indicators, where you'll learn how to balance economic growth with environmental and social well-being, benefiting all stakeholders involved. Through interactive sessions, case studies, and lively discussions, you'll collaborate with peers to present actionable solutions to real tourism development challenges. The course emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking, drawing on knowledge from fields such as psychology, economics, sociology, and political science. Expect guest speakers, group work, and LinkedIn Learning assignments that bring sustainable tourism to life and enhance your professional communication and problem-solving skills. The final project allows for creative freedom, as you present your sustainable tourism strategies and solutions in innovative formats like podcasts, short videos, or presentations. By the end of the semester, you'll have developed key transferable skills: effective communication, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary collaboration. You'll also learn to connect academic knowledge to real-world civic issues, preparing you to tackle complex challenges and become a change-maker in your future career.

Innovations for the Environment

Melanie Fedri: Section 004 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

This discussion-based seminar examines environmental innovation using multiple disciplinary lenses, including economics, social innovation, and indigenous knowledge. We will especially focus on Costa Rica’s experience as a “green laboratory.” Mid-semester, it is planned that Mason students will exchange short written reflections and concept explainers with Environmental Economics students at the University of Costa Rica. Costa Rican students and a prominent professor in their field will, in turn, share their expertise with us. Together, all students will gain an appreciation of how and why innovations for the environment happen using both economics and other disciplinary lenses. We will examine cases such as forest-payment programs and low-carbon coffee. Students will enjoy cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue about what counts as innovation for the environment—and consider what it takes for these efforts to succeed and thrive.

Responses to Climate Change

Richard Stafford: Section 005 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

How are we responding to climate change? What responses are we planning? How might we respond in the future? Who is this "we" anyway? The answers to these questions are vital: climate change is reshaping patterns of migration, impacting human health, changing the availability and cost of necessities like water and food, increasing the frequency or severity of natural disasters, causing sea-level rise and coastal flooding, and more. These impacts are projected to intensify in the coming years. However, because many of the activities that contribute most to climate change are deeply interwoven with our cultures, political systems, and economies, action is complicated and fraught. In this reading and discussion-focused class, we will engage with some significant responses to climate change, learn how groups and institutions are mobilized to respond, and explore what causes inaction.

History of AI

Jan Allbeck: Section 001 - MW 9am-10:15am

In this course, we will explore the history of artificial intelligence and its impact. We will trace the evolution of key technologies and how they have changed the way that we live. We will also discuss potential future technologies and the impact that they might have on society. 

Mass Culture Across Classes

Toby Hickson: Section 002 - MW 9am-10:15am and Section 003 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

Technological innovations and enhanced time for leisure in the mid-nineteenth century facilitated the development of cultural forms, like photography, that were easily distributed to and accessible by the masses. Mass cultural forms, including photography, novels, films, radio, and television, further grew in scope and reach in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In this class, we will trace the historical creation and cultural development of mass forms and explore the relation of these forms to the history of labor movements and class struggles.

Slavery, Freedom & Memory in Virginia

Sheri Huerta: Section 004 - MW 10:30am-11:45am and Section 005 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

This course tackles the complex questions of how the boundaries between freedom and enslavement were created, policed, negotiated, transgressed, and challenged during the era of enslavement (1619-1865), the ideas and laws that created forms of unfreedom, and the legacies of this history. To do this we will follow the journeys of enslaved people across the Atlantic Ocean, into sites of enslavement, along the Underground Railroad, and into local courthouses and the state legislature to hear how they defined and made claims to freedom. We will uncover and investigate stories of the people most often marginalized and silenced by history through critical reading, discussions, and analysis of a wide range of historical resources. Using this knowledge, in teams we will design public memorials that highlight these untold freedom stories.

South Africa's Apartheid Ideas and Histories in Global Context

Ben Carton: Section 008 - T 4:30pm-7:10pm

The word apartheid evokes different responses. We might consider Nelson Mandela, his Nobel Peace Prize, and long struggle to transform South Africa into a democracy. Or we might think of the ways apartheid is conceptualized to discuss current developments in the world. Our course examines the ideas, histories and legacies of apartheid. This modern system of legalized racial and “tribal” segregation dominated South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. We will trace the processes that led to apartheid rule and its forms of economic, political and social control; we will identify the global ideologies, rooted in Social Darwinism and eugenics, that influenced apartheid laws and mentalities; and we will study the rise of competing nationalisms that determined the course of white supremacy and its demise in South Africa. Finally, we will explore the leaders, Mandela among them, and their movements, which resisted apartheid and galvanized international human rights campaigns during the Cold War. In this class, you will read and analyze a range of primary and secondary sources and view documentary films/videos. This course has an irregular meeting pattern—some sessions are scheduled in person and some are synchronous online. Please see Patriot Web for the exact class meeting schedule.

Rhetoric & 19th Century Women

Lisa Gring-Pemble: Section 009 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

In an age where we all have easy access to electronic media and can make use of multiple platforms to share our ideas, it is inconceivable that women at one point in our history did not have the “right” to speak in public. But, at the beginning of the 19th century, public advocacy of any sort was considered outside of women’s proper sphere. How women claimed their voice and succeeded in leading major social and political reforms, is a powerful and important story. Recalling the successes of the early woman’s movement, Lucy Stone once remarked “I think with never-ending gratitude, that the young women of today do not and can never know at what price their right to free speech and to speak at all in public has been earned.” In this learning community, we will explore the roots of the early woman’s movement as a case study to understand social change. We will get to know extraordinary women, analyze influential primary texts, and learn about social movement theory as we investigate the obstacles, dilemmas, and successes of the 19th century woman’s movement. 

Refugees, Borders & Migration

Sophia Balakian: Section 001- W 4:30pm-7:10pm

Examines the production of borders and borderlands; the management of borders and migration; migration trends; as well as the lived experiences of people on the move including refugees, asylees, and others. The course investigates these topics through historical, anthropological, sociological, and other disciplinary and inter-disciplinary perspectives, along with media sources such as podcasts and films. The course looks at US cases as well as other cases from across the world, while also examining borders and migration at a global scale.

Video Games, Psyche, & Society

Serena Abdallah: Section 002 - MW 10:30am-11:45am and Section 003 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm

The purpose of this course is to learn how narrative-based video games can be used as a social action tool. Students will tackle how video games can teach players both about themselves, others, and the world around them, leaving gamers with foundational messaging they may then bring into their offline communities and beyond. This will be taught through classical and contemporary theory and philosophy, in line with modern research; students will assess how and why people play video games and the ways video games impact people. Each week students will be assigned readings and will be required to play about an hour of a narrative-focused video game, and write a reflection on how theories and conclusions from course readings alongside their gameplay experience could enforce change through critical narrative analysis. Students will also complete partnered and group projects to put into practice how things change from the individual to the communal scale and to personally see how what they have learned may be applied from the position of a gamer, an academic, or a member of the video game industry. *Please note that because of the nature of the material being covered, and some of the storylines that are present in narrative-based video games and different behaviors in the gaming community, this course will often touch on topics that may be triggering to some students throughout the semester.

Peer Mentorship in Honors

Nadeen Makhlouf: Section 004 - F 10:30am-1:10pm

This section of HNRS 260 is a service-based learning practicum to train Honors College Peer Mentors (PMs). PMs engage in the Honors College community by mentoring first-semester students taking HNRS 110: Principles of Research and Inquiry or HNRS 302: Research and Inquiry Transfers. In addition to fostering a positive sense of community, students are actively engaged in the ongoing process of articulating what “mentorship” and “collaborative learning” mean in the context of the Honors College curriculum. Over the course of the semester, students will train to become Peer Mentors and work in collaborative teams to develop assignments and programming related to HNRS 110/HNRS 302. Students who successfully complete this course in Spring 2026 are eligible to apply to take HNRS 360: Peer Leadership in Honors and serve as a mentor in Fall 2026.

Honors College Connects

Melanie Fedri: Section 005 - TR 12pm-1:15pm and Section 006 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

In Honors College Connects (HCC), students contribute to the work of local nonprofits addressing health, social justice, environmental, and other challenges. They build professional skills while making a real impact in the community beyond Mason, and work in teams that are mentored by peers who have previously taken the class. Through this course, students join the HCC community, which includes optional in-person opportunities during the semester, along with an invitation to later enroll in the HCC Mentorship section of HNRS 361 (encouraged but not required). HCC endeavors to promote students' commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and seeks to partner with both diversely led and diversely serving nonprofits. Any questions? Email hcc@gmu.edu.

Thriving in Organizations: Being a Successful Employee in Today's Organizations

Kevin Rockmann: Section 007 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

Most of you will at some point in your life work in an organization. Whether small, medium, large, non-profit, governmental, family-owned, etc-organizations form the backbone of our society and as such employ almost every worker. Where do we learn though how to think about organizations, examine organizations, and succeed as organizational members? Here! In this practicum course you will be visiting several organizations to train yourselves to be thoughtful observers of culture, processes, and relationships, with the goal of helping you succeed and thrive in your future organizational lives.

Public Service in Modern Society

Nadeen Makhlouf: Section 008 - MW 9am-10:15am and MW 10:30am-11:45am

This course provides a broad overview of the field of public service and covers the history and development of the public sector, as well as how it serves contemporary society. Public service requires coordinating efforts both within and between different sectors of society whether it is the government, international organizations, community-based organizations, nonprofits, or citizens. Everyone, regardless of interest, should be cognizant of the tremendous influence of public administration, leaders, and administrators in shaping public life. Topics include an overview of public management, leadership, motivation, ethics, citizen engagement, innovation, collaboration, and social equity. Activities will include a variety of written assignments, in-class simulations, presentations, and other activities designed to prepare students for professional work in the field.

Hungry for Change: Community Writing and Food Insecurity

Tawnya Azar: Section 010 - TR 9am-10:15am

This course will examine the issue of food scarcity facing different communities inside the U.S. and the role that collaborative, community-based writing has had and might have in addressing this issue. As part of the course, students will volunteer at one of several local/regional/national organizations whose mission is to address food scarcity for different communities. Additionally, we will develop an awareness campaign to engage with the Mason campus community about this issue. Through these acts of community engagement and advocacy, we will explore what it means to write with, for, and about the issue of food scarcity and the communities most affected as well as what role community-engaged writing should have in tackling issues like this.

College Success Partnerships

Aimee Weinstein and Rachel Cleaver: Section 011 - T 4:30pm-7:10pm

Interested in improving access to college for first generation students? Do you want to help students who would be the first in their families to attend college prepare for the experience? By enrolling in this section of HNRS 260, students agree to participate in the College Success Partnership community-based learning project. The project will involve learning how to provide effective mentoring to high school students as they develop college application essays and envision themselves as college students, perhaps even Honors College students. Students who take the class will learn about effective mentoring practices, specific topics and resources for first generation students, and the admissions process as a whole. In addition to regular class meetings and assignments, students must be willing to meet mentees at their mentoring sites outside of the George Mason campus twice during the semester at local high schools and attend an on-campus Saturday workshop on February 28. Transportation will be coordinated to the high schools.

Shaping Organizations

Peter McEachern: Section 012 - MW 10:30am-11:45am and Section 013 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

Most business management courses are designed chiefly with “capital-M” Managers and their interests in mind. However, that often provides an incomplete understanding of organizations and the people and activities that comprise them. To paint a fuller picture, this course will turn the idea that “the government should be run like a business” on its head: we will examine businesses and other organizations through a political lens. Just as government officials are but one of many groups who influence the political character of a region or country, we will study the ways that all of an organization’s members shape it—formally and informally, individually and collectively, collaboratively and (perhaps especially) contentiously. These lessons will culminate with a group project in which students identify a systemic problem within an organization, devise strategies for how different stakeholder constituencies might work to solve it, and plan for each strategy’s implementation. Ultimately, students will learn not just how they can and already do shape their organizations, but also how to do so in ways that align more closely with their and their peers’ needs, skills, and values.

Women, Power and Policy

Bonnie Stabile: Section 014 - TR 3pm-4:15pm 

This course will consider how women exhibit and engage with power in the public sphere, with an emphasis on the US policy context. It will examine how law, policy, culture, and rhetoric influence women's leadership positions across sectors, and study related implications for their personal and professional lives. The course will consider women in the roles of leaders and policymakers, as well as target populations of policy. Various tools of policy analysis will be brought into play, including relevant legal, philosophical and theoretical frameworks.

Civic Engagement and Religion

Bruce Aft: Section 014 - T 4:30pm-7:10pm 

This course is action oriented and will look at Jewish sources that inspire Tikkun olam/efforts to repair our world. We will set our agenda based upon the interests of the students who register. Past classes have worked with Afghan refugees, met with civil rights leaders, interacted with police and social workers who ride with them, helped better understand the pressures of being a college student today, and met with people who are working to improve our environment. Judaism has much to teach us about how faith and morality can provide inspiration as we pursue justice in our world.

Social Justice Philanthropy

Valentino Bryant: Section DL1 - TR 9am-10:15am 

The serious philanthropist must think and work strategically —building a deep understanding of the specific social issues of interest and community context and dynamics, identifying the highest potential leverage points and relevant resources, building relationships with a range of stakeholders, and negotiating the intersections between donor interests and community need, balancing innovation and experience, understanding legal issues, creating a robust investment strategy with clear goals and aligned actions, considering long-term exit strategies, designing and implementing impact evaluations, assessing potential partner organizations and plans, and monitoring and supporting grantee organizations.
This course will engage students in the conceptual frameworks and research regarding philanthropy, social change, organizational dynamics, and concrete practice in designing and implementing a philanthropic strategy. 

Sustainable Tourism

Sue Slocum: Section DL2 - F 1:30pm-4:10pm 

This online hybrid (synchronous and asynchronous) course will consider the characteristics of environmentally, economically, and socio-culturally sustainable tourism and assess the possibilities and limitations for its implementation within a variety of destinations and product settings. Conventional “mass” tourism as well as small-scale “alternative” tourism will also be emphasized.

Scientific Controversies

Davis Kuykendall: Section 001 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm and Section 002 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

Why are so many in the public misinformed about important scientific issues such as climate change and vaccine safety— issues that have major implications for public policy and well-being? When is there a genuine scientific controversy about such scientific issues and when is the controversy fake or manufactured? What explains why some segments of the public are more likely to be misinformed about important scientific topics than others? Which strategies are effective in decreasing the likelihood of misinformation and which strategies backfire? In this course, we’ll draw from the history and philosophy of science, psychology, sociology, and related fields to address these and related questions.

Science of Cities

James Trefil: Section 003 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

A study of the scientific and technological aspects of the modern urban world. Research groups will study the question of how specific cities got to be the way they are and what they will look like in the future. This course has an irregular meeting pattern—some sessions are scheduled in person and some are synchronous online. Students are expected to participate in both modalities. Exams and presentations are conducted in-person, as designated in the course syllabus. Please see Patriot Web for the exact class meeting schedule.

Modern Scientific Revolutions

James Trefil: Section 004 - T 4:30pm-7:10pm

This course will examine the rather extraordinary changes in the way we view the universe as a result of scientific advances since 1900. This course has an irregular meeting pattern—some sessions are scheduled in person and some are synchronous online. Students are expected to participate in both modalities.  Exams and presentations are conducted in-person, as designated in the course syllabus. Please see Patriot Web for the exact class meeting schedule.

AI and Human Values 

Dean Taciuch: Section 005 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm and Section 002 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

The quest for artificial intelligence has led to many types of “narrow AI,” most of which are better than humans at their specific skills (from playing games to predicting the structure of a protein). But the goal for much AI research is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. A narrow AI can drive a car, for example, but it can’t play chess, or answer a trivia question. An AGI could. Much of the in AI scholarship has been on the risks of AI development: misaligned values, ethical dilemmas, economic concerns. But the rewards are immense: longer, healthier lives, more stable governments, more equitable societies, a cleaner environment, and the exploration of our universe. This course will explore current and future ethical questions of AI development, including questions of human values and identity.

How to Get Hired in the Age of AI: A Hands-On Design Sprint

Kathleen deLaski: Section 007 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

This course is an immersive design sprint to tackle the concern that bots might take over many entry level jobs in the “knowledge economy.” Sprint participants will design solutions, with feedback from administration and other faculty, as well as employers, to help college students from all majors to become job-ready in the fast-changing AI work environment. We will learn and employ the problem-solving techniques of “human centered design” to design and test prototype strategies. (Human centered design is a relatively AI proof skill set as human problem-solving skills become more prized in a hybrid work world.) Course completers will understand what it takes to stand out as they enter a job market that is prioritizing AI literacy and productivity, but also critical thinking, information synthesis, storytelling and originality. They will devise and employ methods and recommend curated ideas to the Honors College that might help students to recognize and demonstrate their own skills as well as identify strategies to leapfrog over “entry level” roles with skills demonstrations and experience in their field. Entry requirements/preferences for course: We ask for students with an interest in a hands-on approach to researching and testing ideas with other students, employers and experts in the field. This course will be most valuable for students preparing for fields ranging from humanities, creative arts, social sciences, business, computer science and tech, consulting and research, and perhaps less useful for students in fields where they are qualifying for licensure (e.g. nursing and teaching). A specific AI literacy level is not required, but it will help if you have at least a positive interest in using AI tools to enhance your efficiency, work output, quality or creativity.

Careers: Beginning to End

Virginia Cheng: Section 008 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm and Section 009 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

This course explores the psychology of careers across the human lifespan, from first career choices to career transitions to unemployment to retirement and beyond. The course introduces students to major career theories and research, while also providing opportunities to reflect on personal values, goals, and definitions of success. Topics may include work-nonwork balance, flexible work arrangements, meaningful work, and work relationships. Alongside theory, students will gain practical tools for success and the ability to apply insights from career research to real-world issues. 

Art, Culture, and Soft Power

Amy Lewis: Section 010 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm and Section 011 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

This interdisciplinary course examines how arts and culture are instruments of soft power in shaping collective identities and fostering dialogues across communities. This course investigates how creative expressions in national and global contexts are mobilized by governments, organizations, museums, communities, and individuals to attract and engage with audiences. From readings, critical discussions, and case study analyses, students will develop a nuanced understanding of creative diplomacy and soft power. Through a collaborative project with a local arts organization, students will apply these insights to a current exhibition and reflect on the role of the arts in community engagement and cultural dialogues.

Honor College Consults

Andy Hoefer: Section 012 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

Students in this course will work in multidisciplinary teams to design a solution to a challenge or problem offered by two of Mason’s partners from the Northern Virginia business community. Students will be supported in this project by a faculty instructor and a mentor from the participating partner. They will have opportunities to synthesize the knowledge and practices they have developed over the course of their undergraduate experience, to develop the skills and strategies necessary for working effectively in multidisciplinary teams, and to apply all of this as they work to solve a problem or challenge in a professional environment. Work on the project will culminate with the public presentation of the team’s proposed solution, as well as a final report to be delivered to the participating business partner. [Note: in the past, this course has been titled "Industry & Professional Challenges"]

The Future of Higher Education

Sharon Doetsch-Kidder: Section 013 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

The role and future of higher education are subjects of intense debate and scrutiny in the current sociopolitical landscape. This upper-division Honors College course invites students to engage with AI, collaborative research, and creative activities to explore evolving challenges and opportunities facing universities, with a particular focus on understanding historical contexts, stakeholder perspectives, and alternative possibilities. Students will engage in a collaborative exploration of current issues in higher education, questioning what structures, practices, and policies should be preserved, what should be left behind, and how we can transform higher education for a world filled with growing inequalities, political polarization, and unprecedented global crises. Key questions explored in this course include: 

• What is the purpose of higher education? 
• What roles could/should universities play in society? 
• Who is higher education for?
• What should we teach? 
• How should we teach? 
• How should higher education be funded, and who is responsible for its costs? 
• How can universities uphold academic freedom and integrity amid external pressures? 
• What are the implications of technological advancements for teaching and learning? 
• Should universities continue to exist, and if so, in what form? 
• How can universities navigate the future amidst political, economic, and social challenges? 

Through research, critical analysis, and discussion, students will have the opportunity to shape the specific topics investigated based on their interests, fostering a collaborative and dynamic learning environment. This approach will equip them to contribute thoughtfully to dialogue on current sociopolitical issues.

Lead Mentorship in Honors

John Woolsey: Section 014 - F 10:30am-1:10pm

HNRS 360: Lead Mentorship in Honors is open to students who have previously taken HNRS 260: Peer Mentorship in Honors with Dr. Makhlouf or HNRS 260: College Application Coaches with Dr. Weinstein. Building on their service-learning and mentoring experiences in one of the courses above, students taking HNRS 360 will work on teams to conduct a community-based research project identifying and addressing larger needs within the Honors College community at George Mason University. Contact Dr. Woolsey directly if you have questions: jwoolsey@gmu.edu. 

Cultural Politics of PTSD and Trauma

Claudia Rector: Section DL1 - TR 4:30pm-5:45pm

Mental disorder has always been a phenomenon subject to politics and rhetoric, as changing ideas of normalcy and deviance prove. In this course, we will examine the conceptual frameworks and rhetoric around the diagnosis, treatment, and experience of mental disorder in the U.S., specifically the politics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), stress and trauma, and their differentiation from other forms of mental disorder. We will examine the history of the diagnostic category of PTSD, including the conceptual frameworks and rhetoric that shaped its evolution. We will consider how the individual experience of trauma is related to the individual’s relationship with the community, and consider what that might imply for both the ways that individuals are helped and the ways that the community regards their experiences. We will examine—from multiple viewpoints—case studies where trauma and PTSD are experienced and in some cases reproduced, including war, religious sects, and other inexplicable acts of violence (i.e. school shootings). 

Honoring Our Community Seminar

Jasmyne Rogers: Section 001 - W 4:30pm-5:45pm

A seminar for students participating in the Honoring Our Community Fellowship. Through this seminar, students will learn from others with a range of experiences, perspectives, and identities and then apply that learning to community engagement/activism. Students will become familiar with interpersonal communication skills and campus resources that will enable them to effectively engage the community they choose to serve. Enrollment only with acceptance into the Honoring Our Community Fellowship (Link: https://honorscollege.gmu.edu/honoring-our-community)

Fictions of Identity

Deborah Forbes: Section 001 - TR 12pm-1:15pm

A central feature of human culture is telling stories that aren’t true. Why do we create fiction, and how does this work relate to our understanding of ourselves and others? How do we judge authenticity in an imagined world? This course follows the development of realistic fiction in English from the origins of the novel in the early 1700s to the present day. We’ll pay particular attention to authors who write from the point of view of characters with an identity different from their own. What can they tell us about the line between representation and appropriation, empathy and exploitation? How have our moral preoccupations evolved over time? Together we will develop individual criteria for evaluating the boundary-crossing fiction involves. The coursework will emphasize critical analysis, but we will also undertake creative experiments to test the limits of our ability to imagine ourselves as someone else.

Hell on Earth: Dante's Inferno

Kristina M. Olson: Section 002 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

Referring to Dante's vision of hell, President John F. Kennedy repeatedly affirmed that "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.” Recently, poets and journalists recall Dante's idea of "hell on earth" to describe the extremity of human suffering in this world. Such sayings indicate the impact of Dante's Inferno and its moral and spiritual questions about how to act upon free will within the human bonds of trust and love. Our discussions will incorporate knowledge from medieval history, philosophy, and theology, but we will not limit ourselves to Dante's times. Our overarching focus will be on interpretations and adaptations of the Inferno by artists, authors, politicians, and even video game designers of our times. We will study how the Inferno inspired later artistic works and popular cultural appropriations, and how to analyze this "afterlife" of his poem.

US Life & Identity in Poetry

Lori Rottenberg: Section 003 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

Think poetry is just something you have to learn to get through high school English, with no relevance to your life or today’s world? Buckle up and think again! In this class, we will be exploring visceral, accessible poetry that probes what it is to be an American, in so many of its numerous identities. We will discuss what makes poetry “poetry” and read and analyze important poets from the last 20 years, covering a broad range of styles and personal perspectives. We will review the terms we need for analyzing poetry and examine how each poet makes meaning through their choices on the page. We will also be giving YOU the chance to write and workshop your own original poetry! Our tentative reading list includes Natasha Trethewey, Khaled Mattawa, Ocean Vuong, Craig Santos Perez, Claudia Rankine, Ada Limón, Layli Long Soldier, Philip B. Williams, Brian Turner, and others. (Please note that as poetry often deals with sensitive issues involving race, gender, sexuality, class, war, oppression, history, environmental destruction, and personal trauma, these topics may be discussed in this class.) Get ready to talk, interact, share, create, and learn!

The Art of Memory

James Savage: Section 004 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

In Ancient Greece, a good memory was celebrated as both essential to any orator as well as a way of communicating with and memorializing the dead. What has become of the concept of memory since that time? What role does memory (both individual and collective) play in our lives today, particularly as we remember traumatic events and the loss of loved ones? And how do artists use memory to understand the past and heal from moments of loss and trauma? These questions will be examined in this course through various genres, including academic writing, fiction, creative nonfiction, live storytelling, film, and poetry. The semester will culminate in a Moth Story Slam that asks students to tell a story aloud from memory.

Truth and Justice in Sci-Fi

Carlos Chism: Section 005 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

 The far-flung futures and alternative presents of science fiction serve as playgrounds to better understand the world around us. Writers and readers of science fiction use the genre to explore diverse ideas and ask difficult questions about the myriad of issues which construct our world, such as: How do different ways of imagining the future help us understand our relationships to those who came before us in the past, and to each other in the present? How can the various settings and stories of science fiction help us see our own world in new lights? In this class, we will read novels, short stories, and screen TV episodes to analyze how various works both use and subvert conventions of the genre to construct piercing questions and probe for new answers.

Ruins of the Apocalypse

Benjamin Renne: Section DL1 -TR 12pm-1:15pm

The apocalypse is upon us! So what comes next? In this course we will examine the literature of ruin. Through close literary analysis, creative artistic response, and critical discussion of speculative fiction (SF), poetry, film, anime, music, and video games, we will explore the possible futures left to us in the wake of apocalypse. Readings and media will be selected from both contemporary and foundational voices in SF, and will represent a diverse range of genres and perspectives. The semester will culminate in an exercise in collaborative storytelling with a short campaign of the Apocalypse World tabletop role-playing game. With particular emphasis on survival, community, and resilience, we will encounter the various survivors of ruin: scavengers and shapeshifters, mutants and monsters, and the mythic remnants of the human past. Our exploration will be guided by the following key questions: What is useful or even necessary about imagining our future ruin? How can art and literature prepare us to survive apocalyptic scenarios of the present and future? How do our perspectives and cultural contexts shape our relationship to the end of the world? How can possibility, hope, justice, wonder, and even delight exist amid destruction?

Arts of Memory: Identity, Resistance, and Belonging

Luma Mousa: Section DL2 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm and Section DL3 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

This discussion-based course explores how memory shapes identity through various art forms—including music, film, graffiti, and photography—especially in migration, displacement, and resistance contexts. Students will analyze how artists use memory to construct narratives of home, belonging, displacement, exile, cultural heritage, trauma, resilience, and social justice. Throughout this class, we will place artworks in their historical, social, cultural, and political contexts, using analytical and interpretive tools. Students will engage in discussions, hands-on analysis, and group projects that link art to memory and identity. In-class analysis, discussion-based inquiry, and collaborative creative assignments will allow students to "read" the arts with critical depth and social awareness.

Know Thyself: Insights from the Psychology of Self-Knowledge

Lauren Kuykendall: Section 001 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

This class explores the significance of self-knowledge for a fulfilling life and the possibilities for knowing ourselves better. We will consider various aspects of self-knowledge including self-awareness (awareness of our traits, strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots), self-insight (awareness of why we think, feel, and act the way we do), values clarity (awareness of our values and purpose), and narrative identity development (integrating our various identities and past experiences into a more coherent and meaningful sense of who we are). We will begin by considering why self-knowledge matters for our relationships, vocational aspirations, and overall well-being—and why it is so hard to cultivate. Then, we will spend the rest of the semester exploring and experimenting with psychological approaches for increasing self-knowledge, incorporating occasional readings from philosophy and other related fields. We will explore contemplative approaches that help us quiet our minds and pay better attention to our thoughts and feelings (e.g., mindfulness meditation), introspective approaches that help us reflect on our priorities and experiences (e.g., value reflection, expressive writing), instructive approaches that highlight common blind spots and strategies for reducing our vulnerability to them, and narrative approaches that help us make sense of our identities and past experiences. We will consider the ways our communities shape our sense of self and learn about the various ways other people can help us know ourselves better. Through practical experimentation with these strategies and reflective discussions with peers, this course will help us articulate personally meaningful reasons and strategies for pursuing self-knowledge.

Liberalism and its Critics

Ted Kinnaman: Section 002 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

American society is a liberal one that professes to value freedom above all else. But are human beings naturally suited for life in liberal democracy, or must we be taught how to be free? Are people equally suited to be citizens in a democracy? What is this freedom we value so much? We will consider these questions as they are addressed in philosophical works by Plato, Mill, Locke, and Rawls, as well as conservative, communitarian, and feminist critiques of liberalism.

Experiencing Difference

Lisa Sechrest-ehrhardt: Section 003 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

Diversity in the United States provides a rich, yet complicated environment regarding social interaction among people from various backgrounds. Different world perspectives affect behavior in social interactions and can have positive and or negative consequences. How can a person’s identity affect his or her interactions with others? Does it matter what neighborhood a person lives in? How might identity affect social communication? Students will be introduced to Social Interaction Theory and Cognitive Theory which provide a robust foundation for navigating diverse social interactions. Using inquiry and collaborative learning processes students will learn how these theories provide an understanding to what one “brings” to communications and exchanges with others. Students will examine identity traits that influence social interactions with others. Additionally, students will explore self-awareness as positive attribute to better understand self, others, and community.

Subcultures of Music

Shayna Maskell: Section 004 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm

Subcultures have been understood as “imaginative representations” brought into being through narration and narrative – the stories that subculturists tell about themselves as well as those that others tell about them. In this class, we will map music-based subcultures through their most enduring narrative(s) – resistance and identity, both political and cultural, to mainstream values, norms, and practices. Considering subcultures through music, style, and practice, we will explore how subculturalists voice their opposition and their sense of self and community, considering the following questions: how do specific genres of musical act as conduits for the creation of subcultural identities? What role does context – place, space, and time – play in developing subcultural identities and forms of resistance? How does the creative practice and process of music work to inform ideas of self and resistance? In an attempt to answer these questions, we will trace a genealogy of musical subcultural resistance, considering a range of contemporary subcultural groups alongside their historical counterparts. 

Unity in Diversity: Exploring Identity, Intersectionality, and Community in America

Joshlyn Thomas: Section 005 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm

Culture, customs, ancestry, and language are just a few of the myriad factors that shape an individual's identity. In this course, students will embark on an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted dimensions of self-identity, examining both inherent and ascribed attributes that constitute their essence. A central focus will be on intersectionality, understanding how overlapping social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination intersect to shape individual experiences. Through this journey, students will discover how these traits manifest within diverse communities. By the course's conclusion, students will have undertaken a comprehensive and purposeful exploration of their identities, enabling them to recognize and appreciate the shared commonalities among their peers.

Representing Salem's Witches

Samaine Lockwood: Section 006 - W 4:30pm-7:10pm

Over the course of the Salem Witch episode of 1692/93, which took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, approximately 185 people were accused of witchcraft and over three-quarters of them were women. By the close of this dark but foundational chapter in American history, twenty people had been executed and a number had died in prison. The Salem story foregrounds questions about the power of women and girls both as witches and as the potential victims of witches. Often an unmarried woman who lives on the margins of society, the witch is a cultural figure through whom ideas about identity—gender, sexuality, race, ability, class, labor, and religion—get articulated. In this course, we will examine the Salem Witch episode as it has been represented in imaginative literature from 1945 to the present day. We will begin our inquiry learning about how historians have understood what happened in Salem. Then we will seek to understand the changing ways that the Salem story has been represented in plays, poetry, novels, and other popular cultural forms in American literature. Students in this course will be required to produce both team and individual assignments.

Gender, Sexuality, and 1990s Culture

David Powers Corwin: Section 007 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

This section will focus on how the 1990s was a critical decade for issues related to gender and sexuality and intersecting identities. Coming off the heels of Apartheid in South Africa, The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and many other international political events and in the midst of the HIV/AIDs epidemic, LGBTQ+ activism, and third wave feminist politics, the 90s served as a transition decade to move us into the twenty-first century. Through literature, television, film, music, historical and theoretical texts, this course will focus on issues related to women and LGBTQ+ people in light of the sociological and historical context of the decade and how representation is indeed a political act that shapes culture. 

Disability Studies: A Survey

Clara Gibson: Section 008 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm

This course functions as a survey introduction to the field of disability studies. In the class, we will look at how disability is produced and understood socially, in a variety of contexts, including gender, race, sexuality, and class.

Disability, Health and Illness

Claudia Rector: Section DL1 - MW 9am-10:15am

This course considers how identity intersects with the body, specifically with disability, health and illness.  We will examine multiple models of disability and illness, look at the sources of the ideologies that created those models, and consider their consequences.  Some of the topics we will discuss—from multiple viewpoints—include eugenics, the medical model of disability, the social model of disability, chronic illness, Deaf culture, and mental health/illness. 

Identity in Video Games

Seth Hudson: Section DL2 - TR 12pm-1:15pm

This class explores the function of identity in video game culture(s). By engaging related scholarship, journalism, and games themselves, we will seek the intersections of player experiences with the evolving medium and communities that surround it. What do we play? How do we play? What do the answers to these questions say about us?
 

Markets and Morality

Virgil Storr: Section 001 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

This seminar will explore key writings on the relationship between markets and morality. The course will, thus, also focus on a number of the critical debates that have occupied political economists and moral philosophers over the years about the moral underpinnings of market societies, the moral nature of market activities, and the moral status of market outcomes. The goal of the class is to prepare students to understand and engage in the contemporary debates around these issues.

Displacement, Smuggling, and Trafficking

Al Fuertes: Section 002 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

 This course explores the dynamic interplay between displacement, smuggling, and trafficking of human populations. Students will examine how forced displacement of human communities due to war, armed conflict, natural disasters, and climate change make refugees, and internally displaced persons, including stateless individuals become prone to human smuggling, putting them at greater risk of being trafficked. Specific cases from around the world reflecting smuggled migrant movements, including various forms of human trafficking stemming from forced displacement will be studied and discussed. Students will also study the role of the international community: government and non-government entities, regional organizations, and central governments in addressing the problem, including what students can do to help address the problem. This course involves community-based experiential learning through the Centreville Immigration Forum (CIF) - Centreville Labor Resource Center (CLRC). Learning competencies highlighted in this course include Global Understanding, Critical and Reflective Thinking, Well-being, Communication (oral and written), Group Collaboration, and Civic Engagement.

Black and White: Creating and Challenging the American Caste System

Patty Masters: Section 003 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

In 1938, Gunnar Myrdal, a Swedish economist and sociologist was engaged by the Carnegie Foundation to document and study the social and economic inequities of Southern Black Americans. Myrdal’s book, The American Dilemma . and highlighted the discrepancy between the American ideals of freedom, democracy, and equality and the American realities of discrimination, prejudice, and exclusion. Myrdal’s study was the first attempt to describe the effects of racial discrimination on the everyday lives of Black Americans. Myrdal asserted that this unresolved problem was the greatest challenge that Americans faced in the 21st Century. Isabel Wilkinson’s 2020 groundbreaking book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents linked two terms, caste and race, providing a historical framework for understanding how categories of Black and White emerged from the founding of our nation with far-reaching effects today. The term “caste system” describes the embedded ranking of human value that asserts the presumed inferiority of groups based on ancestry and immutable traits, becoming the initial basis through which individuals are placed in a hierarchical order that creates conflict and division. The course looks at the experiences of individuals as they navigated the rigidly enforced restrictions of caste, the charismatic leaders who emerged to challenge the existing system, and efforts to come closer to meeting society’s ideals. Explored is the important question of how far we have come in resolving the contradictions Myrdal identified by examining the process of creating and sustaining caste.

Eliminating Global Hunger: Problems, Progress, and Challenges

Phillip Thomas: Section 004 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

Global hunger is one of the most critical problems confronting the global community in the 21st Century. Despite numerous efforts over the past 50 years its elimination remains elusive due to a complex array of environmental and human factors. The purpose of this course is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the causes and effects of global hunger and analyze threats to global food security including the climate crisis, environmental degradation, animal and plant diseases, access to clean water, food waste and loss, contaminated food, agricultural terrorism, and antimicrobial resistance. The current intensifying climate crisis, the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine, and the continuing COVID Pandemic have exacerbated the global food security crisis. This course will address food security, in terms of access to critical food supplies including major supply chain disruptions, and the nutritional impact on vulnerable food insecure populations at a global and national level. We will address food security related national and global health, economic, social, and ethical impacts of these disruptive forces. We will also examine strategies for protecting and enhancing the security of global food production and supply systems. In the final analysis, our goal is to gain insight into the interrelationship between food security and national security and develop an understanding of policies and programs necessary to achieve sustainable food security that is environmentally appropriate to ensure availability, access, utilization, and stability of adequate nutritious food for all people at all times.

Climate Change for Humans

Amy Tal Rose-Tejwani: Section 005 - MW 10:30am-11:45am and Section 006 - MW 12pm-1:15pm

This course will examine the effects of climate change on our everyday lives and develop strategies for coping with severe weather and health concerns from climate change through the mindset of “thinking globally and acting locally.” We will investigate topics such as environmental policy, sustainability, aerosols, radiation, spectroscopy, and satellite imagery from the perspectives of humanities, technology, engineering, and science. Students will learn strategies for critical multidisciplinary analysis of meteorological events, climatic trends, reducing their carbon footprints, and effective science communication. With respect to the earth systems of the biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere, this course will focus on climate change in our atmosphere.

Responses to Climate Change

Richard Todd Stafford: Section 007 - TR 12pm-1:15pm

How are we responding to climate change? What responses are we planning? How might we respond in the future? Who is this "we" anyway? The answers to these questions are vital: climate change is reshaping patterns of migration, impacting human health, changing the availability and cost of necessities like water and food, increasing the frequency or severity of natural disasters, causing sea-level rise and coastal flooding, and more. These impacts are projected to intensify in the coming years. However, because many of the activities that contribute most to climate change are deeply interwoven with our cultures, political systems, and economies, action is complicated and fraught. In this reading and discussion-focused class, we will engage with some significant responses to climate change, learn how groups and institutions are mobilized to respond, and explore what causes inaction.

History of the Family

Spencer Crew: Section 001 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

The definition of family and the role of each member has evolved over the years. Often the changes are related to economic circumstances and the social beliefs of the society. This course will primarily examine the way the American family has changed since colonial days. In the process, we will study how the responsibilities of women, children, and men have evolved and why. In addition, we will learn how oral history can aid in researching family history.

American Roots Music

Suzanne Smith: Section 002 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

This course explores the roots of American popular music. American roots music encompasses a wide array of music styles including: blues, gospel, early jazz, country, bluegrass, Western swing, as well as immigrant music such as polka and zydeco. Throughout the semester, we study how these styles evolved, influenced each other, and laid the foundation of rock and roll. Another important dimension of the course is learning how the history of race relations, gender relations, and class in America play a key role in understanding why certain musical styles develop and become popular. Since music is the focal point of the course, weekly assignments include readings, listening to music, and screenings of films about American roots music

Slavery & Freedom in Virginia

Sheri Huerta: Section 003 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

What is freedom and how do we use the past to create a narrative of what American freedom means? This course tackles the complex questions of what freedoms like movement, residency, bodily control, and family meant in an era of enslavement (1619-1865); how the boundaries between freedom and enslavement were created, policed, negotiated, transgressed, and challenged; and how these stories impact our present understanding of American freedom(s). To do this, we will uncover stories of the people most often marginalized and silenced by history and follow their journeys across the Atlantic Ocean, into sites of enslavement, within legislative debates about freedom, along the Underground Railroad, and into local courthouses as they sought to make claims to freedom and define its meaning. We will discuss how stories of resistance and resilience during the era of enslavement have been represented in public history and then work towards social justice by designing a memorial in teams to amplify the marginalized or silenced voices of people who help us better understand the meanings of freedom and enslavement in Virginia.

Conspiracies, Urban Legends, and Moral Panics

Matthew Sedlar: Section 004 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

This course examines the social forces that fuel the spread of folklore through conspiracy theories, urban legends, and moral panics, analyzing their impact on groups and institutions. Students will examine the historical origins and context of these types of folklore and learn to evaluate evidence critically. Students will also investigate how media and social networks shape public perception and the social and political consequences of misinformation.

History of AI

Jan Allbeck: Section 005 - MW 9am-10:15am

In this course, we will explore the history of artificial intelligence and its impact. We will trace the evolution of key technologies and how they have changed the way that we live. We will also discuss potential future technologies and the impact that they might have on society. 

The Crusades

Samuel Collins: Section 006 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

In the year 1096 more than 100,000 people--knights and peasants, men, women, and children, churchmen, prophets, and hangers-on--walked more than 2,000 miles from their homes in France and Germany and Italy and England to Jerusalem. Many of them had never left their villages before and yet felt inspired to make what they knew to be a dangerous journey and kill a people they had never met, and of whom they likely knew little. Thus begins what came to be known as the crusades, a persistent and essential phenomenon of medieval society thereafter. Many of these crusading expeditions went to Jerusalem but many went elsewhere too – to the Baltic Sea, to Spain, to Italy, to Southern France. They went to fight Muslims, Jews, polytheists, and even their fellow Christians. In this course we will explore different perspectives on the crusades and the crusading movement with the goal of coming to form as nuanced as possible a picture of what underlay these religious wars and why they unfolded as they did. Along the way we will consistently engage with questions of perspective in how one approaches the historical study of the crusades. At the end of this course students will be familiar with the main iterations of medieval theories of warfare, the development of the crusading ideal, the parallel development of the changing definition of jihad, the main chronology of crusading history, and how the history of the crusades in this period relates to wider developments in Europe and Asia. And, more importantly, students will have developed a familiarity with the main literary, documentary, and material sources for that history and will have begun to confront the difficulties of interpretation this complicated and fragmentary source-base presents.

Hungry for Change: Community Writing on Food Scarcity

Tawnya Azar: Section 001 - TR 9am-10:15am

This course will examine the issue of food scarcity facing different communities inside the U.S. and the role that collaborative, community-based writing has had and might have in addressing this issue. As part of the course, students will volunteer at one of several local/regional/national organizations whose mission is to address food scarcity for different communities. Additionally, we will develop an awareness campaign to engage with the Mason campus community about this issue. Through these acts of community engagement and advocacy, we will explore what it means to write with, for, and about the issue of food scarcity and the communities most affected as well as what role community-engaged writing should have in tackling issues like this.

Peer Mentorship in Honors

Nadeen Makhlouf: Section 002 - F 10:30am-1:10pm

Peer Mentorship in Honors is a service-based course designed to train Honors College Peer Mentors (PMs). PMs support the Honors College community by mentoring first-semester students enrolled in HNRS 110: Principles of Research and Inquiry or HNRS 302: Research and Inquiry for Transfers. Beyond mentorship, PMs help foster a sense of community and engage in ongoing discussions about the role of service, support, engagement, and collaborative learning within the Honors College curriculum. Students in this course must be available to attend one section of HNRS 110 or 302, as well as HNRS 111 and HNRS 260, to fulfill their mentorship responsibilities. Mentors are assigned to an HNRS 110 or 302 section based on their availability in their Fall course schedule and will receive their placement details in August. Students who successfully complete this section of HNRS 260 are eligible to enroll in HNRS 360: Peer Leadership in Honors in Spring or Fall 2026.

Honors College Connects

Melanie Fedri: Section 003 - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm

In Honors College Connects, students contribute to the work of local nonprofits addressing health, social justice, environmental, and other challenges. Students work in multi-disciplinary teams and are mentored by student alums of the program. Through Honors College Connects, students build professional skills while making a real impact in the community beyond Mason. Over the past 14 years, 450 Honors College students have contributed to the work of 95 nonprofits. In addition, for those looking for leadership opportunities, Honors College Connects runs on a strong student leadership model, with paid student officers and mentors, along with a volunteer Partner and Alumni Council.

Global Dialogues

Jennifer Ashley: Section 004 - TR 3pm-4:15pm

In today’s world, the ability to engage in meaningful, respectful conversations across differences is more important than ever. This course offers students an immersive exploration of dialogue as a transformative tool for understanding and connection. Students will have the opportunity to examine case studies from around the world of dialogue efforts in moments of conflict, as well as to engage in conversations with peers from other countries about pressing international issues. Inspired by dialogue training initiatives in Norway (such as Dembra and the Nansen Center), this course teaches the principles of deep listening, openness, and respectful inquiry. Rather than debating or defending positions, students will learn to ask thoughtful questions and facilitate conversations where all participate on equal terms. The course also emphasizes the role of dialogue within the United States, inviting students to reflect on the challenges of engaging in a polarized society. Through hands-on practice, students will practice skills needed to facilitate dialogues on campus and beyond.

Public Participation in Environmental Governance

Julie Minde: Section 005 - T 7:20pm-10pm

This course introduces the topic of how members of the public take part in activities associated with government implementation of environmental policy, regulation, and management. Important questions include, but are not limited to: When, how and why do citizens participate in activities related to government management of natural resources, stewardship of the environment, planning and preparation for environmental disasters, and environmental risk assessment? What are the dynamics between governments and their publics, and how do these dynamics shape environmental governance processes and outcomes? Are there more effective, efficient, and fair ways to engage citizens and communities in environmental governance? Such questions are becoming more critical in a world marked by uncertainty and rapid environmental change as well as political fluctuation. We will investigate these and related questions through activities such as: literature review, case study analysis, role-playing and simulation, and model development.

Science in the News

Thomas Wood: Section 006 - R 4:30pm-7:10pm

In this course you will discover, examine and discuss current trends in science important to society. In a complex, information-saturated society, this can prove challenging. We will investigate ways to navigate the information superhighway to promote curiosity, ethical responsibility and personal growth leading to life-long learning. You will learn how to evaluate the reported science to become an informed consumer. You will develop a foundation in some areas of science you may previously have been wary of studying. The purpose of this course is to pique your intellectual curiosity about scientific topics that are of personal interest. We emphasize interdisciplinary problem-solving through critical, analytical, and integrative approaches to studying scientific issues and trends facing the contemporary world. To achieve these goals, we will create a classroom learning community structure that resembles a non-government organization to use scientific advancements to improve society, the human condition, and the integrity of the natural world. You will establish improved habits of inquiry that will serve you well as an educated participant of our society.

Business & Politics of Health

Nader Silver: Section 007 - W 7:20pm-10pm

Why are over 70% of products at the grocery store ultraprocessed? What impact does industry funding have on research? How do politics and corporate sector decisions impact our health? This course focuses on the intersection of corporate power, politics, and health policy to understand the sometimes hidden forces that shape health. A main objective of our course is to understand how private sector decisions relate to the environments in which we live, work, and grow, and what effect that has on health outcomes. The course will also review how politics, laws, and regulations influence the social determinants of health. We will consider the impacts of corporate policymaking, marketing, and lobbying on consumer behaviors. We will discuss how industry relates to scientific research by considering what questions get asked, how outcomes are measured, how data is interpreted, and what finally gets published. We will also look at the healthcare sector, and the sometimes competing interests of profit and patient care. The course will focus primarily on the food industry, but will also pull case studies related to tobacco, alcohol, and fossil fuels.

Civic Engagement and Religious Values

Rabbi Bruce Aft: Section 008 - T 4:30pm-7:10pm

This course will look at what civic engagement means in today's world and will be highlighted by a hands-on approach to finding places where we can make a difference. Students in this course will engage in finding meaningful places to contribute to the improvement of our world. We will go out into the field to try to work in areas that are meaningful to us and will keep the dream alive. We are living in unprecedented times and there are so many people who are in need of caring and compassion. This class will give us the opportunity to make a difference. In Jewish tradition and in a number of other religions, we are taught that if one saves one life, one saves an entire world. There are worlds waiting for us and our creativity and energy to heal them. Register for this class and be a difference maker!

Social Justice Philanthropy

Valentino Bryant: Section 009 - TR 3:00 pm- 4:15pm

Philanthropy – “giving away money” – sounds attractive and straightforward. The serious philanthropist must think and work strategically —building a deep understanding of the specific social issues of interest and community context and dynamics, identifying the highest potential leverage points and relevant resources, building relationships with a range of stakeholders, and negotiating the intersections between donor interests and community need, balancing innovation and experience, understanding legal issues, creating a robust investment strategy with clear goals and aligned actions, considering long-term exit strategies, designing and implementing impact evaluations, assessing potential partner organizations and plans, and monitoring and supporting grantee organizations. This course will engage students in the conceptual frameworks and research regarding philanthropy, social change, organizational dynamics, and concrete practice in designing and implementing a philanthropic strategy.

AI and Human Values

Dean Taciuch: Section 001 - TR 10:30am-11:45am and Section 002 - TR 12pm-1:15pm

The quest for artificial intelligence has led to many types of “narrow AI,” most of which are better than humans at their specific skills (from playing games to predicting the structure of a protein). But the goal for much AI research is Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. A narrow AI can drive a car, for example, but it can’t play chess, or answer a trivia question. An AGI could. Much of the in AI scholarship has been on the risks of AI development: misaligned values, ethical dilemmas, economic concerns. But the rewards are immense: longer, healthier lives, more stable governments, more equitable societies, a cleaner environment, and the exploration of our universe. This course will explore current and future ethical questions of AI development, including questions of human values and identity.

Development of Modern Science

James Trefil: Section 003 - M 4:30pm-7:10pm

The course covers the development of science from the earliest times to 1900. It covers Egyptian, Greek, Islamic, and European scientific developments. No previous scientific knowledge is required. The course emphasizes group research projects and communication skills. This course has an irregular meeting pattern—some sessions are scheduled in person and some are synchronous online. Students are expected to participate in both modalities. Exams and presentations are conducted in-person, as designated in the course syllabus. Please see Patriot Web for the exact class meeting schedule.

Multimedia Storytelling

Brenna Maloney: Section 004 - TR 10:30am-11:45am

Students examine and practice methods for reporting nonfiction stories using a combination of text, images, sound, video and graphics. The course highlights a multimedia approach to journalism, yet the content is appropriate for non-journalism students who wish to expand their multimedia storytelling knowledge.

Global Social Thought

Lester Kurtz: Section 006 - TR 1:30pm-2:45pm

Global Social Thought investigates alternatives to classical Western social theory, exploring classical and contemporary Nonwestern, non-white scholarship. It is a decolonizing effort to remedy the deep racism of our knowledge, which is so dominated by the Euro-American experience and intellectual traditions, to the neglect of other significant streams of social theory over the millennia and across the globe, with a focus on South Asian, East Asian, African, Islamic, and Indigenous American thought. Participants gain “epistemic advantage,” that is, they expand their knowledge based beyond dominant western thought by reading scholarship and classical works from the global South, non-white, non-Western authors. Relying on diverse knowledge sources helps us to create new ways of thinking and alternative solutions to contemporary social problems.

Honors College Consults

Melanie Fedri: Section 007 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

Students in this course will work in multidisciplinary teams to design a solution to a challenge or problem offered by two of Mason’s partners from the Northern Virginia business community. Students will be supported in this project by a faculty instructor and a mentor from the participating partner. They will have opportunities to synthesize the knowledge and practices they have developed over the course of their undergraduate experience, to develop the skills and strategies necessary for working effectively in multidisciplinary teams, and to apply all of this as they work to solve a problem or challenge in a professional environment. Work on the project will culminate with the public presentation of the team’s proposed solution, as well as a final report to be delivered to the participating business partner. [Note: in the past, this course has been titled "Industry & Professional Challenges"]

George Mason University's History in the Archives

Maoria Kirker: Section 008 - MW 3pm-4:15pm

This course will explore the history of George Mason University using the University Libraries’ Archives. We will learn how archives work, what knowledge we can learn from archival records, and critique what is missing from the archival record. In teams, you’ll uncover an aspect of the university’s history using the archives and create a publicly accessible digital exhibit. This is a product for the University Libraries, and so you may even choose to explore a project related to creating and maintaining a stable platform for the work produced in this class, e.g. a wiki site or Omeka. This class is for any student interested in working with primary sources, learning more about the University and its community, or building workflows for a new technology project. 

Community Engagement and Disaster Recovery

Tennille Parker: Section 009 - MW 9am-10:15am

 This course introduces how civic engagement is cultivated and critical to helping communities recover from natural disasters. The course examines the intersection of civic engagement and government policy development and implementation of recovery strategies. Important questions include, but are not limited to: When, how and why do citizens participate in the planning and preparation for natural disasters, how the culture of engagement or lack thereof, shape governance processes and outcomes? Are there more effective, equitable, and efficient ways to engage citizens and communities in long term recovery? The class will investigate these questions through activities such as: literature review, case study analysis, role-playing and simulation, and toolkit development.

Conversation, Communication, and Connection

Aimee Weinstein: Section 010 - TR 10:30am-11:45am 

In the mid-nineties, researchers and writers such as Sherry Turkle and Nicholas Carr had high hopes for the ability of the internet. They believed technology would foster connection and bring people together. Instead, later publications by technologists, psychologists and others, lamented the lost art of conversation, lack of communication between people and broken connections, all blamed on the social tools that were meant to do just the opposite. In this class, via a myriad of reading, we will explore those expectations, what actually happened, the ways people connect and converse – or not! – currently, and where we go from here. Students will collaborate on the research and production of a relevant podcast series as well as several smaller group projects.

Lead Mentorship in Honors

John Woolsey: Section 012 - F 10:30am-1:10pm

This section of HNRS 361 is a project- and service-based learning practicum. Students work on collaborative projects aimed at creating a wider sense of belonging, engagement and inclusion for Honors College students. Students serve as Peer Mentors to HNRS 110 students, fostering a positive sense of community and facilitating the ongoing process of articulating what “mentorship,” “service,” “civic engagement” and “collaborative learning” mean in the context of the Honors College curriculum. Approval required for registration: please contact Dr. Woolsey.

The Cultural Politics of Trauma and PTSD

Claudia Rector: Section DL1 - TR 9am-10:15am and Section DL2 - MW 10:30am-11:45am

Mental disorder has always been a phenomenon subject to politics and rhetoric, as changing ideas of normalcy and deviance prove. In this course, we will examine the conceptual frameworks and rhetoric around the diagnosis, treatment, and experience of mental disorder in the U.S., specifically the politics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), stress and trauma, and their differentiation from other forms of mental disorder. We will examine the history of the diagnostic category of PTSD, including the conceptual frameworks and rhetoric that shaped its evolution. We will consider how the individual experience of trauma is related to the individual’s relationship with the community, and consider what that might imply for both the ways that individuals are helped and the ways that the community regards their experiences. We will examine—from multiple viewpoints—case studies where trauma and PTSD are experienced and in some cases reproduced, including war, religious sects, and other inexplicable acts of violence (i.e. school shootings). 

Honoring Our Community Seminar

Jasmyne Rogers: Section 001 - W 4:30pm-5:45pm

A seminar for students participating in the Honoring Our Community Fellowship. Through this seminar, students will learn from others with a range of experiences, perspectives, and identities and then apply that learning to community engagement/activism. Students will become familiar with interpersonal communication skills and campus resources that will enable them to effectively engage the community they choose to serve. Enrollment only with acceptance into the Honoring Our Community Fellowship (Link: https://honorscollege.gmu.edu/honoring-our-community)

Identity and Community through Documentary Practices

Caroline West: Summer Session C - MTWR 10:30-12:35

How do documentary media practices respond to and shape our knowledge and ideas on identity, difference, and community? In this class, we will examine this question, thinking about the special expectations we have for documentary work: to tell us the truth. We’ll approach how individual and intersecting identities and communities are narrated in documentary media through essential questions about authenticity, representation, voice, authorship, and form. We will explore the documentary work in its historical and social contexts. The five-week summer session will be thematically organized with readings and short writings primarily on photographic projects and in-class viewings of documentary films. There will be a field trip to the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery in DC. Students will collaborate in small groups on a creative final project and presentation.

Peer Mentorship in Honors

Nadeen Makhlouf: Section C - TWR 9:30am-12:30pm

Do you like working with others, supporting your community, and getting course credit while doing so? Are you interested in further building your communication, organization, and leadership skills? Then consider enrolling in HNRS 260: Peer Mentorship in Honors this summer. HNRS 260 students will engage with high school students and soon to be first-generation college students enrolled in the Early Identification Program and train to be Honors College Peer Mentors. In addition to fostering a positive sense of community, students will explore definitions of “mentorship,” “service,” “civic engagement” and “collaborative learning” in the context of higher education. Students who complete HNRS 260 this summer are eligible to enroll in HNRS 360: Lead Mentorship in Honors for Fall 2025.

Contact Dr. Makhlouf for permission to enroll.

Lead Mentorship in Honors

Nadeen Makhlouf: Section C - TWR 9:30am-12:30pm

Do you like working with others, supporting your community, and getting course credit while doing so? Have you already completed HNRS 260? Then you should consider enrolling in HNRS 360: Lead Mentorship in Honors this summer. HNRS 360 students will work alongside to practice their leadership skills, engage with high school students enrolled in the Early Identification Program and train to be Honors College Peer Mentors. In addition to fostering a positive sense of community, students will explore definitions of “mentorship,” “service,” “civic engagement” and “collaborative learning” in the context of higher education. Students who complete HNRS 360 this summer are eligible to apply to be Lead Mentors for Fall 2025. This section is especially recommended for students who have previously taken the Peer Mentorship in Honors or College Application Coaches sections of HNRS 260.
Contact Dr. Makhlouf for permission to enroll.