UHC Seminars
This is a sample of seminars the University Honors College (UHC) has offered:
University Orientation 1 cr.
Living and Learning
In this seminar course we will explore the developmental issues first-year students face at the University of Pittsburgh and at colleges and universities across the country.
The focus will be on specific challenges first-year students overcome, and we will examine the developmental theories and research associated with those challenges. From drugs and alcohol to educational goal setting, this course is designed to address the issues students in the course want to discuss, and approach these issues from an intellectual perspective.
The ultimate goal of the course is to help all students discover more about themselves and their environment, and to make their transition to university life easier.
University Orientation 1 cr.
Exploring Majors and Careers
Honors-eligible students typically possess expertise in many, often disparate, academic areas. In other words, you're good at many things. But how does one decide on a career path, let alone a major, when everything appeals to you? That is the challenge for many students participating in the honors college.
This seminar will implement the Pitt Pathway (basic career counseling techniques applied to Pitt students) to help you explore your options. We will engage in an ongoing process of self-exploration and career exploration to help you begin to find a direction (or perhaps multiple directions) in an effort to maximize your undergraduate attainment. To accomplish this, we will use a number of assessment devices such as the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory and the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey to guide us. We also will discuss the theory behind career counseling and the assessments themselves (e.g., test reliability and validity data) to give you a more in-depth understanding of this process.
Any first-term student who wants to explore career/major options is encouraged to consider this course. This course will be especially helpful for students who are unsure of their major/career choice, but it is also appropriate for those wishing to validate a choice they have already made, as well as learn about additional options.
PLEASE NOTE: This course is NOT designed as an introduction to the University of Pittsburgh; students seeking a course with that focus would be better served through FS 0001.
University Orientation 1 cr.
Studying Languages and Cultures
In this seminar course we will discuss issues pertaining to world languages and cultures and also explore the opportunities and resources that exist on campus and abroad for their study.
Topics to be discussed may include the relationship between language and culture; reasons for studying foreign language and culture; foreign language issues in education; language and ethnic identity; multilingualism/multiculturalism vs. assimilation; the rising influence of English as a global language; the loss of minority languages around the world; constructed/planned languages (e.g., Esperanto, Klingon); and governmental support of language study.
We will review the opportunities, both curricular (courses, minors, majors, certificates, and undergraduate research/scholarship) and extracurricular (seminar presentations, films, fairs, field trips, language clubs, and student organizations), for studying language and culture on campus. Options for studying foreign language and culture abroad, including the study abroad and global service learning programs, will be highlighted. Students also will become familiar with campus resources, including academic departments and centers of language and culture, the language media center, language-related library holdings, and the Nationality Rooms.
Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate language majors will be invited to class as guest speakers. Students should expect to attend some relevant activities or events of their choice outside of class.
Chancellor Scholar Orientation 1 cr.
Society, your Education, and the University
This is a mandatory seminar for all first-year Chancellor Scholars.
In this seminar course we will explore various perspectives on such matters as the following: What are the historical origins of the University? What are the roles of the University today? Of what value, if any, is disinterested knowledge? Is there social value in high individual attainment? What, if any, social obligations do you have by virtue of being scholars? What is owed to you by virtue of your being scholars? What is important about your University experience? Are you here to edify yourself or are you here to prepare for life outside the University? Can these goals coexist? Is learning necessarily associated with high grades? Is liberal education an archaic concept in today's specialized world?
These are the kinds of issues we will discuss in this seminar. One of the goals of this seminar is to help students gain perspective of their place within a broader intellectual community. This includes examining our relationships with historical figures and educational philosophies, as well as the practicalities of becoming comfortable interacting with faculty. We will explore the role such matters have in your undergraduate education as well as in preparation for your postbaccalaureate endeavors.
Sophomore Seminar: Humanities 1 cr.
Seminar in the HUMANITIES
This will be a seminar for students interested in the humanities.
In this seminar we will explore the nature of the subject matter of the humanities and the nature of inquiry in the humanities. What do we research? What are the questions that are asked within the humanities? Why are these questions worth asking? What are the acceptable ways of asking these questions, doing research, and writing? What kind of vocabulary is used?
We will explore the kinds of things you need to know to be a sophisticated student of the humanities. One of the standards of conducting discourse within the humanities (or in any scholarly pursuit) is sound argument, the two conditions of which are truth of premises and validity of inferences. However, the nature of the subject matter within the humanities will undoubtedly impact the forms our arguments take. For instance, how does one assess the truth of a premise or the validity of an inference when it comes to an argument about literature, music, art, etc.?
In asking these questions we will begin to clarify the nature of study in the humanities and thus the role such study has in the overall curriculum as well as life beyond your undergraduate work. Accordingly, one of the purposes of this seminar is to start you in preparing for the possibility of doing graduate work in the humanities. To this end, some possible activities include having professors from humanities departments visit so that they can address questions from the class. For example, what is it like to have devoted your life to the study of __________? How can I prepare myself for admission into a graduate program in __________? Also, we will become familiar with the resources that are available on campus to help students in the humanities make career decisions.
Chancellor Scholar Upper-class Seminar 1 cr.
In this seminar we will explore various perspectives on such matters as: What are the historical origins of the University? What are the roles of the University today? Of what value, if any, is disinterested knowledge? Is there social value in high individual attainment? What, if any, social obligations do you have by virtue of being scholars? What is owed to you by virtue of your being scholars? What is important about your University experience? Are you here to edify yourself, or are you here to prepare for life outside the University? Can these goals coexist? Is learning necessarily associated with high grades? Is liberal education an archaic concept in today's specialized world? These are the kinds of issues we will discuss in this seminar.
One of the goals of this seminar is to help students gain perspective of their place within a broader intellectual community. This includes examining our relationships with historical figures and educational philosophies, as well as the practicalities of becoming comfortable interacting with faculty. We will explore the role such matters have in your undergraduate education as well as in preparation for your postbaccalaureate endeavors. This seminar is restricted to students awarded the Chancellor’s Scholarship.
Brackenridge Research Seminar 1 cr.
This seminar is intended for students who participated in the Brackenridge fellowship program the preceding summer. This seminar will provide Brackenridge fellows with the opportunity to develop their summer research projects further, culminating in an abstract, a research paper, and a poster.