COURSE PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

UHC 110, Freshman Honors Seminar, is intended to be an introduction to the Honors College, the University, and academic life. It involves the study of a topic of intellectual significance as well as a general orientation to the University community, its public affairs mission, and its resources.

        To fulfill the orientation component of the course we will have speakers from both the Honors College and the University at large. We will also have open class discussions on university life; also I will be meeting with you individually. As part of your orientation to the University you will be asked to plot out an eight semester curriculum schedule (as best as you can, at this point). The specific objectives for this orientation part of the course are:

1.     Become familiar and comfortable with the University academic setting and its public affairs mission.

2.     Understand better your role and personal objectives in the Honors College and the University.

3.          Understand university course scheduling and work towards formulating your personal academic goals at the university.

To fulfill the academic component of the course we will use the calamitous events of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs of Mexico as a means of examining issues of the impact of the clash of cultures.  The seminar topic will help the student in understanding cultural differences and how to critically approach and analyze written and visual sources.  

The ultimate goal of this academic component is: an in-depth understanding of the Aztecs as a major world civilization through the representations they (and their conquerors) created; appreciation of the problems of studying a past civilization through scarce and biased documentary and archaeological records; learning how to compare and contrast Western and non-Western cultures in a non-judgmental way; reflections and insights into one's own way of life and world view through such a comparison. Current controversies are examined to engage students in the intellectual process. The development of cross-cultural comparative knowledge, evaluative and analytical capabilities in examining evidence for the holistic study of culture, communicative skills in writing papers, and self-reflections guided by group discussion are also important objectives of this course.

It is hoped that by examining this topic, the Honors student will be able to learn how to value and respect other ways of life, and in the process, have a more profound understanding of their own culture.

        The student will have regular reading assignments from both Spanish and Aztec accounts of the Conquest of Mexico (see the class schedule) that will be the basis for class discussion.

Assignments include:

1. An analytical Book Review on a selected source for the final paper (2-3 pages)

2. An annotated bibliography (3-5 pages)

3. A final 10 page report on a topic of interest to the student concerning either Aztec culture, or the Spanish Conquest of Mexico.