Spring 2027 Course Schedule
As always, the course schedule is subject to change. The table of courses below shows all Spring 2027Honors RAP courses organized by General Education Requirement (Arts & Humanities, Natural Science, Skills, Social Science) and department prefix (i.e., alphabetically: CLAS, HIST, HONR...).
Every class below will have a section number of 888R. Please scroll down past the table to see descriptions of the classes written by the professors who will be teaching them. These are often much more detailed than the descriptions in the university course catalog.
If you would like to request to be enrolled in any of these courses, email honors@colorado.edu and address your email to Janelle.
| Status | General Education Designation | Class | Course Description | Instructor | Days | Time | Credits |
| Social Sciences/Diversity - Global Perspective | ANTH 2100 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | Kate Fischer | MWF | 11:15-12:05 | 3 | |
| Arts & Humanities | CINE 1502 | Introduction to Cinema Studies | Ben Nicholson | MWF | MF 2:30-3:20; W 2:30-5:30 (film screening) | 3 | |
| Natural Sciences | EBIO 1220 | General Biology 2 | Rob Buchwald | TTH | 12:30-1:45 | 3 | |
| Arts & Humanities | ENGL 2226 | Literature and Psychology | Paul Neimann | TTH | 12:30-1:45 | 3 | |
| Arts & Humanities/Diversity - Global Perspective | HIST 2166 | The Vietnam Wars | Steve Dike | MWF | 1:25-2:15 | 3 | |
| Social Sciences/Diversity - U.S. Perspective | HONR 1810 | Honors Diversity Seminar | Steve Dike | MWF | 12:20-1:10 | 3 | |
| Natural Sciences | IPHY 2420 | Introduction to Nutrition | Donna Louie | MWF | 9:05-9:55 | 3 | |
| Quantitative Reasoning & Math | MATH 2510 | Introduction to Statistics | Braden Balentine | MWF | 11:15-12:05 | 3 | |
| Natural Sciences | MCDB 2150 | Principles of Genetics | Maureen Bjerke | TTH | 3:30-4:45 | 3 | |
| Arts & Humanities/Diversity - U.S. Perspective | RLST 2800 | Women and Religion | Sharon Adams | TTH | 9:30-10:45 | 3 | |
| Social Sciences | SOCY 2031 | Social Problems | Ali Hatch | MWF | 2:30-3:20 | 3 | |
| Written Communication - Upper Division | WRTG 3020 | Topics in Writing: Environmental Writing | Kurt Hessel | TTH | 11:00-12:15 | 3 |
Professor Course Descriptions
ANTH 2100-888R: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Kate Fischer
This course is an introduction to the discipline of cultural anthropology and the substantive issues, methods, and concepts of the discipline. Cultural anthropology is the study of how human beings organize their lives as members of society, and the ways in which they make their lives meaningful as cultural individuals. This field of study involves encountering, interpreting, and communicating about the human situation in all its variety. Cultural anthropology is a vast discipline with far reaching objectives. Cultural anthropologists study and apply their expertise to many problems worldwide. While we cannot possibly cover the breadth and depth of the discipline during one semester, this course will offer an appreciation and understanding of culture and different ways of thinking about the diversity we encounter in our everyday lives. Therefore, the primary goal of this course is to provide you with the ability to apply an anthropological perspective to understanding how people are influenced by and are part of the historical, social, economic, ecological, and political processes that occur across the globe. It is my hope that this course will instill in you a sense of curiosity about people and cultures around the world, provide you with a set of tools for understanding difference, and offer you a deeper insight into your own experience as a cultural being.
CINE 1502-888R: Introduction to Cinema Studies
Ben Nicholson
Introduces basic media literacy by exploring the technical and aesthetic principles behind the production, analysis and interpretation of films. Explores comprehension and thinking about movies critically as technological, cultural and artistic products. Study of films in different social and historical contexts and discussion of the importance of movies as cultural products. Please note that the Monday and Friday meeting times are 2:30-3:20 and the Wednesday meeting time (when you will watch movies) is from 2:30-5:30.
EBIO 1220-888R: General Biology 2
Robert Buchwald
Are humans currently evolving? Should you be concerned about eating genetically modified plants? What, exactly, is a cephalopod? We will answer all these questions and more in EBIO 1220 – a concentrated introduction to evolution, the diversity of life, and ecology & conservation biology. As an honors class, we will also incorporate several outside readings, critical thinking exercises and presentations, such as “Biology in the News,” “Nutrition Myths, Truths & Quackery,” and “Natural Selection Misconceptions.” This course is intended for EBIO (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) majors, other science majors (such as Psychology, Kinesiology, Biochemistry, etc.), as well as other majors for which biology is a requirement. EBIO 1240 (laboratory) is a co-requirement for potential EBIO majors and as specified by your particular major (please see your departmental advisor if you have questions). Students who simply need to satisfy the Natural Sciences core requirement should consider taking EBIO 1030, 1040, & 1050, “Biology—a Human Approach,” which are lecture/lab courses for non-Biology majors. If you have questions about this, please see me or your departmental advisor. Although it is not a pre-requisite, this course assumes that you have taken EBIO 1210 or its equivalent, since lectures in EBIO 1220 often rely on knowledge gained from EBIO 1210. If you have not taken EBIO 1210 or the equivalent or are concerned about your background, please see me.
Paul Neimann
This course explores the rich history of interchanges between literature, literary studies, and psychology. We’ll begin by reflecting on the folk psychology of everyday language and the perhaps necessarily fictive or allegorical nature of representing mental life. Students will consider literary influences on psychology, and how approaches to psychology may illuminate creative works. We’ll consider various kinds of “thinking in fiction”: Stories that capture, or even help us process, emotions; dreams that seem like metaphors and fictions we can analyze like dreams; characters that personify feelings and ways we might see ourselves in characters ...
Steven Dike
We will study a series of conflicts that occurred in Vietnam from about 1930 to 1975. These struggles involved Vietnamese nationalists, Vietnamese communists, French colonialists, Japanese occupiers, and Americans, along with others. You will leave this class with a deep knowledge of the issues, people, and conflicts that shaped Vietnam and the other nations that fought there. We will examine the American experience in their war, as well as the American home front. Check out the HIST 2166 class flyer here
HONR 1810-888R:Honors Diversity Seminar
Steve Dike
This introductory course examines diversity, broadly construed, in the contemporary U.S. context. This course applies an interdisciplinary perspective to identify how history, politics, culture, economics, and social life converge with and shape the way diverse experiences in terms of gender, race, class, sexuality, neurodiversity, and the physical body, among others, are lived and understood. The goals of this course are to encourage and develop curiosity, openness, and empathy alongside a critical academic understanding of the broad range of experiences and inequities in the current moment. By the end of the course you will develop a critical understanding of how forms of privilege and exclusion are written about, comprehended, and contended with.
IPHY 2420-888R: Introduction to Nutrition
Donna Louie
In this course, you will learn the biology and chemistry behind nutrition, including how your body works, what nutrients you need to stay healthy and perform well, and what happens when you do not eat right. You will learn to evaluate diets and maintain a healthy body. By the end of the course, you will have valuable information to share with your friends and family so that you and everyone around you can live a long, healthy life.
MATH 2510-888R: Introduction to Statistics
Braden Balentine
This is an introductory course in statistics. We will cover some of the fundamental ideas and tools used in statistics. Topics that we will cover include elementary statistical measures, statistical distributions, statistical inference, hypothesis testing and linear regression. We will also go over some of the basics of probability as they are necessary for our understanding of statistics.
MCDB 2150-888R: Principles of Genetics
Maureen Bjerke
Principles of Genetics is the second course in the required sequence for Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology majors and is also applicable for other majors related to the biological sciences. We will begin with a review of molecular genetics (recommended pre-requisites are MCDB 1150 or EBIO 1210 or CHEN 2810 with minimum grade C-), then explore types of mutations, patterns of inheritance, population genetics, mechanisms of evolution, genomics, and several applications of genetics in science and medicine. Along the way, we will discuss experimental evidence for the principles laid out in the course and will highlight the contributions of current and historical scientists working on the topics about which we are learning.
This class uses a partially “flipped” structure, meaning that students are expected to acquire knowledge from readings and videos before coming to class. Class sessions include active learning elements such as clicker questions, peer-peer instruction, and both individual and group problem solving exercises. Your active involvement in the class will help you learn the material more effectively and is a required (graded) element of the course.
RLST 2800-888R: Women and Religion
Sharon Adams
This course examines roles of women and gender in religious traditions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Indigenous Traditions and Feminist New Age spirituality. This course takes an historical and comparative approach, exploring the meaning and self-understanding of gender in religious traditions from ancient times to today.
The course explores the existence of matrilineal, goddess-focused cultures and spiritual traditions as they were gradually misplaced by the patriarchal cultures and religions that continue to be the dominant influence on the contemporary role and understanding of women in the major religions and in society in general. We will raise and consider questions such: "Why is the Ultimate or God, in western religions in particular, referred to as male or masculine? What are the implications of the male representation of God for the evaluation of women in both religion and culture? How does the experience of religious women contribute to an awareness of the sacred and the meaning ofbeing human?
SOCY 2031-888R:Social Problems
Ali Hatch
This course explores social problems in contemporary American society. We will examine how these problems arise and consider possible solutions. Since this is a survey course, we will consider a wide variety of different social problems from a sociological perspective, including timely topics such as racial and economic inequality, opioid addiction, and the impacts of living during a pandemic. From the Course Catalog: Examines various social problems in the U.S. through a traditional sociological framework focused on race, class, and gender. Considers such problems as economic, racial, and gender inequality as manifestations of broader structural dynamics rooted in unequal relations of power. Addresses topics such as mass incarceration, poverty, segregation, drug use, immigration, and war and terrorism.
WRTG 3020-888R: Topics in Writing: Environmental Writing
Kurt Hessel
Description coming soon - stay tuned!