Course Schedule

In this course, students develop foundational skills in wood furniture construction through the design and fabrication of a small table and other simple wood objects. Emphasis is placed on solid wood construction, right-angle joinery, the physical properties of wood, proper assembly sequence, and basic finishing techniques. Students also learn essential shop terminology and learn the safe, responsible operation of tools and machinery in the furniture studio. At the end of the course, students will be able to take home the cutting board and table they have made.

This course includes a basic framework of political and economic historical developments in U.S. history, but it will focus more on post-1877 social, ethnic, cultural, and religious movements within a nation having ever greater interaction with the rest of the world. We will read a wide range of documents from a wide variety of people in the past, to research, analyze and discuss problems, proposed solutions, and outcomes over the past century and a half.

This class explores early civilizations including possible factors involved in both their rise and fall using archaeological evidence. The class will cover Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, the Aegean Islands, and Europe (Greece and Italy), Mesoamerica and the Andes region of South America. Of particular interest are the creation of political, economic and social structures that produce and reinforce structures of power and inequality in each civilization.

African history from the Paleolithic period to 1800. Development of agriculture, ancient civilizations of Africa, iron working societies, the trans-Saharan trade, the impact of Islam and Christianity, traditional African political and social arrangements, the slave trade, and the European presence in early modern Africa. 

In this hands-on research-focused course, we will consider the role photography plays in our lives. What do the images we make of each other and ourselves mean? Do cameras change the way we interact with the world? These questions relate social relationships to a technology, the still camera. In this class, we will explore Visual Anthropology, the meaning and implications of making images by and for anthropologists, and we will question the ethics of ethnographic image collecting. Students will complete a series of fieldwork exercises as part of a larger project, read materials and relate the themes to this project, create and give an oral presentation, and write essays.

Introduction to human geography through examination of the spatial organization of human activity and the relationships between people and their environments. Topics include population, migration, diffusion, ecology, culture, religions, languages, ethnicities, urbanization, development, and globalization.

This course examines the emergence, evolution, and current state of democratic governance in Europe. It traces the historical roots of European and Anglo views regarding freedom and democracy, explores the impact of major historical transformations—from the Enlightenment to the post-9/11 era—and analyzes contemporary issues such as democratic backsliding, societal change, and EU integration. Students will review theoretical perspectives, comparative case-studies, and assess growing populist authoritarianism throughout in the region.

Throughout modern European intellectual history conflicts have occurred between the protagonists of scientific innovation and the defenders of inherited social, political and cultural traditions. In this course we will examine three different episodes in this conflict. Beginning with the Scientific Revolution in Europe the 16th and 17th centuries, we will explore the sharp tensions that arose between the new mathematical-mechanical understanding of the universe and the defenders of the traditions of medieval Catholicism. Turning next to the Enlightenment and its Romantic critics, we will see how the progressive philosophers of the 18th century attempted to apply the principles of modern science to the study of politics and society, whereas their early 19th-century detractors pointed to the terror of the French Revolution to warn of how the dreams of a fully rational society can quickly turn into a nightmare. Finally, we will examine the renewed prestige of the natural and social sciences in the second half of the 19th-century, which coincided with many important advances in biology, evolution, chemistry, genetics, sociology, anthropology and even history.

Course description coming soon.

Striking a balance among ethnographic case studies, theoretical lenses, and practical implications, the course aims to help students understand what Euro-American efforts at foreign development, including contemporary globalization, look like from an African vantage. An understanding of African expectations of development and developers is especially important for students who hope to pursue practical development work in African contexts. This is an advanced theory course, best for upper-level students who are ready to read a lot and participate in rigorous in-class discussion.

From smartphones to sneakers to your morning coffee, every product has a hidden story - one that spans continents, workers, raw materials, and waste. This course uncovers the global supply chains behind everyday goods and explores their environmental, social, and ethical dimensions. Students investigate where products come from, who makes them, how they travel, and what happens when they are discarded. This course blends sustainability studies, business strategy, and social justice to reveal how consumer choices shape global systems.

*THIS COURSE DOES NOT FULFILL GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

Students in this course will as work together as a team of attorneys and witnesses in order to participate in a future Mock Trial competition, while acting as mentors to first-year students engaged in the case. Goodies include learning new case law, affidavits, depositions, expert reports, evidence, and more!  This year will feature a civil case (topic to be announced over the summer).

Permission only. (Space is limited and you will need to have completed the HON101 introductory mock trial course to be eligible.)

*THIS COURSE DOES NOT FULFILL GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

All Honors students preparing to graduate should enroll in this course. During this course students will complete career-related assignments, read a social justice-focused book and produce a project around a social justice theme, describe their applied learning experience, and provide feedback for the Honors Program and other areas on campus. 

THIS CLASS WILL MEET AT A MUTUALLY AGREED ON TIME FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE ENROLLED. There will be an online or in-class option and the class meets infrequently over the course of the semester. The instructor will contact students the first week of class to determine the first meeting time and place.

Collegiate mock trial! After learning about the American legal system and studying the roles witnesses and evidence play in putting together a story for a jury, you will take on the roles of attorneys and witnesses for hands-on courtroom workshops and your own end-of-semester trials. Balancing preparation with improvisation, you will cultivate your interpretive, communicative, rhetorical, and critical thinking, as well as your teamwork skills.

This course explores literature, games, and things in between. Our central question is this: how do literary things that we study and game-like things that we play relate to each other, overlap, or even become one another? To answer this question, we will analyze literary writing that embraces a playful ethos, games that incorporate narrative, and other media caught in the nexus of literature and game. Our subject will take various forms, including fiction, poetry, drama, film, television, comic books, hypertext, and several types of game. Our work should illuminate a range of cultural practices and social values behind particular forms of reading, writing, and play.

Study of the oceans including the application of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering and how they interact in different parts of the ocean environment. Strong interdisciplinary focus of ocean processes and how they are connected to our lives. Topics include how technology has advanced our understanding of the oceans, sampling seawater and sediments and mapping the seafloor, opening and closing of ocean basins, formation and erosion of beaches, life in the oceans, ocean resources, marine pollution, and the role of the oceans in global climate change.

Students will assess their current wellness and health status considering the interrelated dimensions of physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, environmental, occupational/financial, and community health. Students will practice and reflect on individual decision making to maintain and/or improve their personal and community wellness and safety. Students will 1) identify personal strengths and areas for improvement, implement and reflect on their behavior change process to achieve SMART goals in the dimensions of health; 2) develop and present their chosen career pathway; 3) identify a critical health issue for Buffalo State students and design, create, and present a public service announcement to address that issue. Course includes discussions of current health topics of interest to University students as well as several hands-on and applied opportunities related to all dimensions of health.

All intellectuals need to tap into their inner spirit of whimsy and magical thinking in order to be creative, inquisitive and innovative. If you are willing to think about the social sciences through the lens of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, I invite you to board the Hogwarts Express! You will learn:

Muggle Studies with Mr. Weasley: Hogwarts’ references to Sociology and Anthropology.

Hogwarts, a History with Professor Binns: The history of the school from the origins of the three schools and their founders to the present day, a study in the British system of boarding schools.

Defense Against the Dark Arts with Harry Potter and Dumbledore’s Army: A philosophical treatment of the use of light and dark imagery in philosophy and religion and the references to Harry as the “Chosen One” as a recurrent theme in mythology and religion.

The Ministry of Magic, the Wizengamot, and Hogwarts with Albus Dumbledore: A political science approach to the complexities of power, government and the political conflicts that pervade the books.

SPEW (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) with Hermione Granger: This may be the most challenging topic as we will explore the concept of enslavement and the British enactment of voluntary service to noble classes.

Course focusing on rhetorical writing and composition across audiences and genres. Written and multimodal projects emphasize students’ development of critical reading and thinking; informational literacy; knowledge of conventions; and recursive writing processes.

This is an Honors-only section.

Course focusing on researched writing and composition across academic communities and scholarly situations. Written and multimodal projects continue to develop students’ rhetorical use of critical reading and thinking; informational literacy; knowledge of conventions; and recursive writing processes.

This is an Honors-only section.

All first-year Honors students are enrolled in this introductory class that orients them to the Muriel A. Howard Honors Program and to their education at Buffalo State University. Students will learn about the many resources and opportunities available to them, gain valuable skills to support their academic experience, and create connections with fellow Honors students.

CRN 2561 - W 11:00-11:50am
CRN 2560 - W 12:00-12:50pm
CRN 2562 - R 3:05-3:55pm
CRN 2563 - R 4:30-5:20pm
CRN 2565 - F 10:00-10:50am
CRN 2564 - F 11:00-11:50am