Honors Program students take between three and four HOPR 3700 Seminar classes on their path to graduation.

Current Seminar

Fall 2026: Satanic Panic in the U.S., 3 credit hours

HOPR 3700, MW 11:00am–12:15pm, Deputy 263, Dr. Kat Klement

While not uniquely American, moral panics around Satan and the fear of satanic cults working unseen in society are quintessentially American. The U.S. satanic panic of the 1980s and 1990s was a phenomenon that touched thousands of lives and whose impacts are still felt today.

This course will take an interdisciplinary perspective to examining the sociocultural factors that led up to the initial satanic cult claims in the 1980s, to the spread of satanic ritual abuse allegations in communities and daycares across the country, to the present-day echoes in Qanon and other “save the children” movements.

Through a combination of contemporary reporting, first-hand accounts, archival footage, and retrospective writing and documentaries, we’ll explore the ways that multiple disciplines, such as psychology, social work, theology, sociology, journalism, and criminal justice, intersected in their desire (and ultimate failure) to reckon with the newly recognized issue of child sexual abuse (CSA). We’ll also investigate lessons learned from this period of time on how to better support victims of and prevent future CSA.

Upcoming Seminar

Spring 2027: Sacred Story, Legend and Myth, 3 credit hours

HONR 3700, MW 12:30pm–1:45pm, Hyflex, Dr. Stephen Hamrick

This course explores global sacred stories, legends, & mythologies as dynamic systems of knowledge, power, and resistance. We engage narratives from diverse cultures to understand how they shape worldviews, encode ethical responsibilities, and respond to forces like empire and colonization. Through analytical & critical reading, creative engagement, and critical discussion, students will learn to interpret myths and sacred stories within their unique cultural, contemporary, and historical contexts. As one can never ‘finish’ studying world narrative traditions, this course trains students to read any sacred story, cultural legend, or myth with respect and rigor. Students engage different cultures and different genres, including epic, novel, film, television, pop music, and more.

Past Seminars

  • Zombies and Indians
  • Reality TV and Real Life
  • Music & Politics in Soviet Russia and the US during WWII
  • Transformations Across Cultures and Disciplines
  • The Trickster
  • Gilgamesh to Wonder Woman: Heroism Across Cultures and Disciplines
  • Natives, Art, and Stereotype
  • Extra-Terrestrial Life
  • Information and You
  • Artistic Expression in Soviet 20th Century
  • Censorship and Free Speech
  • Information, Misinformation, and Disinformation
  • Race Relations in the 21st Century: Is There a New Black?
  • The Tao of Animal: Understanding Human-Animal Communication Across Disciplines
  • We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, A Problem-Based Approach
  • World War II: A Cultural Evolution for American Women and Minorities