Search

About Honors
Admissions
Academics
- Close
- Courses
  - Course Selection
- Faculty
  - Faculty Biographies
- Programs and Tracks
  - Early Assurance Programs
  - Pre-Health Programs
  - Experiential Pathways
Student Success
- Close
- Student Success
- Resources
  - Handshake
Engagement
Study Abroad
Research
Career Center

Philosophy and Religion

Why We Dance

Niurca Marquez

Mondays 2:00PM-3:15PM (HYBRID)

Why We Dance explores the historical, cultural, aesthetic, and neurological reasons why we dance. Relying heavily on the fields of dance ethnography and history, as well as the latest research in neuroscience, the course will expose students to the phenomena of organized movement. We will dive deep into the multiple theories of why humans dance and the histories of how we have done so, and the ways in which dance has been entertainment, repository of culture, and even an act of resistance. We will examine several case studies that position dance in relation to society. These will include but are certainly not limited to the Ghost Dance as resistance, Transnational Indian Dance as export commodity, Arará traditional dance in Cuba as repository of religious practice and philosophy, and Flamenco as cultural preservation and reclaiming of power.

Learn More
Song of Life

Adam Gorelick

Tues.,Thurs., 9:30AM - 10:45AM

This is a course about poetic forms, but mostly it’s about writing poetry. Students will read, research, and attempt several poetic forms including epic, sonnet, free verse, haiku, elegy, limerick, sestina, and others. The key feature of the course will involve workshopping together original poetry and providing constructive feedback. Previous experience writing poetry is not required. If there is a Song of Life, we all must contribute to it.

Learn More
Death

Joaquin Pedroso

Tues., Thurs., 11:00A-12:15P

This course delves into the concept of death, examining it from various perspectives, including philosophical, cultural, psychological, economic, and religious viewpoints. This course will not focus on understanding what death is, but rather how the idea of death (and death itself) is endured across cultures, philosophical approaches, social and individual practices. We dive deep into what it means to die and how to give meaning to our deaths, how to best endure death and how to die well. It also considers cultural and artistic efforts at conceptualizing death as well as offer us an opportunity to do so.

Learn More
Myth and Ritual in Film, Part 1

Adam Gorelick

Fully Online

This course applies theoretical discussions of myth and ritual to the contemporary medium of film.

Learn More
Humans in the Age of Bots

Francis Hill

Fully Online

This course explores human experience in relation to the technologies that produce our modern world. Students will study technology's impact on thinkers from the Scientific Revolution until today; analyze literature and discourse treating technological themes; distill contemporary attitudes about human-tech relationships and observe closely the paradigm shift we are currently living, where the proliferation of Generative AI problematizes and renews the importance of the age-old question "what does it mean to be human?" Students will collaborate with AI to code an interactive system from scratch that explores and provides commentary on this question and the themes of the course.

Learn More
The Conservative Tradition

Ruben Garrote

Tues., Thurs., 12:30P-1:45P

This course will involve readings in Conservative political philosophy, but politics is not all that Conservatism encompasses.

Learn More
Player One

Maikel Right

Online

Inspired by courses taught by Emily Wood and neuroscience research conducted by Stuart Brown, this course challenges students to think differently about play and its relevance to human social and biological development.

Learn More
Why We Dance Copy

Niurca Marquez

Mondays 3:30PM-4:45PM (Certified HYBRID)

Why We Dance explores the historical, cultural, aesthetic, neurological, and philosophical reasons why humans dance. We draw from dance ethnography, history, neuroscience, phenomenology, ontology, epistemology, and philosophy of performance. The course examines dance as expression, ritual, resistance, medicine, entertainment, and more. Case studies include the Ghost Dance, Arará traditions in Cuba, Flamenco, Transnational Indian Dance, and others. Through reading, writing, discussion, and creative practice, we will investigate dance as a way of knowing and as a force that shapes societies.

Learn More
The Problem of Knowledge

Daniel Alvarez

Mon., Wed., Fri., 1:00P-1:50P

Ever since Rene Descartes the question of what knowledge is, and whether we have it, has become a major concern in our post-modern culture. From Descartes on the dominant answer has been that knowledge is "justified true belief," and justification has been understood as evidence that supports that our beliefs are true. The problem of knowledge is that regardless of how much justification we have for our truth-claims, there is a gap between justification (evidence) and truth that allows that, however justified our truth-claims are, they can still be false.

Learn More

Filter - All

Faculty Resource Center
Honors Policies
FAQs
Directory
Visit Us

Nondiscrimination
Title IX
Report Discrimination or Harassment

The Honors College

Modesto A. Maidique Campus

11200 SW 8th Street, DM 353

Miami, FL 33199

Phone: (305) 348-4100

Fax: (305) 348-3593

E-mail: honors@fiu.edu

Hours:

Monday-Friday

8:30AM-5:00PM

FIU Honors College © 2024 | Developed by the Honors College