Wellness
Professor: Dr. Jennifer Feenstra (Psychology)
NWCore: SS/PW
Semester Offered: Fall Odd-Even Year
About: Human beings feel well when they have positive physical, mental, and spiritual health and health social relationships. But the science studying wellness is sometimes difficult to unpack and wellness itself is not always easy to achieve. In this course we discuss how to sort through the confusing and contradictory advice about wellness. We explore what health means for people in different communities. We consider what we must do to achieve our greatest physical, mental, and spiritual health and promote the wellness of others.
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The Greek Legacy
Professor: Dr. John Vonder Bruegge (Biblical & Theological Studies)
NWCore: AE/HP
Semester Offered: Spring Odd-Even Year
About: Virtually every academic discipline-from art to politics, theater to athletics, science to philosophy-can trace its roots, in some fashion, back to the ancient Greeks. In this honors course, students will explore their own discipline’s historic and aesthetic expression, particularly through Greece’s extensive archaeological remains, and reflect upon Greece’s legacy as one of the most significant and enduring cradles of western civilization.
Pattern and Structure: Mathematics in Literature
Professor: Dr. Kim Jongerius (Math)
NWCore: QR/LC
Semester Offered: Spring Odd-Even Year
About: A study of mathematical concepts, imagery, and/or themes in literature, including topics such as dimension, infinity, and logic.
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Magic, Science, & Religion in Antiquity
Professor: Dr. Robert Winn (History)
NWCore: HP/BR
Semester Offered: Fall Even-Odd Years
About: This course explores two problems that engage the disciplines of history and philosophy: (1) the nature of magic as a theoretical and practical world view that was dominant in pre-modern Europe and (2) the origin and development of science from ancient and medieval natural philosophy to the scientific revolution of the early modern period. Further, both of these phenomena are inseparable from religion, and consequently the course also attends carefully to how the church responded to both magic and science in three historical periods: antiquity, the middle ages, and early modern Europe.
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The Power of Place
Professor: Dr. Jeff VanDerWerff (Political Science)
NWCore: CC/SS
Semester Offered: Spring Even-Odd Year
About: This course introduces the study of political, physical and cultural features of space and place around the world. Familiarity with major physical and political features of the world’s regions will be stressed. In addition, the course will raise various issues connected with the cultural aspect of geography, e.g., perceptions of place, changes in space over time, the interactions of human communities, the natural environment and patterns of human presence on the land.
The Art of Advocacy
Professor: Dr. Robert Hubbard (Theatre)
NWCore: AE/SS
Semester Offered: Spring Even-Odd Year
About: Students in this Honors Course examine the tension and opportunities that exists between beauty, Christianity, and social responsibility. This course begins with a survey and examination of theorists whose work is aimed towards an enhanced understanding of the roles that art plays in God’s Kingdom. The course moves to an application of some of these theorists to iconic artistic texts that reflect injustice and/or promote social activism. The course culminates with student-devised projects that make use of forms of artistic expression to address social problems affecting the lives of NWC community.