Spotlight on Courses

Corvallis Campus 

Find the day/time and CRN details for these courses in the OSU Schedule for Summer 2026.

HC 407 Creative Practice

Instructor(s): Thomas Bahde

This course provides a for-credit opportunity to devote time during the busy academic term to engagement with their own creative projects and processes. Participants work largely in their own time on any of their own creative work, broadly defined. Alternating in-person meetings and Canvas check-ins provide an unobtrusive framework, with a focus on developing daily, intentional, and reflective creativity as a beneficial lifelong practice.

HC 407 The Eras Seminar: Taylor Swift & the Power (and Poetry) of Pop

Instructor(s): Jennifer Reimer

What can a pop icon teach us about power, identity, and the American story? In this interactive seminar, we’ll explore Taylor Swift’s lyrics, performances, and persona as cultural texts—blending close reading with big-picture questions about fame, feminism, nostalgia, and self-invention. Through music, discussion, and hands-on activities, students from all majors will engage pop culture as a serious site of meaning-making. No papers, no homework—just critical thinking, creative exploration, and a fresh look at how pop shapes who we are.

Ecampus

Find the day/time and CRN details for these courses in the OSU Schedule for Summer 2026.

HC 407 Lady Detectives

Instructor(s): Clare Braun

From Agatha Christie's Miss Marple to Kristen Bell's Veronica Mars, women have solved some of the dastardliest crimes of the detective genre both on the page and on the screen. We will look at a variety of texts and films featuring lady detectives - some very ladylike indeed, some decidedly not - to examine the cross-sections between gender and genre. How do these detectives use their performance of gender to solve mysteries? How do these stories challenge, reinforce, and/or complicate traditional notions of gender and crime?

HC 407 The History & Future of Thrifting & Secondhand Economies

Instructor(s): Katie Hubler

This class charts the lives and afterlives of goods and clothing in the modern age against the backdrop of surging consumer culture and the dawn of the Anthropocene. The course begins with an examination of the origin of “thrift” stores (and the concept of thrift), then follows the evolution of thrift stores in the early 20th century, the global life (and afterlife) of textiles and furniture, the environmental impacts of overproduction and overconsumption, the mainstreaming of thrifting, the ethics of resale, and representations of thrifting on social media.

HC 407 Vampires, Race, & Gender

Instructor(s): Jonathan Kaplan

Vampires are more than characters in scary stories. Monsters have been key figures in both oral and written accounts since ancient times. Together, we will explore the ways in which vampires tell us who we are, and who and what we fear. In this course, we will explore the reasons for modern society"s fascination with the vampire myth, and some of the uses that authors have made of the vampire figure in fiction. We will focus especially on the ways in which vampire stories interact with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, using a variety of methodologies.

HC 407 Trauma-Informed Care

Instructor(s): Beth Rankin

This course addresses the need for trauma-informed care principles in the helping professions and beyond. Training and experience in trauma-informed care practices helps alleviate the stress experienced by both the traumatized individual and those serving them. These practices include forming and maintaining positive relationships, de-escalation strategies, avoiding triggering circumstances, and strategies for developing resiliency. Additionally, it is central to trauma-informed care principles to understand how trauma affects the developing brain's functioning. In practice, trauma-informed care strategies are beneficial for many career paths because of the statistics of how prevalent trauma is in many populations.

HC 407 Crafting Stories with AI

Instructor(s): Wayne Harrison

This course introduces students to the art of fiction writing using large language model AI tools to enhance creativity. Students will learn how to prompt AI to support idea generation, build compelling plotlines, create dimensional characters, write engaging dialogue, and craft emotionally resonant figurative language. Through hands-on work and revision, we’ll explore how to collaboratively shape scenes that emphasize tension, voice, and subtext, then use AI to deepen conflict, raise stakes, and expand emotional and narrative complexity. Students will leave not only as stronger writers but also as more discerning and ethical users of creative AI tools.

HC 407 The Quest for Happiness

Instructor(s): Marta Kunecka

Be immersed in the wisdom of Western and Eastern thought as we explore varied ideas of "happiness" through the ages. By closely examining the works of chosen philosophers, we will explore the concept of happiness in order to understand its essence. The analysis of the studies emerging from the field of positive psychology will help us understand how these concepts can be applied in our lives.   

HC 407 Cults and Newer Religions

Instructor(s): Eliza Barstow

Offers students an opportunity to think about what constitutes “religion.” Invites students to understand and debate terminology such as “cult,” “syncretism,” and “spiritual but not religious.” Considers the reality that religion has sometimes sought to reclaim an older social order and other times sought to radically reinvent the social order and create new utopias. Analyzes historical development of religious groups by using race and gender as categories of analysis. Looks at the impact of the internet and social media on religion.

HC 407 The Handmaid's Tale

Instructor(s): Eliza Barstow

Students read Margaret Atwood’s novels The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, and they also watch the first season of the Hulu adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Students will discuss challenging topics such as personal freedom; the responsibilities of national governments; the relationships between men, women, and children; the diverse ways in which religion can be interpreted and put to use in society; and the nature and causes of human happiness.  The final assignment will be a short piece of fiction in which students write from the standpoint of one of the characters we meet in Gilead.

HC 407 Jazz Literature: "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"

Instructor(s): Damien Weaver

This course explores the concept of "jazz fiction." By this, we mean novels and stories that are not only about jazz, but those which strive to be jazz in their attempts to imitate, evoke, or metaphorically suggest the music in narrative form. We are also interested in the notion of call-and-[reader]-response; that is, how authors attempt to involve the reader as active participants in the creation of the work. Features of the course include jam session-style discussions, creative writing exercises, and a final collaborative project. Much music will also be played throughout.

HC 407 Visual Culture and the Meaning Behind Images

Instructor(s): Daniele Di Lodovico

This course explores the dynamic behind the significance of images and how they create the meaning that influence and shape our perspective on society and life. Students will have the chance to build the critical skills to analyze and comprehend how an image creates meaning and establishes different range of human responses. All students, will become independent critical thinkers and they will build the ability to analyze images in original and analytical way.

HC 407 Writing About Music

Instructor(s): Kimary Fick

Can music hold meaning? How do you convey music’s power through words? What makes performances good or bad? In this course, students will explore ways to communicate about music meaningfully to an audience through a variety of genres. Students will explore approaches to uncovering meaning in music, analyzing music, and writing music criticism, among others. This course will examine diverse styles of music—from classical to popular to jazz—as directed by the students’ interests. You do not have to have previous musical training to be successful in this course.

OSU-Cascades Campus

Find the day/time and CRN details for these courses in the OSU Schedule for Summer 2026.

HC 409 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Instructor(s): Kara Harris

The Honors College provides an opportunity for HC students to earn credit while serving and learning in their community. To earn one honors elective credit, commit to volunteering 2-3 hours per week in a local community agency. Visit the course on Canvas to access the materials provided by Community Engagement & Leadership to guide your experience. If you would like support in finding a place to volunteer visit cel.oregonstate.edu. At the end of the term submit the guided reflection assignment on Canvas due by 5 pm the Monday of finals week. Registration instructions: contact the instructor to receive a learning agreement form, return the form signed by you and your site supervisor to receive an override to register for the course prior to the end of week 1 of the registration term.