Courses - Spring 2027
HNUH
University Honors
HNUH100
Gateway Seminar
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
Reg
First-semester orientation and exploration seminar required of all UH students.
First-semester orientation and exploration seminar required of all UH students.
HNUH218D
Equal Access to Justice in 21st Century America
Why is equal access to justice in the American legal system so difficult to achieve in a country and society like the United States? There is a justice gap in America. Most legal matters involve ordinary, everyday Americans who work, earn an income, and try to pay their bills and pursue happiness. Many such Americans are one lawsuit or personal calamity away from serious financial difficulties. While lawyers, judges, politicians, and advocates claim they want to close the gap, nothing has changed in the history of the country. This course seeks to explore why there is this access to justice gap. It also invites students to debate what it would take for America collectively to truly take another direction on this issue and address it positively.
HNUH218L
Revelry and Resistance: The Politics of Carnival in the Caribbean
What happens when celebration itself becomes an act of resistance? Emerging from the entangled histories of slavery, colonization, and migration, carnival in the Caribbean has become a contested arena for identity, critique, and survival. This course explores carnival and carnivalesque celebrations in the region as a space where joy, masquerade, and performance both disrupt and reimagine social order. Tracing the development of several "carnivals" in the Caribbean, we will investigate how these celebrations are spaces for social commentary, reflect local politics and become sites of freedom.
HNUH218M
Doing Good: The Intersection of Social Impact and Social Policy
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
Imagine a nonprofit tackling food insecurity in your community. The organization works tirelessly, yet systemic barriers--like zoning laws, funding inequities, and historical policies--often limit its impact. This course uncovers those hidden forces, examining how social policies shape nonprofit work and determine who benefits from their programs. Students will explore how systems of race, class, and governance connect to nonprofit challenges such as equity in funding, diversity and inclusion, and board leadership. Through case studies, critical discussions, and applied exercises, you'll gain tools to address social problems while challenging the systems that create them. By the end of the course, you'll be able to analyze policy through a social impact lens, design actionable strategies for nonprofits, and think critically about your role as a changemaker in a complex system.
HNUH218N
Justifying Democracy: What is it, and is it worth defending?
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
In 2016, the United States was downgraded from "full democracy" to "flawed democracy" in an annual ranking of global democracies because of practices like, restrictions to ballot access and gerrymandering. Of course, the people making those changes claimed that they were preserving democracy, which raises the question, "what is democracy?" This class will work towards a model of what democracy is, or what it should be. The merits of democracy have been debated since classical times, and today is under unprecedented stress. We will assess historical and contemporary arguments for and against democracy, ultimately asking, "is it worth preserving?" Through this examination, students will learn the basics of democratic theory and will critically assess the current changes to democracy at home and abroad.
HNUH228D
What is the value of handmade goods today? This course invites participants to investigate the enduring significance of handmade goods as one of the humanities' oldest forms of expression. Humans have been hand making goods for self-expression and for one another as gifts for thousands of years yet the ease of mass production and rise of digital technology have impacted how humans relate to handmade goods in everyday life. Through readings, discussions, visiting artists and class projects, students will debate the significance of the handmade as a form of expression in contemporary society.
HNUH228L
Ancient Romans: Telling Stories with Data
When you think of ancient Romans, whom do you picture? The emperors whose deeds are preserved in monuments? The politicians whose writings we still study today? While wealth and power have traditionally shaped whose stories are remembered, technological advances are providing unprecedented access to the lives of Romans lost to history. When AI can decipher the letters of ordinary soldiers and open-access databases let us into the homes of Pompeii's poorest residents, our methods and questions are limited only by our own creativity. But how might these innovative approaches perpetuate old biases, or introduce new ones? In this class, we'll both interrogate and contribute to the ongoing project of populating ancient Rome with diverse, complex individuals, centering the politics of data by examining how the tools we use shape the stories we tell.
HNUH228M
Modern Making Methods
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
Iconic products- the Owala FreeSip, Eames Lounger, iPhone- marry beautiful design with practicality and manufacturability. In this course, students will learn to use modern manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and manual machining to design and fabricate objects with utilitarian and artistic value. By applying principles of design in their creations, students will learn how their designs could scale from prototypes to mass-manufacturing. By working with and through these computer-controlled tools, students will explore how these modern methods fit culturally and economically along the spectrum between mass-manufacturing and traditional crafting. Do the artifacts you make in this course still count as hand-made?
HNUH229P
Climate in Crisis: Strategy and Advocacy
This theory and practice track examines theoretical frameworks for understanding climate change and concrete cases that shed light on the complexity of managing it. In this, the practical component of the Climate in Crisis track, we explore several domestic energy and climate policy case studies, examining the competing roles played by various interest groups that influence legislative and regulatory outcomes, with a focus on differing organizational advocacy strategies. Once we have mastered organizational advocacy strategies, students bring those tools to bear on the most recent US Federal policy mandates and legislation. In 229T, students will complement this work with a deep dive into the nature of public goods and climate change policy, among other crucial considerations.
HNUH229P pairs with HNUH229T to complete the Climate in Crisis Theory/Practice track. This pair of courses can be taken in any order.
HNUH238D
What Do We See of Our World? What Don't We See?
How do images shape our understanding of the world? Influencers and journalists know the power of visuals: Sharing compelling videos and arresting photographs means the difference between grabbing or losing an audience's attention. Neuroscience explains "why": our brains process and assign meaning to visual input in as little as 13 milliseconds. Images therefore often bypass our logical thought and, unbeknownst to us, alter our perceptions and influence our emotions. In this course, students will fact-check and interpret visual messages in the news and on social media, consider how visuals shape their personal identities, and explore how images can threaten our democracy but also help safeguard our civil rights. Students will learn how photojournalists play a responsible and essential "watchdog" role in their communities and in so doing learn how those journalists direct their audiences to see what has been previously unseen.
HNUH238L
From Page to Protest: Youth, Power, and the Politics of Storytelling
How do we make the unseen visible when history and marginalized experiences are contested or erased? Amid book bans, curriculum censorship, and political efforts to rewrite the past, storytelling becomes a powerful battleground for truth and resistance. This seminar explores how young adult literature--such as novels addressing police violence, immigration, or dystopian futures--can expose injustice, challenge oppression, and preserve memory. By connecting historical resistance movements to present-day debates over censorship and curriculum, students will analyze how narratives shape public consciousness, reckon with systemic inequality, and inspire social change.
HNUH238M
Tax Evasion: The Social Science of Concealed Human Behavior
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg
How can we scientifically analyze behaviors we cannot see? Tax evaders usually hide their actions from outside observers, like researchers and governments. We review the creative strategies scholars and policymakers use to overcome this difficulty. How and why do people evade? How does the information tax enforcers observe shape how they combat evasion? How does tax evasion contribute to economic inequality? To answer these questions, students will develop and apply core skills in social science: understanding economic and legal institutions, interpreting evidence from statistical analyses and case studies, and integrating evidence with abstract theoretical ideas to craft and criticize arguments.
HNUH239I
Globalization & Sustainability; How Does the Transformation of Global Value Chains Drive Equity and Sustainability?
Cross-listed with: BMGT271.
Credit only granted for: BMGT271 or HNUH239I.
We live in an increasingly interconnected world. This course explores the fundamentals of international trade that form the basis for the complex modern network of global value chains and how these relationships can be adapted to address their vulnerability while also transformed to build a more equitable and sustainable future.
HNUH239I pairs with HNUH239P to complete the Strategic Cross-Cultural Change Theory/Practice track. This pair of courses can be taken in any order.
HNUH248D
Cross-listed with: LING272.
Credit only granted for: HNUH248D or LING272.
Can my dog ask questions - and how would my cat answer? A traditional debate concerns whether language is a unique human faculty. While communication systems are common - cetaceans whistle and sing, songbirds and parrots are vocal learners, bees convey information about energy sources - the specific properties of human language, involving finite mental means to socially yield unbounded messages, have not been easy to find in other species. This course delves into the question of whether this quality is unique to humans. The only precondition to take it is the willingness to approach the matter scientifically, starting with notions from a Computational Theory of Mind. Students may bring to bear upon these questions insights from linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, molecular biology, etc., to debate how an abstract systematic behavior can arise within an animal brain, and what that says about evolution.
HNUH248L
Decoding Domination in the Struggle for Liberation: Global Capitalism, Colonialism, and Democracy
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
The discovery of easier trade routes. The civilization of less fortunate peoples. The opportunity to reach human potential through innovation. These lofty goals are the pretexts, written down as history, that have empowered the rise and domination of colonial capitalism. Taken at face value, the historical record can sound like progress, a principle that drives modern life. But the language of improvement and its values - streamlining, competition, conquest, homogeneity - have enabled damaging, often devastating action predicated on winners and losers. Once we decode the myth of progress, how do we address its issues? How do we act globally with integrity? This course offers practical scripts for encoding other ways of relating to our fellow dwellers on Earth through the lessons of Indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Global South.
HNUH249T
National Security: Domestic Dilemmas
Credit only granted for: HNUH249T or HONR278D.
Formerly: HONR278D.
The police detain a man thought to be plotting a terrorist attack the next day in a U.S. city that would kill or injure thousands. They want to subject him to "enhanced interrogation," which some consider to be torture. Should the police be permitted to use enhanced interrogation techniques? Who decides? This course will ask key questions raised during the efforts of our national security apparatus to protect the nation. Given the tension between the powers of the government to protect citizens, and the necessary limits on that power, what are the fundamental principles that should govern our efforts to protect the nation while preserving our values? Students will try their hand at finding the delicate balance of these principles in difficult national security dilemmas. This course is self-contained but paired with HNUH249P in the National Security track, which explores post-9/11 policy decisions around the U.S. effort to create a sustainable democracy in Afghanistan.
HNUH249T pairs with HNUH249P to complete the National Security Theory/Practice track. This pair of courses can be taken in any order.
HNUH258C
Nature at Risk: Extinction, Consequences, and Strategies
How should we prioritize among all the species at risk of extinction? This course will grapple with the complex and consequential process of extinction from biological, geographical, and mathematical perspectives. Core themes will include the 1) nature(s) of extinction risks, 2) potential consequences of different kinds of extinction, and 3) considerations involved in setting priorities. Students will explore, handle, and analyze relevant data (e.g., evolutionary trees, species occurrence records, population censuses) to better understand extinction processes. With the aid of AI-generated hypothetical species, we will investigate hidden biases, debate the consequences of our choices, and explore possible prioritization strategies.
HNUH 258C is the required Big Question course in the Conserving Biodiversity thematic cluster. Conserving Biodiversity courses will be offered through Spring 2026.
HNUH258O
Supporting Our Watershed: Indigenous Perspectives on Biodiversity and Conservation in the Chesapeake Region
Eastern oysters, Yellow Eels, and Diamondback Terrapins...these are a few species native to the Chesapeake Region at risk due to impacts of climate change. In this project-based course, students will explore the Chesapeake Region's biodiversity while identifying threats and conservation solutions to vulnerable and endangered species. Readings and place-based learning experiences will provide a deeper understanding of how Indigenous Knowledges support a more inclusive and accurate understanding of ecological science. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to apply these insights in educational and environmental contexts, promoting a more holistic and socially just approach to science and conservation efforts.
HNUH258O pairs with HNUH258C to complete the Conserving Biodiversity thematic cluster. This pair of courses can be taken in any order. This thematic cluster will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH259T
Drawn to D.C.: Reading the City
A movement known as the Metropolitan Revolution has recognized cities as sites of concentrated economic growth and political power. What does that movement have to do with you? Not only does the city change who you are, but the ambitions and fears that you bring to it also alter what is already there. With Washington, D.C. as a case study, this course considers cities in the context of the ambitious plans that developed them and the unbuilt spaces that open us to imagining them anew. From the ideological tensions and competing policies that politicize urban space, to the construction challenges and social implications of choices made, why we build is as important as what we build. We will experience Washington through its history of spaces, stories, music, art; and learn to see ourselves as co-designers of its present. This course is self-contained but paired with HNUH259P in the Drawn to D.C. track, which explores the created spaces we inhabit, and how they inhabit us.
HNUH259T pairs with HNUH259P to complete the Drawn to DC Theory/Practice track. This pair of courses can be taken in any order.
HNUH268C
Inclusion and Exclusion: Deportation in American Life
What is the "American Dream" under threat of deportation? The United States proclaims to be welcoming but ideas about sovereignty, the nation, the border, good and bad immigrants, and crime in the United States coalesce to support the retention of some people and the displacement of others from its territory. Who the US deports is related to why it deports and on whose behalf such policies are made. This course acquaints students with current theories, methodologies, and debates in the field of the Humanities to grapple with the most pressing domestic questions about immigration and deportation. A variety of frameworks and approaches including critical ethnic studies, history, social movements, and geography, will challenge students to take a position on immigration law and deportation, and their effects on different communities - on all of us.
HNUH268C is the required Big Question course in the Homeland Insecurity thematic cluster. Homeland Insecurity courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH268Q
Displaced Lives and Stolen Identities in Asian American Literature and Culture
Refugee, undocumented, alien, enemy, criminal... These words have been used in American political and popular discourses to conjure images of difference, foreignness, and danger for those who identify as citizens. Using the Asian American context as a case study, this course examines narratives of displacement, forced migration, cultural erasure, and the struggles for visibility and belonging. We will explore how political conflicts, globalization, imperialism, and war have shaped Asian American experiences and identities, considering how traumatic dispersal, interconnectedness, and diasporic citizenship have transformed in fundamental ways our national identity. Students will analyze how immigrants are transformed from ordinary human beings to trespassers and how, through literatures of resistance, they reclaim humanity and agency. Students will also consider their own roles and responsibilities in current debates on immigration, citizenship, and belonging in the U.S.
HNUH268Q pairs with HNUH268C to complete the Homeland Insecurity thematic cluster. This pair of courses can be taken in any order. This thematic cluster will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH268R
What Makes Land a Homeland?
We live in a world of contested lands. The University of Maryland itself stands on the ancestral land of the Piscataway People. Around the globe, we witness conflicts over land, such as the ongoing war in the Middle East over Israel-Palestine. We hear daily about the refugee crises in Syria and the complex debates surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border. These situations raise important questions: What does it mean to truly belong to a place? How does a migrant come to see their new country as home? This course explores the histories, cultures, memories, and stories of lands left behind to understand how places become homelands. Students will examine the politics behind the making of territories and the deep connections people form with land. Through this exploration, we will center the experiences of migration and displacement, questioning how these journeys reshape our understanding of belonging and the places we call home.
HNUH268R is part of the Homeland Insecurity thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH268C to complete the cluster. Homeland Insecurity courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH269T
Building Community: Showing up for Social Change
A neighbor in an area without a supermarket plants a public vegetable garden at their curb. A group of activists comes together to support each other's mental health. What do these initiatives have in common? They are instances of showing up for change and helping yourself in the process. In this course, you will delve into a social issue you care about and be empowered to make change. We will take up thorny questions - When individuals work to restore social ties, how do we know our efforts are welcome? How does helping ourselves actually help others, and vice versa? - to understand why individuals must forge community to catalyze real change. Through discussions and hands-on activities, you will learn the social value of showing up, for the world and for yourself. This course is self-contained but paired with HNUH269P in the Building Community track, where you will learn the science of connection and apply these skills to build more meaningful relationships in your life.
HNUH269T pairs with HNUH269P to complete the Building Community Theory/Practice track. This pair of courses can be taken in any order.
HNUH278C
Riding the Korean Wave: Kdrama, Race, and Global Culture
How does culture construct our knowledge of the world and ourselves? Using Korean dramas, aka Kdramas, as a case study, this course will explore how various media negotiate blackness for global audiences. As a viral, billion-dollar art form, Kdramas provide an ideal window through which to explore recent trends in our global culture, including colorism, "Black as cool," travel as consumption, and immigration. They illuminate the politics of culture. We will examine how moral panics and social dilemmas are presented in the fictitious world of "Kdramaland," and how they inform our understandings of South Korean society, our own societies, and the world. Drawing on social science research by Koreans and non-Koreans alike, students will debate the ways the culture of the Korean wave reflects, reproduces, and challenges social inequities of marginalized and minoritized groups, as well as how those groups respond, to illuminate the larger global forces at work in intercultural exchange.
HNUH278C is the required Big Question course in the Change the Narrative thematic cluster. Change the Narrative courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH278I
Bonded: Loneliness, Health, and Quality of Life
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Society has become more and more disconnected, with 61% of American reporting being lonely. The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community reports that "The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity." Disconnection is devastating for health and for society. Particularly in a democracy predicated on the health of civic life, which requires interpersonal and community relationships, where does this predicament leave us as a society? This course illuminates the potential root causes of disconnection: early familial relationships, attachment styles, and broader technological trends. Students will leave the course with a toolkit of evidence-based strategies they can use - and share - to help heal these divides and repair our core social connections.
HNUH278I pairs with HNUH288C to complete the Health Check thematic cluster. This pair of courses can be taken in any order. This thematic cluster will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH278O
Covering Social Justice Issues as a Student Journalist
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Social justice journalists are "watchdogs" of strong democracies that work in pursuit of truth by holding the powerful accountable. These news stories often impact local, national and international communities that are crying out for justice. This class, which is taught by an award-winning journalist who has covered social justice issues for more than 35 years, will introduce students to how journalists work to uncover issues of injustice, including systemic racism, discrimination, gender bias, environmental racism, war and regional conflict that impacts African and indigenous people in the Diaspora. Students will study how reporters cover injustice and protest movements, and the ethical practices used to cover race and social justice issues. Through research and readings, students will gain deeper analytical skills, collaboration skills and critical-thinking skills by researching, reporting, and creating written, audio and visual story-telling projects covering social justice issues.
HNUH278O pairs with HNUH278C to complete the Change the Narrative thematic cluster. This pair of courses can be taken in any order. This thematic cluster will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH278Q
What's art got to do with it?: How Community Art Projects Change the World
Climate change, poverty, natural disasters, racism... Luckily for humanity, no topic is too intense for the artworld to tackle. When artists direct their energies not simply at rendering problems but also toward working with communities, the arts have the power to heal, unite, and transform. This class invites students to think about how art, particularly public visual arts like murals and street art, can help us collectively discuss and even solve our most pressing issues. Students will collaborate with local artists, contemporary and diverse art collections at UMD, other local galleries, and recent community-based art projects to understand the real-world impact the arts can have on social transformation. The main engagement of this course will be to co-design and implement a community-based art project together with the community it will impact. Students will emerge from this collaborative practice empowered to use the arts to connect communities and make lasting social change.
HNUH278Q pairs with HNUH278C to complete the Change the Narrative thematic cluster. This pair of courses can be taken in any order. This thematic cluster will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH278R
In 2023, Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir, Gender Queer, was the most challenged book in the U.S. Often restricted due to spurious claims about corrupting children, comics have a long history of upsetting the status quo with their unique use of words and pictures. Artists from historically marginalized communities continue to shape this medium. This class examines comics, from glossy horror comics to grungy punk zines, that reject the conventional and subvert suppression. Learning experientially through DMV resources like the D.C. Punk and Indie Fanzine Archive and local comics fests, students will generate their own comics and investigate censorship and resistance.
HNUH278R is part of the Change the Narrative thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH278C to complete the cluster. Change the Narrative courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH288C
How do and can we talk about abortion in contemporary society? Civil discussion around the topic of abortion is almost non-existent between people with extremely different views in the U.S. It is such a taboo topic that an exchange of ideas can even be difficult for those with slightly different views--i.e., those who believe abortion should not be regulated by the government (more than any other health care is) and those who believe abortion should be legal and regulated by governments. Although it is an issue about which Americans care deeply, the very people who need most to talk about it seem unable to find any common ground upon which to begin. This course provides students with a solid base of knowledge needed to form opinions and engage in civil debate. Through an exploration of the different ways we talk about abortion in the U.S. and the sources of those strategies, students will learn to find their voice in the controversial topic.
HNUH 288C is the required Big Question course in the Health Check thematic cluster. Health Check courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH288O
"Normal Led to This": Health, Global Crisis, and Social Transformation
From the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1920 to the Covid-19 pandemic, and from the appearance of HIV/AIDS in queer communities to its spread in Africa, the world's disease crises have been inflamed by colonialism, imperialism, and other structural forms of exploitation and dispossession. This course asks: What is the connection between seemingly interruptive global health crises and our everyday normal? By engaging with novels, long-form journalism, and other stories of global crises, we will grapple with the possibility that, far from averting disaster, capitalism and the legal structures that support it create the conditions for crises to thrive. We will investigate the failures of public response but also the heroic actions of individuals fighting for life. Students will learn to connect individual experience to broad structural explanations and to analyze historical moments to better understand our present and the shared forces that shape our lives.
HNUH288O is part of the Health Check thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH2288C to complete the cluster. Health Check courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
HNUH300
Vantage Point Seminar
Credits:
2
Grad Meth:
Reg
Goal-setting and project-design seminar required of all UH students and taken in the second semester of the sophomore year or the first semester of the junior year.
HNUH398P
Federal and Global Experiential Learning
Restriction: Permission of instructor. Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs.
Cross-listed with: FGSM398.
Credit only granted for: FGSM398 or HNUH398P.
This is the experiential course component of the Federal Fellows Program and Global Fellows Program.
Cross-listed with FGSM398. Credit only granted for FGSM398 or HNUH398P.
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
/
Phone:
301.405.1000
Copyright
© 2026 University of Maryland
/
Privacy /
Web Accessibility
Contact us
with comments, questions and feedback
/