Current Students
Tampa 2025 Summer Honors Courses
The Judy Genshaft Honors College offers courses on all three USF campuses, as well as off-site locations. Honors courses are open to students from any home campus, but may require a permit. Unless noted specifically in the course description, Honors courses require in-person attendance.
Summer A
Exploring Leadership Through Literature and Film
IDH 3100 鈥� 001
Instructor: Deepak Singh
Monday/Wednesday/Friday | 9:30 鈥� 11:50 a.m.
Format: Online Synchronous
This course explores leadership through the lens of literature and film, using creative narratives to investigate the complexities, moral dilemmas, and responsibilities tied to leadership. Students will engage with literary works, such as:
- 鈥淏artleby the Scrivener鈥� by Herman Melville
- 鈥淭he Secret Sharer鈥� by Joseph Conrad
- 鈥淭hings Fall Apart鈥� by Chinua Achebe
- 鈥淭he Red Convertible鈥� by Louise Erdrich
- 鈥淭he Paper Menagerie鈥� by Ken Liu
- "The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield
Alongside these, students will examine films, like:
- 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 novel
- 鈥淒eath of a Salesman鈥� adapted from Arthur Miller鈥檚 play
- 鈥淕andhi鈥� directed by Richard Attenborough
- 鈥淏icycle Thieves鈥� directed by Vittorio De Sica
- 鈥淭he Song of Sparrows鈥� directed by Majid Majidi
These works provide a rich canvas for examining how characters confront issues of power, ethics, and transformation.
Students will participate in discussions and produce two response papers, analyzing how leadership challenges are addressed in the texts and films. The final paper will encourage students to reflect on their own leadership potential, informed by the themes and insights developed throughout the course.
Sick Around the World: Geographical Perspectives on Global Health
IDH 4200 - 001
Instructor: Donna Gambino
Tuesday/Thursday | 1:15 鈥� 4:45 p.m.
This course is designed as a comparative presentation of current issues across international
health care systems with a focus on South Africa, Italy, Japan, and France. Emphasis
is on discussing diverse areas of health and is appropriate for students of any major
interested in health care delivery, personal health, or health education. We will
discuss and debate health care delivery systems, medical malpractice, physical/mental
health, physician-assisted suicide, the opioid crisis, women鈥檚 reproductive health,
medical devices, and health care disparities in the United States and abroad.
This is a 鈥榟ands-on鈥� class, and students will be actively engaged and working in teams to complete a project. Although health and health care in other countries might seem far removed from our daily concerns in the United States, many nations face issues of uneven access, constrained resources, and a focus on improving the efficiency of services. Understanding how different nations confront issues of universal coverage, access, equity, and quality will enhance students鈥� ability to develop new ideas and approaches for addressing these challenges in the United States. Students will be introduced to community partners of USF's Area Health Education Center (AHEC) for project ideas.
Civic Literacy and Current Events
IDH 4950 - 002
Instructor: Daniel Ruth
Tuesday/Thursday | 9:30 a.m. 鈥� 1:00 p.m.
This class is designed to give students an enhanced understanding of world events
and civic institutions that influence their lives. Having a better grasp of the daily
news is essential to becoming a more engaged citizen. To that end students will be
required to read the online editions of The Tampa Bay Times, The New York Times and
The Washington Post, as well as follow other information platforms such as NPR, CNN,
Fox News and other news outlets. This course will include a weekly news quiz. Students
will also participate in weekly team presentations.
It is said that journalism often presents the first draft of history. The goals of this class are two-fold. First students will become better informed and thus more aware of the stories that will serve to shape their world view. Second, students will also gain a keener understanding of the journalistic challenges associated with bringing the news to the public's attention.
Summer B
Narrative Cartography: Mapping the Stories of Your Life
IDH 3100 - 002
Instructor: Ulluminair Salim
Tuesday/Thursday | 1:15 鈥� 4:45 p.m.
鈥淵ou can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach; because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.鈥� 鈥� Frederick Buechner, Author and Theologian
Cartography is the study and practice of map-making, and Narrative Cartography invites students to map the stories of their lives. Through reading, writing, and multilayered forms of journeying, students will tell stories that matter to them, from the mundane to the profound. This practice-oriented course leverages written narrative to visit personal places seldom explored, such as:
- The meaning in and of our names
- How and why we hold the political values that we do
- The stories that our bodies tell
- Death, dying, and remembrance
- Our personal foodways
- What it means to celebrate our failures
At its most expansive, this course is a foray into our shared humanity and recognition of the universal in the particular.
Politics and Human Nature
IDH 3400 - 001
Instructor: Arman Mahmoudian
Tuesday/Thursday | 9:30 a.m. 鈥� 1:00 p.m.
Politics is a term we frequently hear in everyday life, yet its meaning varies widely. Some describe it as a craft or skill, while others see it as strategy, intelligence, or even selfish ambition. But what truly defines politics? How does it differ from political science? And why is understanding politics essential to making sense of the world around us?
This course explores the essence of politics and political science, examining their distinctions and significance. Students will analyze how human nature 鈥� driven by the pursuit of power, prosperity, and self-interest 鈥� has shaped political systems throughout history. While political advancement has contributed to societal progress, it has also come at a heavy cost, leading to conflicts and wars that have claimed countless innocent lives. Through historical case studies, students will critically engage with key political events and ideas, gaining a deeper understanding of how politics functions, its impact on societies, and the role of political science in decoding the complexities of governance and power.
Summer C
Thesis I
IDH 4970-001
Instructor: Lindy Davidson
Students should enroll in Thesis I when they are in the final 2-4 semesters of completing their degree. Please go to Honors Thesis for more information and compare different Research Track options. No permit required. Only juniors and seniors may enroll in thesis.
Thesis II
IDH 4970-002
Instructor: Lindy Davidson
Permit required. Only students who have completed Thesis I may enroll in Thesis II.