New Unexpected Connections Courses this Fall!

With fall registration right around the corner, we've compiled some helpful tips for registration -- plus a preview of upcoming Unexpected Connections courses. Some courses are back, and we're excited to offer some new courses this year! Priority registration for classes begins on June 2, and registration for new freshmen starts on June 6.

Scroll down for tips and learn about upcoming Unexpected Connections course topics. You can see the full Honors course offerings (as information becomes available) for the academic year here.

Registration and Scheduling Tips

Complete your Commitment Interview! You must be an officially enrolled Honors student to be eligible for all Honors classes after HONRS 110 and 120. Haven’t done that yet? Schedule an appointment with an Honors advisor here.
Plan ahead! Look ahead to the Honors classes being offered this year. Visit with an Honors advisor for help planning out your academic schedule. This is helpful if you’re not sure how you’re going to complete your major requirements and Honors, if you’ve recently switched your major/minor and want to make a new plan, or if you have any other questions about the program and when to complete requirements.
Make sure you have completed prerequisites. Course descriptions list classes you must complete before enrolling. Remember, for HONRS 390R you need an approved LDE proposal. To register for HONRS 499R, you must have an approved thesis prospectus and contract.
Don’t wait for your registration date to start adding classes. Use the registration cart to choose the classes you want anytime beforehand. After adding classes, remember to submit your cart before the deadline. At midnight on that day, the cart will be processed automatically and you’ll be added to your classes depending on the available room.
Didn’t get added to the class you wanted? If you submitted your cart, you’ll automatically be added to the waitlist. If you want to join the class after the cart submission date and all the seats are filled, get on the waitlist ASAP!

Fall '25 Unexpected Connections Courses (HONRS 22x)

HONRS 220: "Biopolitics in America: Race, Health, and Narrative" (New this fall!)
Peter Leman/Lori Spruance
This course examines the enduring impacts of biopolitics—the political control of biological life—in the United States through the lenses of public health and narrative. We explore how cultural, political, and legal stories shape and sustain systems of control over bodies and lives, particularly in marginalized communities. We also consider how counter-narratives can resist these forces and open up possibilities for justice, healing, and community. Grounded in BYU’s mission to develop disciple-scholars, this course invites us to reflect deeply on what it truly means to love one’s neighbor in a complex and unequal world.

HONRS 221: "Agency & Biological Determinism"
Mike Call/Steve Johnson
Despite our apparent freedom every day to make choices, agency has been a surprisingly contentious notion in Western culture and thought. Recently, some of those attacks have come from the biological sciences, with prominent authors arguing that genetics, evolution, and development severely constrain or even eliminate our ability to make meaningful choices. In this course, we will explore the claims that our embodied experience places limits on our agency, but we will then challenge that deterministic perspective, bringing in voices (scientific, artistic, and philosophical) that assert that these same forces have given us the freedom to choose. Our course will examine agency and determinism in the context of genetic inheritance, evolutionary biology, epigenetics, and neuroscience, giving historical context for the debate, discussing cutting-edge scientific findings, and turning to works of theater, literature, and film to see how human beings in the past and present have sought to understand and represent the tension between biological constraints and freedom.

HONRS 221: "TBA" (New this fall!)
Jerry Johnson/James Swensen

HONRS 226: "Virtue, Sex, and Politics"
Jennifer Haraguchi/Grant Madsen
The term virtue is old. It comes from the ancient Roman word vir and originally meant man or manliness (think of virility as closer to that original meaning). Yet somehow, today, we consider it a Young Women’s value. How did male virility become a teenage girl’s chastity? This course answers that question. It charts the winding path of virtue through the centuries to better understand why we still use the term even though it has meant very different things. Along the way we will encounter some of the Titans of political and moral thought: Aristotle, Cicero, Jesus, Dante, Machiavelli, the American Founding Fathers and more. When did virtue shift from a male to a female characteristic, and why? Is virtue the absence of sin or the presence of excellence? How has virtue gone from something we publicly exhibit to something we show only when alone and in private? Is virtue about courage, chastity, or something more? Ultimately, how do we define a virtuous life, career, or nation today?

HONRS 226: "Psychology and the Bible: Exploring Ancient Scriptural and Modern Scientific Approaches to the Human Experience"
Scott Braithwaite/Matthew Grey
From the beginning, individuals and communities have sought to understand, process, and navigate the social, emotional, and spiritual complexities of the human experience. Although the approaches and results of these efforts have varied widely throughout history, considering the similarities and differences of these efforts can raise fascinating questions, provide alternative perspectives, and offer enriching insights as we try to make sense of our own experiences as members of the human family. In this “unexpected connections” class, we will explore two intersecting disciplines that address such issues: the study of ancient biblical literature and the field of modern psychology. While each of these disciplines have their own distinct approaches to understanding the mortal journey, placing them into conversation on select topics—including the tensions between faith and doubt, the dynamics of exclusivity and inclusivity in community formation, the processing of human emotion, and understanding the nature of human suffering—can help students appreciate both the ongoing relevance of biblical scripture and the valuable perspectives of psychological research.

HONRS 226: "Utah: Landscape, Memorials, and Who We Are" (New this fall!)
Paul Westover/Sam Otterstrom
This section of Honors 226 tackles a set of interrelated, fundamental questions: How do we (people) shape places, and how do the places shape us? How do our places embody our memories and values, and how do they then influence or reveal our identities, both individual and collective? How can we “read” places? What do we even mean by “places”? Why do we become so attached to certain places? Our primary focus will be Utah, the place where we live and the place where we have abundant evidence close at hand. However, we will draw on relevant literary works from other places, including those from British authors, to gather key concepts, and we will find that the insights we explore are transferable, applicable to many places and people.

HONRS 290R (Physical Science/Arts): "If music be the food of love, play on: Food, Music, and the 5+ Senses" (New this fall!)
Laura Jefferies/Christian Asplund

This course explores the surprising parallels between music and food to reveal how each shapes human experience. We consider the role of our physical and spiritual senses in idea generation and inspiration, hypotheses and imagination, and performance and product launch. We explore how sound can influence taste and texture perception, how composers and food product developers use similar creative strategies, and how both fields approach innovation by balancing theory, experimentation, and audience response. Through discussion, tours of studios and labs, and hands-on experiences, this course uncovers how two seemingly distinct disciplines interact in powerful and unexpected ways.