ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY
 FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR (FYS)
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
SPRING 2010

First-Year Seminars strive to continue the communication skills, critical thinking, ethical reflection, and liberal learning goals of the FYP courses but with a specific focus on critical inquiry and research. Each of you will engage in a research project of significant depth over the course of the semester. Our learning goals for that research project include that you:

• Be introduced to ways of conducting productive and imaginative inquiry and research in order to become a part of the various conversations surrounding issues.

• Learn to differentiate among the various ways that information is produced and presented, between popular and scholarly journals and books, between mainstream and alternative publications, between primary and secondary sources.

• Learn how to evaluate and synthesize information, whether gathered from traditional sources, such as books and journals, or from websites or electronic media.

• Begin to develop the skills of critical analysis in the interpretation and use of information gathered from any source.

• Be introduced to the ethical obligations that scholars have to both responsibly represent their sources and inform their readers of the sources of their information, as well as learning, and being held responsible for the proper use of, the conventions of scholarly citation and attribution. 

• Present the results of your research through writing, speaking, visual elements, or other multimedia forms in such a way that you demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively using the rhetorical conventions of the chosen form.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The numbers that follow each course title are the numbers you will find on your preference form. The preference form can be found here as a PDF file that you can print out, complete, and turn in to our office (168 Whitman Hall).

The First-Year Seminar placement process instructions can be found here.

The descriptions are categorized to facilitate the process of selection.  Here are the description categories in order:

• Diversity & Global Issues
• Music
• The Written Word
• The Environment
• Science
• American Culture & History
• Political Conflict & War
• Human Rights
• Health & Wellness

 

Diversity & Global Issues

Performing Diversity (1)
Rebecca Daniels
Tuesday & Thursday 12:40-2:10 p.m. and Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Using research, creative writing, and personal experiences, this seminar will explore various issues of multiculturalism and diversity on the St. Lawrence campus and in America today. We will engage a variety of texts to investigate the links between identity and oppression by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, differing abilities, and religion. As part of a significant research project, members the class will create performance texts about specific research topic areas (combining video presentations and live performance work). To be a part of this seminar, you do not need prior experience in video production or acting/performance, but you must have a willingness to get involved with exploring both as part of the work of this class.

Europe: A Continent of Commonalities and Contradictions (2)
Michael Popovic
Monday & Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m. and Wednesday 8:00-9:30 a.m.

“To understand Europe, you have to be a genius – or French” (Madeleine Albright). Europe and the United States are areas of high economic development, stable political structure, and Western cultural traditions and normative orientation; however, it is fascinating to explore the vast differences that exist. As between the United States and Europe, the variations within Europe permeating all aspects of life are intriguing to examine in combination with the manifold similarities that are present. Each participant in this course will become an “expert” on one European country while being exposed to a number of issues across the cultures. We will focus on questions of political organization, individual rights and the state, the European welfare state, the European Union, and the re-approachment of Western and Eastern Europe. These aspects will inform and be informed by discussions of current societal debates surrounding topics such as immigration, nationalism, identity, sexual orientation, and gender. Popular culture and the arts will supplement our interdisciplinary study of Europe. So no matter if you are a genius, French, or want to show Ms. Albright that the rest of us can also comprehend Europe, this is your class.

African Life After Work: Leisure, Sport, and Society (3)
Matt Carotenuto
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Monday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

In July of 2002, the West African nation of Senegal scored a shocking upset victory on the soccer field over France during the World Cup, which sparked celebrations throughout the country and much of the African continent. While one could view this as a victory confined to the world of sport, many Africans perceived it as a conquest over the historic legacies of racism and colonial rule. In this seminar, you will be challenged to look at the cultural and political meanings of diverse leisure activities in Africa. From organized sport to the dance floor of an urban nightclub, this seminar will examine how leisure activities have been defined throughout the last one hundred years in Africa, and the ways Africans have expressed their cultural and political identities through these activities. Drawing from a wide number of areas in both Africa and the broader African diaspora, you will not only gain a broader understanding of African cultural history but also gain insight into the role leisure activities play in our own societies.

Freedom Struggles in Southern Africa (4)
Rosa Williams
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Thursday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

What was life like for those people who were struggling to overthrow racist power structures in Southern Africa during the 60s, 70s and 80s? And what did they think of the outcomes of these struggles?  How have these nations dealt with their traumatic pasts? The violent suppression of resistance to rule by colonial powers and white settler regimes in Southern Africa provoked international condemnation while the resilience of these resistance movements inspired human and civil rights activists across the world. In this course, we will explore a new online collection of primary source materials, including political pamphlets, underground newspapers, official reports and oral testimonies, and this exploration will be complemented by our study of the work of Southern African artists and intellectuals: political writing, novels and poetry as well as films, visual art and music.  In their individual research projects, students will focus on one of five southern African countries “liberated” between 1974 and 1994: Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Who Am I, and Where Do We Fit?  Southeast Asians on Society
and Self (5)
Edwin Zehner
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10 to 11:40 AM and Wednesday 1:40 to 3:10 PM

How do we understand and articulate the complexities of other peoples’ perspectives, concerns, and identities, and how do those individuals and their concerns intersect with broader social-political forces?  In this course, we will focus on how Southeast Asians deal with the multiple societies, multiple social identities, and multiple expectations they have for themselves. Using films, books, and articles by and about Southeast Asians, and also drawing on the professor’s experience in Thailand and other settings, the course will encourage students to work with the materials to find ways to comprehend and express the perspectives of others, while more fully appreciating the complexities of the worlds within which they live. The course will also observe Southeast Asians’ appropriation of global consumer brands and other aspects of non-local cultures as ways of “being modern.” Whatever the specific topics, the overall focus will be acquisition not so much of mere knowledge but of skills that will aid the development of our own adaptability and advocacy for similarly complex situations in the future.

Music

The Roots of American Popular Music (6)
Larry Boyette
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Wednesday 2:40-4:10 p.m.

This seminar will combine traditional academic research with direct engagement through performance to explore the musical traditions that have shaped the development of American popular music. We will examine, and craft performances that respond to, the styles and values of the African and European musics whose extraordinarily fruitful interaction produced the many branches of our music: blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, soul, hip hop and beyond.  All seminar members will contribute to weekly performances that allow us to participate in the music that we study. Though instrumentalists, singers, songwriters, dancers and other performers are encouraged to apply, no prior artistic training or musical expertise is required or expected. We will define “performance” broadly; you will be asked to creatively respond to the defining characteristics of the musics that we study, and those responses can take a broad range of forms.  The only prerequisite is a willingness to participate in some thoughtful and creative way in performances that deepen our understanding and appreciation of American music. 

Music and Place (7)
Michael Farley
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

Music-making is always influenced by the environment in which it is situated.  Grunge was an outgrowth of a number of conditions that existed in Seattle in the late 1980s.  As a result of a depressed local economy, a large number of abandoned warehouses were available as performance venues. Even the climate contributed to the development of a focused style of music-making. In the words of a local producer, “When the weather's crappy you don't feel like going outside; you go into a basement and make a lot of noise to take out your frustration." We explore the relationship between music and place in a number of locations and periods in history. You will pursue two major projects: a case study of the relationship between a particular musical genre and its place and an original, artistic work that explores various aspects (e.g., sound, imagery, geology) of a particular place.

The Beatles (8)
Peter Bailey
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m.

The gaudy profusion of materials (CDs, DVDs, bootleg disks, biographies, insider memoirs, cultural and critical studies and so on) by and about the band that have appeared since their disbanding in 1969 makes the Beatles an extraordinarily apt subject for a research seminar. After considering critical approaches available to us in our attempt to better understand the band’s music and the 1960’s cultural/ political phenomenon they were and symbolized, we’ll go through the catalogue from beginning (U.K., Please Please Me) to end (Let It Be), seeking to understand the remarkable maturation of the songwriting skills of Lennon & McCartney and George Harrison, while also considering the influences observable in the composition of their songs—pop standards of the ‘40s/ ‘50s, British music hall tunes and Skiffle, and especially American rhythm and blues. We’ll pay particular attention to the members’ individual rebellions against “The Beatles” that resulted in the group’s dissolution and contributed to the deterioration of the 1960’s cultural ethos. How deeply we get into the members’ post-Beatles careers will depend on how far seminarians’ evolving research projects take us into the seventies and beyond to Lennon’s assassination, McCartney’s merchandizing of the Beatles’ catalogue, the death of George Harrison, and the release of remasters of all their albums this fall. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

The Written Word

News from the Bottom Up (9)
Fred Exoo
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Monday 1:15-2:45 p.m.

In this seminar, we’ll extend our understanding of the news media in two ways. First, we’ll look at how the news usually covers the world, and at why it’s covered that way. Next, as our research and our writing project, we’ll produce a newspaper of our own, covering stories and issues on our campus and in the surrounding communities—local, national, international. But the news we produce will not be business as usual—in fact, quite the opposite. The usual news tends to come from an elite point of view—that is, from the top down. But our news will come from the bottom up—from people who are not in charge, but who have to live with the decisions of those who are—and who have to decide whether to endorse those decisions, endure them, or resist them. The usual news is also fragmented—cut off from other, similar stories, from history, and from theories that might explain events. The library research part of our papers will help us connect our stories to these other things, and see the picture whole, not just in bits and pieces.  The stories that result from our work will be published, in newsletter format, and distributed throughout the campus.  I’m hoping this class will enable us, not just to learn about the news, but to make news—to make news not just by making a newspaper, but making a newspaper that makes a difference—in the issues people see on this campus and in the ways people view those issues.


Global Science Fiction (10)
Daniel W. Koon
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 9:40-10:40 a.m. and Wednesday 1:40-3:10 p.m. 

Science fiction is as American as the Wild West movie. Right? Wrong. From Jules Verne to Cuban cyberpunksto Japanese manga and anime artists, the people who bring you science fiction and fantasy are as international as, well, the crew of the Starship Enterprise. In this course, we will sample the global science fiction literature (and maybe a bit of fantasy) that has been translated into English, and we will explore the extent to which science fiction and fantasy, that literature which strives “to boldly go” beyond the limits of its earth-bound, bipedal, humanoid writer, still reflect the planet, the species, the culture and the era of that writer. Or don’t. The class will share a common list of readings and films, with each student writing an in-depth research paper on an additional science fiction novel, and leading discussion of at least one literary work, film, author, or country. 

 Growing Up Victorian (11)
Sarah Gates
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Wednesday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

Some social historians claim that the notion of “childhood” as a special period distinct from adulthood has its roots in Rousseau and developed fully during the 19th century. In this course, we will be exploring this idea through literature and social history, looking at many kinds of texts that focus on children and the raising of children during the Victorian period. We will be reading two Victorian children’s novels (Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess) and two novels written for adults whose tales are centered on a child growing up in the midst of the Victorian world (Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations). To understand the context of these stories, we will conduct and share research projects in various aspects of Victorian culture.

 

Whistle at the Epistle: Letters as Literary Artifact (12)
Paul Doty
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

While at this point in history digital technologies dominate personal correspondence, nobody has yet published their collected e-mails. The personal letter was the dominant form of written correspondence for centuries and, for centuries, was both a literary genre and a commonplace: lots of people who didn’t write poems or short stories wrote letters. This course will examine the implications of that through an intensive reading of letters and an investigation into letter-writing as a human experience—what consequence did letters have for the relationships people had with their correspondents and with the written word? This investigation will also hopefully give us a perspective to articulate the consequences and potential consequences to human beings and language wrought by texting, twittering, and online social networking. Each student will work on a research project about the letters, and this project can range from thinking about letters in a context of digital technologies, the aesthetics of a particular letter writer or correspondence, or the cultural significance of letters in a specific time and place. If nothing else, this course may very well increase the amount of mail you get, and increase it in a way that you might actually want to keep…   

The Environment

Pollution Spectacular, Management Monster: Global Warming
and the End of Oil (13)
Jon Rosales
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 12:40-2:10 p.m.

Two major processes, global warming and the end of oil, are converging in extraordinary ways. Global warming—a spectacular pollution problem of magnitude humanity has not ever faced—is predominantly caused by burning oil and other fossil fuels. Yet diminishing our use of oil is an exceedingly difficult challenge—a management monster—because in industrialized civilizations we are so dependent on its use for energy and as a component of innumerable products. We are faced with a dilemma, or possibly a paradox: to combat global warming, the oil cannot be combusted, but without combusting oil we cannot live as we do currently. With global oil production at or near its peak, the end of oil is posing an interesting twist to this situation. With roughly half of the planet’s recoverable oil still remaining in the ground, what is the best way forward? This course delves into this dilemma, including the power of large oil companies, and explores our options for the future.

 

World Environmentalism Since 1960 (14)
Neil Forkey
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

Following the Second World War, a unique concern for both the quality of the natural environment and the health of human communities emerged. This new urgency differed from past, usually state-inspired, schemes to conserve natural resources for future economic use.  Environmentalism, as the sentiment came to be known, was especially present in the generation born after the war, and this demographic group pushed such issues to the forefront of social agendas beginning in the late 1960s. Thus, since the “sixties” the world has seen the advent and rise of a sustained environmental movement, especially in (but not limited to) Europe and North America. In this seminar, we will explore the historical underpinnings of the world environmental movement.  In so doing, we will consider case studies from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Throughout the course, we will consider how temporal, cultural, socio-economic, and political factors have shaped responses from various countries or regions of the world.  We will also probe the omnibus messages of world environmentalism ranging from that of the “main-stream” to the community-based “grass-roots” type to the more radical deep ecology.

 

America’s Suburban Landscape: Quiet Tragedy or
Dream Fulfilled? (15)
Matt McCluskey
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

Have you ever thought about why the acquisition of a large, detached house plays such a prominent role in the “American Dream”? Did you ever consider why downtown areas look so architecturally and demographically different than the suburbs? Have you examined why America’s land use policies differ so dramatically from Europe and Japan? Over the past century, American policymakers have intentionally pursued policies that favor suburban development, often at the expense of urban and rural communities and the environment. We will talk about the factors that made suburbs so popular in the first place and examine the myriad effects this public preference has had on the American economy, culture and environment. We will also delve into a number of land use issues that suburban professional planners face on a daily basis. By researching such topics as zoning, financing, preservation, development and regulation, we are better able to understand the nature of our daily lives and future challenges we face.  Students in the course will learn to use the GIS computer program, helping them understand such planning challenges as creating walkable neighborhoods, appropriate-scale transportation projects and effective regional development programs. We will conclude by examining the popular movements that question unrestrained suburban growth and those that defend the planning status quo. 

 

Famous Observers of the Outdoors (16)
Wil Rivers                                                                  
Monday & Thursday 6:45-9:00 p.m.

Humans are drawn to the outdoors. The outdoors is where we evolved. The outdoors is where we went to find resources to build our homes, towns, and cities. The outdoors is where we seek physical health, mental clarity, scientific understanding, and spiritual renewal. Numerous famous people have spent their lives, in one way or another, dedicated to observing the outdoors, as naturalists, scientists, writers, hikers, and environmental activists.  In this course, we will explore the lives of these and other people and learn about the particular outdoors that was their passion. Through library research, students will explore the lives, writings, and historical contexts of these influential people who made their life's work observing the outdoors. The major focus of your effort in this course will be to develop skills in conducting library research on these individuals. This research will culminate in a research paper on the individual’s life and their chosen passion.  Among the questions we will be asking with each figure will be how did the environment they live in shape their views?  What were the formative influences on their lives? HOW did they observe the outdoors?  What were the issues that they were most concerned with?  What is the current status of those issues?  Finally, what has been the larger social impact of their work and writings?  These and other questions will help you to organize and focus your research strategy. 

Citizenship for Sustainability (17)
Steve Alexander
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

What kind of skills, knowledge, understanding and literacy are necessary for a sustainable future? This is the essential question that will guide this FYS. Through readings, lectures, discussions and field trips, we will examine the historical development of and current applications of systems theory—which considers the interrelationship between different parts of complex systems in nature, society and science—and will consider concepts of citizenship as they relate to sustainability. Along the way, we will explore debates around this contentious term, look to the lessons that living systems might offer to answer economic questions and reflect on the role of civic engagement. Independent research projects will provide the opportunity to delve deeper into topics that are relevant to both our campus and the community. Course work and research will be complimented by work in the community with local organizations, offering first-hand experience with the challenges, trade-offs and successful solutions regarding issues of sustainability.

Social and Environmental Issues Facing First Nations
Peoples Today (18)
Celia Nyamweru
Tuesday 12:40-1:40 p.m. and Wednesday 12:00-6:00 p.m. (We will be engaging in community service on the Akwesasne Reservation from 3:00-6:00 on Wednesdays; transportation to the Reservation will be provided.)

The First Nations peoples of the United States and Canada have been exposed to many negative influences over the last 400 years. They have lost the greatest part of the lands they once occupied, and environmental degradation has impacted the small areas they still control. Social and cultural impacts have also been drastic: languages have been lost, social structures have disintegrated and poverty is endemic in most First Nations communities. In this course, we look at some of these problems, in particular as they affect our neighbors forty miles north—the Mohawk community of Akwesasne—and we will have our class sessions, as well as engage in community service, on the Reservation. On our regular weekly visits to Akwesasne, we will work with community organizations and learn how this community, against considerable odds, is working to promote the health of their land and their young people.
 

Science

 Changing the World with Data (19)
Jessica Chapman
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10 a.m.-12:25 p.m.

Data don’t lie, but people sometimes do (either intentionally or unintentionally). In this course, we will focus on how empirical evidence is used, and misused, in everyday life and in scientific arguments. By exploring the history, we will see how statistics has shaped modern scientific research.  We will consider some of the dark periods of scientific research, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, and instances where scientific research has impacted public policies and everyday life in very positive ways.  Students will select a topic to study in more depth; topics for discussion and research might include historical instances of using or abusing data, the use of data in current issues such as climate change or stem cell research, ethical concerns in experiments and clinical trials, and the impacts of scientific research on society.

 

News Worthy Anthropology: Scientific versus Popular Portrayals of Anthropology (20)
Renee Koster
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Wednesday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

Over the last few decades, anthropology has become a popular source for news articles and television shows such as the History Channel’s Digging for the Truth.  But how accurate is the information we receive from the media?  Newspapers, magazines, TV, and film report scientific discoveries and information all the time, but are they getting the facts straight?  Anthropology is just one of the many fields whose scholars and research are presented to the general public through the many forms of today’s media. In this course, we will explore and compare different forms of the media’s representation of anthropology.  Specific case studies involving archaeology, human origins, and Native Americans will be examined through a combination of news, popular magazines, film, novels, and scholarly reports and articles. Popular media sources will be examined and critiqued based on the actual scientific research.  Students will learn the fundamentals of academic research while conducting a research project on an anthropological topic using a combination of media and scholarly work. 

 

The Mind-Body Connection (21)
Patti Frazer Lock
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10 a.m.-12:25 p.m.

In this seminar, we will explore the connections, in both directions, between the mind and the body.  How do our attitudes and thoughts affect our health?  What is the placebo effect and how is it relevant in medical studies?  What is the Pygmalion effect and what can we learn from it in our relationships with others?  What are pheromones and how might they be impacting our actions and the choices we make?  How does exercise affect mood and attitude?  What impact does the food we choose have on our mood?  What have we learned about genetic predispositions in behavior and personality?  What ethical issues arise from what we have learned in all of these areas?  In addition to the general reading addressing these topics, each student will select a specific topic of interest to study more deeply.   

 

American Culture & History
 

The World of Baseball: Analyzing One of America’s
Favorite Sports (22)
Patricia Romano
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Wednesday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

Dubbed as the “national pastime” in the 19th century, baseball continues to attract millions of fans.  So, how far reaching is this bat-and-ball game in American society? We are going to find out. We’ll start the semester as mock members of a Hot Stove League—fans who talk about baseball during the off season—and then we’ll keep tabs on the Major League 2010 spring training and the start of the regular season.  Over the course, we’ll examine aspects of the game, including its historical roots, structure, superstitions, lexicon, and mathematical formulas. We’ll also take a look at how this popular sport connects to the public through fashion, songs, movies, and the print media. Biographies of players will be discussed and how the life stories of specific players increased awareness of discrimination (Jackie Robinson), mental illness (Jimmy Piersall), and physical health (Lou Gehrig). No prior knowledge of baseball is required. Through class lectures and class activities students will learn how the game of baseball interfaces with our culture, and even with their own college major. Students will complete a written research project and brief presentation on a topic relevant to the course. 

 

From Ricky Ricardo to Liz Lemon: Gender in Sitcoms (23)
Lorie MacKenzie & Val Lehr
Monday & Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m. and Thursday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

In this seminar, we will explore the ways gender has been represented in popular television situation comedies from the 1950s through the present. We will examine popular series from each decade, as well as the scholarly analysis of situation comedies, to explore how these comedic portrayals of gender roles provide a window into each time period. We will ask how the changes do or do not reflect societal change and how the representation of gender interacts with class, race, and sexuality.

 

Identity in the Internet Age (24)
Jennifer MacGregor
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 12:40-2:10 p.m.

In this course, we will explore historical and cultural conceptions of identity and identity development. Using sociological, philosophical, psychological and feminist ideas and methodologies, we’ll explore how technological advances and shifts in intellectual thought in the past century have caused a major re-evaluation of what it means to address the question, “Who am I? What comprises my Self?” Topics may include the following: how and when does one’s identity develop? Is our Self an unchanging, unitary entity located in the mind, as believed by early psychologists, or are we a loose and changing assortment of the various texts, images, people and situations we encounter, as some philosophers argue today? How has pop culture influenced our sense of ourselves? Has the explosion of available computer interfaces (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instant Messaging, Multi-User Domain games) altered how we view and express our core being(s)?  The old adage commands: To thine own self be true. Do we have a Self to be true to?

A Place at the Table: Community and Food in American Culture (25)
Kara McLuckie
Monday & Friday 8:00-9:30 a.m. and Friday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

This course will explore social issues related to food and community and celebrate the ways food and eating can bring people together for enjoyment.  Some ways we’ll explore the link between food and community may include a class meal we shop for and prepare together, or a visit to a local coffee house, restaurant, organic farm, or living community.  We will be examining such issues as hunger in America, consumerism, organic food sources, the problem of a diminishing understanding of the growing season, the meaning of sustainability, and the importance of local food.  At a time when food abundance and variety are at their peak, why are there still those who go hungry?  Who are the hungry in your community?  What can be done?  What role can you play in creating and enacting solutions to the problem of hunger in American communities?  Balancing this critical work will be our work with a community service project, the Campus Kitchen Project, which specializes in the reclamation and redistribution of unused food.  Note:  No cooking skills are necessary for this course but some may be acquired!   

 

How Did We Get Into The Economic Mess That We Are In And
How Are We Going To Get Out Of It?  Lessons From Economic
History (26)
Michael Jenkins
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Wednesday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

In this seminar, we will study the development of banking and finance paying particular attention to economic crises.  Crises to be considered will include the Panic of 1907 that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System, the Great Depression of the 1930s when nearly 9000 banks failed, and the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s when more than one thousand banking institutions failed and the cost to United States taxpayers exceeded one hundred billion dollars.  We will also consider economic crises in other countries such as those of the South East Asian Tiger economies and Russia, both occurring in the 1990s. With an understanding of past crises, we will then examine our current crisis, identifying ways in which our current crisis is similar to those of the past as well as identifying ways in which this crisis is unique. Finally, we will consider the prospects for reform of economy to reduce the likelihood of another crisis like this in the future.

 

Amazing Grace:  The Black Church in White America (27)
Shaun Whitehead
Tuesday & Thursday 12:40-2:10 p.m. and Thursday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

This seminar will explore the relationship between faith and freedom through the lens of the African-American experience in the United States.  The course is in part historical, as we find the origins of black religion within the experience of slavery. This seminar is also a personal and theological exploration of the sustaining faith of black people in a land where the Bible itself was used to justify slavery and continuing oppression. Black music, especially gospel music, anchored the faith and sustained the strong sense of community of African-Americans, throughout all these changes. You will be introduced to several genres of black church music: metered hymns, call and response songs, Dr. [Isaac] Watts songs, Negro spirituals, coded freedom songs, traditional and contemporary gospel. This course will combine historical sketches, African-American literature and biblical interpretation with the lived musical experiences of the African–American community. We will conclude by considering the impact of the African-American struggle for freedom on other groups, whether marginalized or dominant. We will learn by “doing” in this course and will bring this singing tradition “to life” in the classroom through student performances.

 

Political Conflict & War

 
Living with the Bomb (28)
Donna Alvah
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 12:40-2:10 p.m.

In this seminar, we will examine how nuclear weapons have affected society, culture, and national as well as international politics. The period we will study encompasses the development and use of atomic bombs during World War II, the Cold War arms race, and current concerns about the threat of nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and the United States’ own maintenance of a substantial nuclear arsenal.  The texts we’ll analyze include historical documents, literature, and film. Possible topics for students’ seminar projects include (but certainly are not limited to) nuclear weapons strategies, effects of nuclear weapons testing on people and the environment, music about nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and the possibility of nuclear proliferation, experiences of childhood and/or adolescence in a nuclear world, activism opposing nuclear testing and proliferation, “dirty bombs,” and representations of nuclear power in popular culture. We will take a field trip to visit the "Diefenbunker," Canada's Cold War museum.

 

Confronting Islamist Terror (29)
J.J. Jockel
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Wednesday 7:30-9:00 p.m.

This seminar will examine how the United States, its allies, and its friends are confronting Islamist terror. The instructor will himself pick the first two books to be read and then will select a number of other books and readings in consultation with the students.

 

Iraq Wars (30)
Karl Schonberg
Tuesday & Thursday 12:40-2:10 p.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

This course will examine the past, present, and future of United States relations with Iraq through the lenses of a variety of media, academic disciplines, and research methodologies.  After considering the 20th century history of this relationship, the course will focus in particular on the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the decade of unstable peace and economic sanctions that followed, and the invasion and conflict that began in 2003. The course will seek to examine these events from the perspective of civilians, combatants, policymakers, and other actors involved.  Students will be asked to consider the variety of explanations for the causes and consequences of these conflicts, to assess a range of arguments from a variety of academic disciplines and draw their own conclusions about the significance of this history.  Documents from a variety of media will be analyzed, including frequent use of film, television, and internet resources.  Student work for the course will culminate with a major research paper on a topic of the student's choice related to the course topic.

 

Human Rights

 

The State of the Family: Constitutional Law and the
American Family (31)
Cathy Crosby-Currie
Tuesday & Thursday 8:30-10:00 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

What power should the state have within the private realm of the family? What rights do parents have to decide how they will raise their children? Does the right to marry apply to opposite-sex couples only? In this course, we will examine the controversies that arise when constitutional rights collide with state and federal laws governing the family. We will begin with an exploration of the basic concept of liberty and the foundational United States Supreme Court cases that established the constitutional right to parent and to marry. We will then explore some specific issues including child abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights and same-sex marriage. One purpose of this course is to challenge and expand students’ critical thinking skills by requiring them to grapple with the texts of actual U.S. Supreme Court cases.  Students will also conduct a semester-long research project on a family-relevant legal issue (e.g., adolescent abortion, rights of public school students, divorce and custody, artificial reproduction) that will require that they become conversant with a variety of legal and social science literature on their topic and produce a paper reporting on what they have found.

 

Human Rights: The Power of Narrative (32)
Joe Kling
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Since the 19th century, one of the ways human rights have advanced as a discourse is through the use of narrative—the stories people have told of their experiences of abuse, injustice, and denial of freedom. These stories have been communicated through the process of witnessing—the use of memoir, fiction, poetry, film, and most recently, testimony before truth commissions.  In this course, we will read and discuss a number of these narratives—starting with the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and moving towards the story of one of the thousands of African children kidnapped and forced to fight and kill in brutal civil wars. The irony is that, in the end, these witnesses affirm the human capacity for dignity and survival. Students will also be asked to explore a human rights struggle of the past 200 years and to report on narratives associated with that struggle—thus reproducing and extending the very impact those narratives were themselves designed to inspire.



Crimes Against Humanity and Human Rights Investigations (33)
Richard Gonzalez
Monday & Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m. and Monday 1:40-3:10 p.m.

Genocide, slavery, political imprisonment, torture, rape, terrorism. Many of us take our recognition of humanity and the belief of inalienable human rights for granted, but the fact is that human rights have a long and checkered social, political, philosophical, and legal history. Human Rights is both an ideal and a political tool. As an ideal, human rights give equality and validity to all of humanity, but as a political tool, human rights have been exploited by those forces who try to use it to their own ends. Consequently, no society or nation is guilt-free of crimes against humanity and human rights abuses. For these reasons, the study of human rights demands intellectual and moral courage. In this course, we will take an interdisciplinary approach to study the concept of human rights over the 20th and 21st centuries. The course is divided into three blocks. Block one focuses on the history of human rights and a survey of human rights laws, and block two discusses how forensic science has been used to investigate crimes against humanity. In block three, students will take the lead by researching and presenting their work on a topic relevant to the course.

 

Health & Wellness

Environmental Health & Environmental Justice (34)
JoAnn Rogers
Tuesday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Thursday 8:30-11:40 a.m.

This course will examine how social inequality impacts the relationship of people to their environment and how it affects their physical well-being. We will look at how social and political structures perpetuate conditions of injustice for low-income communities and communities of color. One emphasis of this course will be on how social inequality impacts environmental factors involved in transmission of communicable diseases and hazards due to exposure to chemical and physical materials in our environment. We will examine sociological and public health literature pertaining to environmental health on a global level and also address public policies that may affect health and environmental justice.

 

Philosophies of Love and Sex (35)
Elizabeth Becht
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Tuesday 2:20-3:50 p.m.

What is love, really? Is it a feeling? A way of acting? Evolution’s way of tricking us into making more babies? What about the connection between sex and love? How does erotic love differ from other kinds of love (like friendship and familial love)? Can one give reasons for why one loves, or why one is attracted to someone? What makes love or attraction last? This course will explore the nature of sex and love from philosophical and literary perspectives, and attempt to come to reasoned answers to thorny questions about issues like monogamy, sexual orientation, “normal” sexuality, and the connection between sex and violence. We’ll also see what implications ideas and beliefs about love and sex have on individual choices, and examine the connection between interpersonal relationships and leading a “good” life. Reading widely from classic and contemporary texts, we’ll see what familiar thinkers, such as Plato and Freud, have to say about love and sex, as well as some thinkers with whom you might be less familiar, such as Foucault and Bataille. While this seminar will stress the development of argument and analysis skills, it will also encourage students to reflect and consider the relevance and application of the ideas we discuss. Love/sex research topics may include investigations of related concepts (such as freedom or romance), ideals, historical contexts, issues of ethics, or the treatment of love and/or sex by a particular artist or in a particular work. Although our class focuses on romantic and erotic love, research topics could also explore love and/or sex as they relate to family, community, or the divine.

 

Medical Ethics (36)
David Hornung
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:55 a.m. and Wednesday 9:40-10:40 a.m.

In this seminar, we will examine topics such as the physician/patient relationship, medical assisted suicide, terminal sedation, cloning, genetic engineering, transplants, informed consent, elective surgery and reproductive ethics. The goal will be to examine the principles that guide individuals as they struggle with these increasingly complex issues. Students will conduct a semester-long research project on some aspect of medical ethics (broadly defined). The culmination of the project will include a written research paper and an oral presentation. It is likely that six of the Tuesday/Thursday meetings will be with the SOAR (Stimulating Opportunities for Retired People) group, which will allow the FYS students to interact around the common theme of medical ethics with a group of adults from the Canton area. We will also consider “alternative” healing, approaches to health and disease that many people in the world believe are superior to allopathic medicine.

 

Plagues and Peoples (37)
Carol Budd
Tuesday & Thursday 10:10-11:40 a.m. and Thursday 12:40-2:10 p.m.

When considering definitions of illness or wellness, Westerners since the Enlightenment have tended to assume a distinction between mind and body that people in other cultures do not assume. The “body” becomes an object of study, with all its attendant “symptoms” of “illness,” to Western medical tradition. The “mind” is considered separate from “body” and from “brain,” which is an organ of the “body.” Hence we have created a tradition of different practitioners for “physical” and “mental” disorders. In other cultural traditions, one’s “body” is not separated from “mind,” or from the social fabric of daily life that connects an individual to other members of his or her society. In this course, we will study cross-cultural approaches to wellness and illness that focus on concepts of the body, “personhood,” gender distinctions, definitions of “wellness” and “illness,” and the consequences these different belief systems have on approaches to “healing.” To understand these issues, we will use several primary examples of different kinds of “plagues” that have affected groups of people and their cultures in profound ways. These include the Black Death in 16th century Europe; Kuru disease in Papua New Guinea and its relationship to Kreutzfeld-Jacob Disease; development of resistant strains of tuberculosis in Haiti, Russia and Peru; and radioactive fallout contribution to cultural change in the Marshall Islands of Oceania. Students interested in health sciences or cross-cultural studies of humanity will find this course particularly of interest. *Students who take this FYS must also co-enroll in at least one Natural Science course with lab. *

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