First-Year Experience

Kelly Bowen

Is banning books a violation of freedom of speech? Across the United States the practice of banning books is, once again, headline news. What factors are driving the recent hysteria? From small local school boards to state legislatures, the opposition voices are loud as they call for the removal of “controversial” books from public spaces. In 2021-2022 an estimated 1,600 titles were removed from the shelves and educators, in fear of repercussions, removed books from their classrooms. In COR 102 Reading, Writing, and Banned Books, we will examine: how students and critical thinking are impacted, what social constructs foster censorship, and how book banning affects society. In our critical reading and writing, we will explore why works with themes of race, racism, gender, sexuality, LGBTQ+, and memoir might become targets of a moral minority. We will evaluate how this practice creates disinformation and further marginalizes underrepresented communities.

Erik Esckilsen

Would you call an ordinary snow shovel leaning in an art gallery a work of art? Artist Marcel Duchamp made that claim in 1915 with Prelude to a Broken Arm. The seemingly silly display, however, also leveled a critique of the art world and of the broader cultural forces responsible for World War I (underway at the time). Neither the world nor the art would ever be the same. Students in FYI: Reading, Writing, & Revolutionary Art Movements will encounter the work of Duchamp and other artists across a wide span of art history-from neoclassical painters to Japanese anime creators-to examine how art has shaped, and has been shaped by, its cultural contexts. Students will analyze art through multiple critical perspectives to gain a deep understanding of how art illuminates the challenges, joys, and wonders of the human experience.

Erik Esckilsen

Would you call an ordinary snow shovel leaning in an art gallery a work of art? Artist Marcel Duchamp made that claim in 1915 with Prelude to a Broken Arm. The seemingly silly display, however, also leveled a critique of the art world and of the broader cultural forces responsible for World War I (underway at the time). Neither the world nor the art would ever be the same. Students in FYI: Reading, Writing, & Revolutionary Art Movements will encounter the work of Duchamp and other artists across a wide span of art history-from neoclassical painters to Japanese anime creators-to examine how art has shaped, and has been shaped by, its cultural contexts. Students will analyze art through multiple critical perspectives to gain a deep understanding of how art illuminates the challenges, joys, and wonders of the human experience.

Marianne Bhonslay

Equal rights, equal opportunity, and equal treatment — three precepts offering a succinct outline for the ongoing and complex quest for social justice. According to the Center for Economic and Social Justice, “Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.” This course explores the ways in which Twenty-First Century societies continue to strive for social justice and likewise examines the historical precedents that established the foundational framework for the inequities that continue to hinder essential progress. First-year inquiry students will consider issues from clean water, clean air, and climate refugees to racism and gender inequity. Through close reading of autobiographies, essays, and literary journalism, as well as close viewing of films and documentaries, students will read, write, and engage in the critical, analytical thinking process to address the ways to pursue and achieve social justice.

Fred Kosnitsky

In this course we will use the Climate Crisis, perhaps the greatest threat to humanity, as our theme for exploring how we can use curiosity about any issue to create questions we want to answer, look for readings that will help us answer our questions, and use our writings to clarify and cement our understanding of these issues both for ourselves and to share with others.

Miriam Horne

From movies to games to books and beyond, Zombies excite contemporary thinking because of their ability to stand in for angst around the environment, distrust of authority, and fear of economic turmoil, to name a few. In this class, we will examine the development of the gurgling revenant through history, psychology, literature, and even a little math as we seek to understand the power of this mythological being in society.

Miriam Horne

From movies to games to books and beyond, Zombies excite contemporary thinking because of their ability to stand in for angst around the environment, distrust of authority, and fear of economic turmoil, to name a few. In this class, we will examine the development of the gurgling revenant through history, psychology, literature, and even a little math as we seek to understand the power of this mythological being in society.

Erik Kaarla

This section of 102 (Reading, Writing and Musicology) will tap into the human passion of wanting to understand music, wanting to make music, and wanting to define music better. Whether you play an instrument or not – this course is for you! We all very much identify with particular genres of music, particular artists, and perhaps particular instruments – why is this? In this section, students will learn how to write about music and genres of music and also learn about the process of creative songwriting. Welcome to the world of musical creativity! Some of the questions to be explored in this section: How do we talk about music and how do we talk about culture? How do we talk about these two different structures at the same time? In addition to pondering these questions, we will explore musicology and other helpful theoretical frameworks for learning about music and music makers. The methods for studying music are limitless! What are some typical musical abilities and how can they be developed or enhanced? What are some basic connections between particular neurology and musical ability?

David Kite

What do you want from life? Is real happiness possible? How do we find it both as individuals and within community? Centering on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, this course will take a deep dive into the most important question using fresh ideas from contemporary philosophy, psychology and evolutionary biology. You will take up big questions about ethics and personal character, justice, intellectual and experiential growth, friendship and pleasure as you develop your own ideas about what makes for a good life.

Frank Robinson

From Critical Race Theory to the death of George Floyd, from arguments for reparations to White Supremacist marches, and from Supreme Court definitions of equality to uncomfortable social media posts, race is a topic never far from risky conversation or public consternation. In this course we will explore our questions about race. What is race? Despite the civil rights movement 60 years ago, why is race still an issue? What are the stories about race in the U.S.? Drawing on autobiography, film, and history for answers — and more questions — the course will nurture the thinking skills of inquiry through reading, writing, and conversation.

Frank Robinson

From Critical Race Theory to the death of George Floyd, from arguments for reparations to White Supremacist marches, and from Supreme Court definitions of equality to uncomfortable social media posts, race is a topic never far from risky conversation or public consternation. In this course we will explore our questions about race. What is race? Despite the civil rights movement 60 years ago, why is race still an issue? What are the stories about race in the U.S.? Drawing on autobiography, film, and history for answers — and more questions — the course will nurture the thinking skills of inquiry through reading, writing, and conversation.

David Rous

Why are men allowed to get angry but not cry, while women are allowed to cry but not get angry? Why are men expected to lead, while women are expected to nurture? Why are little boys sometimes told to suck it up and deal, but little girls sometimes get hugged and comforted? Why are girls often given pink things, but boys blue things? Why do boys typically receive trucks and legos and toy guns at Christmas, while girls often get dolls or things with unicorns on them? Why are young men allowed to indulge their sexual appetite, but young women are encouraged to control theirs? And what are the rules for people who don’t fit into the traditional molds at all? In this section, we will explore why males and females are encouraged by society to do and be certain things, and why they are also encouraged not to do or be certain things. Through the lens of western popular culture, we will study how gender works and how it is changing in our times.

David Rous

Why are men allowed to get angry but not cry, while women are allowed to cry but not get angry? Why are men expected to lead, while women are expected to nurture? Why are little boys sometimes told to suck it up and deal, but little girls sometimes get hugged and comforted? Why are girls often given pink things, but boys blue things? Why do boys typically receive trucks and legos and toy guns at Christmas, while girls often get dolls or things with unicorns on them? Why are young men allowed to indulge their sexual appetite, but young women are encouraged to control theirs? And what are the rules for people who don’t fit into the traditional molds at all? In this section, we will explore why males and females are encouraged by society to do and be certain things, and why they are also encouraged not to do or be certain things. Through the lens of western popular culture, we will study how gender works and how it is changing in our times.

Kelly Thomas

Millions world-wide today share their lives with an animal they consider a member of the family. Why is that? How and why have humans developed relationships with other species for thousands of years? What roles do our furry, feathered, scaled and aquatic friends play in our lives, and we in theirs? Who “domesticated” whom? In this course, you’ll practice college-level close-reading and analysis as well as academic writing by investigating the emotional, behavioral and commercial aspects to human-animal bonding and its far-reaching cultural impact.

Kelly Thomas

Millions world-wide today share their lives with an animal they consider a member of the family. Why is that? How and why have humans developed relationships with other species for thousands of years? What roles do our furry, feathered, scaled and aquatic friends play in our lives, and we in theirs? Who “domesticated” whom? In this course, you’ll practice college-level close-reading and analysis as well as academic writing by investigating the emotional, behavioral and commercial aspects to human-animal bonding and its far-reaching cultural impact.

David Rous

Two generations after Saigon fell and America lost its war in Vietnam, how does the war’s legacy continue to haunt the American psyche and influence its approach to world affairs? Using the work of authors like Tim O’Brien, Le Minh Kue, and Philip Caputo, and the films of Oliver Stone and Stanley Kubrick, we will explore the modern influence of the Vietnam war as tragedy, failure and shame through the lenses of history, literature, film, and music.

Zachary LaMalfa

In works of science fiction, we encounter alien ecologies and cultures, futuristic social orders, and “strange news words”–all inventions of writers’ imaginations. So why do these worlds always seem to have something to say about our own real-life cultures and societies, and the nagging questions of our times? This course will look at how sci-fi worlds are put together, and more importantly, why they’re put together in the ways they are. We’ll look at key texts by masters like Ursula Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, Octavia Butler, Philip K. Dick, etc. And we’ll apply the lenses of psychology, environmental studies, history, philosophy, literature, and sociology, to better understand why the thought-experiments of science fiction have become such a large part of our cultural discourse.