First Year Seminars
Fall 2024
Course Offerings as of 4/15/2024
Section A*
Section B
Section C
WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM A CHILDREN’S BOOK
Professor Patricia Cunningham, Department of Education
The world of children’s literature is vast and various. Through books, children can travel to faraway places, both real and imagined. They can explore the past and venture into the future. Much of who we are and what we know and believe as adults can be traced back to the books we read as children. In this seminar, we will explore the world of books written for children and the contribution of these books to who we are as adults.
TR 11:00 - 12:15 (Section A)*
TR 12:30 - 1:45 (Section B)
TR 2:00 - 3:15 (Section C)
*The professor for Section A of this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section AA
GRAPHIC STORYTELLING: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN SUPERHERO IN THE 20TH AND 21 CENTURIES
Professor Kevin Frazier, Department of Theatre & Dance
Using graphic novels from The Dark Knight Returns to Fun Home, the course will examine both the function of the superhero in American mythology, as well as the diverse perspectives and historical contexts explored by the modern graphic novel, highlighting the medium as a vibrant and dynamic artform.
MWF 11:00 - 10:50
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section BB
DISCOVERING THE AVANT GARDE
Professor Leigh Ann Hallberg, Department of Art
This seminar will explore the art and historical context of the visual avant-garde through readings, research, videos, discussion, and related activities. The course will provide methods for compositional and conceptual analysis of art and an understanding of the context of their creation.
TR 2:00 - 3:15
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section CC
COMMUNICATION, CULTURE AND SOUTH ASIA
Professor Ananda Mitra, Department of Communication
This course takes a critical look at the history, culture, politics and geography of South Asia with the goal of understanding how the people from that part of the world have an influence on global issues and how the cultures of South Asia are influenced by the process of globalization. The course requires occasional Sunday afternoon viewing of Bollywood movies.
TR 8:00 - 9:15
Section D
DIVORCE: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Professor Linda Nielsen, Department of Education
This course explores the research in psychology and sociology explaining the impact of divorce on children and on their parents.
TR 2:00 - 3:15
Section DD
AI AND COMMUNICATION
Professor Ananda Mitra, Department of Communication
You will surely be working with AI in your life. Start by understanding how intelligence works and then see the connection between human intelligence and AI to learn how to handle this new reality.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section E*
Section YY
CO2 AND THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH
Professor Debbie French, Department of Education
Climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe notes, “It’s real. It’s us. It’s serious. And the window of time to prevent dangerous impacts is closing fast.” This course examines carbon dioxide’s effect on Earth’s climate. Students will actively investigate the interdisciplinary science behind global warming, model global economic, political, and environmental impacts due to climate change, and evaluate solutions for mitigating the effects of climate change.
TR 9:30 - 10:45*
TR 2:00 - 3:15
*The professor for Section E of this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section EE
GREAT AMERICAN SPEECHES
Professor John Llewellyn, Department of Communication
Public speeches are monuments to history and precursors of societal change. This class will read, closely examine and discuss a portion of the one hundred most significant American speeches of the 20th century. From the speech that American scholars of rhetoric voted the century's most significant – Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" address – to less well-known addresses, the class will explore the intersection of history, rhetoric and eloquence. Several books on presidential speech writing will also be read and discussed.
WF 2:00 - 3:15
Section F
HOME ECONOMICS
Professor Shanna Benjamin, African American Studies Program
What ever happened to “Home Economics”? Middle- and high-school courses that teach dishwashing, sock darning, and egg boiling get the side eye, but social media consumers clamor for catchy cooking and home-hack videos on TikTok, IG live, and YouTube. Why the disconnect? In this hands-on course, students will practice Home Economics while learning how nineteenth-century racialized tensions about drudgery, women’s work, and the value of women’s labor circulate in the present day.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
Section FF
GRETA THUNBERGS EVERYWHERE: CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND YOUTH IN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION
Professor Rowie Kirby-Straker, Department of Communication
Students will interrogate ways in which youth have communicated the need for attitude and behavior change in their communities, and how they have addressed challenges to achieve their goals in the face of mounting climate vulnerability. They will explore the role of Caribbean and Pacific island youth in educating society and engendering change in environmental management, sustainability, and climate justice. There will be opportunities to engage with past and present youth environmentalists and to publicly showcase creative coursework.
TR 3:30 - 4:45
Section G
FINTECH AND BIOPHYSICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO WHAT MAKES STEM PEOPLE SO PRIZED ON WALL STREET
Professor Jed Macosko, Department of Physics
In this First Year Seminar, students will explore the inner workings of financial technology, also known as "fintech". Surprisingly, these foundational principles are based on the same thought processes, and even the same core models, as biophysics. Just as the stock market moves in a random walk, influenced at the same time by larger market forces, so also the molecular machinery inside each cell undergoes Brownian motion, yet experiences the overarching control mechanisms that makes life possible. The course will include a brief sketch of molecular machines but will spend the bulk of the semester getting acquainted with the "machinery" of modern-day finance: stocks/bonds/derivatives/options/futures/swaps, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, Lévy flight models, Markov chains, credit scoring, algorithmic trading, fraud detection, and market bubbles. As an introduction to these topics, students will not be expected to create models based on these concepts but will instead learn how they are used by financial professionals, including some of the guest speakers from Wall Street who are slated to visit the class.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section GG
CONTEMPLATION AND MEDITATION
Professor Nelly van Doorn Harder, Department for the Study of Religions
There is a growing interest in practices such as contemplation, and meditation with as goal more mindful living. Schools are introducing mindfulness as a way to help relieve daily stress among students and teachers. A growing body of scientific publications shows benefits of slowing down the hectic pace of life. One elementary school district in Baltimore, for example, is experimenting with students who face detention, to send them to the meditation room instead. Few of us realize, however, that these practices are based on ancient teachings found within the major world religions. All have a long history of promoting the importance of silencing the mind and listening to one’s inner being, or the “heart” instead. In this FYS, students study influential voices and writings from Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Furthermore, we will study medical and neuroscientific findings about how such practices have positive influences on the mind as well as the body.
WF 11:00 - 12:15
Section H
FINTECH AND BIG DATA: A PRIMER ON HOW BIG DATA BECAME INFLUENTIAL FOR FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY
Professor Jed Macosko, Department of Physics
Who influences our world? Is it presidents and prime ministers? Is it trillionaires and oligarchs? Or is it the people who know how to wield big data? In this FYS, we will explore the connection between big data and the financial technology sector that has emerged in the 21st Century. Along the way, we will examine influential figures on Wall Street who have used their training in STEM to become the biggest drivers of wealth amplification. We will look at buzz words in financial technology, some of which match terms in the legacy financial sector (stocks/bonds/derivatives/options/futures/swaps, credit scoring, algorithmic trading, fraud detection, and market bubbles) but others which are new or far more prevalent: cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, Lévy flight models, and Markov chains. By the end of the course, students will understand the advantage of becoming well-versed in STEM subjects even if their ultimate goal is to work in finance.
TR 11:00 - 12:15
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section HH
RELIGION, ROCK MUSIC, AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Professor Lucas Johnston, Department for the Study of Religions
This course is a student-focused course which analyzes the emergence of rock music, the social milieus in which it thrived, and the political impacts of its messaging. Students will attend to the ways in which popular music and art reflected and shaped political, economic, and social trends. Specifically, we will review the formative influence of the blues, jazz, and traditional American musical styles contributed to rock music, and analyze the role of music in public contestations regarding moral, political, and social norms.
WF 12:30 - 1:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section I
POWER AND THE US ELECTRICAL GRID
Professor Jack Dostal, Department of Physics
Students in this seminar will learn about the history and nature of our power grid and some of its underlying physics, study different types of power generation that tie into the grid, investigate alternative systems such as those in other countries, and engage in discussion and writing about issues relevant to the present day and to the future of such systems.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section II
Section JJ
ALCOHOL: HISTORY, USE AND MISUSE
Professor Melissa Maffeo, Department of Psychology
Alcohol is one of the most abused drugs among young adults and, in particular, college students. In this class, we will examine alcohol as a drug. We will consider the history of alcohol use and misuse, highlighting certain alcohol use disorders for which college students are particularly at-risk. Over the course of the semester, we will also examine the effects of alcohol on the brain, cognition, and on the unborn fetus.
MWF 9:00 - 9:50 (Section II)
MWF 10:00 - 10:50 (Section JJ)
Section J
IN COLD BLOOD: EXAMINING THE PSYCHOPATH IN LITERATURE, FILM, AND TELEVISION
Professor Molly Knight, Department of German & Russian
In this course, we will investigate representations of the psychopath – a person who feels no remorse and manipulates others, often to violent ends – in American and European literature, film, and television, from the origins of the term in nineteenth-century Germany to our contemporary American obsession with onscreen serial killers like Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan. Why is Western culture so fascinated by psychopathy, and how is this mental disorder employed metaphorically in fiction and popular culture?
MW 12:30 - 1:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section K
VOICES FROM THE INSIDE: PRISON NARRATIVES ACROSS CULTURES
Professor Kit Pribble, Department of German & Russian
This course will examine narratives of incarceration from the American, Russian/Soviet, and South African traditions. Students will consider how the prison is imagined, represented, and experienced across cultures, historical contexts, and genres, including film, television, essays, and literary fiction. From Birmingham, Alabama to Putin’s Russia, who is imprisoned and why? What are the goals of the art produced by and about these prisoners?
MWF 9:00 - 9:50
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section KK
WHO AM I: A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO SELF AND IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Professor Lisa Kiang, Department of Psychology
Understanding who we are is a fundamental aspect of human nature. How do we become who we are? What obstacles do we face in asserting our self and identities? How do our personal, social, and cultural identities fit with the rest of society? This course will tackle these issues by examining theoretical and cultural perspectives on self and identity, as well as scientific research regarding self and identity development. Memoirs, popular fiction, and films will be used to enhance comprehension.
TR 12:30 - 1:45
Section L
FAIRY TALES: GRIMM, DISNEY, AND BEYOND
Professor Alyssa Howards, Department of German & Russian
What good are fairy tales, and why should adults care about them? This course explores the universal origins of the Grimm fairy tales, their importance to the formation of German identity, and their continued influence in modern film and television manifestations. Special attention will be given to the social history of both classic and modern fairy tales, including their embedded representations of gender roles, sexuality, and violence.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section LL
Section MM
GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURE
Professor Omar Hena, Department of English
Globalization may be the defining feature of the contemporary world and yet no one seems to agree on exactly what it means. For some, globalization brings the dream of cross-cultural connection and the founding of global civil society; but for others it spells the on-going nightmare of Western cultural imperialism and inter-ethnic conflict. Throughout the term, this course will question how globalization and world literature interact with one another. Does literature simply reflect globalization, at least as critics and scholars debate the term? Or do literature and cultural practices imagine and produce forms of globalization that are not accounted for in theory? And how might an emphasis on culture and cultural difference (race, class, gender, and sexuality) in an imaginative context change the way we think about, relate to, and live in our global era?
WF 9:30 - 10:45 (Section LL)
WF 2:00 - 3:15 (Section MM)
Section M
ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER: CHINA AND THE WEST
Professor Yaohua Shi, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
This is an interdisciplinary course drawing on history, literature, film, and art in order to examine the cultural contact, conflict, and confluence between China and the West. We will focus on key moments in the often troubled relations between the Celestial Kingdom and the West and explore the imaginings and misapprehensions of the Other in philosophical treatises, travel diaries, and pseudo-scientific articles and recent cross-cultural theoretical works by Chinese and Western writers. We will investigate the possibility of cultural confluence in the age of globalization through a reassessment of the career of Giuseppe Castiglione, who served under Qianlong Emperor in the 18th century.
TR 12:30 - 1:45
Section N
GANDHI
Professor Hank Kennedy, Department of Politics & International Affairs
This seminar explores in detail the life, teachings and method of nonviolent coercion (satyagraha) practiced and advocated by Mohandas K. Gandhi. The course starts with a detailed exploration of interpretations of Gandhi’s life including Stanley Wolpert’s biography Gandhi’s Passion. It also explores Gandhi’s religious thought, the psychological underpinnings of that thought, and throughout focuses on his role as political activist. Students will also be assigned materials from Gandhi’s own voluminous writings found in his Autobiography, Hind Swaraj, and in Louis Fischer’s edited volume. Armed with this background students will be directed into at least one of the following directions: 1) towards a more detailed treatment of one of the themes mentioned above; 2) towards an applied version of the Gandhian method as it applies to later proponents of nonviolent coercion (e.g., Martin Luther King); and/or 3) towards the organization of an original, albeit usually mock, satyagraha campaign (group project) directed at a student-defined local target. In any case, the findings of the student’s research or activist experience will then be shared with the other seminar participants.
W 2:00 - 4:30
Section O
BEWARE THE IDES, BEWARE THE HEMLOCK: ROLEPLAYING CRISIS IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME
Professor T. H. M. Gellar-Goad, Department of Classics
The Thirty Tyrants have at long last been expelled from Athens, and now it is up to you and your closest friends and enemies to determine the future of the greatest city-state in the Mediterranean - and the future of the gadfly philosopher Socrates. The conspiracy of Catiline has been uncovered, and the fate of the conspirators and of Rome rests in your hands. Two decades later, the dictator Julius Caesar has been assassinated, and it falls upon you to maneuver through the wrangling in the Senate to decide what the People of Rome should do. You will play in three "Reacting to the Pase" scenarios set in ancient Greece and Rome: you will become a stakeholder in these world-changing crises and you will fight, speak, study, sweet-talk, and coerce your way to power over your classmates, be they allies or adversaries. This course is suitable for all students of all kinds, interests, and backgrounds, and will offer fun, low-pressure opportunities to develop writing, public speaking, critical thinking, and persuasion skills. This is a service-learning course in which all students will spend time working with community partners to help address local needs and aid reflection on course material.MWF 2:00 - 2:50
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section OO
PRACTICAL MAGIC: THE HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND ART OF CHEMICAL ALCHEMY
Professor Jesalyn Bolduc, Department of Chemistry
This seminar explores the historical interface between esoteric magic, art and science. This will include lectures spanning from early alchemists and their scientific goals up to today’s scientific storytellers and how they are creating the future. Through reading selected texts and active discussion, students will hypothesize what role the scientist has as an artist (and perhaps vice versa), inquiring what the magical element of creativity and imagination may mean for shaping scientific investigation and narrative, as well as social culture. Students will learn artistic practices like cyanotype printing and laser wood carving along with the chemical alchemy behind these crafts. The semester will culminate with students creating a podcast episode based on their own independent research that takes listeners on a journey into the lives of scientists who dabbled in both science and magic or art.
WF 9:30 - 10:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section P
SCIENTIST: BORN OR MADE?
Professor Christa Colyer, Department of Chemistry
Despite increased public awareness of global scientific issues such as climate change, epidemics, and genetic engineering, along with the popularization of science through television and the movies, there is still much mystery surrounding the role of the scientist in today’s society. Is one born to be a scientist, or is it possible to cultivate the interest and skills necessary to succeed in this far-reaching profession? This seminar will expose students to the lives of scientists, past and present, thus revealing the traits and motivations that govern scientists’ lives and work, while ferreting out stereotypes and popular misconceptions about who is/what makes a scientist. The importance of responsible conduct in science is emphasized as students identify, on a personal level, if they have the ‘right stuff’ and how the traits of scientists might lead to success in other professions or vocations.TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section PP
THE WORLD OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Professor Stew Carter, Department of Music
Explores musical instruments of cultures in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia, in contemporary as well as historical contexts. The class will consider instruments of “art music,” traditional music of various cultures, and popular music.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section Q
MONSTERS: STRUCTURAL INJUSTICES AS REPRESENTED IN GOTHIC FICTION
Professor Adrian Greene, Department of English
Gothic literature works, and is successful, as a genre because it transforms irreducibly complicated – and often concealed – forms of systemic injustice into monsters that are easy to see, although not always easy to overcome. When misogyny, for instance, is embodied as a monster, it becomes that much more difficult to refute that misogyny is real. In this course, we will analyze how the horror of the Gothic comes from the ways it reveals the systemic policies targeted at further subjugating the marginalized and the disenfranchised. Readings will include: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818); Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886); Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca (1938); Richard Matheson, A Stir of Echoes (1958); Robert Bloch, Psycho (1959); Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979); Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994).
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section QQ
THE GOLDEN RECORD - THE SOUNDS AND MUSIC OF EARTH
Professor Larry Weng, Department of Music
The Voyager Record: A cosmic message in a bottle, a love song to the stars, a testament to humanity’s existence. Sent hurtling into space in 1977, the Golden Record, filled with the sounds, languages, and music of Earth, was NASA’s attempt at representing humanity to any potential extraterrestrials that might happen upon the Voyager probes. In this course, students will explore not only the choices and reasoning behind the selections, but also the societal function, dissemination, and authorship of music across multiple cultures, and ultimately, drive at why we continue to listen to and make music.
TR 12:30 - 1:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section R
ANIMALS MAKE US HUMAN? A SERVICE LEARNING COURSE
Professor Melissa Jenkins, Department of English
This course turns the title of Temple Grandin’s animal rights/slaughterhouse rights book, Animals Make Us Human, into its driving question. Topics will include animal rights and animal cruelty, the psychological effects of owning or interacting with animals, and current research about animal cognition and evolution. Course texts will include religious writings, fiction, speeches, theoretical essays, science writing, popular journalism, and film. The readings and assignments emphasize how literary, scientific, and socio-cultural engagements with the non-human world, while valuable in themselves, also serve to illuminate the human condition. This is a service-learning course that requires a commitment of time outside of class hours, and, in most cases, direct contact with animals, so please take note of this when registering. This course partners with Forsyth Humane Society, a local non-profit animal rescue organization.
MWF 9:00 - 9:50
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section RR
PARADISE CREATED? BALI AND THE TOURISTIC IMAGINATION
Professor Elizabeth Clendinning, Department of Music
Stunning beaches, mystical mountains, and remote jungle temples: Instagram images of Bali are an invitation to the exotic. Yet, the story of the “real” Bali beyond the images is even more complicated and fascinating. In this course, we consider inseparable intersections between Balinese Hindu belief, the performing arts, politics, and nature alongside the construction of the island’s dominant economic force, the tourist industry. Classes combine seminar-style discussion with applied music making, dance, and other hands-on activities.
WF 9:30 - 10:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section S
FAITH AND DOUBT
Professor Melissa Jenkins, Department of English
One of the most famous poems of the Victorian age, Alfred Tennyson’s In Memoriam, was a constant presence on the bedside table of Queen Victoria, as she mourned the death of her husband. In spite of her confidence that the poem offered a consoling vision of life after death – “Next to the Bible, In Memoriam is my comfort,” she wrote in her diary – other readers saw more darkness than light. Modernist poet T.S. Eliot said, by contrast, “In Memoriam can, I think, justly be called a religious poem, but for another reason than that which made it seem religious to his contemporaries. It is not religious because of the quality of its faith, but because of the quality of its doubt.” This seminar investigates cultural artifacts that, as with In Memoriam, force readers to grapple with the relationship between faith and doubt. A first-year seminar is the perfect setting to begin these important conversations. You have had a semester to discover that Wake Forest, with its Baptist past and pluralistic future, does not always succeed in respecting a wide array of faith systems and beliefs. Now, we can use this academic space to think about how we can make a difference. Assignments encourage outreach into the larger campus community. My training is in literature, so some of the course texts will be poems, fiction, and creative non-fiction. We will use these works to gain skills in close reading and textual analysis. Other course readings will be in the fields of sociology, religion, philosophy, history, and the natural sciences. Together, the readings supplement the Writing across the Disciplines learning goals and objectives of the WRI111 seminars.
MWF 10:00 - 10:50
Section SS
LITERATURE AND POPULAR CULTURE IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA
Professor Peter Knapczyk, Middle East & South Asia Studies Program
This course examines the popular culture of modern India and Pakistan by focusing on fiction, poetry, television, and film. Students will investigate how examples of popular culture reflect and influence ideals and tensions in contemporary South Asian society, including issues such as majoritarianism and nationalist politics, communalism, gender and sexuality, and the tensions between traditional society and globalization.
TR 12:30 - 1:45
Section T
TO CURATE
Professor Andrew Gurstelle, Department of Anthropology
We live in a “curated” world, where everything from children’s toys, pastries, athletic shoes, and transformative experiences are gathered into “collections” and marketed to us. But beyond its expanded use as a fancy word for “organize” or “select,” where does the concept of curating come from? What does it mean to curate an exhibition in a museum, from objects in its collection? In this course, through both research and experiential learning, you’ll discover the deliberate and specific process of museum curating, culminating with an exhibition you will create with your fellow students.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section U
SPORTS AND SOCIETY
Professor Adam Kadlac, Department of Philosophy
Sports occupy an inordinate amount of our time and attention, but we often approach sports uncritically, whether as a participant on the field of play or a fan watching games on television. We play sports and we watch sports because we enjoy them. But we do not often think about why we do these things, whether they are really worth doing, or how these activities relate to other pursuits we take to be important. This course takes a critical approach to sports and examines the role that sports play in our lives, both as participants and as spectators.
MW 2:00 - 3:15
Section W
THRIVE: CREATING A LIFE OF POSITIVE WELL-BEING
Professor Allison Forti, Department of Counseling
What makes people happy? Why do some people seem to thrive in life despite their challenging circumstances? This seminar course will seek to answer those questions and more, as students are introduced to the exciting world of strength-based wellness and positive psychology. Students will learn about relevant strength-based concepts including positive emotions, mindfulness, resilience, post-traumatic growth, optimism, positive health, among others. This course will offer the opportunity to engage in lively debate (e.g., Can money buy happiness?) and transformative experiences that, hopefully, will increase students’ ability to thrive at Wake Forest University and beyond.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
Section WW
Section XX
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, UNCIVIL DISCOURSE, AND CENSORSHIP
Professor Winchiat-Lee, Department of Philosophy
In theory, we are all committed to freedom of expression. However, in practice examples abound illustrating the wavering of our commitment over speech we profoundly disagree with, especially if we also find it offensive, demeaning, or, in a broad sense, harmful. This has led to many practices and policies, both in institutions of higher learning and elsewhere in society, that are inconsistent and problematic. This seminar is intended to confront first-year students, as they enter university life, where autonomy, freedom of thought, and open-mindedness are highly valued and considered essential, with the difficult issues concerning freedom of expression, in theory and in practice, on campus and elsewhere in our culture and society at large.
MWF 12:00 - 12:50 (Section WW)
MWF 2:00 - 2:50 (Section XX)
Section X
QUANTUM CHANGE: PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION PHENOM
Professor Mark Scholl, Department of Counseling
Does the self have a true center? What conditions and principles underlie quantum change, as opposed to change that is linear? Breaking bad, as opposed to breaking good? This seminar focuses on the principles and theories of counseling and psychology underlying processes of quantum change. We will examine cases of quantum change from real life and in fiction, in writings and in movies. Students will design and implement a personal change plan.
TR 2:00 - 3:15
Section Y
WORLD WAR II: MEMORY AND MEANING
Professor Susan Rupp, Department of History
This seminar is not designed to provide a comprehensive, general history of the Second World War, but instead focuses on the meaning imparted to the war by those who lived through it as well as subsequent generations. The course begins with a consideration of the war as experienced and recalled by contemporaries, including the distinctive experiences of soldiers in battle, those on the home front, and perpetrators and victims of the Holocaust. In the latter weeks of the semester, we will examine the ways in which the war has been understood in the nearly eighty years since its conclusion. These sources, taken together, may contribute to a greater appreciation of the war’s varied and contested meanings.
TR 9:30 - 10:45
Section Z
THEATRE ALIVE!
Professor J. K. Curry, Department of Theatre & Dance
The FYS will explore dramatic writing and theatrical production through study of plays included in the current WFU theatre season. Students will examine the process of creating, and the artistic choices involved in, the University Theatre’s productions. Student participation will include discussion, written production responses, oral presentations, and scene performances.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
The professor for this course will also serve as lower-division adviser for students enrolled. Registration is limited.
Section TT
CURRENT ISSUES IN SPORTS AND EXERCISE
Professor Ted Eaves, Department of Health & Exercise Science
This course examines the issues that affect the fields of sports and exercise in the 21st century.
TR 2:00 - 3:15
Section UU
THE CULTURE OF YOUTH SPORTS
Professor Abbie Wrights, Department of Health & Exercise Science
This FYS course will discuss, critically appraise, and debate the culture of American youth sports. This will include disparities in youth sports, the impact of sports participation on the wellbeing of both child and family, as well as the impact on society. You will be given various opportunities to develop both your written and oral communication skills. These are foundational skills that will continue to develop throughout your college experience. The primary course format will be discussion-based, small group work, and project-based learning. Curiosity, openness, respect for others, desire for personal growth, and willingness to learn are all vital attributes to a successful learning experience.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
Section VV
POVERTY AND PROSPERITY: INEQUALITY IN WINSTON-SALEM
Professor Megan Manassah, Department of Economics
This course offers an introduction to basic theories and contemporary debates about communities experiencing economic inequality. Specific topics include intergenerational and concentrated poverty, historical impacts of segregation and city planning on economic inequality and a deep look at our local community of Winston-Salem as a living case study for these topics.
MW 12:30 - 1:45
Section ZZ
BLACK LIVES MATTER AND THE ACADEMY
Professor Daniel Henry, African American Studies Program
Black Lives Matter, and the broader Movement for Black Lives, is arguably the most prominent and generative U.S. social movement of the past four decades. It is also in many respects the expression of, and a crucial contribution to, centuries-long African American political and intellectual traditions. This course focuses on the philosophy of BLM and its significance for Black Studies. We will trace some of the intellectual currents and historical voices informing the BLM movement, as well as its own significance as an intellectual, moral, and political force. Students in this class will gain an introduction to the craft of research, writing in-depth on a key policy demand of their choice from the Movement for Black Lives’ “Vision for Black Lives” policy platforms. Guiding our efforts will be the persistent question of what it could mean for Black lives to matter and the foundational transformations, both national and international, this necessitates.
TR 3:30 - 4:45
Section AAA
LEADERSHIP: ESSENTIALLY SIMPLE, YET A LIFELONG STUDY
Professor Buz Moser, Department of Military Science
Do you have the essential skills, flexibility and resiliency to be a successful first-time supervisor? Do you understand what it truly takes to effectively lead and build a strong and built-to-last team? Those answers typically come from honest self-awareness as well as having a firm grasp of the cornerstones of solid leadership. In this seminar you'll first learn about your own relative strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies as a leader and team-builder in a wide range of areas. Along the way, we'll discuss several basic leadership models. In the end, through hands-on exercises and dynamic discussions and interviews with proven leaders in the worlds of business, politics, sports and the military, you'll craft your own leadership style and develop your first-draft personal leadership philosophy.
TR 11:00 - 12:15