First Year Seminar

Entering college is an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. There are many depictions of college on TV, film, and other media that shape students perspective of what college will be like, and what it means to  be successful in college. In this first-year seminar, students will explore topics related to college success, retention, motivation, and many more through the lens of popular shows and movies. Students will develop reading, communication, research, writing, and editing/revision skills through multiple research assignments, presentations, and discussions.

This course studies great questions in the fields of philosophy, politics, and economics. Questions include the meaning of life, the existence of God and free will, the meaning of justice and the rule of law, and justifications for and criticisms of a free market economy. Enrolled Presidential Fellows students are encouraged but not required to participate in the Great Questions Presidential Track. The course is not limited to Presidential Fellows and is open to all interested students. Special guests will enrich the educational experience.

Gamblers, Trickers, Actors, and Sinners: Seeing the World Through the Theatrical "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, scene 7 Can watching Hamlet influence an audience to murder their parents? Does dancing inevitably lead to sexual intimacy? Will watching Harry Potter lead children to practice witchcraft? Does celebrating Christmas with presents and singing make a mockery of the religious basis of the day? Was the Declaration of Independence meant to be a performed script? Writers, philosophers, and scholars throughout history have crafted strong arguments both for the seduction and dangers of entertainments like theatre, dancing, gambling, and holiday celebrations, as well as for the inherent importance of the theatricality of life. This seminar invites students to explore the world through the lenses of theatricality and anti-theatricality using a variety of readings, lively class discussion, written response, and an original research paper and presentation, as we consider the importance of performance and play in our everyday lives.

This FYS will begin by showing students how the future was imagined by writers, artists, and social and natural scientists from around the start of the 20th century through the 1980s, then will shift to an examination of how "the future" has been made into reality in recent decades (such as the virtual/augmented reality "metaverse" and service robots), and finally will ask students to themselves "imagine the future" looking forward - engaging their creativity about how the world might evolve over the course of their lifetimes. It will link creative imaging of the future with social science research and planning for future world challenges such as conducted by the US government's National Intelligence Council, which publishes the open-source Global Trends report on principal expected world challenges twenty years ahead.

The course will introduce students to the period of late 18^th Century and early 19^th Century English Literature known as the Romantic Period. William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats will be the writers included. 

“Cinematic Politics” explores how fictional political films can help us to better understand the complex relationship between media, society, and American politics.  From dystopian thrillers to political dramas, we will investigate how these fictional narratives reflect and amplify societal fears, desires, and beliefs about our politics.  Students will critically assess how these portrayals shape public perceptions of power, governance, and justice, while also considering the role of entertainment in influencing political discourse and behavior. Through discussions, screenings, and analysis, students will gain a deeper understanding of how fiction can both critique and reinforce political attitudes.

This course will explore the “Blue Humanities,” an interdisciplinary course that intersects the aquatic, the marine, Atlantic and maritime history and the aesthetic. Students will begin with excerpts of Rachel Carson’s “The Sea Around Us,” and consider the sea as a site as both the beginning of history but also the site of modernity with the realities of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. We will think about how humans have integrated with the ocean in the past and present, reading popular novels, environmentalist studies and lesser-known accounts of pirates and port-city poets. The final unit will take the students to the Chesapeake Bay, as we sail across the Atlantic together over the course of the class. 

How do we really know what we know? In this first-year seminar, you'll dive into the world of information access and power, exploring how knowledge itself is shaped by who controls it and the way in which we derive meaning and shape our identities with it. From academic paywalls to digital censorship, we'll examine the hidden barriers that determine who gets to know what in our modern world. Through engaging with both historical and contemporary thinkers, from John Stuart Mill's foundational work on freedom of thought to bell hooks' insights on education and power, you'll uncover how access to information profoundly impacts people's lives, careers and social mobility. You'll explore Miranda Fricker's groundbreaking work on epistemic injustice and Audre Lorde's perspectives on silence and voice in knowledge-making. You'll become an active participant in contributing to available knowledge by researching, writing, and editing Wikipedia articles, experiencing firsthand the complexities of knowledge creation and distribution. By the end of this course, you'll understand not only how information access shapes our world but also how you can participate in making knowledge more accessible to all.

While early video games like Pong and Tetris are mechanically simple and practically empty of story, more recent games have developed into intricate non-linear stories with complex systems. Video games carry the burden and expectation of other media in terms of their place in society. How have movements like Gamergate, Child’s Play, and Game Jams changed the way games are made and played? How do the people who play these games engage with their stories? How do the creators of these video games use authorial narrative tools to give their players an intended experience? In this course, we will explore the narrative expression of video games through framing concepts such as of the gendered gaze, ludology, narrative voice, player agency, cheating, and death, among others.

Are we free? What does it mean to have free will, and why does it matter? This First-Year Seminar explores the timeless philosophical problem of free will, a question that connects deeply to moral responsibility, legal accountability, self-development, and well-being. Students will examine key positions in contemporary philosophy, such as compatibilism and incompatibilism, as well as concepts like determinism and the theory of alternative possibilities. Through analyzing arguments and counterarguments, students will develop critical thinking skills to understand, evaluate, and imagine solutions to these enduring questions. The course also explores contributions from science—quantum mechanics, neuroscience, and social psychology—to see how empirical findings inform this ongoing debate. By the end of the course, students will formulate their own views on free will and learn how to apply these ideas to personal growth, academic challenges, and future careers.

What is the point of having 'good' manners, and what are the consequences (if any) of having 'bad' manners? Do manners even matter anymore? We might wonder what purpose it serves to hold a door open for someone, choose the right fork at dinner, or wear black at a funeral. Nevertheless, as a society, we invest great value in these seemingly minor elements of dress, gesture, and speech. These codes of conduct regulate our behavior, maintain group cohesion, and exclude outsiders. Our goal this semester will be to decide whether manners ultimately benefit society or inhibit personal freedom. To achieve our aim, we will read fiction from America between 1875-1925, a time of incredible economic, racial, and gendered change. During this time, the literary genre of the 'novel of manners' saw a resurgence in popularity. Reading stories by Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, and Edith Wharton will illustrate how ambition can catapult some people to the highest ranks of society, while a single misstep may mean social catastrophe. Throughout the semester we will play and practice with manners both good and bad and you'll answer for yourself: do manners even matter?

Do you know for sure if a paper is written by a human or ChatGPT? Does your professor? Is Grammarly cheating? In this class, we will use information literacy tools to examine the heart and soul of writing. Students will discuss and debate AI use and the ethics of AI in academics. Students will write and review papers written by classmates and ChatGPT to determine who wrote the papers using information literacy techniques.

Why do we play video games the way we do and what keeps us coming back? Why do games elicit such strong emotions and why are so many online gaming spaces so toxic? At the end of the day, is gaming a healthy hobby or a destructive vice that encourages our worst impulses? In this class, we will think critically about these kinds of questions from a psychological perspective. Through readings, group and solo video game play, class discussions, writing assignments, presentations, and independent research projects, students will dive into the psychology of video games and what lasting impacts gaming has on our brains and society.  

Homer to Percy Jackson: Greek and Roman Mythology and Its Adaptations This course explores the rich literary and cultural heritage of Greek and Roman mythology, focusing on Homer's Odyssey and Ovid's Metamorphoses, as well as connecting those stories to modern adaptations, including everything from the children's book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, to Disney's film Hercules, to the webcomic Lore Olympus, to M. NourbeSe Philips' poetry, to Madeleine Miller's novel Circe. The class will culminate in a research project on a modern adaptation of a mythological story, considering how these heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses, villains and ordinary mortals are depicted and reimagined today to address our own versions of enduring dilemmas and challenges that all humans face.