Spring 2010
FRESHMAN SEMINAR PROGRAM
UNCG College of Arts and Sciences
Marker Abbreviations:
WI: Writing Intensive
SI: Speaking Intensive
GL: Global Perspectives
GN: Global Non-Western
Perspectives
These seminars are open only to students who will be freshmen in the Spring 2010 semester. For the most current information including location of
the class, see UNCGenie on the web: www.uncg.edu. (TBA means To Be Announced) We encourage students not to sign up for a seminar without
first reading the course description and not to sign up for more than one seminar. Talk with your advisor about registering for a seminar. A more
in depth description of the class is available on the web at http://www.uncg.edu/aas/fms .
REASONING AND DISCOURSE II
Also carries credit equivalent to ENG 102. You may not receive credit for both FMS 116 and ENG 102.
Course
GEC category: GRD
Days/Time/Place
Course Title/Description
Instructor
FMS
116-01
SI
T, R
9:30-10:45a.m.
TBA
Mary Beth
Pennington
FMS
116-02
SI
T, R
11:00-12:15 p.m.
TBA
FMS
116-03
SI
T, R
3:30-4:45 p.m.
TBA
The Function of “Community” in the Human Experience. This course explores how we define the slippery
term, “community” by examining the rhetoric of the concept in several different areas including religion,
agriculture, on-line spaces, gender, race, region, and more. What is the individual’s responsibility to the
whole? The whole’s responsibility to the individual? These inquiries will enable students to not only hone
their critical analysis skills but also learn to more effectively communicate and persuade in multiple contexts,
though primarily in the academic realm. Students will challenge their own ideas about community’s use,
purpose, and enactment as they continually test them against multiple theories in philosophical and
sociological theory, non-fiction essays, film, ethnography, and more. The class will rhetorically analyze these
texts and offer critiques of the arguments presented through weekly writing assignments and classroom
discussion. The course will culminate in a 10 minute presentation and a 5 page research paper based on an
individual inquiry about community in a specific, perhaps even local, context.
Everyday Thinking: Reading Ourselves, Reading Our World. In this seminar we will explore how to do
epistemology, a fancy word that refers to the construction of knowledge and an important concept that links
reason (how we think) to discourse (how we communicate). Specifically, we will explore various texts in the
history of philosophy to help us identify how we think and interact with others in the world. Moreover, and
most importantly, every week we will turn to current events and contemporary debates to better understand
why our thinking about thinking matters in practical, real-world ways. The assignments in the course will
primarily be autobiographical, which is to say students will compose various documents that explore personal
beliefs, ethics, and worldviews. Since this is a speaking-intensive course, students will also give both formal
and informal presentations based on their writing and reflection. In addition, throughout the course we will
consider what it means to be a speaker/discourser and how to effectively navigate public spaces like the
classroom.
Everyday Thinking: Reading Ourselves, Reading Our World.
See FMS 116-02 for course description
LITERATURE
Course
William
Duffy
William
Duffy
GEC category: GLT
Days/Time/Place
Course Title/Description
Instructor
Elizabeth I: Identities and Representations. Although Queen Elizabeth I died over 400 years ago, the story
of her life continues to captivate and inspire generations. The Queen’s enormous popularity in her era, fueled
by the stability she brought to England, resulted in a proliferation of literature and art that addressed the
Queen. This writing intensive seminar examines representations of Elizabeth I in literature, art and film in
conjunction with writings of the Queen herself. In looking at these textual relationships, we will explore how
early modern artists used their crafts to construct a particular English identity through representations of the
Virgin Queen.
Monsters. Society’s fascination with supernatural/preternatural “monsters” has made them part of
mainstream culture, crossing genres and demographics. Beginning with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and
ending with the simultaneous reading of Pride and Prejudice and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, our
course will investigate this fascination and the appeal of these monster (and monster-ized) stories. This
process will hone students’ critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. At course’s end, students will be able
to critically examine a text and its context, in addition to extending the skills of “literary analysis” to nonliterary topics and ideas.
The Other Side of the Coin: Money and its Perversions in French Literature. This seminar will focus on an
historical range of texts dealing with money and its perverse role in society. We will begin by inquiring about
the importance and the place of money in society, and its representation in art, from Dutch masters to
contemporary painters.
Magical Realism and the Politics of Dissent. The term "magical realism" describes a literary mode in which
authors incorporate elements of the fantastic in literary representations of the ostensible "real world." In this
course, we will read works by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, Alejo Carpentier, Gioconda Belli, and
Jorge Luis Borges and inquire: what type of political work, if any, might this type of writing do? What are
the historical conditions that inspired this style of writing? What are the possibilities and limitations of
literature in effecting change in the political world? These are some of the questions we will explore
throughout the course of the semester. Written assignments will include analyses of literature and films with
a culminating research project that considers the sociopolitical and historical backgrounds of these
writers' works.
Stories of Friendship. It is probable that in college you learn as much from friends as from courses. So this
class will study patterns of friendship using philosophers, films, and especially novels. These latter will be A
Separate Peace (Knowles), A Thousand Splendid Suns (Hosseini), The Alchemist (Coehlo), and The Bean
Trees (Kingsolver). Films will include The Third Man, Monsieur Ilbrahim, Water, and Motorcycle Diaries.
Set in the U.S., Afghanistan, Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, South America, and India, these dramatize how
Kimberly
Reigle
FMS
120-01
WI
T, R
12:30-1:45 p.m.
TBA
FMS
120-02
WI
T, R
2:00-3:15 p.m.
TBA
FMS
121-02
WI
T, R
9:30-10:45a.m.
TBA
FMS
122-01
WI
GN
T, R
11:00-12:15 p.m.
TBA
FMS
122-02
WI
GN
T, R
3:30-4:45 p.m.
Mary Foust 128
Laurie
Lyda
Bertrand
Landry
Rae Ann
Meriwether
Fran
Arndt
cultural, religious, economic, sexual, and political differences in the world affect friendships as well as how
such ties overcome some of these differences.
This class is cross-listed with Residential College; 11 spaces are reserved for Residential College.
GEC category: GFA
FINE ARTS
Course
Days/Time/Place
Course Title/Description
Instructor
FMS
130-01
WI
SI
T, R
11:00-12:15 p.m.
Mary Foust 128
Marc
Williams
FMS
130-02
WI
T, R
2:00-3:15 p.m.
STAC 204
Theatre Now. What is the state of Theatre in our community? This course will examine live theatre
production in Greensboro as a way of understanding contemporary trends and issues in theatre. Students
enrolled in this class will attend productions of plays being presented on campus during the semester.
Productions we may see include: The Seagull, Wiley and the Hairy Man, Balm in Gilead, Picasso at the
Lapin Agile, and Bus Stop. In preparation for attending these productions, we will read and discuss the
scripts and investigate the history of the works we are about to see. Students will develop an understanding of
theatre production and performance through class discussions, activities, lectures, and research projects.
This class is cross-listed with Residential College; 11 spaces are reserved for Residential College.
Classical Architecture and Classicisms. All around us in today's United States are buildings that offer us a
means to travel back to the remote past. This seminar will examine the architectural styles of ancient Greece
and Rome and the architectural inspiration that other cultures and other centuries have derived from those
sources. The student will gain a useful familiarity with the original principles of classical architecture and the
stylistic versions and their cultural meanings that have shaped subsequent environments.
PHILOSOPHICAL, RELIGIOUS, AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
Course
FMS
142-01
WI
GN
Course Title/Description
Instructor
T, R
2:00-3:15 p.m.
TBA
Japanese Religions: From Anime to Zen. Surveys show that in Japan most people do not consider
themselves religious, yet the cities are full of temples and shrines, the calendar has plenty of festival days, and
many people have some kind of charm clipped to their handbag, mobile phone or briefcase. This seminar
assumes that religion has played and still plays a major role in Japanese culture, but we may need to rethink
what “religion” is, especially in the case of Japan. So we will read not only about Zen but also about baseball,
and we will work with a variety of materials including literature, film, and comics. When examining these
various genres, we will explore major issues and themes within the diverse religious cultures of Japan
Beverly
Foulks
Course Title/Description
Instructor
A Novel Approach to American Women's History. Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a woman in
the middle 19th and early 20th Centuries in the US ? What were their lives like - bound by all those clothes,
inhibited by Victorian morality, limited by laws and customs? Using historical novels and additional
readings, we will examine women who were trapped in the culture and women who challenged the status quo
and contributed to the beginnings of what we call the women's movements.
Hollywood And History: Truth, Lies, and Videotape. The tragic elements of many eras in American history
are almost irresistible to script writers and producers who make them into big-budget films that often take
huge historical leaps over the real story. Of course, no one expects movie makers to be historians, nor is that
their job, technically—their job is to make good films. Yet the visual images of movies last far longer than
any lecture; the characterizations and plotlines in films persist even over the protests of frustrated historians.
Movies, in reality, represent history for many of us.
This class is cross-listed with Residential College; 11 spaces are reserved for Residential College
Latino Immigrants in U.S. Society. An analysis of Latino immigration to the United States with a special
emphasis on the diversity of the immigration experience by national origin, region of settlement, and gender.
In order to understand this experience, we will pay particular attention to the histories of Latino immigration
to the United States in order to identify similarities between the receptions of Latino immigrant groups and
other immigrants in history. We will also discuss predominant theories of international immigration,
relationships between the historical and contemporary context, immigration policy, and the adaptation of
Latino immigrants in the U.S
Latino Immigrants in U.S. Society.
See FMS 162-01 for course description
Beth
Walker
WI
M,W
2:00-3:15p.m.
TBA
FMS
160-02
WI
M,W,F
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Mary Foust 128
FMS
162-01
WI,
GN
T,R
11:00-12:15p.m.
TBA
FMS
162-02
WI,
GN
T,R
2:00-3:15p.m.
TBA
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL STUDIES
Antonio
de la Cova
GEC category: GSB
Instructor
War and Conflict. It has been estimated that there has been a war somewhere in the world 94% of the time
since the dawn of civilization. Why does mankind periodically organize himself for armed conflict and
warfare? This course will begin by asking these questions and try to answer them through an examination of
the United States’ involvement in war and conflict over the last hundred years.
Building Communities: Leadership, Service, and Society. This course is designed to introduce students to
the behavior of individuals through an exploration of society’s responsiveness to pressing social issues facing
our communities. Students will examine the people, processes, and institutions that are most effective in
improving community conditions.
This course is restricted to residents of the Make a Difference House Program.
The Narration of Healing: Social Science and Storytelling. This course will focus on the historical and
conceptual foundations of the Narrative approach and the different ways the approach is applied within the
different social sciences to promote explanation and healing. Through a focused investigation of the
Narrative approach, students will not only learn about this important and powerful way of understanding
human behavior, they will also learn about the fundamental concepts and defining features of the core social
science disciplines, gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the social sciences,
and gain insight into the complexities and ambiguities of trying to understand and “heal” human behavior.
A. Leigh
Sink
T,R
9:30-10:45a.m.
TBA
FMS
170-02
WI
M,W
3:30-4:45p.m.
TBA
FMS
170-03
WI
SI
SVL
T,R
11:00-12:15p.m.
Grogan
NATURAL SCIENCES: Physical Science
WI
Antonio
de la Cova
Course Title/Description
WI
FMS
184-01
Christine
Flood
Days/Time/Place
FMS
170-01
Course
GEC/CAR category: GHP/GMO
Days/Time/Place
FMS
160-01
Course
GEC category: GPR
Days/Time/Place
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: Modern
Course
Richard
Gantt
Emily
Janke
Love
Crossling
GEC category: GNS/GPA
Days/Time/Place
Course Title/Description
Instructor
M,W
3:30-4:45p.m.
Science in the Media. This course is designed to explore scientific inquiry, methods, and comprehension by
investigating the media and its role in science communication. Many of our perceptions regarding science
come from novels, magazines, documentaries, TV shows, fictional movies, and comic books. This course
will focus on the differences between science communicated through fictional and non-fictional sources, and
through different media formats. By doing so, the student will be also able to understand and outline proper
scientific methods, as well as be able to communicate their ideas effectively in writing.
Yashomati
Patel