2013-2014 FYEC Course Descriptions
FYEC 113-114 – Identity I & II: Me, Myself, and I; We, You, and Them - In this course students will study the psychology of the self in social contexts and examine the nature of theatre and acting. Students will study how individuals think about, influence, and relate to one another and also survey dramatic literature, explore mask work, and perform scenes. In a culminating project, the students will be challenged to come to terms with the origins and nature of identity. Disciplines: Drama and Psychology. Four hours each semester. J. Mattys and Klaaren.
FYEC221-222 Creation: Before and After - Human beings have been obsessed with many questions about themselves and the world around them, such as “Why does the world looks and function the way it does?” How did we get here?” “Who do we blame for the bits that don’t work?” This course is the platform for an examination of these two diametrically opposed yet contemporaneous ways of thinking. The Before section (3hours) will examine the mythical explanations of how life might have originated on our planet and the After section (4 hours) will explore the current principal scientific theories regarding how life might have originated on our planet, and the theory of evolution by natural selection. Disciplines: Biology and Literature. Falls and Daugherty
FYEC 237-238 – Ethics and Capitalism: Morality, Society and Wealth - This course will explore capitalism and the complex interrelationship between capitalist enterprises, labor, government, and society as they have developed over time. Students will read differing perspectives from multiple philosophers about the nature of society, property, wealth and the role of government; as well as historical perspectives on capitalism and labor. Perspectives as diverse as those of Ann Rand and Karl Marx will be explored and discussed as they relate to the growth of capitalism as the dominant economic system in the U.S. and to the effects that capitalism has had on society over the course of the nation's history. Disciplines: Business and Philosophy. Four hours each semester. Showalter and Gray.
FYEC 257-258 Cultural Differences: Understanding and Navigating the Diversity that Enriches and Divides Us - This course will explore the ways in which people of this world, nation, and region differ in terms of their biology, anthropology, and communication. This course pairing will focus broadly on human cultural diversity, while addressing in particular issues of cross-cultural communication, (mis-)perception and prejudice, and conflict and conflict resolution. Our overarching goal is three-fold: 1) to teach our students the scholarship on these issues; 2) to air and explore these issues intellectually and emotionally; 3) to model and teach new methods – primarily “sustained dialogue groups”—designed to enhance students’ ability to address conflict and prejudice by learning communication and facilitation skills themselves. Disciplines: Sociology and Communication. Four hours each semester. London and Merrill
FYEC 259-260 Staging a Revolution - This course examines many of the revolutionary social movements that have shaped our times from two perspectives: the study of the communication dynamics that launched and sustained such movements, and the study of theatre as a vehicle that reflected the movements and often spurred them forward. Among the topics considered in the course will be civil rights, gender equity, workers' rights, and environmental awareness. This year-long, interleaved course will culminate in students writing and producing their own piece of political theatre. Disciplines: Drama and Communication. Four hours each semester. M. Mattys and Sheckels
FYEC 261-262 Resistance and Perseverance: African American Identities in Art and Literature from the Civil War to Civil Rights - By exploring two diverse, but often complimentary creative traditions, those of literature and the visual arts, students in this course will engage with the problem of race and more specifically of the “black” race in the mind and imagination of African American artists and writers and their audience. Students will interrogate definitions of racial identities in the works of major and minor African American artists and writers and explore the significance and influence of those definitions within the socio-cultural and political realities in the United States from the 1850’s to the 21st century. Disciplines: Art History and English. Four hours each semester. Terrono and Haynes
FYEC 263-264 Woulda Coulda Shoulda: Minding Altruism - Are you sometimes selfish? Is this normal, even inevitable, or do people act selflessly sometimes? In this course, we will examine both philosophical and psychological accounts of altruism and individualism. Classroom work involves readings, small group discussion and written analyses. Work outside the classroom involves service learning in the Ashland community. Students will integrate work inside and outside the classroom in a culminating group project due at the end of the spring term. Disciplines: Philosophy and Psychology. Four hours each semester. Turney and Hughes
FYEC 265-266 Global Warming: Fact or Fiction? - In this course, students will link topics in the natural sciences (atmospheric science, geology, environmental science, and hydrology) to those in the social sciences (policy analysis, the nature of social problems, and social entrepreneurship) to determine if global warming is real or not and what to do about it. Specifically, students will evaluate the science behind climate change, assess the role of humans’ ability to modify natural climatic systems, evaluate the government’s policy responses to environmental problems, and develop a group project that offers innovative responses to climate change. Disciplines: Environmental Studies and Political Science. Four hours each semester. Fenster and Meagher.
FYEC 267-268 Art, War, Holocaust: German and Russian Culture, 1914-1945 - This course explores the period between the two World Wars (1914-1945) and the Holocaust. We will examine artistic and literary developments in Germany during World War I and the Weimar Republic, Interwar Austria, and early Soviet Russia as well as in Nazi Germany, and we will explore how artists tried to depict the Holocaust. Students will study visual and literary arts, as well as film from this period, and students will create their own artwork within the styles of this period. Disciplines: Studio Art and Literature. Four hours each semester. Latané and Moser
FYEC 269-270 Unhealthy Globe: People, Disease, and Policy - Why do some groups of people suffer from particular diseases while other populations do not? Using biological, epidemiological, and anthropological approaches, this course introduces students to infectious and chronic illnesses around the globe. We will focus on understanding the social conditions and biological mechanisms that produce poor health, as well as assessing and developing policies used to improve global health. Case studies will include malaria, cholera, HIV/AIDS, cancer, obesity, and issues in maternal and child health. Disciplines: Sociology and Biology. Four hours each semester. Nichols-Belo and Gubbels-Bupp
FYEC271-272 Harry’s Henchman: How Henry VIII Got Rid of His First Two Wives - This course takes us through the volatile and complicated English Reformation of Henry VIII, guided by the historical fiction of award-winning author Hilary Mantel. Mantel’s novels, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies form the bedrock of this exploration of the sexual, political and religious controversies of the 1520s and 30s in England. Using both primary and secondary sources, students will become active members in Henry’s court and players in this Tudor “game of thrones.” Disciplines: History and Literature. Four hours each semester. Throckmorton and Scott
FYEC273-274 What’s Behind the Book? The Technologies of Reading & Self Expression - This course will explore the ways in which concepts like author, audience, reading, and writing have changed with advances in technology, which created new modes of delivery, from oral performance, manuscripts, printed books, magazines, paperbacks, blogs, tweets, Facebook pages, to e-books. In this course students will be reading, writing, and creating texts, drawing from the history of the production of manuscripts to e-books and social media Disciplines: Literature and Computer Science. Four hours each semester. Goodwin and Leska