Winter 2008 DHC Freshman
Seminars
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
Historical Films as Learning Tools
Francisco Samaniego
FRS 02-29 (2 Units) T 6:40-9:00 pm 25 Wellman
Two well-known approaches to the making of a film based
on historical fact are (1) the writing of a piece of historical
fiction which interweaves known facts about a character
or event with plausible conjectures about relevant conversations,
intervening events, motivation and hypothesized relationships,
and (2) the development of a documentary whose aim is to
relate a collection of facts. Both approaches have potential
biases (largely associated with the film-maker’s point
of view and his/her selection of content). But one can learn
a remarkable amount from films of this sort. It is unfortunate
that this source of information on a subject or event is
often the viewer’s primary or only reference point
on the matter. This seminar is meant to explore six particular
films and to provide students with guidance on an auxiliary
research project meant to complement and complete one of
the “histories” they have viewed. The films
selected will include two documentaries and four popular
films. All six are biographies of “famous people”
and give a strong profile of the individual portrayed and
their life and times. Each student will select one of the
individuals among the six and will explore library and other
resources with the aim of providing a more complete and
accurate portrait. The six people whom we will study form
a diverse group of prominent individuals whose interests
and accomplishments range from music to politics and from
science to moral leadership. Each student will submit a
typed 1000-word essay (term paper) on the eighth and last
class meeting, the aim of which is to give a complete and
balanced account of the individual’s life and, very
importantly, “to tell the class something they don’t
already know.”
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
Creativity and Consciousness: Contemplation,
Reflection, Action
Barbara Sellers-Young
FRS 01-22 (1 Unit) R 5:10-6:00 pm 115 Wright,
Lab B
This seminar uses heightened states of conscious awareness
to renew one’s engagement and dynamism in life through
contact with a core of internal awareness. A fundamental
tenet of the course is that knowledge is the result of the
experience of the body/mind and thus an individual’s
physical, emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic being.
The seminar is focused on a systematic experience of different
methods of deep focus including sitting, walking, sounding,
and internal imaging. The goal of the seminar is to heighten
an experience of intrinsic self and bring increased focus,
clarity, creativity and critical insight into the educational
process. Each class will consist of a contemplative practice
in combination with a discussion of weekly reading assignments.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
Poetry by Heart
John Boe
FRS 01-21 (1 Unit) R 2:10-3:00 pm 565 Kerr
Hall
This course will return to the way poetry has been taught
for most of history, memorization (as opposed to analysis).
For each class each student will be required to have memorized
a poem, a poetic passage, or short poems of twelve or more
lines. Class will consist of reciting the poetry (twice,
since, as Robert Bly taught me, a recited poem is always
understood better the second time around) and (time permitting)
talking about the poem (specifically about what the reciter
and the rest of the class liked about it). The goal of the
course is to increase appreciation of poetry by memorizing
it, by learning it by heart (as opposed to analyzing it
by head).
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
How to Conduct a Survey
Christiana Drake
FRS 01-22 (1 Unit) T 3:10-4:00 pm 1143
MathSci
The seminar will teach students the basics of conducting
a survey and interpreting the data from a survey. Students
will need to develop questionnaires to obtain data. They
will furthermore learn how to design and take a representative
sample, the practical aspects of data collection and how
to process data electronically and summarize and interpret
simple statistics. There will be weekly assignments, individual
assignments and group assignments. Individual assignments
will written, group assignments will be oral and written.
Students will be asked to produce a final report summarizing
their finding.
The survey topic will be the students’ choice.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
American Image Around the World
Krishnan Nambiar
FRS 02-30 (2 Units) T 10:00-11:50am 565
Kerr Hall
In this seminar we will explore the issues that shape the
American image abroad. We will look at the effects of what
we do on the lives of others around the world and how it
shapes their opinion of us. We will examine various aspects
such as culture, economics, religion, politics, role of
media, entertainment, globalization etc.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
The Crusades: Muslim and Christian Views
Kevin Roddy
FRS 04-23 (2 Units) M 10:00-11:50am 308
Voorhies
One of the most difficult barriers to closer Middle-Eastern
and Western relations has been a completely divergent view
of the Crusader period (1095-1297). While the concept of
the Crusades in the West has undergone considerable revision,
the word “crusader” still engenders positive
connotations. Not so in the Middle East, where it is associated
with Western expansionism, economic exploitation, and persecution.
So a basically benign term as used in the West becomes a
contemptible, repugnant name to millions of people on the
other side of the globe. This freshman seminar seeks to
explore the various source texts, Muslim, Christian, and
Jewish, that explain this disparity. However, it has as
a deeper objective an understanding of the Crusader period
as it actually was, taking into account not only the intermittent
warfare, but also the prolonged periods of peace and—surprisingly
enough—peaceful coexistence.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
The Prevalence, Character, and Consequence of
Competition in Society
Kimberlee Shauman
FRS 01-23 (1 Unit) R 9:00-9:50am 2234 SocSci
This course will examine the role that competition plays
in our society. We will begin by considering various definitions
of competition and questions about its role in human society
by reading and discussing the work of social theorists who
have asked: Is competition inevitable, moral, or efficient?
Next, we will consider alternatives to competition and then
we will draw on literature from psychology, economics, sociology
and other fields to identify the many forms that competition
takes, from that occurring at the level of cells, animals
and persons to that occurring among organizations and nations.
The remainder of the course will be devoted to the consideration
of the role competition plays in our families, education
system, and medical care. This seminar has three goals for
student learning. First, the readings and seminar discussion
will aim to increase student awareness of the pervasiveness
of competition in our society, the consequences of competition
for individuals and society, and alternatives to competition
as a component of social life. Second, the course will provide
the students with a critical lens that they can apply to
their studies in any field. Third, the course content will
arm the students with new ways of understanding their own
conduct at all levels of society – interpersonal,
in small groups, in their classes and the university community,
etc.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
Alternative Sources of Energy
Mani Tripathi
FRS 01-24 (1 Unit) T 3:10-4:00pm 432 Physics/Geology
This course will evaluate the existing and proposed technologies
that promise to provide large-scale consumable energy and
act as alternatives to fossil fuels. The feasibility of
each technology will be examined with the view of its scalability
and costs, in particular the cost to the consumer in the
absence of subsidies. I will attempt to clear some popular
myths, such as the belief that "hydrogen is a source
of energy" as opposed to being a mere repository of
energy not dissimilar from a car battery. We will also evaluate
the environmental impacts of these technologies, especially
in light of carbon emissions. The seminar's goal in terms
of teaching techniques will be to apply the DHC method of
self-directed study to this 1-unit seminar. Students will
be provided some reading materials by the instructor but
they will be required to assemble their own reading lists
by researching the topic. The instructor will lead the discussion
in the classroom but student participation will be strongly
encouraged, ultimately leading to debates initiated by the
students themselves. Critical thinking will be nurtured
via the process of "peer-group questioning".
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
Physical Culture Methods for Stress Management
Lynette Hunter
FRS 02-31 (2 Units) M 12:10-2:00pm Wright
Hall, Lab B
For the past thirteen years I have been extending my performance
work by training in a traditional Chinese Physical Culture
(CPC) program accredited by the Chinese Wushu Association.
This CPC program offers a syllabus unique to most other
Anglo-American systems of traditional Chinese training in
performance skills, in that the syllabus is exceptionally
broad and includes work on movement, dance, breath, voice,
energy, interaction, choreography, and is combined with
training in a western coaching curriculum that addresses
the key fields in sports education to do with musculature,
body alignment, nutrition and psychology. This course is
offered as an opportunity to explore the impact of Chinese
physical culture and to develop ways of talking about its
contribution to knowledge. The traditional knowledge system
that it employs poses specific questions for western academic
understanding of ‘knowledge,’ the first and
foremost being that traditional knowledge is acquired by
practice rather than memorization and conceptual analysis.
Other aspects include its emphasis on doing rather than
speaking, and its focus on interaction and collaborative
rather than individual work.
Freshman Seminar (FRS)
The Poetics of Design
D.R. Wagner
FRS (2 Units) MW 12:10-1:00pm 116 Veihmeyer
This seminar will take an in depth look at the formal and
informal relationships between poetry, music and design
by comparing and contrasting various constraints associated
with the design process. The seminar will consist of poetry
readings, videos, some musical performance and study of
the principles of design and creativity.
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