Spring 2008/09 Seminar Faculty

Julie & Robert Voelker-Morris

AAD 199 Creative Collaborations

We are interested in the Freshman Seminar program because of the opportunity to interact with first-year students on a regular basis. We find that first years bring an unmatched energy, drive, and eagerness to engage in learning combined with a care and concern for the world in which we live. These qualities are particularly important to collaborative practices and models. As instructors, we will share our collaborative styles while assisting students in developing and practicing their unique styles of collaboration.

Geraldine Moreno-Black

ANTH 199 Consuming Agendas:Food and Society

I enjoy teaching Freshman Seminars because they give me an opportunity to work closely with students and use more nontraditional forms of participating in the learning process. This class, Consuming Agendas, allows me to explore new ways of thinking about my professional interests. Food and the study of how people think about food, produce food, eat and cope with food insecurity and how we can overcome food insecurity are some of my passions. Food is vital to our lives yet we often overlook the impact it has on us. Food is transformative - we ingest it and it becomes part of us. Food is also deeply embedded in our culture - when we consume food we make statements about ourselves, our beliefs, our politics. Eating is a way of establishing physical unity with the environment and fellow humans. The ability of food to move outward from an individual or group and extend a bond through its transference is an attribute widely manipulated in different societies. In this class we will explore some of the social issues and activism relating to the food we eat.

Diane Baxter

ANTH 199 Be an Anthropologist!

Deb Bauer

BA 199 Character in Business

This Freshman Seminar has been developed to help students critically evaluate how character impacts business success. We will explore real world examples of corporate decisions that have had long term effect on business. I look forward to the opportunity to teach this Freshman Seminar and expect a high level of introspective student discussion in the classroom.

Shaul Cohen

GEOG 199 Landscapes of Hollywood

Pat Lombardi & Janice Radcliffe

BI 199 Anatomy, Physiology and Weight Training

Team-teaching this Freshman Seminar, Anatomy, Physiology and Weight Training, is sure to be a fabulous learning experience for all of us. Our time working out in the weight room, immediately followed by either an open discussion of anatomy and physiology or laboratory work, should provide an ideal setting for group interaction and practical application. We are both delighted to be teaching this unique course and look forward to learning much together with our students.

ENG 199 Women's Fiction: Chick Lit Then and Now

Mary-Kate Mackey Edmonston

J 199 Magazine Back Page

The freshman year opens the door into a world of possibilities. Learning to express ideas in the tight form of the short essay gives students thinking and writing tools they can use no matter which academic career path they choose to follow.

I like teaching in the workshop format. As a professional writer, I have found that editing another's work is the quickest way to achieve the discerning skills needed to edit your own. Students will benefit from receiving many different points of view. They will have the freedom to decide which ideas they will use to strengthen their writing.

Galen Martin

PPPM 199 Confronting Consumerism: Beyond Recycling

Learning and teaching are much more than the conveyance of information. We must process the information in meaningful ways. While lectures are an important part of the educational experience, it is through discussion and writing that students develop critical thinking and meaningful interaction with the subject matter. My undergraduate work was carried out in a small liberal arts college where nearly all my classes were seminars. This has instilled in me a deep appreciation for opportunities provided by the Freshman Seminar Program for both students and faculty.

James Schombert

PHYS 199 History of Space Flight

Freshman Seminars give faculty a chance to teach a topic outside the defined curriculum of their various departments.  It gives the chance to take a small topic, perhaps related to the research interests of the faculty member, and present it in the context of the bigger picture being taught in general-education classes.

Teaching the history of space flight gives me a chance to apply my past experiences (employed by NASA) and my personal interest in space flight in a structured environment.  For a research professor, this is a form of critical analysis that could potentially lead to the publication of a research paper or a book.

Elisabeth Marlow

RL 199 The French Mind

It will be with great pleasure that I shall be teaching "The French Mind" for the third time this Spring Term. For many years I have been teaching courses dealing with the great writers and thinkers of France, my country of birth, who have helped shape our modern world. I find it a worthwhile challenge to introduce Freshmen to these creative thinkers who have had such a far reaching influence in all fields of knowledge, such as literature, philosophy, religion, history, education, economics, and political science, as well as all of the other sciences. All in all, it has been rewarding for me to help my students adapt to, and enjoy the university life, while they acquire a broader general education which will facilitate and enhance further studies at the university level

Sandy Bonds

TA 199 Reinventing Yourself

Having taught freshman Seminars for several years, I continue to find pleasure in building on what the students bring to the class and adding to their knowledge in a field where they already hold passionate interests. This year, I am changing the nature of the course from an exploration of the function and aesthetics of contemporary dress to looking into the past for the same qualities. The more we are surrounded by modern technology, the more it appears that we turn to our history for innovation and intrigue. For those who delight in Renaissance Faires and re-enactments, this course will offer a window into the lives of the original residents of these worlds and their attire. We will engage in both scholarly and creative pursuits to re-imagine the past through research and reproduce it with our hands by patterning and sewing authentic garments. 

Mark Watson and Ted Smith

How to do Baseball Research

Pictures coming soon

Raghuveer Parthasarathy

Picture coming soon