The Lenoir-Rhyne Experience for First-Year Students
First Year Seminar Topics and Abstracts
Lenoir-Rhyne University offers its 1st-year students a comprehensive introduction to the Lenoir-Rhyne community. These will combine academic courses on a variety of topics with practical information on the tools you will need to succeed. The list of first-year seminar courses that are available for you in Fall 2012 follows.
- Love, Friendship and The Melting Pot
- Turn that racket down! The Rise & Fall of Rock n' Roll
- Meaning, Values, and Leadership
- To Forgive and Forget?
- Science, Quackery & Truth: A History
- Exploring Appalachia: Coal Tattoos and District 12
- Science of Cooking - Honors Only
- Sex, race, politics, and other "impolite" topics
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Exploring the Issues Around Eating Locallym
- The Happiness Project
- Metaphor, Gender, Race and Texts
- Peer Mentoring: Becoming a Role Model
- So Close and Yet So Far: Mexico and the United States
- Love, Friendship & the Melting Pot
- Doomsday 2012: to be or not to be
- Leadership, Values and Meaning
TBD
Love, Friendship and The Melting Pot
TBD
Luke Benton
Turn that racket down! The Rise & Fall of Rock n' Roll
In this course we will examine the evolution of the modern musical juggernaut known as rock & roll, basing our study not only in the ever-changing music scene, but also in the amorphous social climate that influenced and stimulated every chord and lyric. Our journey will include crooners from the 1920s, ‘30s, & ‘40s; "dangerous" Rhythm & Blues; The King, Elvis Presley; the British Invasion; psychedelic and hippie rockers The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd; the ‘70s rebels Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Marvin Gaye, and Bob Marley; hair bands (Aerosmith, Van Halen) to punk rockers (Ramones, Sex Pistols) from the ‘80s; the Seattle grunge innovators Nirvana and Pearl Jam; modern paradigms DMB, Tool, and System of a Down; as well as post-modern rock bands Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky.
TBD
Meanings, Values, and Leadership
TBD
Mindy Makant
To Forgive and Forget?
Forgive and forget? Turn the other cheek? Seventy times seven? Does forgiveness necessitate forgoing justice? Does forgiveness require reconciliation? What does forgiveness mean? On the one hand, contemporary notions of forgiveness tend to be therapeutic rather than theological. That is, those who have been harmed by another are urged to forgive for the sake of "getting over" the past in order to "move on." On the other hand, Jesus' commandment to forgive has often been, and continues to be, misused by those in positions of power and privilege as a way of maintaining the status quo. In this course we will explore the Christian understanding of forgiveness; we will ask questions about the meaning and limits of forgiveness, and we will consider the imaginative possibilities afforded by a robust and intentional practice of forgiveness. We will engage theologically with a variety of literature - stories of violence and trauma, both fiction and non-fiction - in order explore the themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemption on both a personal and political level.
Paul Custer
Science, Quackery & Truth: A History
An introduction to some of the most important developments in the history of Western science, ranging from Copernicus through to Climate Change. In each case, close attention is paid to fighting that surrounds discovery. Also in each case, the class will undertake an engaged learning activity to illustrate the problems and consequences of re-thinking the natural world around them.
Exploring Appalachia: Coal Tattoos and District 12
In the future country of Panem, the setting for Suzanne Collins' best-selling The Hunger Games trilogy, District 12 is often presented as a region that is inferior, poorly treated, and exploited for its natural resources while its citizens live in poverty. In creating the fictional home of protagonist Katniss Everdeen, Collins draws from the actual history, culture, and geography of Appalachia. In so doing, she creates a contemporary Appalachian heroine and a new sort of Appalachian novel. "Exploring Appalachia: Coal Tattoos and District 12" examines the history, culture, music, and environment of the mountains through the study of The Hunger Games and earlier examples of literature and film about Appalachia.
TBD
Science of Cooking
TBD
Brian Goldsmith
Sex, race, politics, and other "impolite" topics
Some of the most important topics affecting our lives are simply never discussed. We are taught from early adulthood to avoid taboo topics in public. Sadly this means that important issues about sex, race, politics, and religion never discussed in an open and informed manner. These hot button topics end up becoming the fodder of shock jocks-people more interested in driving ratings with inflammatory speech than in understanding and fixing problems. This class will explore these sensitive issues to open up a meaningful conversation among students, and a deeper understanding of these contentious issues.
Erin Seiling
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Exploring the issues around eating locally
Tomatoes in the winter, grapefruit or bananas anytime we like them - these are fruits and veggies in the 21st century. Refrigeration and long-distance transport have allowed us in the U.S. to eat fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, without ever thinking of the hidden costs to society and the environment. Using Barbara Kigsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and other texts, we will attempt to answer the question"What difference does it make it we eat locally?" We will visit local farms, farmers' markets and food production facilities as we explore these topics.
TBD
The Happiness Project
TBD
TBD
Metaphor, Gender, Race and Texts
TBD.
Jenny Smith
Peer Mentoring: Becoming a Role Model
This course will educate students on the importance of being a positive influence amongst their peers, while teaching them the skills needed to mentor their peers on varying issues, which may arise throughout their college careers. Students will also be given the opportunity to reflect on their own freshman college experience. This course is designed to appeal to those students who are particularly interested in majoring in "helping professions", including; Nursing, Education, Human and Community Service, Sociology, Psychology, etc... and will greatly benefit from this course, as they will have the opportunity to learn basic "helping" skills, and gain insight into themselves and their behavior.
Eric Schramm
So Close and Yet So Far: Mexico and the United States
As Mexico and the United States become increasingly connected through trade, travel and immigration, it is more important than ever that the two countries have a deep and thorough understanding of each others' history, customs, and culture. We'll do our part in this class, through a wide variety of written texts, films, music, food, photography, and people, to get a better grasp on the fascinating and complex place that is Mexico. We'll get to know some of the families involved at Hickory's Centro Latino, and their perspective on the immigrant experience; they'll get to know us, and ours. At the same time as they tackle this topic, students will also acquire skills and information necessary for success here at LR and beyond. It'll be an eye-opening First Year Experience.
Michael Funk Deckard
Love, Friendship and The Melting Pot
In the first semester, this course will focus primarily on love and friendship in Plato, Aristotle, and C. S. Lewis. What are the different kinds of love and how do they affect us differently? Whereas there are three different words for love in Greek, there is only one word in English. What is the difference between sexual love (eros) and friendship love (philia)? Are there other kinds of love as well? In the second semester, we will focus on music primarily as it promotes love and friendship. By means of listening to opera, classical, and pop music, as well as attending concerts, we will analyze how music contributes to our understanding of love and friendship.
Douglas Burkholder
Doomsday 2012: to be or not to be
Long ago the Maya predicted that the end of the World will occur on December 21,2012. This course is about exploring questions centered around this prediction. Initially we focus on who made the prediction. We explore what is known about the Maya, one of the greatest ancient civilizations in the New World. We explore, when and where they lived, what they did and how they thought. We then move towards the prediction itself and strive to understand the significance of 12-21-2012 to the Maya. But wait one moment! Why are they are predicting our collapse? What about their own collapse? Their civilization collapsed over a thousand years ago! Why did they collapse? Didn't they see it coming? Could the Maya have prevented their own collapse? Which leads us back to: Could our civilization collapse?
David Ratke
Leadership, Values and Meaning
Business, industry and government are interested in leaders. They have discovered that one dimension of cultivating leadership is to respond to its workers' desire for satisfaction and meaning in their work lives. We'll explore how you might nurture your "inner leader" in this course.
