Current Students > Division of Student Life > First Year Experience > First Year Seminars

First Year Seminars Request Form

You may choose from the following sections of 2008-09 First Year Seminars.

CLOSED FYS         100.03   Photography
Natalie M. Dorfeld (English Department)
Mondays 3:00-3:55 p.m.

This course will serve as an educational and artistic enhancement to a student’s first-year experience. Scavenger hunts around the campus and the Greenville area will acclimate them to their new surroundings. 

FYS         100.04   The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes
Mark J. Delmaramo (English Department)
Tuesdays 11:00-11:55 a.m.

Through study of Conan Doyle’s stories about Holmes, we can learn much about life in late Victorian, early Edwardian England—food, climate, history, politics, and culture are all part of the Holmes stories.

FYS         100.05   Baseball, Books, and Being A College Thinker
Chris Moinet (English Department)
Mondays 2:00-2:55 p.m.

Through a series of readings, this FYS explores baseball from a variety of academic perspectives, including history, sociology, math, science (physics), literature, and philosophy (ethics).

FYS         100.06   Sex, Violence, and Animal Planet: Biology for the People
Michael Balas (Biology Department)
Thursdays 1:00-1:55 p.m.

This seminar will examine the issues covered by popular TV shows on such networks as Animal Planet, The Discovery Channel, and PBS (Public Broadcasting System), and compare them to the treatment given to them by actual scientists.

FYS         100.07   Good, Evil, and Harry Potter—A Muggle’s Guide to Making Good Choices
Heather Balas (Student Services)
Wednesdays 10:00-10:55 a.m.

Students today have become very familiar with the Harry Potter series, both in print and on film. In this FYS we will use examples from the series to analyze how we treat one another, how we treat ourselves, and how we are accountable for our actions. To get the most out of this seminar, students must be familiar with the Harry Potter series and its main characters.

FYS         100.08   Business Ethics at the Movies: Business Ethics as a Reflection of Society over the Past Fifty Years
Angelo Giannini (Arthur McGonigal Department of Business Administration and Accounting)
Wednesdays 11:00-11:55 a.m.

This course will review society’s view of how business should conduct itself as it is depicted in the movies of the time. From the movie Executive Suite of the mid-1950s to the current movie Boiler Room, students will view these movies and class discussion will then be conducted regarding the ethics of the time, considering what has changed and asking “are we headed in the right direction?”

FYS         100.09   The Meaning of Life, Part I
Derek Nelson (Religion Department)
Mondays 3:00-3:55 p.m.

The seminar will use excerpts from philosophy, religious texts, fiction, films and music to answer the question, “What makes some lives more meaningful than others?”

CLOSED FYS         100.10   The Psychology of Humor
Martin Bright (Psychology Department)
Fridays 1:00-1:55 p.m.

This seminar is a process of personal and group explorations in self-discovery, personal growth, and human interaction. We will examine the human from different perspectives and gain appreciation for its affect on use and how we might relate more effectively with each other. 

CLOSED FYS         100.11   Combating Infectious Disease—A Global Challenge
Joyce Cuff (Biology Departmenmt)
Mondays 3:00-3:55 p.m.

The emergence of the global village has resulted in greater opportunity for infectious disease to spread rapidly over large areas of the planet. In this seminar we will examine some of the factors contributing to this health threat and will consider strategies to mitigate its effects. We will consider newly developing infectious diseases, older diseases that are resurging, and the political, economic, technological and social factors that influence our response to these diseases.

FYS         100.12   Black Box Voting: Technology, Security and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)
Andrew Grover (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science)
Wednesdays 11:00-11:55 a.m.

This FYS explores the benefits and drawbacks of applying technological solutions to voting within a 21st century democracy. The course will include a discussion of the populist reforms of the late 19th century as well as changes in voting technology from that time onward. Particular focus will be placed on the application of computing technology, encryption, and computer networks in response to HAVA—The Help America Vote Act. Issues of transparency, vote tampering, undervotes and overvotes will be addressed. Students will develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our present vote tabulation systems in the United States.

FYS         100.13   God and Country: Religion and Politics in America
Dan Eppley (Religion Department)
Mondays 4:00-4:55 p.m.

A variety of readings from theoretical discussions and contemporary political analysis will serve as the basis for consideration of the role religion does and should play in American politics.

FYS         100.14  Scholarly Connections: On Walls, On Networks, In the Ether 
Allen Morrill (Library)
Wednesdays 1:00-1:55 p.m.

This course will cover history of information technologies from Cave painting to current MP3, PDA, and push technologies with an emphasis toward evolution from one system to another.  The class will examine the ideas of Mark Hopkins, Marshall McLuhan, and Edward Tufte and will finish with the ethical use of information by examining information evaluation and usage, plagiarism, copyright issues, legal issues, intellectual property, social and ethical uses of information. A key concept of the class will be that as first year college students, they are the connection between scholars of the past and the creation of future knowledge.  Concepts of research and the nature of scholarship will be infused throughout with three part final creative assignment which must include a scholarly bibliography, a traditional paper, and the same information presented in a nontraditional way: i.e.  Web Site, Podcast, or non-print communication medium. 

FYS         100.15   Islam and the World
Matt Morgan (Philosophy Department)
Wednesdays 2:00-2:55 PM

This FYS explores the life of Muhammad, core principles of Islam, significant denominational differences, and a historical look at the spread of Islam and its political impact today.

FYS         100.16   The Counterculture
David Buck (History Department)
Tuesdays 11:00-11:55 a.m.

This FYS will examine the history, philosophy, music, artwork and literature of the United States counterculture. Each week will focus on examining a different aspect of the liberal arts using examples from the counterculture movement.  

FYS         100.17  The Religion of Sport
Curtis Thompson (Religion Department)
Mondays 7:00-7:55 p.m.

Religion is the sense for what is most important in life. Aspects of culture often times become very important for people and sometimes can take on the character of religion. This course will examine the religion of sport, investigating the many intersections of the powerful forces of sport and religion in our culture. Considered will be the unholy alliance of the sacred and modern sports, the tensions between religion and sport, the ethics and values manifested in sport, and historical influences of religious traditions on sport.

FYS        100.18  Making Every Monday Matter

Jennifer Pruzinsky (Admissions)
Mondays 9:00-9:55 a.m.

This seminar will motivate and empower first year students to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others around them. Students will learn the skills it takes to make a successful transition into the collegiate world and how to make every day matter.

FYS        100.20  Ways of Seeing
Sean McConnor (Art Department)
Thursdays 11:00-11:55 a.m.

This seminar is an interdisciplinary comparative arts seminar that addresses the relationships between art, society, and a sense of self. Participants in this seminar will be introduced to the Thiel academic experience through the examination of underlying common threads found between disciplines. Examples include an investigation of film, literature, music and painting. We will explore how form and content, inherent in all forms of art, influence and shape our understanding of certain metaphysical questions such as “Who are we, Why are we here, and Where are we going?”

First Year Seminars Request Form

For more information about the First Year program at Thiel contact: