Seminar Summaries

Following are brief summaries of the 2011 First-Year Seminars. Living-Learning Communities are designated as LLCs.

Unweaving the Web (LLC)

Do you take the Internet and immediate access to online applications via phones and other devices for granted? We sometimes trust many aspects of our lives to the nebulous Web, often without understanding how the technology works or considering how it affects society. How do spammers (hope to) make money? When is Wikipedia a useful resource? Who pays for ads on webpages? What happens with information on Facebook, and should you trust privacy claims? What changes are happening in the online world (Web 3.0)? This seminar will explore technical aspects, ethical concerns, and societal implications of the Web.

Who Gets Represented? (LLC)

It's a given today that "democracy" means voting, choosing who represents us in the making and enforcing of laws.  But how did this practice become synonymous with democracy, when it was once considered anti-democratic, a tool for creating an aristocracy?  This seminar samples the complicated histories of the ideas of democracy and representation, while also reflecting on representative democracy today.  Has it created a new "aristocracy" of the wealthy and educated?  Can "the people" change things with their votes?  And, in the era of climate change, can the interests of other species or of ecosystems be represented in our democracies?

Water in the West: A Sprinkling of Problems Close to Home

The benefits from having developed water resources in the Western U.S. through large-scale public works are clear: water for irrigation of crops, water and hydroelectric power for cities and industries, recreational water sports, etc.  Are there any costs other than the expense of constructing these massive projects?  Are our current uses of the resources sustainable?  We will explore various ideas, philosophies, and economic implications related to the prudent use of our ground and surface water, and consider how the people of Texas are now struggling with issues of water resource utilization.

Multi-chocolated: Exploring the Wonders of Chocolate (LLC)

Nearly everyone loves chocolate.  Chocolate's versatility reaches back centuries, yet emerges routinely in our social lives, our environmental concerns, our health applications and our aesthetic experiences.  This seminar uses chocolate as a context for finding connections among disciplines including biology, chemistry, history, psychology, art, business and anthropology, to name just a few.  Besides learning physical properties, we will discuss texts that shed light on the controversies surrounding this delightful resource.  The class will culminate with pairs of students developing their ideas to market a new application of chocolate by showcasing its multidisciplinary nature.  Chocolate tastings definitely included.

Doing Good--and Doing It Well: The Philosophy and Practice of Philanthropy (LLC)

This seminar serves both as a meditation on giving (and receiving) aid, and a pragmatic introduction to philanthropic work. We will examine various philosophical, theological, and historical approaches to charity in an attempt to answer the following questions: What is the purpose of philanthropy? What/whose needs does it fill? How should we understand the relationship between donors and recipients? How may we judge the effectiveness of philanthropic projects? What are the boundaries of philanthropic action?  In addition to our theoretical explorations, the class will solicit grant applications from local organizations and select a finalist to receive a grant.

Being Human:  Zombies, Vampires and You (LLC)

This course explores the imagined limits of human subjectivity in contemporary culture, studying the recent proliferation of Zombie and Vampire mythology as a reflection of specific anxieties about scientific discovery and what it actually means to be human.  We will read a variety of articles and essays that link discoveries in chemistry, biology and artificial intelligence to cultural inscriptions of monstrosity in literature and film, and reflect on the definition of "humanism" that is such violently contested ground in those texts.  Warning:  this course may induce some nausea and existential angst!

Taking a Walk in a Painting

Velasquez' famous painting Las Meninas (1656) - considered by many "the world's greatest painting" - has become the battlefield for modern investigators, geometricians, metaphysicians, artist-photographers, semioticians, political and social historians, and lovers of painting.  Now, pretend you could shrink yourself and walk into Velasquez' painting: What would you see there?  What would it smell like?  What could you feel?  What would you ask of the people in the artwork or what would you do together?  What exactly does this famous key monument have to offer a person today?  What does Velasquez' Las Meninas actually show?

Global Powers: The Rise and Fall of Empires: China, Great Britain, U.S. (LLC)

The sun never set on the vast, powerful British Empire. But now its glory days are long over. Will this be the fate of the U.S.? Did Britain and the U.S. possess something special or unique that led to their rise, or could another great power like China, "The Middle Kingdom," be the next to rise? Is decline inevitable? These and other such questions will guide our seminar and provide us with some perspective with which to examine the present global world order.

Where Dreams Come True: A Cultural Analysis of the World of Disney (LLC)

How do Disney movies manufacture fantasy, and what do they say about American life?  This seminar explores storytelling in Disney films while also examining the politics of race, gender, and class that underlie these narratives. The seminar will be divided into units on Disney corporate history, merchandise, theme parks, and films.  We will watch several Disney films while reading corresponding folk tales, literary re-imaginings, and critical analyses.

Ways of Seeing, Writing, Reading, and Talking About (North) America (LLC)

Using Greil Marcus and Warner Sollors' A New Literary History of America as a starting point we will look at a wide array of texts from America before Columbus to the election of Obama. Our definition of 'literary' will include not only novels, poems and plays but also movies, music, and social movements. By semester's end we will have read, talked, and written about topics ranging from Winthrop's "city upon the hill" sermon to the Salem witchcraft trials to Lincoln's second inaugural address to the establishment of the Book of the Month Club to Bob Dylan's "Song to Woody" to Obama's election.  And much else in between.

Visions and Virgins: The Power of Miracles Across Cultures

While viewing miraculous images and the accumulated layers of historical and mythological lore that give them meaning, this seminar will reveal that miracles are much more than what meets the eye. Their origin is of critical importance to the social fabric of communities, both large and small. We will look at Byzantine icons and Christian relics and images, and then focus on the social, political and economic roles of visions and miracles during the Romanesque and Gothic Periods, especially in France and Spain. Finally, we will cross the Atlantic Ocean to examine the spiritual and social roles of miraculous images that originate in the New World.

Seeds of Change: "Unconventional" Farming In Fast Food Times (LLC)

Where do you get your food?  How was it grown?  What difference does it make?  Everyone seems to be talking about food and food systems these days.  Whether you think local food means the value meal from the nearest drive-up window or you "grow your own," this seminar is for you.  We will work in the campus garden, visit with local farmers, read Agrarian essays, prepare tasty dishes and examine the history of American farming, all the while learning about an "unconventional" approach to farming and questioning our understandings of "hunger" and "fullness."

Understanding Race and Racism in the "Post-Racial" Age (LLC)

In this seminar, we will review the myth of biological race, learn the biology of human differences, and explore racism and the systems of privilege and oppression it generates. We will pay close attention to how racial privilege and oppression manifest themselves in the 21st century, a time some claim is post-racial. While the seminar will focus primarily on the U.S., we will also consider how race and racism are structured in other parts of the world. The seminar will include a critical examination of how racial privilege and oppression operate in our everyday lives.

Wheels and Deals: A Survey of Television Game Shows (LLC)

What is a game show? What is the $64,000 Question? Who is Monty Hall?  Would you like the final answers to these and many other questions?  Then come on down as we explore the fascinating world of television game shows. We will begin by studying the history of game shows. Then, we will attempt to define the genre by asking questions such as, "Is Survivor a game show?" In addition, we will study optimal strategies of various game shows to determine the best way to win big bucks.

How Many Gods is Too Many? Multi-Religious Identity in Native American Communities (LLC)

What would it mean to follow more than one religion? How would you do it? Where might the conflicts be? What would this even look like!? The reality for contemporary Native Americans is that many are living just this type of multi-religious life, either blending multiple traditions or practicing two wholly separate traditions at the same time. By examining literature, art, music, and primary writings, this seminar will look at multi-religious identity and practice in the historical and contemporary, and try to understand how it is possible for some people to practice religion beyond the scope of a single tradition.

The Endless Summernar: Lessons Learned from the Search for the Perfect Wave

Ford and Brown (2006) describe the "dream of surfing" as "An embodied experience with an addictive tendency ... that inspire(s) journeys, lifestyles and, in retrospect shapes and informs memories of personal significance."  Yet, for many, surfing conjures up the image of Jeff Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High".  Just a cursory review of surfing literature reveals diverse writings covering religion, anthropology, physics, neuroscience, physiology, ecology, sociology and psychology.  The purpose of this seminar is to examine the allure of surfing and to discuss how an activity such as this can so profoundly impact the lives of those who participate.

The Amazing Adventures of Michael Chabon

Jewish comic book artists. U.S. immigration quotas during WW II and the Shoah.  Suburban life and its discontents.   Life in pre-Stonewall America.   This is the stuff of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel.  By focusing on this text and a few of Chabon's earlier works, we will explore the ways in which literature represents and shapes our ideas about ethnicity, religion, gender and sexuality.  Along the way we will also reflect upon and expand our assumptions about the role that authors and readers play in determining the meaning of literary texts.

Political Ethics:  A Contradiction in Terms?

This seminar explores the ethical issues posed by the practice of politics in the American system.  Should a "good" politician act differently than a "good" person?  Do ethical imperatives differ in the public as opposed to the private realm?  Is there a difference between useful deception and simple lying?  Should a public official ever willfully disobey the law?  Should leaders use citizens as the means to an otherwise worthy end?  Are there some things worth dying for?  Killing for?  Can a politician be both ethical and powerful?

Salt Cod and Cool Whip: Adventures in American Gastronomica (LLC)

Food is an old subject. But the academic study of the way people produce, procure, prepare, and eat food as a path to understanding culture is relatively new. This seminar will situate itself at the multi-disciplinary interchange that characterizes this new field of inquiry and will introduce students to the ways in which practices of everyday life, as well as historical and literary texts, may be open to intellectual inquiry about food and eating. Among the questions we'll pursue are, what was the impact of West African slaves in the development of American food, what was the "home economics movement" and how did it effect gender roles, why is American food still considered inferior as a world cuisine, and how are food and politics intertwined?

A Guide to the Genome: Personal Genetics in the 21st Century (LLC)

Genes are central to each of us: they help determine our physical features, our health, and perhaps even aspects of our personality and intelligence.  Advances in technology now create the ability to examine in detail our DNA and provide information about our genetic predisposition to a large number of traits and disorders.  Genetics also plays an increasingly important role in many areas of our society, including agriculture, health care, law enforcement, and industry.  This seminar will explore new findings in genetics and what they mean for each of us, including the ethical and social implications of these advances.

The Origins and Currency of the Liberal Arts Education

While busy getting an education, seldom do we get an opportunity to consider the meaning of "education?" Is "education" a specialized training for a profession? Or, in the sense of the liberal arts, is it an interdisciplinary endeavor that gives us productive and necessary insight into fundamental dimensions of human life? These questions are deeply controversial and are far from settled, since they impinge on fundamental political, moral, religious and artistic issues. We will critically explore the complexity of the meaning of "education" by studying, first, the controversy surrounding Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind and, second, the complicated origins of the concept of the liberal arts in Ancient Greece, focusing on Plato and other classical authors.

Body, Brush and Script - Origins and Practices of Glyphs in China (LLC)

This Seminar will provide an introduction to Chinese culture through the experience and theoretical exploration of Chinese calligraphy.  We will engage questions of comparison and engagement - What changes between cultures with different types of script?  How does it feel to write differently?  Is creativity in Chinese culture limited by its written system, or augmented by it?  How do alphabets differ from other written graphs?  Finally, what are examples of written content?  Much of this seminar will be spent with brush, ink and paper in addition to informed speculations on the significance of the art of the written word in China.

Pop-up Books: Manipulating Life Through Discovery and Ingenuity

Pop-up books or moveable books were originally created for adults not children.  When and why did they transform into children's books...or did they?  What an amazing idea for a book - literature that springs to life with every turn of the page.  We will examine and discuss pop-up books and the cross-curricular nature of paper engineering as it relates to interactive images and problem solving which impact our world. For example, creative problem solving can be seen in the ubiquitous-- brown, paper bag.  Advanced folding techniques have been manipulated to create a myriad of life changing products which advance our civilization. The history, innovation, and artistry of pop-up books will be the foundation for research, discussion, problem solving and critical thinking as we analyze these paper engineered creations.

Secret History (LLC)

How do you "know" what you "know" and what does it mean that you do?  What if everything you "know" is wrong...your life profoundly shaped by moments that barely left a trace in History, sites where people  struggled to realize private dreams and desires in public counter-hegemonic space(s) where people sought to gain control over the material and ideological conditions of their everyday lives. What if what really matters are 11th century Arabian Assassins, Medieval Mediterranean pirate enclaves, the Paris Commune, Dada, tri-racial isolate drop-out communities, Situationists, and "punks"? And the real (hi)story is in Anti-Flag's 'Turncoat," Ginsberg's "Howl," Velvet Underground songs, silent French movie serials, 16th century Anabaptists, 20th century Delta blues singers...what if...

September 11, Terrorism, and Response

The shocking event of September 11 merits attention beyond what the media have covered.  Why was the U.S. the target of those terrible attacks?  Who is Osama bin Laden, and what are the goals, strategies and tactics, and resources of Al Qaeda?  What explains the rise of Islamic militancy in the Middle East?  Why and how has terrorism become internationalized?  How should the U.S. respond to terrorism?  These are the major questions we will discuss in this seminar.

Puha Tsaat, Kaheeka Tsaat: Contemporary Indigenous "Medicine" (LLC)

As LaDonna Harris, a Comanche elder, explains, "The Comanche concept of medicine is not just about physical health but about any personal power or strength. Each person's medicine is different, and the tribe recognizes that it needs different kinds of leaders with different kinds of strengths for different types of societal responsibilities."  This seminar, then, critically and creatively analyzes American Indian leadership principles in diverse settings. We will read and discuss scholarship, songs, and stories that address Native leaders' strengths. We also will reflect on our own "medicine" and its application to upcoming critical and creative work at Southwestern.

Political Spin Back in the Day: Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was one of the greatest political spin meisters of Classical antiquity. Modern day politicians could take lessons! His state machinery projected marvelous imperial images and programs. Alexander spun his political images through the use and abuse of the multimedia of his day, that is, state-inspired literature, dedications, sculpture, coins, and architecture. We will read selected ancient sources in translation and observe ancient art and architecture to see exactly how Alexander was portrayed. We also will compare contemporary use/abuse in, and by, the media in the coverage of presidential politics. No background in Classics is assumed.