First Year Seminars
Logic, Language, and Alice
FYS 107
Instructor: Ryan Hickerson
Description: A lesser-known fact is that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written by an Oxford logician. It is filled with logical fallacies and whimsically named creatures. In this seminar we will study some logic through examination of some seriously silly arguments, but we will also investigate a serious philosophical question about whether names can have meaning, by reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, alongside Plato and John Stuart Mill.
Digital Storytelling and Narratives
FYS 107
Instructor: Mathew Schroder
Description: Digital Storytelling and Narratives explores what is at the heart of our human experience–stories and ways we share those stories. Exploring various disciplines takes on digital storytelling, narrative, and technology to share them, this course gives students theoretical and application of digital storytelling and narratives through readings, case studies, and crafting digital storytelling projects of their own. The course will also provide hands-on technology experience and exploration of real-life issues, questions, and narratives true to their life experiences.
Finding and Writing Your Family History: Across Generations
FYS 107
Instructor: Damien Koshnick
Description: We all want to know where we came from and who came before us. This is why genealogy-based programs and services are more popular than ever. This course focuses on supporting your own process of research and discovery for finding the resources necessary to tell engaging and meaningful stories about your family and ancestors.
Visuals for Everyone: Inclusive Media Design
FYS 107
Instructor: Greg Zobel
Description: This course provides an in-depth understanding of digital accessibility principles and practices, including the creation and implementation of closed captions, audio descriptions, and alternative text (alt-text). It integrates theoretical knowledge with practical skills, ensuring students are well-versed in the current best practices of digital accessibility.
Create Your Own Future
FYS 107
Instructor: Jennifer Hansen
Description: Creating your own future can be scary, but this course can help to provide students with the fundamental tools to find and secure opportunities for bettering one’s future. Topics will include getting to know one’s own self, job search strategies, resume and cover letter writing, interview skills, and how to network like a pro. Face-to-face engagement with professionals will provide additional insight into these topics from the perspective of employers.
Started from the Bottom, Now We’re Here
FYS 107
Instructor: SEP Staff
Description: In this class, we will research and write about what it means to be first-generation or low-income in the current U.S. educational system. How are members of these populations, traditionally underrepresented at college, impacted by policy and the Higher Ed experience? We will examine what a modern “War on Poverty” would look like and what role education would play. We will explore issues of identity and culture (including gender, race/ethnicity, and class) and potential solutions to the barriers that underrepresented students face.
*SEP students only*
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Cultivating Numerical Media Literacy
FYS 207
Instructor: Maren Anderson
Description: We are confronted with an astronomical amount of information in the modern era. Much of this information is tied to numbers and statistics, yet often little or no context is offered so people can truly understand what the data shows. Worse yet, there are entities that are purposefully obfuscating the truth by misstating the data or presenting them in a misleading way. This course will focus on how data and statistics are used in the media and modern culture and how to view data through a critical lens to understand what the information means and whether it is being presented in a truthful manner.
Controversial Science: How to tell Fact from Fake
FYS 207
Instructor: Melissa Kelley
Description: What are GMOs and are they dangerous? Are vaccines safe? Is Big Pharma trying to hide cancer cures from the public? How can you learn the truth about these and other controversial topics in science? In a world full of disinformation, what is the actual scientific basis behind some of these controversies, and how can we know what sources to trust? In this class, we will learn about some major scientific topics that cause fear or are controversial. We will learn how to find reliable scientific sources, study historical and current scientific examples, and discover how to read and how to understand scientific sources. This course will include a lecture and group discussion components, as well as readings and coursework designed to increase your understanding of “how we know what we know” in science.
Get Woke to Being Broke
FYS 207
Instructor: Grant Smith
Description: Course focuses on natural disasters and how these normal processes of the Earth concentrate their energies and deal heavy blows to humans as well as have severe environmental and health impacts for many years after the event. This course is concerned with how the natural world operates and, in so doing, kills and maims humans and destroys their works. The course will discuss the connections between both physical (e.g. processes of nature) content and biological (e.g. health issues related to aftermath of disasters).
Contact Us
Phone: (503) 838-8296 | Email: gened@wou.edu
