2008-2009 First-Year Learning Communities
“Search” Learning Community: Reacting to the Past (Fall/Spring; F1, F1, F2)
Humanities 101 (19054) MWF 11-11:50 Kenneth Morrell
Students in the Search learning community will participate in simulations in which they assume roles based on historical figures and engage with the challenges and concerns of specific historical moments. In the fall, students will engage in a simulation based on events in Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 403 BCE. Students will also study the surviving material culture of the ancient world through field trips to local collections at the Brooks Museum, the University of Memphis, and the University of Mississippi, as well as through travel to New York City and Philadelphia over spring break (departing March 14, 2009 and returning March 21), during which students will study the collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Museums of the University of Pennsylvania. The course will complement the study of ancient materials with readings and films from contemporary culture that explore the human condition in similar but contrasting situations. There is an extra fee to cover costs associated with the spring trip. The Search learning community is limited to 17 students.
“Life” Learning Community: The Bible and Politics (Fall/Spring; F1, F1, F2)
Religious Studies 101 (19129) MWF 2-2:50 Gail Streete
OR
Religious Studies 101 (19370) MWF 2-2:50 Kendra Hotz
The Life learning community will involve students enrolled in two special sections of Religious Studies 101, “The Bible: Texts and Contexts.” Readings, classroom discussion and outside-of-class programming will address the Bible’s often controversial role in community interpretation and discourse. Special programming will include access to peer tutoring in the residence hall and interaction with Jacques Berlinerblau, author of Thumpin’ It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics (2007), who will be on campus in early November. The Life learning community will continue during the spring semester, with students enrolling in special sections of RS 102. Each section of the Life learning community is limited to 17 students.
American Studies Learning Community: Perspectives on the “American Idea” (Fall; F3, F2)
History 233 (19527) MWF 12-12:50 Robert Saxe
English 151(19033) MWF 1-1:50 Jason Richards
The American Studies learning community will examine the "American idea" from an interdisciplinary perspective. Prof. Richards′s English 151 course, titled "Darkness in the Land of Light," will focus on how nineteenth-century Gothic and transcendental forces in literature have together shaped the American experience, while Prof. Saxe′s US history survey, "Change and Continuity in the American Century," will center on the strength and mutability of American ideals as the nation rose to superpower status in the twentieth century. Taken together, the courses will provide a varied and challenging portrait of American history and literature, allowing students opportunities to critically assess developments in American society, culture, and political life. The American Studies learning community is limited to 15 students.
Economics Learning Community: Introduction to Economics (Fall; F8)
Economics 101 (19021) MWF 9-9:50 Sarah Simmons Estelle
Economics 101 is a survey of economic analysis and institutions combining economic theory with a discussion of applications to the U. S. economic system for majors and non-majors. The Economics learning community offers students in introductory Economics the opportunity to live in close proximity to other first-year students enrolled in this course and to take advantage of special programming, thus aiding group study, test review and discussion of material. Students in the learning community will also have access to special programming, including peer tutoring in the residence hall. Students may take Economics 101 without taking 102 in the spring. The Economics learning community is limited to 18 students.
Biology Learning Community: Introduction to Biology (Fall; F7)
Bio 130 (19215) TT 8-9:15 Jonathan Fitzgerald, Terry Hill, Mary Miller
OR
Bio 130 (19216) TT 11-12:15 Jonathan Fitzgerald, Terry Hill, Mary Miller
Biology 130 is an examination of the structure and functions of life at the cellular level. The Biology learning community offers students in introductory Biology the opportunity to live in close proximity to other first-year students taking this course, thus aiding group study, test review and discussion of material. Students in the learning community will also have access to peer tutoring in the residence hall. Biology 130 and 131 are linked co-requisites. The Biology learning community is limited to 60 students.
