First-Year Seminars are open only to first and second semester students. Each course is a small seminar (no more than 15 students) led or team-taught by UI faculty members. The courses do not offer General Education or major credit. These courses use the A-F grading system (plus/minus at the choice of the instructor). All rules on adding and dropping apply to these courses. Some First-Year Seminars are offered for 1 s.h., others for 2 s.h.

Please remember, the College rule is that student preparation time should average 2 hours out of class for every hour of credit (that is, 2 hours out of class for a 1 s.h. course; 4 hours out of class for a 2 s.h. course).

REGISTRATION: All First-Year Seminars are open only to first and second semester students. No special registration numbers are needed, simply add the course when you register. Be sure to check your course--and section number--very carefully. All First-Year Seminar courses are listed as First-Year Seminar, the "subtitle" will not appear on ISIS. If you have earned more than 30 s.h. ISIS will not let you register for a First-Year Seminar. First or second semester students who have already earned 30 or more hours should contact JoAnn Castagna, 240 Schaeffer Hall, 335-2632 for information on how to register.

NOTE: Not all of the following course listings are complete. Please return to this page for more information as each course is scheduled.

000:029:001 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Understanding the Architecture of Iowa City
Instructor: David Wittenberg
Time: Thu 11:30am-12:20pm
Location: 213 Phillips Hall
Description:

Architecture is so much in the background of our lives that we rarely actually see it. In this class, we will discuss how to understand the environment around us: why it looks the way it does, how it affects us, and what it tells us about the social, cultural, and even political beliefs of our culture. Students will read some texts about architecture and public space, but most class discussions will focus on our observations of real buildings and spaces in the Iowa City area. We will venture out into downtown Iowa City, both individually and as a class, and see, listen to, and analyze what's there. Along the way, students will learn about the tools that architects, city planners, and critics use to understand the cityscape, including notes, sketches, blueprints and photographs. No experience is necessary, just enthusiasm!

Grades will be based on active participation and one written or visual final project.

David Wittenberg has training in architecture as well as literary theory and rhetoric. He has lived and worked in Baltimore, Maryland and Berkeley, California as well as Iowa City. He is an assistant professor in the Department of English and in the Comparative Literature Program, and is currently working on two projects: a study of museums and other public spaces and a study of time-travel stories of the 1930s and '40s.

000:029:002 2 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Does Technology Matter? Education at the Dawn of the Millennium
Instructors: Tom Rocklin and Joyce L. Moore
Time: 12:30 pm to 2:20pm on Thursdays
Location: 302 Lindquist Center
Description:

Computers are everywhere in education-from kindergarten through college. Do they make a difference? And, if so, in what ways do they make a difference? This seminar tackles these questions by first looking backward in time to examine previous technologies. For example, some predicted that because the radio could bring lectures from distant experts into every classroom, a radio would become standard equipment in every classroom. That development never materialized. On the other hand, the chalkboard entered the American classroom almost two hundred years ago, and quickly became ubiquitous. After a look back, this seminar will describe possible futures for technology in education. Throughout, our discussions will be informed by what we know about how people learn.

Grades will be based on class participation and performance on two presentations of independent investigations. Each will be offered in both and in-class and a web-based presentation.

Tom Rocklin is a professor of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations in the College of Education. He is also director of the University's Center for Teaching.
Joyce L. Moore is an assistant professor of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations in the College of Education.

012:029:000 2 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Global Climate Change: Past, Present, and Future
Instructor: Luis A. Gonzalez
Time: Tuesdays from 10:30 to 12:20
Location: 131 Trowbridge Hall
Description:

Is the now imminent anthropogenically induced "Global Warming" predicted over twenty years ago a fact or a hoax? Has the Earth ever been any warmer than climate models predict for the near future? How variable has Earth's climate been in the past? How do we detect climate change? Should we fear global warming? These are a few of the many questions and issues that this seminar will address. We will critically evaluate the science (models and data) behind the prediction of future greenhouse warming and the recent climatic variability cited as evidence of anthropogenically induced climate change, and explore the negative and positive impacts of global warming. Climatic variability through Earth's history will be examined, with emphasis on changes since the Earth's most recent Greenhouse period (the mid-Cretaceous around 110 million years ago), to the Pleistocene-Holocene Ice-house-one of the Earth's coldest periods and the one in which we currently live.

Grades will be based on weekly written critical summaries of readings, participation in and leading discussion, and two short essays.


Luis A. Gonzalez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geoscience and a founding member of the Environmental Sciences Program. His research interests take him-and sometimes his students-around the world, from the caves of Vietnam and Nepal to those of Puerto Rico, Wisconsin, and even Iowa. He always carries some coffee with him.

22M:014:000 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Dimensions of Visualization in Arts and Science
Instructor: Dennis Roseman
Time: Tue 1:30pm-2:20pm
Location: 248 Jessup Hall
Description:

Artists and scientists ask: What is the shape of the Universe? What are the possibilities? How can we visualize these alternatives? What is the geometry behind M.C. Escher's drawings? How was Duchamp's work influenced by his studies of 4-dimensions? How many dimensions do we need to account for the physical Universe we observe? This seminar is not about solving equations; it is about an expanded vision for structure and pattern in the world, through geometry, with applications to arts and sciences. Using interactive computer graphics and computer generated videos and a bit of "virtual reality," we will explore geometries in 2, 3, an even 4 dimensions.

Grades will be based on "project reports." Students will work in groups on projects and activities.

Dennis Roseman is a Professor of Mathematics. He has written a textbook on topology and published videos and many papers on 4th dimension and knot theory topics. He is also interested in folk music and organic gardening.

22S:029:000 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Instructor: Jon Cryer
Time:Thursdays, from 9:30 to 10:30am
Location: 137 Shaeffer Hall

Web pages, newspapers, magazines, and other publications are full of visual displays of quantitative information. The interpretation of data, especially quantitative information, is crucial to modern decision making. But, as the authors of a statistics text book point out, "Although we often hear that data speak for themselves, their voice can be soft and shy." This seminar will consider the art and science of displaying data visually. Modern computer software allows us to construct displays of data easily, but some methods of displaying data are better than others and better methods will lead to better decisions. The seminar will discuss good principles of graphical display, discussion of examples of good and bad displays of data from many sources, and demonstrations using popular software. The main text for the course is The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte. (Professor Tufte, who has been called the "DaVinci of Data" by the New York Times, is a professor of Design, Political Science, and Statistics at Yale.)

Grades will be based on class participation and several small projects.

Jon Cryer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science. He is interested in time series analysis and has recently co-authored two multi-media CD-ROM textbooks on Statistics. He also plays string bass in a jazz group. As a student of statistics, he always wears his helmet while bicycling.

028:039:000 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Work, Leisure and Your Liberal Education
Instructor: Richard MacNeil
Time: Tue 2:30pm-3:20pm
Location: 302 Fieldhouse
Description:

The idea that a liberal arts education is for a life that transcends the merely useful and for an existence beyond need and necessity is one of the oldest notions in the Western world. Educating individuals for that portion of their life free from necessity (i.e. "leisure") was the "central mission" of higher education for thousands of years. Recently, however, this notion has acquired a distinctly radical flavor, since it seems to oppose so much of what our modern world values most: jobs, wealth, material comforts, and continued economic growth. This course seeks to explore the relationships among work, leisure, and a liberal arts education in modern society. Students will clarify their personal values and delineate factors which enhance their sense of well-being, satisfaction, and quality of life.

Grades will be based on three short writing assignments (including a report on a new leisure experience), class attendance, and participation.

Richard MacNeil is a Professor in the Department of Sport, Health, Leisure, and Physical Studies. Among his favorite leisure activities are fishing, canoeing, and collecting baseball cards.

034:029:000 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar
Instructor: Stephen Wieting
Time: Tue 11:00am-11:50am
Location: W113 Seashore Hall
Description:

Births, marriages, deaths, business deals, and international treaties all depend on food and eating to smooth their successful completion. This seminar will examine through three connected perspectives how eating-in nearly as important a way as human language-is essential to how all societies operate. First, food and eating norms from several countries will be considered; secondly, the ways in which food and eating have been used in commercial movies in North America will be examined (including movies such as The Godfather, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Father of the Bride, Babette's Feast, and Soul Food). Finally, students will critically evaluate the hypothesis that fast-food franchises in North America and in many other countries have sharply affected the timing. Location, and quality of social relationships.

Grades will be based on seminar participation; preparation of a specialized journal of visual portrays of food and personal reactions; and a brief research report based on original observational study of social relationships in franchise restaurants.

Stephen Wieting is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, where he teaches courses on the family, on sociological methods, and on popular culture. He is interested in cross-cultural research, especially in the Nordic block.

034:029:002 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar: The Social Roots of Academic Ability: Who is "Good" and Why
Instructor: Michael Lovaglia
Time: Thu 11:00-11:50
Location: W113 Seashore Hall
Description:

This course investigates the reasons for academic ability and performance. Students will learn why so much importance is placed on academic achievement and its relationship to success in our society. They will learn how opportunities for success are structured in the dominant culture, and investigate the fairness of current practices that decide who gets those opportunities. Through discussion, short essays, and group activities, students will learn social-psychological techniques that can increase or inhibit individual academic performance.

Grades will be based on participation in class discussion (based on assigned readings), contributions to group activities, and two short essays.

Michael Lovaglia is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, where he teaches courses on Sociological Theory, the Sociology of Science and Social Psychology. His book Knowing People: The Personal Use of Social Psychology was published in 1999; his textbook on Social Psychology (written with Jeffrey Lucas) will be published in 2000.

039:029:000 2 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Traditional Chinese Love Stories and Plays
Instructor: Jing Chen
Time: Tue 4:00pm-6:00 pm
Location: 214 Phillips Hall
Description:

Love is an eternal subject for literature-there have been many great works on this subject, but it can never be exhausted. Love sparks the creative impulses of writers today and will tomorrow. What are the ways in which literature describes love? How does literature shape people's concept of love in real life? In this seminar, we will explore the subject of love as it was portrayed in traditional Chinese stories and plays. Faithless lovers, happy marriages, and even ghosts are all a part of the Chinese tradition. We will read some texts that have shaped the themes, motifs, character types, and narrative patterns that persist in Chinese literature today, especially when authors describe romantic feelings.. We will be reading translations of Chinese literature by a number of authors, and also background readings on the social context, cultural codes and gender norms in Chinese society. Class time will include discussion and brief oral reports.

Grades will be based on participation, discussion, and short essays on the readings.

Jing Shen comes from China and has lived in the U. S. for more than six years. She received an MA degree in English Literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University; and another MA degree in Chinese Literature and a Ph.D degree in Chinese and Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. She is interested in the different aspects of love portrayed in Chinese and Western Cultures.

042:029:000 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar:Gandhian Solutions: Can They Solve Today's Problems?
Instructor: Tom Walz
Time: 12:30 to 1:20 on Mondays
Location: 206 North Hall
Description:

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. The independence of India from Great Britain might not have occurred without his efforts, and he influenced both Nelson Mandela's approach to South African apartheid and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of non-violence during the United States civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This seminar will explore the experiences that shaped Gandhi's thinking and introduce students to the core concepts of his philosophy. We will discuss whether Gandhi's ideas are still relevant and whether they could be applied to current social problems.

Grades will be based on class participation, a book review, and a short paper.

Tom Walz recently retired and is now professor emeritus in the School of Social Work. He is an international traveler and a former director of Peace Core Operations in Honduras. He was the first North American social worker to teach social work students in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

049:029:001 2 s.h. First-Year Seminar: The Tempest: Shakespeare's Play on the Page and on the Stage
Instructor: Alan MacVey
Time: Tue 2:30pm-5:00pm
Location: 166 Theatre Building
Description:

In this course we will consider The Tempest from several points of view. We will begin by reading the play aloud and examining its language to see how rhythm, rhyme, sound, and metaphor convey meaning and create action. We will stage several scenes to consider their dramatic purpose-what they achieve for the play as a whole. Students in the course will attend rehearsals of the UI production (which will open on April 6). Students will meet the guest artist who will play Prospero and discuss with him how a professional actor works on great roles.

Grades will be based on participation (including reading and acting out scenes) and a final 8-10 page paper. NOTE: This course is being taught on a "compressed" schedule, with class meetings ending in April. The final project will not be due until exam week.

Alan MacVey is Professor and Chair of the Theatre Department. He has directed plays (including many of Shakespeare's plays) all over the United States, and has also written for the stage.

049:029:002 1 s.h. First-Year Seminar: Auditioning: in Theatre, on Camera, and in Life
Instructor: Eric Forsythe
Time: Tue 11:30am-12:20pm
Location: 170 Theatre Building
Description:

This seminar will focus on how we present ourselves and how we are perceived by other people. In theatre, on camera, and in life, how we present ourselves is crucial to career and personal success. We are constantly "auditioning" for the next opportunity. In theatre, film, and TV the audition can get you the job. In life, the interview or first meeting can make the difference between acceptance or rejection. We'll explore and observe how actors present themselves to get the part; develop audition pieces from literature and commercial copy; create new audition material and scripts; practice audition and interview strategies; and work on the tricky relationship between self-image and the image we present to others.

Grades will be based on evaluation of progress throughout the semester; creative application of audition principles; a course journal; and active class participation.

Eric Forsythe is a professor of Theatre Arts and Artistic Director of Iowa Summer Rep. In his career as a director and as an actor he has worked with Geena Davis, Jason Robards, Ted Danson and many other prominent film, television, and stage actors.