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Writing Requirements | First-Year Writing Seminars


First-Year Writing Seminars for Spring 2012

For the most current information on the First-Year Writing Seminars being offered,
please see the Schedule in YES.
(In the "class search" application, type "115f" into the search box.)

The following changes have been made to the schedule of First-Year Writing Seminars since the publication of the Booklet:


Added:
Spring 2012
  • Anthropology 115F, Section 7. Disney in America
  • Chemistry 115F, Section 3. Science and Society
  • Earth and Environmental Sciences, Section 03. Volcanoes: Earth and Human Impacts
  • Earth and Environmental Sciences, Section 04. Sustainability: An Environmental Science Perspective
  • English 115F, Section 01. Women's Autobiographical Writing
  • Mathematics, Section 02. The Mathematics of Games
  • Philosophy, Section 03. Ethics of Life and Death
  • Physics, Section 04. Science and Society
  • Religious Studies, Section 07. Spirituality and Medicine
  • Sociology 115F, Section 19. The Sociology of Local Sustainability

Canceled:
Spring 2012
  • Biological Sciences 115F, Section 02. The Human Genome
  • Biological Sciences 115F, Section 04. Our Health, Our Planet, and Evolution
  • English 115F, Section 29. Imagining the Internet: Representations of Digital Culture
  • French 115F, Section 04. Representing the French Past on the Silver Screen
  • Italian 115F, Section 1. An Introduction to Italy Through Cinema
  • Philosophy 115F, Section 30. Duty and Disobedience in Ethics and Law
  • Psychology 115F, Section 12. The Psychology of Eating Disorders
  • Religious Students 115F, Section 03. Jesus, Gandhi, and King

 

Spring 2012

AFRICAN AMERICAN AND DIASPORA STUDIES 115F, SECTION 01
Race, Sports, and American Culture.
Race, Sports, and American Culture will engage race in America from the turn of the last century (1900) to the present. Myths and truths will be interrogated and explored. For example, how have sports via race helped to shape American culture? How have sports made contributions to both racial integration and racial stereotyping? Has Title IX achieved gender equity? Has it helped to level the playing field with regard to access and participation for women from racial minority groups? The course will be interdisciplinary in its approach, using history, critical race theory, women's studies, and film.
SPRING. [3] Whiting, G. (SBS)
 
AMERICAN STUDIES 115F, SECTION 02
Food for Thought: The Social History of America Through Food.
Writing in the 18th century, Brillat-Savarin proclaimed, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” One way to understand the making of America is to look at its relationship to food. While Europeans may not have found a land of gold and spices, they did, nonetheless, encounter a land of plenty. From the North Atlantic, with its cod-rich waters, to the Western Plains, where tens of millions of bison roamed, food would become the major pawn in the political strategies of states. Thirst for rum and an appetite for sugar would give rise to the slave trade. And revolution would rise from a tea-filled harbor. The course will be organized chronologically, but will go beyond a simple study of history, to include works of literature, folklore, film, popular culture, and women's studies. We will look at how food marks social, racial, and gender differences, as a means for understanding American identity. The course will cover a wide range of topics, from accounts of New World foods, the development of regional food customs, the industrialization of food production, historical and contemporary instances of excess and lack of food in American history, and anorexia.
SPRING. [3] Kevra, S. (US)

ANTHROPOLOGY 115F, SECTION 7
Disney in America.
Disney has been a major cultural force in America since the early twentieth century. After learning about anthropology as a discipline and exploring the idea of high versus low culture, we will use a combination of texts and films to explore how Disney both impacts and reflects Americans' worldview. Analysis of films such as The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Aladdin will allow us to see how Disney shapes our conceptions of gender, race, family, and class. [3] (P)
 
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 115F, SECTION 06
Current Issues in Biomedicine.
The course will focus on important biomedical issues that are currently the topic of public discourse and debate. Within the broad category of biomedicine, the course will focus on three general subject areas: pharmaceuticals, genes, and infectious diseases. Topics for discussion may include: treatment for addiction, performanceenhancing drugs, weight loss supplements, gene therapy, and sexually transmitted diseases. A brief overview of ethical principles will be discussed at the outset of the course. Selected readings of current biomedical issues will be studied and discussed.
SPRING. [3] Kaplan, D. (P)
 
CHEMISTRY 115F, SECTION 02
The Chemistry of Everyday Things.
In this course we will learn about the chemistry of everyday things like beauty products, contraception, food additives and pesticides, DNA fingerprinting, climate change, and drugs used to cure disease. These topics will be embedded within social, historical, legal, and religious contexts while answering fundamental questions about the role of science in society. Topics include: the distortion of climate change research by politicians; the role of chemistry in raising the bar for what passes as beautiful; moral and social influences in halting research on new contraceptives while development of Viagra-type drugs increases; and the double-edged sword of pesticides and herbicides in our food supply. Students will explore these topics through readings and discussion. They will demonstrate topic mastery by writing Time magazine-style articles about scientific products within a social context.
SPRING. [3] Sulikowski, M. (P)

CHEMISTRY 115F, SECTION 3
Science and Society.
Legal and public-policy decisions are often made on the basis of scientific evidence. Yet some devalue and even ignore scientific findings that are inconsistent with their beliefs. This seminar will explore what constitutes scientific evidence and how scientists communicate its validity to the public. We will also examine the impact of scientific evidence on society, particularly within the judicial system. Students will practice scientific communication by writing mock press releases and will consider how science can be better communicated to the public. [3] (P)

CLASSICS 115F, SECTION 06
Ancient Greek Tragedy.
The plays of the great Athenian playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are among the most influential works of literature. They have not lost their power to interest and provoke audiences. These are still being performed 2,500 years after their original productions. We will study the plays in their historical context and as scripts for performance. All works will be read in English translation and supplemented with visual images.
SPRING. [3] Goldman, M. (INT)

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, SECTION 03
Volcanoes: Earth and Human Impacts.
Volcanic eruptions are among the most spectacular of all natural phenomena. They are also manifestations of processes that guided the development of the Earth and shaped our environment. They have had major impacts on human history and continue both to threaten and to inspire society. We will explore many of the facets of volcanism from standpoints of aesthetics, scientific curiosity, and society. For example: How do volcanoes work, and how do we know? How have they influenced humans in the past, and how might they influence us in the future? How can we predict their behavior, or can we? How does society respond to natural threats and to uncertainty about threats? Case studies, including real-time monitoring of active volcanoes, along with popular and scientific literature and historical interpretations, will form the basis for our investigations. SPRING. [3] Claiborne.(MNS)

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, SECTION 04
Sustainability: An Environmental Science Perspective.
Can economic and population growth be sustained indefinitely? What are the limits of growth imposed by our environment? How can we as a society and as individuals maintain productive and fulfilling lives without damaging our ecological support systems and decreasing the quality of life for future generations? Can we achieve sustainability through smarter lifestyles and design practices to avoid the type of ecological and societal collapses that have occurred in the past? These issues will be explored through readings and discussions. Basic concepts of environmental science will be used to explain past and present environmental problems, to predict future problems, and to identify potential solutions. Topics include: water and energy use; development and land use; species and ecosystem preservation; agriculture and food supply; and technology and globalization. SPRING. [3] Ayers. (P)

ECONOMICS 115F, SECTION 07
Transition Economics.
In recent decades, socialist countries with central planning collapsed and moved toward market economics. The countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe provide case studies. We will analyze the cause of the collapse and the strategic policies of transition countries, some of which choose gradual and others more radical reform. The course discusses economic liberalization, financial stabilization, privatization, and social and institutional policy reform along with corruption and bad governance and their influence on the pace of reforms. The IMF, the World Bank, and other countries also play roles in the transition.
SPRING. [3] Onoprishvili, D. (SBS)
 
ECONOMICS 115F, SECTION 08
Comparative Health Care Systems.
Comparing the health care systems of other countries with the U.S. system provides insight into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as well as globalization in health care. This seminar considers finance, risk pooling, costs, technology, and service delivery. We will also examine the important tssues of equity and access to health care.
SPRING. [3] Rennhoff, C. (SBS)
 
ECONOMICS 115F, SECTION 09
Education and Economic Development.
Economic theory suggests that education is important for economic growth and development. Education increases productivity, but often at high costs. We will explore the net benefits of education through the lens of human capital investment by individuals and government. We will discuss how education can increase economic performance, reduce inequality, and foster social cohesion. Finally, we will analyze whether different policy strategies achieve our education and development goals. These policies include Head Start, charter schools, and teacher performance incentives in the United States along with vouchers, schools for girls, and conditional cash transfers in developing countries.
SPRING. [3] Anderson, K. (SBS)
 
ENGLISH 115F, SECTION 01
Women's Autobiographical Writing.
In this course we will explore the construction of female identity as it is represented in narrative, poetic, and theoretical texts by and about women. These texts show girls and women sometimes unconsciously accepting, but at other times questioning or even resisting, conventional expectations of them as daughters, lovers, wives, or mothers. In realistic narratives and poems we see them absorbing the images of women as depicted in popular culture, including romance, fairy tales, and myth. Psychoanalytic theory describes how some women develop a culturally determined, gendered personality by internalizing early familial and social relationships. These are dramatized in case studies, novels, and short stories. As they reach adulthood, women in these texts try out productive roles in the world of work and writing. Readings will be chosen from such genres as the novel of development (Jane Eyre, The Awakening), autobiography (Woman Warrior), the historical novel (Beloved), case studies, essays, and poetry. SPRING. [3] Daniels, K. (HCA)

ENGLISH 115F, SECTION 10
Shakespeare's Legacy.
Shakespeare died in 1616, but it was over a century before he was regularly hailed as the supreme exemplar of English poetic genius. This course examines the process by which Shakespeare became that supreme exemplar. It is built upon the fascinating criticism that accumulates around Shakespeare's plays and poems from the mid-eighteenth century to the twentieth. We will read three of Shakespeare’s plays (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Richard III) plus the sonnets. We will also study commentary on him by critics including some or all of the following: Ben Johnson, Margaret Cavendish, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, Lady Mary Worley Montagu, J.G. Herder, Thomas Whately, Goethe, Charles and Mary Lamb, S.T. Coleridge, Thomas Carlyle, Thomas Bowdler, A.H. Clough, F.J. Furnivall, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Samuel Butler. Finally, we will examine some of the twentieth century film representations of the plays. Our aim is neither to applaud nor to question Shakespeare’s poetic genius, but rather to appreciate the ways in which it evolves historically, from Shakespeare’s time to ours.
SPRING. [3] Schwarz, K. (HCA)
 
ENGLISH 115F, SECTION 31
Existential Fictions.
What nonsense. They read quickly, badly, and pass judgment before they have understood. So let's begin all over. This doesn't amuse anyone, neither you nor me. But we have to hit the nail on the head. Jean-Paul Sartre, What is Literature, 1947. Fiction, D.H. Lawrence suggests, is a laboratory for philosophical problems, and this course will enter the lab of existentialists. Sometimes called, with scorn or praise, a "psychology," existentialism has been a dominant post-World War II philosophy, because it directs its concerns not to a transcendental realm but to the world of human behavior, a world of guns, unrequited love, people reading too quickly. Sartre's continual effort to be understood (illustrated in the above quotation) characterizes both his method and what he saw as the human condition. For him, people are free - or condemned - to choose. But what does choice mean, if the consequences cannot be reckoned? To choose as an individual or an institution? Finally, why choose to be human? We will take on such questions in the fictions of existentialists (Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus) and in the existential ideas of other contemporary works (Murdoch, Atwood, Madonna, Oe, Elvis Costello). We will try to hit the nail on the head - if we can identify it and find a hammer.
SPRING. [3] Schoenfield, M. (HCA)
 
ENGLISH 115F, SECTION 32
Writing for Young Readers.
Ever since the success of Harry Potter, books for young readers have been receiving more attention by adults, both as readers and as scholars. One result of this raised profile is an odd contradiction: while many of these books are praised for their literary merit, simultaneously more people think that they are easy to write and a quick road to riches. We will examine a selection of recent recipients of the American Library Association's major prizes for literature (Newbery, Printz, Geisel) to discover what drew critical praise to them. Students will also write the text (without illustrations) of a picture book, a few chapters of a book for middle-grade readers, and at least one chapter of a young-adult book. These efforts will be critiqued by fellow students in a workshop-type setting and by the instructor, who is the author of nineteen books for young readers. Authors of published works for young readers will guest lecture, either in person or by Skype.
SPRING. [3] Barrett, T. (HCA)
 
ENGLISH 115F, SECTION 35
The World of Pride and Prejudice.
This course explores the high esteem in which Pride and Prejudice is held by many readers. Students will read Jane Austen's beloved novel twice over the course of the semester; watch all of its film and television adaptations; and delve into its historical, cultural, and biographical contexts. In addition to writing literary analyses of the novel, students will choose another of Austen's canonical novels to read on their own and to compare to Pride and Prejudice. The aim of the course is thus threefold: to understand Pride and Prejudice on its own by a sustained and focused approach; to discover something of its relation to the larger contexts of Austen’s times, life, and works; and to consider its immense cultural value in the present. No credit for students who completed 115F section 22.
SPRING. [3] Hearn, A. (HCA)
 
HISTORY 115F, SECTION 07
Social History of American Medicine.
Examines social impact of health issues in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American society; emphasis will be placed upon the development of several health professions; the evolution of medical students, hospitals, and other institutions; the interactions between medicine and race, gender, and class; and the impact of disease in American society.
SPRING. [3] Dickerson, D. (US)
 
HISTORY 115F, SECTION 08
European Imperialism: Colonizer and Colonized in the Modern World.
This seminar will introduce students to European imperialism in its political, economic, and cultural dimensions from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. Students will explore the meanings of empire for European colonizers, especially the British and French, as well as for the colonized peoples of the Caribbean, Africa, India, and Asia. Themes include justifications for empire and conquest, religion and empire; slavery and other forms of unfree labor; colonial revolt in Haiti; the role of class, gender, and sexuality in imperial ideologies; forms of anti-colonial resistance; the forces behind twentieth-century decolonization; the political and economic legacies of empire; and globalization in a post-imperial world.
 SPRING. [3] Clay, L. (INT)
 
HISTORY 115F, SECTION 23
Nationalism and Nation Building in Africa.
This course focuses on the many expressions of anti-colonial and proactive nationalism on the African continent from the late nineteenth century colonization to the 1990s when all African countries had gained independence. This course will highlight the contradictions, successes, and failures of these diverse nationalist expressions and agitations. Major topics include African nationalist resistance to European conquest and rule, Pan- Africanism, white nationalism and apartheid, the challenges of independence, and the politics of African unity.
SPRING. [3] Ochonu, M. (INT)
 
HISTORY OF ART 115F, SECTION 10
Ancient Art and Ethics.
Who owns the past? Should the British Museum return the so-called Elgin Marbles to Greece? Whatever happened to the antiquities stolen from the Baghdad Museum following the invasion in 2003? This course considers the ethical issues surrounding the visual and material culture of ancient societies, including the looting of archaeological sites, the international antiquities market, the display of artifacts in museums, repatriation of stolen antiquities, and cultural heritage management.
SPRING. [3] Lee, M. (HCA)

MATHEMATICS, SECTION 02
The Mathematics of Games.
Hold'em or Fold'em? Is the Price Right? To buy or not to buy Boardwalk? Why do people like to play games? The amusement of games lies in their unfolding, the unknown outcome, and the hope of winning, even with the slimmest of odds. The three characteristics of games providing these uncertainties are the element of chance (games of chance), the large number of combinations of possible moves (combinatorial games), and the varying degrees of information among the players (strategic games). In this seminar we will develop strategies to overcome these uncertainties through a variety of mathematical methods. We will explore probability theory, which can be used to analyze games of chance like roulette. Although there is no one mathematical theory to explain combinatorial games like checkers, they, too, are based upon mathematical principles. The mathematics of game theory, originally developed to investigate decision-making in economics, can be used to analyze strategic games like Rock-Paper-Scissors, dilemmas like the Prisoner's Dilemma, and even everyday decisions. We will cover the historical development of games and the associated mathematics. Finally, we will look at popular games that involve combinations of all three types of uncertainties. SPRING. [3] Rafter, L. (MNS)
 
MEDICINE, HEALTH, AND SOCIETY 115F, SECTION 01
Medicine, Health, and the Body.
 The course explores the way medicine shapes our understanding of health and the body in modern American society. Focusing on medicine as both science and social phenomenon, we will investigate several interrelated questions: How does medicine classify the body as sick or healthy? How do individual and collective experiences of health and disease influence medical theory and practice? How does medicine affect the way we interact with both sick and healthy bodies (including our own)? And how do contemporary social and cultural factors influence medicine's potential impact on health and the body? Readings and class discussion will form the basis of our inquiry.
SPRING. [3] Yagel, M. (P)

PHILOSOPHY, SECTION 03
Ethics of Life and Death.
Who should live? Who should die? Who should decide? Ethical reflection at the edges of life -- abortion and reproductive issues at one edge, suicide and euthanasia at the other -- is deeply informed by our understandings of the meanings of human life and death. Important contributions to the questions of life's meaning and ethical theory, especially as they relate to medical and bioethical issues, will be explored. Readings will range from classical texts to the most recent news stories.
SPRING. [3] McIntire, R. (P)
 
PHILOSOPHY 115F, SECTION 21
Sports and Social Theory.
From children's T-Ball to the Super Bowl, sports play an important role in our everyday lives. They provide us with opportunities for entertainment, pleasure, education, and health enhancement. However, they also present many social issues and ethical questions: Are professional athletes morally obligated to act as role models? What constitutes fairness and cheating? Should college athletes be paid? Is gender discrimination in sports justified? What is wrong with using performance-enhancing drugs? We will answer these questions, and many more, while exploring and analyzing social issues and ethical problems arising from human participation in sports. This course will provide students with the conceptual tools to analyze such difficult issues. By the end of this course, students will have gained an understanding of American culture, important social issues and theories, and philosophical reasoning as they relate to the wide world of sports.
SPRING. [3] Forry, J. (HCA)
 
PHILOSOPHY 115F, SECTION 26
Philosophy and Film: Darkness, Projection, and Enlightenment.
At the dawn of Greek philosophy, Plato appeared to relegate artistic images to a realm of pre-philosophical darkness. The shadows projected upon the walls of the Platonic cave were said to be but distant reflections of the radiance of philosophical enlightenment. When film arose in the late nineteenth century, however, various forms of filmmaking stirred Plato's ghost to comment upon film’s own relation to darkness, projection, insight, and human development: The ghosts and monsters of horror film emerged as if to present our screened relation to the gloom and play of twentieth-century life. Self-reflective filmmaking surfaced as art-film and the filmic avante garde. Third-world cinema began to challenge first-world representations of historical progress. Documentary films emerged as if to portray the truth of various human realities, but such films have also become increasingly reflective of the difficulties of untethering the objectivity of recording from the influences of surveillance. In this course, we will examine works in film theory, psychoanalytic criticism, and philosophical aesthetics together with various art, documentary, and horror (including zombie) films with the goal of discerning the literal and metaphorical interrelations among darkness, projection, and human enlightenment.
SPRING. [3] Zeman, S. (HCA)
 
PHILOSOPHY 115F, SECTION 27
Experience and the Self.
What is experience? What is the nature of the self? How do they interact? Is experience individual or common? Is the self an individual atom or a fluid and dynamic entity? What kinds of experiences transform the self? What kinds enliven or educate it? What experiences deaden or discipline the self? Are the answers to these questions dependent on gender, race, class, or other power relations? If so, how? We will make inquiries into these philosophical questions and the ways in which the interactions between the self and experience have been articulated by thinkers in different historical periods and different political situations. Readings will include such authors as Seneca, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, and Enrique Dussel.
SPRING. [3] Edmonds, J. (HCA)

PHYSICS 115F, SECTION 01
Bogus Science.
In this class we will study some recent and notorious examples of bad science—cases involving deliberate fraud by scientists as well as examples of claims and reports by well-meaning individuals that have turned out to be bogus. The pursuit of science is supposed to include various safeguards to test the validity of new knowledge and discoveries, such as peer review of publications, testing whether results can be reproduced, and application of “the scientific method.” But there have been many notorious examples of deliberate fraud by scientists including the successful publication of claims that have subsequently been shown to be false, and sometimes ridiculous. This course will examine some of the more illustrative cases of deliberate fraud and bad science that have been uncovered and the motives behind their perpetrators. Many such cases reveal defects in the manner in which science and academic matters are reviewed, while others demonstrate how the media and the public can be manipulated by unscrupulous charlatans. In reviewing these cases we will try to examine how science is supposed to operate to avoid these lapses and why bogus science succeeds.
SPRING. [3] Gore, J. (P)

PHYSICS, SECTION 04
Science and Society.
Science is an integral part of modern society that permeates many aspects of our lives. This course will survey the relationship between science and society, with special emphasis on the role that Hollywood and other media play in influencing scientific discourse and public perception of science. We will explore the relationship between science and certain aspects of society, such as politics, religion, self, and popular culture. Topics will include climate change, intelligent design, bad movie physics, futuristic visions and dystopias, and what the zombie apocalypse can teach us about bioterrorism. SPRING. [3] Ferrara. (P)
 
POLITICAL SCIENCE 115F, SECTION 05
U.S. Culture in World Politics.
From McDonald's restaurants to the popularity of Barack Obama, many U.S. cultural and societal phenomena acquire worldwide recognition and following. At the same time, other quintessential American phenomena, such as the World Series and the Super Bowl, attract limited interest outside of the United States. Why is this the case? In this seminar, we will investigate the diffusion of U.S. culture and its influence on international political behavior, a phenomenon that is often called "Americanization." How did this phenomenon come about? Who are the agents---individuals, leaders, firms, groups---that favor cultural diffusion? What aspects of U.S. culture are embraced? Which are contested? To address these questions, we will focus on several areas, including food, movies, sports, political institutions, and policy practices.
SPRING. [3] Chiozza, G. (SBS)

RELIGIOUS STUDIES, SECTION 07
Spirituality and Medicine.
This course examines the relationships among spirituality, religion, and medicine with careful attention given to how medicine and religion address breakdowns in health. Patients entering a clinic or a physician's office usually come with both physical and spiritual issues. Though physicians may separate the two, the patient often does not. The course moves along three trajectories in understanding this complex relationship: medical ethics, the sociology/anthropology of medicine, and philosophical/theological perspectives on medicine. We will explore notions of healing in relationship to clinical care, sickness and disease, and the incorporation of patient narratives as crucial in the administration of effective medicine. SPRING. [3] Bowie. (HCA)
 
RUSSIAN 115F, SECTION 02
The Novel as a Manual for Life: Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
 The governing hypothesis of our class will be philosopher Bernard Williams' statement that "the reality of complex moral situations cannot be represented by means other than those of imaginative literature." To test this hypothesis, we will turn to one of the most famous novels in the Western canon, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. In this 1200-page text, Russia's most famous writer attempts to explain nothing less than the laws governing life itself. We will examine the author's ideas about life within the context of his efforts as a philosopher solving the problem of human freedom vs. necessity and as an artist drawing life with unparalleled mastery.
SPRING. [3] Spektor, A. (HCA)
 
SOCIOLOGY 115F, SECTION 03
Immigration, Community, and Public Policy.
Globalization and immigration are at the heart of community, identity, economy, and politics in the United States, and they evoke a range of political and policy responses for incorporating immigrants into contemporary U.S. society. Why do immigrants settle in the U.S.? How do immigrants and their children adjust their identities as they resettle in the U.S.? Is the U.S. a “melting pot” in which immigrant identities conform to a common cultural identity? In which neighborhoods, and with which neighbors, do immigrants and U.S.-born individuals reside? What is the American Dream, and how attainable is it for different immigrant and U.S.-born groups? What kinds of jobs and careers do immigrants have, and do the career opportunities for immigrants and U.S.- born workers differ? Why do different immigrant and U.S.-born groups conflict with one another? How have governments attempted to achieve a mutually beneficial incorporation of immigrants into local communities? In addressing these questions, students will create their own public policy recommendations for helping Nashville to achieve a mutually beneficial incorporation of immigrants and refugees into local society. Using the 2002–03 Final Report of the Immigrant Community Assessment of Nashville, which was conducted and written by a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, and Tennessee State University, students will generate their own policy recommendations by critically applying scholarly ideas about immigration to the original research findings of the Final Report.
SPRING. [3] Cornfield, D. (SBS)

SOCIOLOGY 115F, SECTION 19
The Sociology of Local Sustainability.
This course will review societal dimensions of sustainable local systems and organizations, emphasizing the greening of energy, transportation, land use, buildings, businesses, and food. We will focus on combinations of technologies and organizations ("sociotechnical systems") that are locally owned or controlled ("localism"). We will review studies of sustainability initiatives proposed by policymakers, sociologists, and urban studies researchers. Finally, students will focus on Nashville and the development of plans to turn the city into the greenest city in the Southeast.
SPRING. [3] (SBS)
 
SPANISH 115F, SECTION 06
Border Narratives.
Borders are physical, political, and symbolic sites that delimit geographical space and set parameters of nationalistic inclusion and exclusion. Border narratives often attempt to convey a poetic space of in-between that reflects the ambiguity of this geographic space. This seminar examines border narratives produced in the United States and Spain. While Spain is not geographically contiguous to Africa, its separation from the continent by only fourteen kilometers puts Spain in a unique position, both literally and symbolically, as a gateway between Europe and Africa. We will explore issues relevant to border-making, such as immigration, transculturation, cultural hybridity, and national identity. We will consider how these national limits are imagined and lived by exploring works of literature, films, and critical essays on borders and how populations move across them.
SPRING. [3] Shepherd, N. (P)


» First-Year Writing Seminars 2011/2012 booklet PDF file