Courses
ENG 197 First-Year Seminar
An exploration of a literary theme with an emphasis on class discussion and participation, independent projects, historical and cultural awareness and writing. Recent courses have included Poetry of Song, Reading Las Vegas, War and Sex in Arthurian Legend, and Milestones: Four African-American Artists. Enrollment limited to first-year students. May be counted toward a major or minor.
Credits
1 course
Fall Semester information
David Alvarez197A: FYS:Be Yourself!
Harry Brown
197B: FYS:The Magic Circle: Introduction to Ludology
Ronald Dye
197C: FYS:Studies in American Song
Joseph Heithaus
197D: FYS:Trees: Spirits, Systems, Plants and Who We are in Relation to Them
Amity Reading
197E: FYS:Skepticism and Belief
Ivelisse Rodriguez
197F: FYS:Your Favorite Murder
Spring Semester information
David Alvarez197A: FYS:Be Yourself!
Be yourself! This is a strange imperative. Can you not be yourself? What could stop you from being yourself? And where should you look to find yourself so that you can be yourself? If the exhortation to "be yourself!" is paradoxical, we nonetheless hear it all the time in advertisements, films, music, literature, and even mission statements for liberal arts colleges. Why do so many people think that "being yourself" is a very important ethical ideal?
Or is it? Why isn't a life of self-discovery, self-realization, and self-fulfillment simply a narcissistic, egocentric, and selfish way to live? Our seminar will try to tackle these questions about what it means to "be yourself" by tracing the history of this modern ethic of authenticity. We'll track the idea that each one of us has our own way of realizing our humanity by closely reading works from Augustine, James Baldwin, Joan Didion, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Herman Melville, and others.