2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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Courses at Furman are typically identified by codes separated into three distinct parts. The first segment designates the academic subject of the course, the second component relates to the level of instruction, and the final element (when displayed) assists with the identification of the meeting times and location for individual course sections.
Credit bearing undergraduate courses typically are numbered between 100 and 599, graduate instruction is typically numbered between 600 and 999, while zero credit experiences frequently have numbers between 001 and 099. Undergraduates can further expect courses numbers to reflect:
| 100-299 |
introductory courses, geared to freshmen and sophomores |
| 300-499 |
advanced courses, designed for majors and other students with appropriate background and/or prerequisites |
| 500-599 |
individualized instruction, including internships, research, independent study, and music performance studies |
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First Year Writing |
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FYW-1178 Academic Autobiography
Systematically investigate one’s life story and communicate to others, through clear, concise, and well-organized arguments, how the individual biography fits into a larger context. Learn to analyze life based on empirical observations on race, class, and gender. Use methods for collecting and analyzing information from places, events, and people around the writer’s childhood circumstances. Students will tailor their story to an academic audience and practice giving and receiving feedback. 4 credits.
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FYW-1179 Our Technological Heritage
An examination of the history of technology, with an emphasis on the threads of innovation that have lead to the invention of the computer, and its applications. Topics include: classical and Renaissance discoveries and inventions, the scientific revolution, the development of analog and digital computing technology, as well as important questions posed in computer science. 4 credits.
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FYW-1180 C.S. Lewis
An introduction to college writing that explores the life, work and theology of C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Topics for critical analysis through writing and revision include Lewis’s arguments on Christian belief, morality, forgiveness, faith, pain, and the nature of heaven and hell. Students will explore these arguments and create their own through a series of writing assignments. 4 credits.
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FYW-1181 Irrational Exuberance
Scams, Ponzi schemes, and market bubbles remind us that “otherwise intelligent” people often make irrational decisions. An examination of the historical episodes of such behavior and the recent housing bubble as a means of introducing students to behavioral economics. 4 credits.
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FYW-1182 Assassination of Lincoln
A study of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in history, memory, and the documentary record. Evaluation of the event and it major actors, the trials and executions of the conspirators as well as popular reactions and historiographical interpretations. Participants will construct a web-based public documentary collection of newspaper transcriptions and other primary sources. 4 credits.
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FYW-1184 The Meaning of Life?
Exploration of some of the possible avenues to develop and mature their sense of the meaning of life. Questions about the meaning of life intertwine both theisitic and non-theisitic alternatives. This course will explore both alternatives as well as questioning the question itself. 4 credits.
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FYW-1185 Crossing Borders/Rights of Passage
What can texts that explore the US-Mexico border teach us about our own lives? Through a series of readings on young people and their journeys into foreign territory, we will study border crossing as a metaphor for the rites of passage, such as beginning college, that we all experience. These texts will help students to develop their writing skills as critical readers of literature. We will study not only how language is used by these authors, but what this language means to us as readers, and more importantly, as writers. Throughout the semester you will have the opportunity to write, and revise, autobiographical, critical and travel essays. 4 credits.
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FYW-1186 Sugar and Slavery in the Caribbean
With a primary focus on Cuba, this course will examine the Caribbean sugar plantation from 1492 through the 1990s. In addition to exploring the historical, political, and economic underpinnings of sugar monoculture, the course will highlight representations of the plantation in select works of fiction, essay and film. 4 credits.
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FYW-1187 Magical Spanish America
The Spanish-American narrative from the 1950s to present day, with particular focus on the magical, marvelous and the fantastic including an exploration of the function of magical realism within a Latin American context, paying special attention to literary representations of gender, class, national, religious and racial identities. 4 credits.
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FYW-1188 Steve Jobs: The Cult of Apple
This course explores the life and work of Steve Jobs and his impact on the technology landscape. The broader topic of corporate culture and innovation will be explored by looking at other successful companies such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Facebook. Biographical material will come from the recent Walter Isaacson biography as well as video interviews. 4 credits.
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FYW-1189 Social History of Technology
Examine the social life of modern technologies from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the present. Analyze and evaluate the historical interrelationships between technology, culture, and society, including the impacts and influences of technology from the telegraph to the bicycle and electricity to the internet. Engage in debates on the meaning of technology, the unintended consequences of social technology, the relationships between technology and the environment, and the links between race, class, gender, and technology. 4 credits.
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FYW-1190 Secession and the Fort Sumter Crisis
History of antebellum secession movements, the Sumter crisis and the coming of the American Civil War. Exploration of regional differences and evolving sectionalism in international and local contexts. Overview of conflict process theories. Examination of relevant ideologies, nationalism and tensions of emergent democracy. Impact of abolitionism, Proslavery, African American resistance and activism, debates over territorial expansion and federal-state relations. 4 credits.
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FYW-1191 Neil Gaiman and the Mythology of Life and Death
Explores mythological and religious themes in the writings of Neil Gaiman, including books for adults and youth as well as the graphic novel series Sandman. Emphasis on mythic conceptions of death and afterlife, and of spiritual boundary crossings. 4 credits.
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FYW-1193 Reading Flannery O’ Connor
In this course students will read the short stories, novels, essays and letters of Flannery O’Connor. They will write four or five papers exploring various topics in her work: religion, race relations, the South, etc. Course may include a field trip to Andelusia, her home in Milledgeville, Georgia. 4 credits.
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FYW-1195 Psychic Disorder
Explores how and why certain emotional states and patterns of thought become labeled pathological or disruptive. It also considers what cultural values, both positive and negative, those psychic states have come to symbolize. By reading fiction in dialogue with both contemporary scientific accounts of mental function and its broader cultural context, and by connecting modern health debates to their historical origins, students examine the tension between freedom and restraint that characterizes debates about psychic disorder. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1196 Eating as a Sustainable Act
This course will examine the relationship between you and the food you eat, how that food is produced, and the economic, social, and environmental impacts of eating. Course will involve visiting local farms to help define sustainable agriculture, and of course, sharing a meal or two together. 4 credits.
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FYW-1197 The Battle Autumn of 1862
Autumn 1862 as a focal point placing the American Civil War in broader context. Topics include crux battles (Antietam/Sharpsburg/ the so-called “Dakota War,” Perryville, Fredericksburg); the Emancipation Proclamation and American abolition in historical context; the elections of 1862; Clara Barton and Civil War era medical culture; the debate over the Law of Nations and emergent conventions for treatment of combatants and civilians in wartime; and Civil War journalism. May include field trip and digital humanities laboratory components. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1200 Competition in Nature and Culture
The Super Bowl. Democrats vs. Republicans. Ford vs. Chevy. Competition permeates our culture, but is competition fundamental to how humans and all organisms interact? Examining the nature and importance of competitive and cooperative interactions in nature and society. 4 credits.
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FYW-1201 Caves and Literary Imagination
How do humans shape the subterranean landscape–and how does it shape us? Examining literal caves as well as human-made “caves,” such as fallout shelters, grottoes, and tunnels. Using the cave as our central image, we will explore literature, visual art, apocalyptic religion, and Cold War history, interrogating how human ideas of caves, and interior spaces, have changed over time. 4 credits.
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FYW-1202 Medieval Forests
Engage contemporary ecological criticism and animal theory to discover how the history of Western representations of forests can deepen our understanding of today’s environmental debates. Develop content for a digital humanities website on medieval forests. Read medieval literary and legal texts, such as Arthurian romances, Christian mythical visions, and Robin Hood tales. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1203 Blogging with Adam Smith and Karl Marx
Introduces students to college-level analytical writing by exploring the ethical debates underpinning the early social scientific thought of writers like Hobbes, Mandeville, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Ricardo, Mill, and Marx. Writing assignments will explore how this ethical heritage continues to influence contemporary discussions of social policy. 4 credits.
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FYW-1204 Human Animal or Human Machine?
How do technologies shape our understanding of the universe, the environment, and humankind? Do feelings expressed in the 18th and 19th centuries about nature, technology, and the work of art-from proud associations with “natural talents” to a pronounced shame inspired by mechanical resemblances-influence today’s ideas about art, the human being, and society? To engage these questions, students will explore and write on a variety of texts that address the shifting ideas of nature and technology central to Romantic-era thought and which continue to frame current debates about the nature of life itself. 4 credits.
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FYW-1206 Spain in the U.S. Imagination
Identification and examination of notions and representations of Spain in the United States from the seventeenth-century forward. Using a variety of texts and media, the course will consider causes and motivations for the varying and often contrasting impressions of Spain which have persistently dominated US thought throughout its history. 4 credits.
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FYW-1210 The Genesis of Faith
The nature and development of the primordial narratives of Genesis and the ways in which they provide the basis for and are in themselves foundational interpretations of a variety of Jewish, Christian, and even Islamic worldviews. Emphasizes writing arguments using these topics. 4 credits.
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FYW-1211 Chocolate
Through the ages, cacao beans, the source of chocolate, have served as symbols of social status, religious offerings, and romance. Utilizing primary and secondary sources, students will use their own writings to go beyond the symbolism of chocolate to examine the cultural, economic, and ecological impact of chocolate production from the early mesoamerican period to the present. Chocolate will be prepared and consumed during this course. 4 credits.
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FYW-1213 Why Are You Laughing?
An intensive writing seminar that will explore the elusive questions of what is comedy and what is funny. Focuses on developing analytical writing skills and applying these to building an understanding of comedy’s shifting role in art, literature, politics, and culture, as well as its often fraught relationship with questions of race, class, and gender. Develop a sophisticated palate for comedy, studying works ranging from Aristophanes to Archer. 4 credits.
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FYW-1215 Can the West Save the Rest?
In this course, we will investigate a number of questions about foreign aid: What is it? Who gives it? To whom? How much? Why? We will carefully consider how to evaluate aid effectiveness, and how to use empirical evidence to support an argument. 4 credits.
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FYW-1217 Autism and Technology
A focus on understanding the experience of autism, a developmental disorder affecting communication and social interaction, from multiple perspectives, and how to design and use technology systems to support these individuals. Exploring how autism affects individuals across the life-span and a spectrum of abilities. Critically examining current technical and non-technical approaches to supporting individuals with autism and their caregivers, and design new educational and assistive technologies for autism. 4 credits.
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FYW-1218 Work and Selfhood
How do we define our values, skills, and priorities through the work we choose to do, and how do our occupations define us in the eyes of others? This course will consider work as empowerment or exploitation, as a calling or an obligation, as a means to an end or an end in itself. 4 credits.
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FYW-1219 The Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln
The public speeches of Abraham Lincoln are examined using close textual analysis and contextual history to understand persuasion, motives, and artistry in public discourse; to learn about Lincoln’s life and times; and to understand his influence on slavery, the Civil War, and beyond. 4 credits.
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FYW-1221 God and Justice
This course will explore the complicated relationship of religion and politics in a democratic context. In addition to reading classical texts in political theory, we will also consider religious approaches to political activism as such activism affects American public policy. 4 credits.
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FYW-1223 Eat, Write, Think: Food As Metaphor
Ideas are nourishing: like food, they fuel our understanding of and aliveness to the world. We “digest” them, “chew them over,” reject them as “half-baked.” Food and eating are deep metaphors for meaning and understanding. This course explores food as conceptual metaphor and metaphor as “food for thought” through readings, discussions, and writing workshops. 4 credits.
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FYW-1224 Big Food: Media and Politics in Modern American Culture
In this social science writing seminar, we read, discuss and evaluate academic, political, economic, environmental, health, and media messages related to food in modern American culture. Topics include-but are not limited to-big food industries, toxic food environment, the obesity epidemic, marketing, animal rights, and environmental impact. Sources include popular non-fiction books, newspapers, magazines, peer-reviewed research articles, websites, blogs, and films. You will practice the critical thinking, writing, and researching skills required in a variety of disciplines. 4 credits.
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FYW-1225 Sustainability
This course is intended to take an interdisciplinary scientific approach to addressing the issue of the sustainability of industrial, agricultural, and natural systems. The course covers a wide range of global environmental topics with an emphasis on sustainability. 4 credits.
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FYW-1226 Minority Rights
Exactly which groups should have what rights? Do collective group rights protect minorities or undermine individual liberties? By comparing social, political, economic, and international factors that contribute to the creation of minority identities and maintenance of minority-majority relations in several different countries, students will explore and debate definitions of justice, equity, and rights. 4 credits.
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FYW-1227 Quest for Meanings and Values through Theater
Theatre challenges core beliefs and principles and has become a vehicle for social change around the globe. This course aims to explore those concepts and deepen skills of critical reading and writing while opening one’s heart and mind to unique ideas and interpretations in theatrical works. 4 credits.
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FYW-1228 Writing Freedom: United States Abolition and Social Change
In this course we will investigate some puzzles of emancipation and consider a broad array of abolitionist strategies for change. Why did emancipation take so long? Who was responsible for ending it? Which approaches seemed to catalyze change, and which hardened opposition? Why, in contrast to so many other nations in the Atlantic world, did American emancipation involve such a violent ending? How did abolition overlap with other efforts to extend human rights in the same era? What kinds of human rights were involved in emancipation, and which were left out? Did we complete emancipation’s promise with the civil rights movement or is the process ongoing? 4 credits.
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FYW-1229 Faith and Doubt in Literature
What makes a book great? Do certain texts have a transformative power, and if so, wherein does it lie? This first-year writing seminar will be focused on all stages of the writing process to prepare students to write argumentative essays that demonstrate a fluency with primary and secondary sources; that are clearly organized, concisely written, and grammatically correct; and that conform to an accepted style. After an initial discussion of the nature and purpose of art and literature, students will learn to critically read narratives that portray crisis of faith or that take the creation or lack of faith or over credulity as their theme. 4 credits.
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FYW-1230 Ooh La La!: French Women in American Culture
We will investigate the current fascination with representations of French women in American self-help literature. Is it true that French women “Don’t Get Fat” and “Don’t Sleep Alone”? Why should we want to know “How French Women Do It” or how to find our “Inner French Girl”? 4 credits.
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FYW-1232 Dante and the Inferno
A guided tour of the afterlife, as seen through the eyes of Dante Alighieri, focused primarily on reading Dante’s great epic as a way of engaging with some of life’s biggest questions: What is the purpose of human existence? What is the nature of justice? How can finite human beings attain a glimpse of transcendent truth, goodness, and beauty? Students will explore arguments and create their own through a series of guided writing assignments that will introduce them to college-level writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1233 Sea Dragons and Storm Gods: Hebrew Mythology
This course will examine mythological elements of narrative and poetic texts in the Hebrew Bible. We will focus on how the larger religious and literary contexts of the Bible help us understand its mythological metaphors and allusions. Texts studied will include Genesis, Psalms, Job, and the Prophets. 4 credits.
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FYW-1234 Bird by Bird: Interactions in Nature and Society
Birds fill many roles in society. Examples abound in science, fashion, sports, and religion. As such, birds serve as an important window to understand human-environment interactions. In this seminar, we read and discuss how our ideas about birds reflect changing ideas about nature and society. 4 credits.
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FYW-1235 Shakespeare Then and Now
Exploring the written Shakespearean plays and comparing them with modern interpretations/adaptations. Specifically, the changes made from the plays in contemporary films. 4 credits.
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FYW-1236 Thinking Sex: What’s Love Got to Do With It
Typically, sex and sexuality define discrete, natural categories of being or identity. Instead of treating these as separate from other social and cultural issues, we will study how these concepts acquire meaning from their association with categories of knowledge (race, ethics, medicine, or science, for example) that are not primarily about sex. Works explored include philosophical texts, Disney films and fairy tales, documentaries and contemporary novels. 4 credits.
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FYW-1237 Welcome to Greenville
Introduction to the city and country of Greenville, South Carolina. Focusing on the region’s government and politics, considering its history, economics, sociology, arts, and religion. Students will read and write about local history and politics and invest themselves in current local events. Students will explore arguments and create their own through a series of guided writing assignments that will introduce them to college-level writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1238 The Way of Wisdom
Explore the world’s “wisdom” traditions as you study the Biblical Wisdom books (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes) alongside ideas about wisdom from the Ancient Near Eastern traditions as well as in conversation with texts from other world religions. Reflect on the root and purpose of religious wisdom traditions, and consider how these traditions might have enduring relevance for questions such as: Does the world have order and meaning? What would a “successful” and “happy” life look like, and how might we pursue that goal? How should we make sense of suffering and injustice in the created order? 4 credits.
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FYW-1239 Pseudoscience and Skepticism
Using examples in pseudoscience and the paranormal, introduction to the scientific attitude and to critical thinking. Students will learn how to critically evaluate extraordinary claims, and how to construct an effective argument. Topic areas include ESP, alien abductions, astrology, homeopathic medicine, conspiracy theories, and recovered memories. 4 credits.
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FYW-1240 Religion and Science Fiction
An examination of the religious themes that inhabit contemporary science fiction and fantasy. 4 credits.
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FYW-1241 Near Neighbors: Canada, U.S. and Mexico
This course considers the longstanding and increasingly complex relationships between the three countries occupying North America. It will focus on important bilateral and multilateral issues, including immigration, drugs, trade, the environment, and national and subnational identities. 4 credits.
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FYW-1242 World of the Founding Fathers
Students will focus on improving their writing skills in multiple genres, including historical fiction and argumentative, research-based essays, drawing on the events of the American Revolution for sources and for inspiration. Course materials introduce students to the political, diplomatic, racial, and gender aspects of this crucial historical period. 4 credits.
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FYW-1243 Cancer, Biology and Beyond
The course will introduce the basic biology of cancer. Students will explore how cancer is portrayed in the media and the role of cancer in society. The class will investigate the responsibility of cancer non-profit organizations and consider the role of faith when coping with cancer. 4 credits.
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FYW-1244 Learning Politics through Battlestar Galactica
FX series “Battlestar Galactica” (2003-2009) provides the launching point to explore the world of politics-and much more. Students will watch the series, read related philosophical, political and religious texts, and engage in deep discussion. Writing assignments are designed to help students reflect on the questions raised in the course, research related topics and develop their writing skills. 4 credits.
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FYW-1245 The Parables of Jesus
A study of the parables of Jesus, canonical and non-canonical through the lenses of social theory, folktale, and theological studies. Students will be expected to read the parables, study their history both in the context of the gospels and in their earliest forms in order to understand how the parables are used as stories to subvert both the empire of the ancient world but also the typical understanding of human interaction. 4 credits.
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FYW-1246 Japanese Religion in Everyday Life
Examining how various religions in Japan including Shintô, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, and New Religions are practiced, interconnected, and manifested in everyday life and culture in contemporary Japan. 4 credits.
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FYW-1247 What is and isn’t Language?
This seminar addresses language as a human phenomenon. Students will learn what language is as well as what it is not. The content is limited to a only few topics such as language origin, animal communication systems, language in the brain, first-language acquisition, language variation and change, and language and culture, but these topics intersect with notions of language in fields such as anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, education, sociology, and classical as well as modern languages. 4 credits.
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FYW-1249 Life Writing: Autobiography and History
This seminar uses autobiography as a conduit to help students explore key developments in history and their own evolving sense of self. By reading a diverse group of autobiographical authors-male/female, white, African-American, Native-American, Hispanic, prominent/obscure, rich/poor-students will use the self-referential content of life writing to explore the dynamics of American history and its narrative nature while constructing their own life story over the course of the semester. 4 credits.
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FYW-1251 Margin and Meaning
Examining the inter-related questions: What is the meaning of life? What are the hallmarks of a truly human life? What is the meaning of MY life? How might answers to these questions guide decisions that I am making about what I should do with my life? We de-center these very personal, I-centered questions by looking at them from various margins to consider whether and how those perspectives assist in answering the questions. 4 credits.
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FYW-1252 Finding Your Life Purpose
A seminar designed to guide critical reflection on what it means to live a life of significance, one that seeks to make a difference in the world. Study of biblical, historical, literary and psychological models will facilitate a contextually rich and diverse interpretation of calling. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work.
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FYW-1253 Origins of Global Poverty
An exploration of the historical origins of the maldistribution of wealth between the “west” and the “rest” in the contemporary world. Contrasting viewpoints are considered and students are encouraged to explore the differing use of evidence to arrive at their own conclusion. 4 credits.
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FYW-1254 Winning the White House
The race to win the presidency encompasses examination of competing political philosophies, political issues, the role of interest groups vying for political power and methods of campaigning. 4 credits.
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FYW-1255 Nature of Roman Myth
It is often said that the Romans had no myth, only saga. This course will explore that idea by interrogating various definitions of myth, examining the differences among types of traditional tales, and exploring their connection
to native Italian religions, inherited Greek traditions, and Roman cultural identity. Primary texts to be read in English include Ovid, Vergil, and Livy. 4 credits.
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FYW-1256 The World through ESPN Films
This course will analyze the social world through the lens of the ESPN documentary series 30 for 30. It will use the films as a foundation, in connection with key readings, to address significant current social problems and concerns. It will cover a wide range of topics, such as drug cartels, higher education, gender equity, and the economic impact of sports. Students will connect key theories from the social sciences to the issues presented in the films. Students will explore arguments and create their own through a series of guided writing assignments that will introduce them to college-level writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1257 Adaption for Actors
For actors, studying the classics doesn’t bring up images of stuffy language and boring lectures. It provides challenges on how to adapt a classic text for a globalized 21st century audience. Through exploration and investigation, students will re-imagine masterpieces in dramatic literature using improvisation, creative drama, and applied theatre. 4 credits.
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FYW-1258 Drugs, Sex and Rocky Road
What are the motivating factors for eating, sex, and recreational drug use? Why do we persist in the face of difficulties? Why do some of us use and abuse drugs, sex, and food while others seem unaffected? Just as importantly, what are the prevailing attitudes of society toward individuals who struggle with drugs, sex, and food? Modern psychology, using the scientific method, has provided a wealth of information about these and other motivational questions. Consideration of how our biology, learning and cognition, affect and direct these behavior. Motivational concepts and theories will be applied to our understanding of drugs, sex, and rocky road. 4 credits.
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FYW-1259 James Baldwin in the #BlackLivesMatter Era
This writing-intensive seminar provides students rich content to spur original essays, content drawn from the non-fiction and public talks/debates of James Baldwin, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and diverse contemporary writers. Students will investigate race and privilege in order to draft four essays, conference with their peers and the professor, and produce final essays representing a variety of writing-personal narratives, online texts, and cited disciplinary essays. 4 credits.
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FYW-1260 Tudor-Stuart Texts
The era saw significant social changes alongside political & religious revolutions. Because the rise of print culture enabled a pulp press, popular polemics, regular news reporting, and a famous “Renaissance” in literary and dramatic works that recorded these changes, this seminar will focus on literary and/or historical analysis and interpretation of texts from the 16th and 17th centuries to help students understand some of the significant cultural changes that anticipate the modern world. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work.
4 credits.
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FYW-1261 Free Speech in Democracy Inc.
The seminar looks at speech economies from multiple perspectives. If attention is scarce thanks to digital media saturation, what happens to thought in a “marketplace of ideas?” And when money gets involved, is free speech “sold out?” Using court decisions, political cartoons, advocacy pieces, and communication theory, we not only evaluate the “state of speech” in democracy today, but also examine the craft of writing as working in a constrained economy. 4 credits.
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FYW-1262 Masterpieces of Scientific Writing
Students in this seminar will read some the great masterworks in the history of science, texts which were fundamental to the advancement of science while also being great works of literature. Students completing this course will be expected to have a greater appreciation both for the scientific ideas discussed and for the importance of presenting those ideas in coherent, well-written arguments. The emphasis in the course will be on how the original authors presented their insights to the public. 4 credits.
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FYW-1263 Representations of Prison in Print and Film
This seminar examines how the U.S. prison system is presented in print and film in order to consider how different mediums allow for a multitude of understandings of the prison system in the popular imagination. Students read texts and watch their visual counterparts, as well as write three essays and create their own visual representations of texts about prison. 4 credits.
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FYW-1264 Can Humans Fly?
This course will focus on how to communicate through writing with the scientific discovery of human flight as the primary content. To understand the invention of human flight, students will explore the fundamental concepts through observation of the natural world and wind tunnel experimentation. Analysis from experimentation with the characteristics of flight will ground discussion on the meaning of scientific discovery, including its implications and consequences. 4 credits.
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FYW-1266 Inside the White Cube: Exhibition Practice and History
An introduction to the basic theory and practice of museum exhibition planning. Through exhibition planning, design, and execution students will move through a series of writing projects. Students will examine historical exhibitions to determine best practices, analyze written materials from these exhibitions, and produce professional examples in different genres. 4 credits.
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FYW-1267 Fairy Tales and Childhood
Examination of fairy tales in the context of the history of childhood, practices of education, and socialization of the modern subject. The work of the Brothers Grimm, but also fairy tales drawn from other traditions and periods will be included. Critical approaches include psychoanalysis, historical models of childhood, the evolution of specific tale types, and the ‘medial’ history from oral traditions through print to film. 4 credits.
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FYW-1268 France. Friend or Frenemy?
Investigation of the Franco-American alliance and representations from Lafayette to Freedom Fries. Study of hot-button issues from American and French perspectives in an effort to understand the French and ourselves better. 4 credits.
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FYW-1270 China and the Environment
The origin of China’s current environmental crisis and policy recommendations for improving its environment using a multidisciplinary approach. Introduction of the science behind key environmental issues facing China and how political, social and economic factors impact China’s natural environment and prospects for its preservation. 4 credits.
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FYW-1271 Engage the News
Students will read a national newspaper on a daily basis and be prepared to discuss and write about the content and its implications. Students will demonstrate comprehension of what they have read through periodic assessments, participate dynamically in class discussion and complete writing assignments that vary in topic, objective and audience. 4 credits.
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FYW-1272 Biodiversity: The Other Earthlings
Through field trips, readings, videos, and writing assignments, students will learn about the breath and importance of life’s diversity and will meet some of the unique and ‘alien’ species that share our world. Students will maintain a writer’s journal, complete three papers (with revisions), and have an exam on lecture material. This seminar focuses on broader patterns, ecological relationships, and specific ’biographies’ of interesting species. 4 credits.
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FYW-1273 International Security Threats?
Since the end of the cold war and even more so after 9/11, international security threats such as terrorism or rogue states are seemingly ubiquitous. This seminar critically engages phenomena of international security threats. It discusses their dangers, but also the possibility of them being exaggerated or even fabricated and it asks what goals such strategies may serve. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1274 Management Literacy
Whether working in private sector, not-for-profit, or government organizations, managers are confronted with the needs to ‘manage by the numbers’ and to motivate, lead and inspire the people who surround them. These two aspects of management are fraught with hazards associated with mathematical reasoning, the interpretation of
data, and the understanding of human behavior. This seminar examines the key issues associated with management literacy, with illustrations drawn from situations that confront today’s managers and leaders in their professions and everyday lives. 4 credits.
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FYW-1275 Rhetoric of African-American Film
This seminar analyzes films that are either written, produced, or directed by African Americans from a rhetorical perspective. Taking this perspective means analyzing films as responses to socio political circumstances and as a type of social discourse that engages other discourses about African-American identity and experiences. The course is unique in its focus on African-American films exclusively, and in its study of these films as social discourse rather than as cinematic art. 4 credits.
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FYW-1276 Background Noises
This course explores the role of music in media, politics, sports, advertising, and religion. This music appeals to our tastes, emotions, ideas, and beliefs. Students who complete this seminar will be able to identify the sorts of appeals such music might make, analyze the goal of such appeals and articulate the success of an appeal. This course is unique in considering music as a secondary actor in these contexts, rather than for its own sake. 4 credits.
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FYW-1278 Sustainability and Society
An introduction to college writing through the lens of sustainability science. Readings and class topics will center on the grand challenge of improving well-being of people on the earth while reducing the impact we have on the environment. Students will practice several genres of writing through weekly assignments, and refine their writing skills through multiple revisions of a final research project. 4 credits.
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FYW-1279 Ethics of Photography
Seminar will explore photography through historical and contemporary ethics, standards and practices. Course examines visuals through the history of photography, current day practices and methods of critiquing photographs as objects of art. Exploring pictures, theoretical essays and a photography exhibition, students will move through exercises in photographing and writing assignments that will analyze topics such as exploitation, plagiarism, manipulation, reportage and truth in photography. 4 credits.
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FYW-1280 Humor and Politics
This course is about the intersection of politics and humor-what makes politics funny, how that may vary depending on the audience or messenger, the purposes humor serves in political communication, the forms it takes, and its effects. Students will reflect on and evaluate various forms of political humor, research what scholarly sources tell us about political humor and its effects, and produce their own political humor. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1281 Corporate Sustainability
This course will explore corporate sustainability from the business and investor points of view. Students will investigate the evolution of corporate sustainability. How corporate sustainability impacts business and investor decision-making, its merits, and its current state. Students will explore arguments and create their own through a series of guided writing assignments that will introduce them to college-level writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1282 Drugs and the Brain
An introduction to college writing that focuses on the neurobiology of addiction and the stigmatization of addiction. During the semester, we will cover basic neurobiology and the addictive properties of various drugs of abuse. Additionally, we will examine how addiction is portrayed in the media. Through writing and revision, students will complete a research project and develop their argumentative writing skills with assignments focused on addiction. 4 credits.
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FYW-1284 South Carolina Present and Past
Examines the historical roots of contemporary issues in South Carolina. Students identify news stories from around the state that focus on race, education, the environment, and politics; which are topics that have rich bibliographies in historical literature. Students will also be expected to learn how the discipline of history serves to mediate between past and present. 4 credits.
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FYW-1285 Learning Economics, Engaging History: Using Hamilton the Broadway Musical
Explores the work of one of the United States founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. Initially, the popular Broadway musical, ‘Hamilton: An American Musical’ will be used to facilitate exploratory research, in particular, Hamilton’s lasting contributions in the financial institutions arena. 4 credits.
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FYW-1286 Spanish in the United States
Students will consider key notions of bilingualism, language ideology, and language policy as they relate to Spanish and English in the United States. We will also examine common features of bilingual speech, what is Spanglish?, and language maintenance or loss on the societal level. The class will reflect on how language use relates to one’s culture and sense of identity. Students will become more familiar with the use of Spanish and English in the local community as well. 4 credits.
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FYW-1287 From I Love Lucy to Game of Thrones: Economics, Aesthetics, and Television Networks
Challenging students to think critically about a crucial cultural institution in their lives: network television. We will explore how technology, economics, aesthetics, and audiences have interacted to shape the content of network dramas and comedies since the 1950s. At the same time, this class will be as much or more about effective writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1288 One Playwright, In-Depth
The works of a single playwright are read, discussed, viewed, and written about for an entire term. Writers who might be studied include Henrik Ibsen, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov, Horton Foote, Sarah Ruhl, Neil LaBute, Annie Baker, Eugene O’Neill, and others. Students will be expected to understand the playwright’s contribution to his or her own era and the ongoing traditions of theatre and conduct scholarly research into the stylistic contribution of the playwright. Students will study and write about these ideas in ways structured to develop interpretive, analytical, and argumentative writing skills appropriate for college-level work. 4 credits.
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FYW-1289 Conflict and Its Transformation
Using the study of conflict as a vehicle, this course will provide students with opportunities to develop proficiency in college-level writing. Through guided writing exercises, students will practice confict interpretation and analysis, learning both to critique and to construct coherent written arguments. In a culminating research project providing opportunity to develop and refine research skills, students will complete a paper in which they explore conflict in a specific arena (environmental, racial, political, etc.). 4 credits.
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FYW-1290 Writing Nature & Reimagining the World
Engaging in a wide variety of writing exercises and projects, students analyze modern and contemporary definitions of nature and the environment. Studying nature writing, environmental thought, and romantic-era to post-romantic depictions of nature, students develop deeper understandings of the aesthetics and politics of “nature” and gain critical vocabularies necessary
for composing meaningful works of ecocriticism. 4 credits.
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FYW-1291 Utopias and Dystopias: Art and World War I
The production of European art during and after WWI. We will look at the ways this cataclysmic, modern war impacted artistic intentions, examining both utopian responses, such as Purism or the Bauhaus, and dystopian models, including Dada and Surrealism. 4 credits.
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FYW-1292 Chemistry, Discovery and the Nobel Prize
The development of modern chemistry involves real people wrestling with explaining their observations and defending those explanations against opposing claims. As real people, these scientists struggle with pride, moral dilemmas, and a desire to be recognized. Students will be challenged to investigate what constitutes discovery, and how these discoveries are valued. The development of written arguments supporting their understanding of Nobel Prize worthy discoveries will be emphasized. 4 credits.
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FYW-1293 Digital Reading, Digital Writing
Does technology change the way we think about literature? Do we write differently when our text can be converted into interactive web sites or slide presentations as easily as it can be printed out? This seminar will raise these and similar broad questions through practical, hands-on experience reading and writing with computers. Successful students will learn concepts from linguistics, data science, and literary studies, as well as gaining broadly applicable technical skills. 4 credits.
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FYW-1294 America through Baseball
An introduction to college writing that focuses on American history in light of baseball. Through writing and revision, students will critically analyze historical figures and key events in the game, and complete a research project on a topic related to baseball and issues such as media, globalism, race, and economics. 4 credits.
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FYW-1295 Systems Thinking in Public Health and Sustainability
Students will be introduced to the three core themes of systems thinking: conceptual modeling, network science, and complexity theory. Students will apply these themes to analyze complex socio-environmental systems in health and/or sustainability, for example by mapping interactions between factors causing or affected by obesity. Analyses will be conveyed through reports constructed via peer- and instructor-led revisions that emphasize the use of evidence and appropriate college level writing. 4 credits.
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FYW-1296 Picturing Slavery: Writing Slave Lives
Uncovering the story of America’s enslaved past. Students will assist in uncovering the life and times of America’s first black female novelist, Hannah Bond. We will also do original research discovering the story behind seven enslaved men and women from Columbia, South Carolina, whose naked photographs were first discovered in the attic of The Peabody Museum in 1976. Focus includes archival research, a logical argument, using textual evidence, and writing mechanics. 4 credits.
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FYW-1297 American Musical Theater and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
FYW (First Year Writing)
Nine musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama since its inception in 1917. Ordinarily, the award is presented to the playwright, but in these musicals, it was awarded to the composer, lyricist, and book writer. The musicals combine these individual skills to present a compelling theatrical experience which tends to reflect on social and political issues of the day. 4
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FYW-1298 Tear Them Down? Monuments Memory and History
FYW (First Year Writing)
This course examines the relationship between history and memory. It highlights the (at times) contested nature of memory pointing out how the same past is remembered in different ways by different groups with sometimes devastating consequences. The practical focus develops student writing skills. About 50% of course time will be spent on the technical and practical side of writing. 4
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