In this Department  Fall 2002  Spring 2003 Catalog  Main Page  General Information   College of Arts and Sciences   Conservatory of Music  Double-Degree Program  Other Links  Registrar's Office Office/Departmental Directory  Arts and Sciences Main Page First-Year Seminar Program The First-Year Seminar Program is designed to introduce students to the scholarly ways of liberal learning necessary to make the most of an Oberlin education. The shared objectives of first-year seminars are to help provide students with: 1. skills necessary for critical thinking, discussion and research; 2. an introduction to the liberal arts that may include, among other things, exploration of the personal value and social relevance of a liberal arts education and what it means to be a part of a liberal arts community of learning; and 3. an opportunity to earn Writing Proficiency or Quantitative Proficiency in a class with the enrollment limited to 14-16. These seminars present a unique opportunity for entering students to test their ideas, learn from others, and get to know a faculty member well. First-year seminars are offered by departments and programs from across the College in both Fall and Spring semesters. The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences strongly urges all College first-year students to enroll in one during their first year. For further information on the First-Year Seminar Program, as well as descriptions of seminars, please consult the First-Year Seminar Program Course Catalog or visit the First-Year Seminar Program's website for students at www.oberlin.edu/~fys/Student/. back to top Fall 2002 African American Studies 110 Black Women and Liberation Pamela Brooks 115 The Literatures of Atlantic Slavery Meredith Gadsby 129 Issues and Themes in Colonial and Post Colonial African Literature Yakubu Saaka and Len Podis Art 123 Representation and Reality in Contemporary Culture Patricia Matthews Biology 116 Field-Based Writing: Ecology of the Vermillion River Watershed Mary Garvin and Jan Cooper 121 Everyday Evolution Roger Laushman Chemistry 114 Origins and Treatment of Cancer William Fuchsman English 111 Words that Matter Jennifer Bryan 117 The Uses of Metaphor John Hobbs 127 The Last Romantics John Olmsted 128 Media and Memory Jeffrey Pence 134 Crossing Borders: The Mysteries of Identity David Walker 136 Ways of Seeing, Ways of Knowing Sandy Zagarell French 135 North African Women and Islam Ali Yedes History 120 The Collision of Cultures in North America, 1492-1700 Gary Kornblith 125 American Mixed Blood Pablo Mitchell 132 The Body in Environmental History Ellen Stroud Jewish Studies 131 Literary & Religious Creativity: How Early Jews & Christians Rewrote the Bible Abe Socher Musicology 122 Music Live Claudia Macdonald Neuroscience 130 Mind and Brain: Unraveling the Mysteries, Delivering the Cures Denny Smith 133 Science and the Mind Jan Thornton Politics 112 Politics of Globalization Stephen Crowley 119 The First Amendment and the Internet Ronald Kahn Religion 124 Seeing War and Peace through Religious Traditions Joyce McClure Rhetoric 116 Field-Based Writing: Ecology of the Vermillion River Watershed Mary Garvin and Jan Cooper 129 Issues and Themes in Colonial and Post Colonial African Literature Yakubu Saaka and Len Podis Russian 113 Us/Them: Russian and American Mutual (Mis)Perceptions Arlene Forman 126 The Meaning of Life: Dispatches from 19th Century Russia Thomas Newlin Sociology 118 Through the Looking Glass: Intersection of Race, Ethnicity and Gender with Social Class in Contemporary America Daphne John/Sociology and Clovis White   back to top  Sprin 2003 Anthropology 142 Lessons from the Maya: Power, Identity and History in Ancient Mesoamerica Linda Grimm East Asian Studies 141 The Writings of Women in Japanese Culture Suzanne Gay Economics 138 Global Economic Policy Analysis David Cleeton 148 Experimental Economics and Human Behavior Robert Piron English 143 Novels of Development Katherine Linehan 146 Pedagogies of Empire Anuradha Needham 147 Poetry Through Performance Robert Pierce 150 Magical Realist Fiction History 140 Religion, Ethnicity and Politics in South Asian History Michael Fisher 145 Medieval Iberia: Cultural Interactions from the Visigoths to 1492 Isaac Miller Neuroscience 137 Neurobiology of the Mind: the Brain is Wider than the Sky Mark Braford Politics 139 Leadership Paul Dawson 149 War and Power Eve Sandberg Religion 144 Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Albert G. Miller back to top