First-Year Seminar

Taught By: Dr. Alexa Yesukevich, Instructor in Sociology & Coordinator of Women's Studies

Our time together will be grounded in our community garden, which we’ll use to explore our own relationships with nature and agriculture. We will try out some small, rewarding shifts in daily routines that can benefit the environment and connect us to the natural world. From there we will shift to examine the policies and economic structures that fundamentally determine the future path of environmental sustainability.

We will study the complicated relationship between capitalism and the environment. We’ll look for ways to balance attention to our personal contributions to a sustainable future with attention to systemic changes.

We'll do a considerable amount of hands-on learning through field trips, possible meetings with local environmental advocates, and of course ongoing work in our garden.

Living Learning Community: Social Justice

Taught By: Joel Stoker, Lecturer in Religious Studies

Many of us ask: What can I do to make the world a more equitable place? At the heart of this question is the barrier that prevents the world from being equal: injustice. Making the world more just seems like a daunting task. Yet history teaches us that it is possible and the tools have been laid out before us. How many of our real-world heroes have given power to the powerless, voices to the voiceless, hope to the downtrodden, and opportunities for advancement? These inspire all of us to make the world a better place.

From reformations in the criminal justice system to religion’s impact in the Civil Rights Movement, in this course, we will investigate historical policies of institutional discrimination and the social disparities of a modern, pluralistic world. Incorporating both factual and fictional narratives into the scope of reading for the course, we will also explore the methods used by educators, artists, religious leaders, and activists to shift power centers and empower minorities and the underprivileged. You'll observe and participate in a local social justice organization by collaborating with leaders from local organizations of your choice to explore and influence the community. The course concludes with a report and presentation on your research, observations, and participation in the course projects.

Living Learning Community: Healthy Living

Taught By: Kelly Smith, Assistant Professor of Human Services

In this course, we will focus on learning positive habits to promote a healthy body and mind as you transition into your college environment. You'll gain an understanding of the emotional, intellectual, social, environmental, and physical elements of wellness while learning and practicing positive skills to combat everyday stress and develop long-term resiliency. You'll have opportunities to practice your skills, experience guest lectures, and participate in community events and opportunities. As a group and a community, we will connect with one another and forge positive, supportive relationships that will also help you build connections with your other classmates and the larger campus community.

Voices of the past speak to us through myths and folklore. These ancient stories, passed down through generations, describe worldviews and offer wisdom for people from every part of the world. This course will explore and compare the traditional stories of cultures from around the world as they are retold by modern storytellers and artists, with an emphasis on foreign films, animations, paintings, sculptures, and other modes of artistic interpretation. You will get the chance to respond to these stories through analytical writing and creative projects.

Never before have ecological issues been more pressing and creative solutions needed. In this course, you will develop a broad understanding of those ecological issues and their relationship to the social, political, cultural, and economic systems that impact the future of humanity, other species, and our shared planet. You'll understand how your own work as an individual, an artist, or a designer can comment on, interact with, and impact the world. You will develop collaborative and creative individual projects that may take the form of social/relational art practice, video, installation, performance, writing, sound, 2D or 3D forms, or electronic media. We will focus on artists, designers, and architects that work across disciplines and within communities to focus attention on the web of interrelationships in our environment

What does it mean to join a new community? What does the residential college experience mean? What are the liberal arts? This course examines the hidden curriculum and helps you find (and create) your own communities within Elmira College and the surrounding area. Borrowing from the ethnographic methods of anthropology, we will explore the rituals that humans use to build communities, examine the role that college plays in personal growth and career preparation, and reflect on the experiences and relationships that shape our understanding of the world. We will discuss strategies for making the best use of the unique opportunities available during and after college, and develop plans for meeting the challenges that we are likely to face along the way. One of the most important benefits of a college education is the opportunity to learn to see the world from other points of view, and to learn more about ourselves in the process. Come explore Elmira College, find your communities, and discover who you are!

Love a hike in the woods? Over the years, humans have profoundly stated our love for being outside and enjoying the wilderness that surrounds us. We will read some of these accounts from Henry David Thoreau to Annie Dillard, to experience the romantic, environmental, and meditative aspects of nature as we walk about in it. But also, how did the woods and mountains get here in the first place? Humans often overlook the geologic controls of our natural environment. Geology creates the physical landscape we exist on but also subtly molds Earth’s water and climate, influencing the distribution of plants and animals. In this course, we will walk and explore the Southern Tier of New York as we meld a soulful wilderness experience with the science of how and why that wilderness exists. Fortunately, we are surrounded by beautiful wilderness and geology. Elmira is situated on the Allegheny Plateau, bordered by the beautiful, glacially carved Finger Lakes to the north, the Pennsylvania Fold Belt to the south, and the Appalachian Mountains to the East. Bring your boots and come outside to explore with us!

What are cities, exactly, and why do they exist? How are cities shaped by human norms, values, beliefs, and biases, and how do cities in turn shape the way we experience the world, the relationships we form, and the lives we are able to live? In other words: while we create cities, cities also create us. We will begin by learning about the historical and psychological dimensions of urban design, then set out to explore Elmira and interpret what we find through perception maps, creative writing, and photo essays. We will then dive into films and short stories about utopian and dystopian cities, and study efforts by intentional communities

This course examines the conflicts created as a result of discrimination by race, gender, religion, and cultural identity as described in both literature and the arts. You'll be expected to participate in creative projects (mash-up collage, graphic novel, video, photography, music, poetry, dance, reader’s theatre, etc.) that will accompany your essays. Selections of coursework will be chosen to form a collaborative class book.

Come experience the fun of creating your own secret codes and secret societies while attempting to decode the secret messages of your friends! In this course, we’ll learn about how human history has been shaped by the making and breaking of codes, as well as other related advances in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Throughout the term, we’ll watch and discuss modern movies that highlight the people behind groundbreaking discoveries in STEM, both historical and fictional. Watching these movies will lead to important discussions about whose stories get told through popular film. Whose achievements have we traditionally celebrated? Who are the “hidden figures” that we are now beginning to celebrate? Why does representation matter?

Why are we so fascinated with stories of crime? What kinds of crime stories capture our attention as a society, and what does that tell us about our social values? How has “true crime” evolved as a genre along with different kinds of media technology? How do our senses of community, self, and "other" get formed, challenged, or circulated through popular representations of crime in the media? How can we become better critical thinkers about how media representations relate to social and cultural practices? This FYS course considers the social and cultural implications of representations of crime in popular media, including journalism, docuseries, and podcasts.