Trinity College First Year Seminars

The First-Year Seminar Program for first-year students is a significant and innovative part of the Trinity curriculum. Since 1969, new students at Trinity have enjoyed the benefit of a small seminar class (seminars range from 12-15 students) and close contact with a faculty member in their first fall semester. The First-Year Seminars are academically rigorous, designed to introduce new students to the critical analysis, writing skills, and workload that Trinity demands from all of its students. Discussion and debate are a standard part of the First-Year Seminar, as are exploring similar topics from various disciplines. As first-year students acclimate themselves to Trinity's academic demands, they also learn to navigate Trinity's academic resources. Through their seminar, students are introduced to the Computing, Mathematics, and Writing Centers, and the research opportunities available in and through the library.

Exploring Sports in Society Seminar thought they were "coming to dinner" and found out they were "cooking dinner"!

Standing back row L-R
Stuart Kidder/Mark Romeo/Eric Bergstrom/Nick Baldelli/empty apron
Kristen Geiger/Christian Greer/Christine Ryan/Lindsey Jordan

Sitting front and middle row L-R
Nick Cantone/Kristen Hains/Matt Krant/Ben Leong/Katrina Voorhees
Jess Keeley/Marvin Pierre/Kerri Stumpo (on Marvin's lap) and Robin Sheppard

SEMINARS 2003-2004

Note: This list does not include the Seminars associated with the Cities Program, InterArts, Interdisciplinary Science and the Guided Studies Program.

In this First-Year Seminar (there will be eight identical ones taught by eight different faculty listed below), students will play three elaborate games, each lasting about a month and set in the past: Democracy at a Crossroads: Athens in 403 B.C.E.; The Succession Crisis of the Wan-li Emperor, set in the Forbidden City of Beijing, China, in 1587 C.E.; and The Trial of Anne Hutchinson in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1636 C.E. Students will be assigned, in most cases randomly, different roles for each game derived from the historical setting. Each role is defined largely by its “game or victory objective.” However, students will write (literally) their own scripts, derived from important texts in the history of ideas.

For the first few sessions of each game, the instructor--hereafter identified as the Gamemaster--will introduce the historical context, supervise the distribution of the roles, and provide guidance on difficult issues in the texts on which the outcome of the game will turn. But early in the second session of each game, the class will break into factions as students with similar roles join forces to accomplish their objectives. By the fourth or fifth session of each game, the class will again meet as one. Students in supervisory roles will run the class. The Gamemaster will intrude on these sessions only to resolve technical issues concerning the operation of the game.

The heart of the game is persuasion by writing and speech. For nearly every role to which you’ve been assigned, you must persuade others that “your” views make more sense than those of your opponents. Your views will be informed by the texts cited in your game objectives. You have two ways of expressing your views: orally and in writing. Both elements will be graded by your instructor.

The seminar puts a strong emphasis on collaborative research, the art of persuasion, clear and effective writing, and an enthusiasm for understanding the intellectual and political issues at stake in each game.

Please note: Students who want to be assured of placement in a Reacting to the Past Seminar may list a different Reacting to the Past Seminar for each of their four First-Year Seminar choices. Simply be sure the time of each seminar does not conflict with other courses you have selected.

How do we envision Utopia, the perfect society, or Dystopia, the society which has gone perfectly wrong? For many years, authors and filmmakers have created worlds, separated from our own by time or space, where all that is good or bad in humanity is realized. Their fictitious worlds were intended as sharp commentary on the world they lived in. Some of these visions, such as 1984 or Brave New World, have become part of our cultural consciousness; others languish in relative obscurity.

This seminar will be devoted to a close reading/viewing and analysis of a variety of utopian and dystopian visions, ranging from Thomas More’s eponymous Utopia, to recent films such as Blade Runner and The Truman Show. We will consider both the ideas of good and evil they contain and the images used to capture and express these ideas. Some of the questions we might touch on are: what constitutes the good/bad society? How and why have these ideas evolved? Is there a place for the less than perfect in utopia? What is the role of the state, religion, corporations, and technology in creating and maintaining utopia and dystopia? What price should we pay to create utopia?

Text and film analysis will be done both via discussions (in and out of the classroom), and via written assignments. In addition, students will have the opportunity to create their own visions of utopia or dystopia. Because of the film component, students will be required to attend an extra class period devoted to viewing films.

David Cruz-Uribe, SFO, is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with a research interest in classical harmonic analysis. He is also a lay brother in the Secular Franciscan Order, an 800-year-old religious community born out of the dynamic tension between practical reality and a utopian ideal.

Florence witnessed the birth of magnificent art, international finance and the modern city. Against this backdrop, the complex political struggles between Pope and Emperor, the republic and the Medicis, and Guelphs and Ghibellines played out. What emerged was a transformed society with a new emphasis on civic culture, as expressed in the art, architecture and social institutions of the city. This seminar will examine the interaction of all these forces from Dante and the republicans to Michelangelo and the Medicis to gain an understanding of why and how the Renaissance came about. Our journey through three centuries will borrow from many disciplines and will include a variety of materials, from the more typical texts on Florentine art to the more unusual studies and personal accounts of the children, women and ordinary workers of the period. Along the way, we will examine the relationship between Florentine merchant culture and the rise of more permissive spending habits, between changing notions about what constitutes a virtuous life and the growing civic responsibility of the individual, and, lastly, between private patronage and the growth of both religious and secular art. Conditions permitting, the seminar will continue with a spring semester colloquium and culminate in a trip to Florence in May 2004 (neither is a requirement for participating in the fall seminar).

Carol Clark, Associate Professor of Economics, specializes in the Russian economy and alternative economic systems. Last year she participated in Trinity’s Rome Program, where she enjoyed teaching a course on the building of Renaissance Florence.

Our seminar will examine the rapidly expanding field of science and technology, how it impacts and changes our daily lives, but above all the information we receive about it from public news sources. The popular press is quick to extol the virtues of some “new and exciting” advance in the understanding of our natural world, especially if the innovation deals with components that we do not easily understand but could have an impact on our lives or the lives of loved ones. Yet within a day or two, the hubbub disappears from the news. Why is that? Did the initial report overextend the true meaning of the innovation? Was the report accurate? Will the advance truly “change our lives?” What is it about the author’s presentation that caught our attention? What can we learn from the article and what should we “unlearn?”

Our primary “text” for this course will be the daily New York Times with particular attention paid to the Tuesday science supplement. Students will be expected to choose science and technology related articles, research the issues presented, write “briefs” on the subject, comment on the completeness of coverage, the accuracy of the material and their understanding of just what the author of the article is attempting to say. Summary presentations in class will be followed by discussion dealing with the points outlined above.

In addition to the daily assignments, science writers from a number of area newspapers will speak to our group and give us their perspective on science and technology coverage in our public media. The final quarter of the course will consist of a debate between pairs of students on topics chosen by them. One student will defend a pro or supportive position, the other a con position. Judges will be the remaining students.

Henry DePhillips is a Professor of Physical Chemistry whose research involves analysis of samples from works of art. A major interest of his is the communication of science to the public which is the main issue addressed in this seminar.

It has been fifty years since the structure of DNA has been revealed to the world by Watson and Crick. At the time, these investigators could little have realized the far-reaching consequences their discoveries would have on everyday life. After DNA structure was revealed, it soon became apparent that DNA could be manipulated, spliced and “recombined” to form new genetic combinations never before seen in nature. These findings have wide implications ranging from economic benefits through crop improvement to the potentially devastating possibilities of bioterrorism. Included in these issues are the social and moral obligations surrounding the cloning of mammals, including humans.

In this course we will explore many of the potential and realized concerns surrounding biological methods in use today and the responsibility that must accompany the wielding of genetic power. We will explore articles, books and commentaries on topics ranging from the use of DNA amplification in forensic science to the potential benefits from gene therapy and discussions of human cloning. Students will research topics, present findings and defend viewpoints in discussions of these topics with the larger student group.

Robert Fleming is an Associate Professor of Biology and teaches courses in Genetics and Developmental Biology. Dr. Fleming’s research interests include cell-to-cell communication mechanisms and genes required for nuclear import in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.

At its extremes, human behavior exemplifies both godliness and godlessness. Our seminar will explore treatments of Good & Evil / God & Devil in great works of literature. Central to the literary works we will read is the question of how human beings reflect, or act out, their own conceptions of holiness (frequently understood as kindness, self-sacrifice, and creativity) and the satanic (destructiveness and the desire to bring harm to others). We will consider the works in pairs or clusters so that we may appreciate subtextual references to previous works, and understand the works as literary conversations between authors of different cultures and eras. Many of our readings will come from Russian literature. Authors will include Dostoevsky, Kafka, and others.

Carol Any, Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, specializes in Russian Literature. She enjoys reading both as a means of contemplating interpersonal relations and as a great escape from her own life.

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education established that segregation in public schools violated the United States Constitution. Fifteen years later, Justice Abe Fortas, writing for the majority of the Supreme Court in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, made the following statement: “School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State.” Since the Brown and Tinker cases, the courts have addressed a wide variety of issues concerning student rights and liberties, including censorship, prayer in public schools, mandatory drug testing, school busing, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and gender equity in sports. Students in this seminar will explore both the reasons why students have brought their conflicts with school officials to court and the ways in which the courts have attempted to resolve those conflicts. As we seek to understand how the courts have come to define the scope of student rights, we will read cases and legal briefs, study the historical context in which the cases developed, and listen to recordings of oral arguments made before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Adrienne Fulco is an Associate Professor of Legal and Policy Studies and Coordinator of the Legal Studies Minor. Her research interests are in the areas of women and the law, constitutional law, and feminist legal theory.

Although antidepressants are advertised in primetime TV, and more individuals talk openly about psychotherapy sessions, many others secretly pay out of pocket for psychoactive medications out of fear of letting employers know about their mental health. Disorders of mood and thought are a consequence of problems in brain chemistry and/or structure. However, there is something unique about these disorders, something that sets them apart from other afflictions that also have a molecular cause.

Religion, economics and technological advances have had profound effects on the ways we think about the great diversity of human behaviors and mental illnesses. How is mental health presently defined in our society? How has it been defined in the past and in other cultures? How have the mentally ill been represented in art, literature and cinema? How has society cared for these individuals and protected their rights? What laws have regulated mental health care in the past? What does the future hold? Will the explosion in genomic information generate new therapies for mental illness? In this seminar we will read, write and discuss these and other similar controversies. This course has a community learning component.

Hebe Guardiola-Diaz is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Neuroscience. Before coming to Trinity College she taught at the University of Michigan and did research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

The United States has declared a new global strategy of perpetual military preeminence and the right to initiate “preemptive” wars against nations it deems sufficiently threatening. The U.S. may already have embarked on a more or less permanent state of war as the twentieth century begins, resorting to armed force to address such issues as international terrorism, international drug trafficking, and other countries’ development of “weapons of mass destruction.” These initiatives have placed tremendous strains on both domestic and international legal institutions (affecting, for example, the U.S. Constitution’s original scheme for allocating war-making functions, and threatening the United Nation’s fundamental goal of seeking international consensus in matters of military intervention).

The course will explore these and related topics in the context of the relationship between war and law, two principal institutions for resolving conflict. It will focus on the history and nature of these institutions in the United States, and on how they overlap and influence one another. We will examine, for example, how law is inevitably backed by force, and war constrained by “rules;” how society has attempted through law to limit resort to war (jus ad bellum), and to control war’s destructiveness (jus in bello); and how, particularly in the 20th Century, wars have generated increasing support for new, war-avoiding legal structures (League of Nations, United Nations). Readings will be assigned from a variety of sources, and the seminar will include one weekend exercise (e.g., war “game” or war crimes trial).

Prof. Michael Heaney is a retired attorney and Vietnam Veteran, who teaches in the History Department and Public Policy/Legal Studies Program. His particular areas of interest are American legal history, veterans’ history, and war and peace issues.

When you use the word literature, you probably believe that dictionaries or, at least, literary critics have established a definition that everyone accepts. But they haven’t. There’s no agreement on what distinguishes literary texts from others. A critic recently called “the arbitrariness of the definition of literature…an embarrassment.” Yet despite this muddle about what literature is, societies seem to value it highly. You, for example, have been required to study literature throughout your schooling. Why do societies regard reading and interpreting literature as crucial? For many other fields of study—math, history, the sciences—usefulness might be the justification; but if interpreting literature has a use, does it spring to mind? In our seminar, we will be trying to decide what literature is and to discover why societies value it. This investigation will take us into anthropology, cognitive studies, linguistics, and evolutionary psychology.

Dirk Kuyk, a professor of English and a former newspaper reporter, has written on William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston. He is working on a book called Playful Conjectures: What Is Literature, and What’s It For?

The study of mind/body interaction has been a topic of scientific, philosophical and religious speculation for centuries, as theologians, scientists and philosophers have grappled with questions such as “How does someone become possessed by evil spirits?” or “Exactly where in the body does the mind reside?”

In the mental health fields as well, questions about how the “mind” influences the body and vice versa have challenged many: What are hallucinations? Is depression physical or psychological? Can stress cause cancer? Just what is the “self?” And answers proposed to these puzzling interactions have been equally broad ranging.

With renewed vigor over about the past twenty years, psychology, and increasingly, medicine as well, has begun to recognize just how direct and complex these issues of mind/body/self interaction really are. New evidence of the effects of stress on health, the biological and psychological components of most major mental illnesses, and the psychological components of many physical illnesses have all helped mobilize professional and public attention to these fascinating issues.

At the same time, others with less commitment to scientific and scholarly investigation have blurred the lines between legitimate scientific understanding and unsubstantiated sensationalistic rhetoric, sometimes creating the public impression that the entire area of mind/body interaction is really nothing but some kind of pseudo-science or “new age” hyperbole.

The fact is that modern scientific research, psychological treatment of emotional disorders, some of the tenets of eastern mysticism, and even herbology may not be entirely strange bedfellows, and may share some important similarities of great relevance to modern health and wellness.

In this seminar, we will examine the current state of mind/body health and the concept of “self” through critical reading, writing and discussion. Students will write four short papers, one longer paper, and make one presentation. Students will also help shape and decide some of the specific topics in the seminar, based on their own interests and ideas. We will also look at the concept of self from perspectives of literature, drama, philosophy and biology as well as psychology. Emphasis will be placed on clear and effective writing, computer and information literacy, and participation.

Randolph Lee is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Counseling Center. He teaches courses in clinical psychology and psychotherapy.

A portrait is a moment of immortality, timeless yet frozen in a specific time. Imbedded in portraits—whether created by an author or an artist—are conventional and not-so-conventional notions about gender, race, physical appearance, occupations, social status, and prestige. A portrait can reflect the best of human nature even as it can reveal the idiosyncrasies and petty vanities that can mark us as individuals. We will read a variety of literary portraits, look at selected visual portraits, and routinely pose the question, “Who are these people, really, and what can we learn from them?”

The written portraits will include Chaucer’s Prologue to The Canterbury Tales; Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables; poetry of Walt Whitman; Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio; Dylan Thomas’ radio play Under Milkwood; and short stories of Eudora Welty. The visual portraits to be examined will include illuminations from the Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales, renaissance portraits, nineteenth century daguerreotypes, and the photography of Eudora Welty. We will also explore Trinity College’s own remarkable portrait collection and become familiar with the daguerreotype collection at the Connecticut Historical Society. Written assignments will involve literary critique, visual and historical analysis, and creative writing.

Margaret Lindsey is the Director of the First-Year Program and has an academic background in medieval literature. Before coming to Trinity, Dr. Lindsey taught in the freshmen writing program at the University of New Hampshire and was a director for liberal arts graduate programs at Dartmouth College and Wesleyan University.

This seminar will delve into two areas. During the first half of the semester, the course will look at what constitutes science, scientific thought, data, and research. We will discuss the use and misuse of science from the time human beings dwelt in caves through modern times, with a special focus on the alchemist period of science and pseudoscience. This portion of the course will look at the changing aspects of science and how society impacts scientific thought processes.

The second component of the course will utilize information learned in the first portion to investigate the science of evolutionary theory. We will examine methods used to prove and disprove theories of evolution, and will discuss this impact upon modern societal thought.

Both sections of the course will involve some hands-on laboratory adventures, allowing the student to experience the thrill of discovery that research scientists encounter. There will also be at least one trip to either the Boston Museum of Science or the New York Museum of History, or both, depending on time and scheduling. They will be either evening or weekend trips. Dates will be confirmed later.

Thomas Mitzel is an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department. His research areas focus on environmentally friendly chemical conversions, and micro-electronic wire syntheses. Professor Mitzel has always had a great interest in the history of chemical and evolutionary processes, which lead to the formation of this Seminar.

Trash is everywhere – under our sinks, in our streets, in overflowing landfills on the outskirts of cities. Yet we do not often think carefully about the cultural meanings of trash, let alone its political economy. How can we think about trash as “matter out of place?” What does our trash tell us about ourselves? What do our ideas about trash tell us about our relationships with others? This course focuses on trash as object and idea to investigate issues of consumption, identity, power and inequality. We will investigate trash vocabularies, trajectories, and controversies: why do we “talk trash” or say that someone is “trashy?” Who takes out the trash? Why have some states and countries begun importing trash? Who decides where toxic and radioactive waste is disposed of? Readings will include social histories, news stories and ethnographies. The class will conduct a research project on trash in the city of Hartford. This course has a community learning component.

Beth Notar is an Assistant Professor in Anthropology. She is interested in the intersection of the symbolic and the economic, and conducts research in Hartford and China.

The search for one’s identity and for one’s place in society is life-long, although the college years are of crucial importance to personal development, as well as to integration of the self in any particular subculture in addition to the larger community. The seminar will focus on a number of transitions in the search related to chronological age, gender, race, and cultural differences, through an examination of novels and non-fiction works. Students will read approximately ten books and will be expected to assume an active role in class discussion. Additionally, a minimum of four papers treating the concept of growth will be required.

David Winer is an Associate Professor of Psychology. His primary professional interests include the behavior and development of young adults.

Although nations have always spied on each other (and on their own citizens), twentieth-century literature has shown a particular interest in espionage. In this seminar, we will examine the way spies -- as defenders or subverters of society, as masters of surveillance, as conspirators and keepers of secrets -- have assumed a key place in the modern consciousness. We will consider the rise of the spy novel, as both a high literary and popular genre (Kipling, Conrad, Greene, Le Carre). In addition, we will look at the way espionage has been used as a metaphor for larger social and artistic issues (Auden, Hollander). We will examine the copious non-fiction on this subject (Orwell and others), and the enduring popularity of the cloak-and-dagger in mass culture (movies and television).

David Rosen is an Assistant Professor of English. He teaches poetry and twentieth-century British literature. Before coming to Trinity, he taught at Yale and Wesleyan University.

Contemporary academic thought has come a long way from the view that reason and emotion exist in separate realms, and that we therefore must “put our feelings aside” in order to think clearly. Theorists and artists across many disciplines are interested in how emotion and reason necessarily interact with each other, and in this seminar, we will explore many views of this interaction. What does it really mean--philosophically, psychologically, or even biologically---to say that thinking and feeling work together? What is the role of emotion in the life of the mind? What uses might “emotional intelligence” have in academic work? How can reason help us come to terms with our feelings, and how can emotions help us think and write more clearly? We will engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of these and related questions.

Our readings will include Virginia Woolf, Martha Nussbaum, Antonio Damasio, and various others in literature, philosophy, education, psychology, neuroscience, and religion. In examining each author’s perspective on the relationship between thought and feeling, we will explore the overall question of the nature of self and consciousness. Students will complete frequent informal and formal writing assignments designed to help them both understand the readings deeply, and explore and develop their own ideas about the topic.

Irene Papoulis is a lecturer in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric. She has published articles on the teaching of writing focusing on various psychological issues; her current interest is in how emotions come into play in the college classroom. She is also an associate of the Institute for Writing and Thinking at Bard College, and the co-editor (with Michelle Tokarczyk) of a recently published collection of essays called Teaching Composition/Teaching Literature: Crossing Great Divide.

Why, when we think of the Middle East, do we think of a far off -land with despots, deserts and harems, a land as Robin Williams croons in Disney’s “Aladdin” that’s “barbaric, but, hey, it’s home?” Is this truly the Middle East? Or is there some other element at play, an element that claims to begin with fact – the Middle East as it really is, the Middle East unveiled – but by the time it is done, portrays the Middle East once again in comfortable, alluring, exotic and erotic fiction? How do we account for this persistent distortion? Is it willful or unintentional? Is it indelibly ingrained or is it surmountable? Can we ever know something like it “really is” or are we forever doomed to spin tales that tell us more about our own latent desires and hidden shortcomings than they do about the places we claim to portray? And finally, what ends does this distortion serve?

In this seminar we will examine European and American cultural representations of the Middle East and the political and financial structures that support them from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Through art, novels, film, music and journalism we will examine the vortex where culture, politics and money collide, where the potent brew of knowledge and power conjures illusions of dominance and impotency. The material we will use ranges from the Boris Karloff film classic The Mummy (1932) to The Rock’s ultra-campy The Scorpion King (2002); from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade (1888) to Sting’s Desert Rose (2000); from the romantic oil paintings of Delacroix (d.1863) to Cindy Sherman’s (b.1954) garishly staged photography; and from nineteenth century travel brochures to contemporary big-money travel magazines. Finally we will look at journalistic trends across the twentieth century from the pseudo-scientific National Geographic to the bombastic Fox News Network. Each of these genres of representation will be approached as vehicles for spreading knowledge about a distant place and will be analyzed through theoretical frameworks that will encourage you to place them in their broader historical and political contexts. The seminar will include mandatory weekend film screenings and off-campus trips.

Prof. Geoff Porter is a historian of the Middle East and North Africa. His primary research areas are 19^th and 20^th century colonial and post-colonial history, with particular attention paid to nationalism, education, and urban life. He speaks Arabic and French and spent several years living in Fez, Morocco.

Recent global and national news have once again shown that one of the pressing challenges for the twenty-first century is accommodating society’s ever-increasing need for energy. The first half of the semester will be devoted to readings and discussion of the current and alternative sources of energy from the point of view of the science and technology, reserves, economic considerations, environmental impact, government mandates and global choices. Some field trips to local industries are anticipated. The second half of the semester will be devoted to student investigations of some “over the counter” commercially available products. Students, working in pairs, will select a product, consult the literature, design the analysis procedure, conduct the experiments, and report the results in the form of written and in class oral reports.

Ralph O. Moyer, Jr. is the Scovill Professor of Chemistry. An inorganic chemist, his research interests focus on the formation, crystal structure, behavior, and applications of metal hydrogen systems.

One tends, stereotypically, to think of musical-theatre works as having moon-June rhymes and boy-meets-girl-loses-girl-wins-her-back-before-the-final-curtain plots. Some do, but there are a significant number of works that deal forcefully with ideas: with historical, sociological, economic, and cultural issues that pose thorny questions and seek, from listeners and readers and audience members, intelligent response and comment.

We will look, in depth, at six works that deal with this kind of in-your-face provocation: two with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (Assassins and Pacific Overture"), two with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita), as well as the granddaddy of the genre (The Threepenny Opera, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) and Professor Moshell's own recent musical-theatre adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play Major Barbara.

We'll encounter and wrestle with such topics -- all presented through song and story -- as the reasons why people kill Presidents; the prospects for indigenous economic survival in feudal island nations; the ability of one man to withstand celebrity and power thrust upon him; the ability of one woman to seek celebrity and power not thrust upon her; the interplay of capitalism and poverty in large urban centers; and the attempt at eradication of poverty by giving people jobs in profitable but ethically dubious enterprises.

We'll also encounter -- at least in the first five of these pieces! – some of the most wondrous music ever written for the lyric stage, as well as some of the fiercest and most rollicking wit.

Gerald Moshell, Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music, directs Trinity's nationally renowned Musical-Theater Program, now in its 27th year, and, as stage director and conductor, mounts several productions each year.

In his short story, “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien describes the necessary baggage -- both literal and figurative -- that American soldiers carried in the jungle of Vietnam and the skills they developed to survive. Using this story as a take-off point, this seminar will look at how people face the challenges of growing up, living, and sometimes just surviving in diverse environments, from a suburb in New Jersey to a housing project in Chicago to an Irish neighborhood in Brooklyn. We will read a variety of nineteenth and twentieth century American fiction and non-fiction, and view several films to transport us to these diverse circumstances. Readings include short selections from authors such as Charlotte Gilman, Henry James and Kate Chopin; and works such as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Pete Hamill’s A Drinking Life, Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here, Bernard Lefkowitz’s Our Guys, Fae Ng’s Bone, Toni Morrison’s Sula, and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.

Students are expected to take an active role in class discussion of the assigned readings and films. Course requirements will also include frequent writing assignments and a short research project that includes a brief oral report to the class.

Cindy Butos, a Senior Lecturer with the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric, has taught at Trinity College for 17 years. She teaches expository writing courses that emphasize critical thinking, argument, and research. Professor Butos was very active in forming and implementing the Integrity Contract at Trinity, and she serves as a faculty adviser to the football team. Reading, writing, traveling, and watching the Yankees are some of her favorite leisure activities.

Heinrich Harrer’s Seven Years in Tibet, Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, and David Breashears film on the ill-fated Everest expeditions of 1996 are contributions to a large corpus of works related to Tibet and Nepal built around the experiences of Western adventurers, amateur religious investigators, and mountain climbers. The Himalayan rim exists in the American imagination as a set of dramatic pictures and impressions. We equate the Himalayas with forbidding landscapes, exotic forms of Buddhism, and harrowing ascents of Mount Everest. However, only a fragment of the historical and cultural experience of this complex region is captured in its record as conveyed by the foreign visitors who sought adventure or the exotic. Throughout their history, the lands of the Himalayan highlands were a fascinating area of interaction between peoples and cultures. Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim, with their mountains and high plains, were a natural barrier separating India and China but also constituted a territorial band through which cultural transmission and linkages of these two larger Asian civilizations regularly occurred. In their own right, these remote lands were extraordinarily creative as they produced great religious, artistic, and philosophical traditions that profoundly influenced the entire south and east Asian world. Unlike India or China, the small states of the Himalayas escaped colonial administration and developed in an idiosyncratic manner that strongly influences the life and mores of this part of the world today.

This seminar will focus on the ethnographic map of the Himalayan rim and introduce the peoples, Tibetan, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tharu, Satar, Sherpa, and Lhomi among others, who produced its distinctive cultures. An optional trek in Nepal is likely to be offered to interested members of the seminar in January 2004.

Michael Lestz is an Associate Professor of History. He specializes in the history of China and Japan. He is also a devoted amateur mountain climber with many ascents of European and American peaks and experience as a trekker in Nepal and Tibet.

How can we define the self? Is there a view of the self that is compatible with contemporary work in cognitive science? And what ethical issues are at stake here? In this course, we will explore some possible answers to these questions about the nature of the self, and in the process we will consider various theories about consciousness, personal identity, and freedom of the will. Our inquiry will be highly interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on texts in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and literature as a well as the occasional film.

Dr. Gordon Stevenson is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Trinity. His main research interests are on how current models of behavior control in situated robotics impact models of mind and action in cognitive science. Gordon also likes to philosophize about issues related to ethics and film. When he’s not philosophizing, Gordon likes to play music and hike.

The Beatles were the most famous and influential musicians of the twentieth century—in John Lennon’s controversial words, “We’re more popular than Jesus.” In this seminar, we will examine the Beatles both as musicians and as a social, political, and commercial phenomenon. Were they so successful because they were the greatest musicians of their time? Because their appearance happened to coincide with important changes in society, among them the rise of the “youth culture?” Because they benefited from shrewd management and manipulation of the media? Or for all these reasons? We will focus sometimes on the music of the Beatles, and at other times on the group’s cultural significance. We will read about (and listen to) the Beatles, read their own words, and study the social upheavals of the 1960’s in which their music played a part. This is NOT a course in which we will sit around discussing whether Yesterday is a prettier song than Michelle, ma Belle. Instead, our approach will be critical and analytic—assessing the credibility of what we read will be a central part of our discussions. There will be a number of short papers and oral presentations, and a final research project. No previous background in music is required to take this course.

John Platoff is a Professor of Music. He teaches a variety of courses in music history and theory at Trinity, in subjects ranging from the music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to the Psychology of Music. While his principal research concerns the operas of Mozart, he recently presented a paper on the Beatles song Revolution at an international Beatles conference in Jyvaskyla, Finland.

From the Orient express to espresso, the City of Venice conjures images of mystery, intrigue, romance, and passion. For 1,000 years, this unique island city was the crossroads between East and West and one of the richest centers of commerce in the world. This seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining a wide range of questions including: How did Venice’s commerce with the East and its control of the Mediterranean influence its art and architecture? What approaches are currently underway to save Venice from the sea? How was the Jewish Ghetto formed and what role did it play in Venetian society? How did Venice manage to maintain an independent republic for nearly 1,000 years? These and many other questions will be answered as we journey through Venice’s past by reading the private journals of Fra Mauro (a 16th century monk and Venetian mask maker), visiting museums in Boston and New York, reading the poems of a sixteenth-century Venetian courtesan and poetess, listening to Venetian music, and exploring resources on the internet. The seminar will emphasize the development of analytical reading, discussion, and writing skills. Conditions permitting, the seminar will culminate in a trip to Venice in spring 2004 (not a requirement for participating in the seminar).

Diane Zannoni has taught Trinity students about the economics of shipping from the top deck of a container ship in Oakland Harbor, about the development of banking while standing in the Jewish ghetto in Venice, and about the economic development of Rome surrounded by the Forum. She loves teaching, has been at Trinity for 28 years, and was awarded the Brownell Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She has taken just about every course in Italian Studies at Trinity and enjoys traveling to Italy with her students.

America’s protracted war to preserve the independence of South Vietnam has been variously described as a “quagmire,” a “crime,” an “imperialist” adventure, and a “noble cause.” However one characterizes the war, it was nothing if not an ordeal for countless men and women - both Vietnamese and American - who felt its unrelenting fury over the course of years. It was an ordeal as well for the American nation, and for the government that waged the war in the name of our inviolable commitment to “the self-determination of nations” and the containment of Communist “aggression” in the wider world. Using historical accounts, memoirs, novels, and selected films, our seminar will explore the history of the Vietnam War and the meaning it held - and holds - for those who experienced it. Students must be prepared to enter a historical past which offers no easy “lessons” and which confounds efforts to provide simple and categorical answers to difficult questions. Each class meeting will be devoted to a focused but otherwise unfettered discussion of the assigned reading. Plentiful writing assignments will encourage students to master the rudiments of expository prose.

Jack Chatfield is an Associate Professor of History who has taught a variety of courses on topics ranging from the Colonial period to the America of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Partly as a result of his own experiences in the 1960’s, he has a deep interest in contemporary American politics and in the ongoing debates over the character and destiny of the United States.

The weather has affected the settlement of our continent, the history of our country, and the lifestyles to which we have become accustomed. Yet in spite of the great influence of weather on our history and our daily lives, the significance of the weather and the basic physics of the earth’s atmosphere are subjects that receive little attention in traditional curricula.

The seminar will be a blend of history and science. Historical material will range over topics that include the ice-age migration of Asian peoples across the Bering Strait, the vanishing of the prehistoric Anasazi civilization, the ecological and economic disaster of the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, and the crucial role of weather in the D-Day invasion of Europe in World War II. Especially severe weather events also will be studied. Papers will be required on topics such as the cause of the Johnstown flood and effects of the Blizzard of 1888.

Meteorology is a well-developed science of which the general public has only superficial knowledge. The student will be introduced to a view of meteorology as an interdisciplinary science of physics, mathematics, computing, and high-technology data acquisition. A portion of the seminar will be devoted to the study of weather systems and basic forecasting techniques. Analysis of weather maps will be a goal for the student.

Phillip Brown is a professor in the Mathematics Department. He is the coordinator of the Models and Data Minor and teaches computer-related courses in mathematical modeling and numerical analysis. His research is in the field of cloud physics with focus on the rain process.

For many people in the Western world, Africa conjures up images of jungles and wild animals, of famine and warfare, and of isolated “tribes” moving into a “modern” era. This seminar will debunk these and other myths about Africa. Through life histories, novels, films as well as scholarly books and articles, we will explore the ideas and experiences of African men and women, focusing particularly on the twentieth century. In doing so, we will seek to replace our stereotyped views of Africa with a deeper understanding of African economic development and politics, and of how ordinary men and women have negotiated the rapid social and economic changes of the twentieth century.

Monica van Beusekom is an Assistant Professor of History. She is especially interested in the history of development ideas and practices in West Africa. Besides scholarly research on colonial development programs, she has worked for several grassroots development agencies in Africa.

The love of sports is deeply embedded in the consciousness of our nation. Since millions of people are participants and spectators, their values are directly and dramatically influenced by the values conveyed by organized sports.

In this class, we will focus on today’s contemporary sports issues beginning with a historical perspective. We will discuss gender equity as it relates to the 1972 Title IX legislation and its impact on women in sport and the perception that it is forcing schools to cut men’s programs. The class will investigate the connections among race and gender stereotypes, opportunities, and equalities in sports. We will explore the relationships between character and sports ethics, the personal and social effects of violence and aggression on and off the playing fields, and the myriad of ways that our nation and our individual communities identify with sport. Seminar topics will also include discussion on the explosion of organized youth sports, its impact at the high school and collegiate level, and the reality of the development of life skills in student-athletes. In this process we will establish an understanding of why sports is such a major force in shaping the quality and character of American culture and how we might enhance the framework.

Robin Sheppard is a Professor of Physical Education. She was the head coach of field hockey and lacrosse at Trinity from 1974—1999. She currently serves as the Associate Athletic Director.

Learning. It will be the major focus of your years at Trinity and in your life beyond Trinity. Learning is part of who we are and determines who we may become, but what are the conditions that facilitate learning, and how can we use learning to enhance our development as individuals and as a society? These questions, along with questions students bring to the course, will create the central focus of this first-year seminar. Using a variety of materials and resources, we will explore issues that will include: education and development, ways of knowing, human adaptation, genetics, the environment, culture, the complex mind, choice and responsibility, symbolization and meaning, creativity, and social institutions. The seminar will discuss issues of equity as they relate to opportunities for learning, humans as agents of social change, and humans and the future of learning in our society.

Readings, college lectures, films, interviews, and field trips are some of the tools that will provide the material for our discussions. The seminar experience will emphasize the development of analytical reading, thinking, and writing skills in an effort to nurture an engaging learning environment.

Dr. Barbara Henriques, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Educational Studies Program, has been involved with education and learning throughout her lifetime. She enjoys studying and researching factors that contribute to enhancing or minimizing learning opportunities in our society. Her major research focus is related to fostering positive learning environments for learners of all ages in diverse communities.

A fallacy may be defined as an error in reasoning with potentially strong psychological appeal. It may occur accidentally or as a deliberate choice. People in all walks of life commit fallacies; some do it because they do not give enough thought to their arguments, and others because they are purposely attempting to influence our decisions and preferences. Whether they use words, numbers, pictures, or graphs, “experts” bombard us with advice about which toothpaste to buy, which candidate to vote for, which medicine to take, which company to invest in, etc. How do we assess their advice with respect to its logical correctness?

The subject of this seminar is informal logic, in both verbal and quantitative settings. What is an argument? Where would I find one? How is a deductive argument different from an inductive one? What characteristics do I look for in a good argument? How can I identify a fallacy?

Besides an informal logic text, students will read selections from popular books like How We Know What Isn’t So: The Fallacy of Human Reasoning in Everyday Life and Selling It: the incredible shrinking package and other marvels of modern marketing. Each student will also read a daily newspaper and occasional magazines of his/her choice in order to find examples of arguments and fallacies. Besides class discussions, reading, and written reports, students will prepare a final cumulative project, which will be an annotated scrapbook summary of the course.

Charlotte Gregory is Assistant Director/Lecturer in Trinity’s Aetna Mathematics Center where she teaches quantitative reasoning courses. Informal logic is the subject of one of the half-credit courses (“Hartford Current Issues: Logic in the Media”) she has been teaching for the Center for the past six years.

DESCRIPTIONS OF FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS — FALL 2003

FYSM-101	Reacting to the Past Seminars	Sections –01 through -08

FYSM 101-01	Reacting to the Past: King-Fai Tam	WF 2:40 – 3:55
FYSM 101-02	Reacting to the Past: Barbara Walden	WF 1:15 – 2:30
FYSM 101-03	Reacting to the Past: Madalene Spezialetti	TR 11:20 - 12:35
FYSM-101-04	Reacting to the Past: Melanie Stein	TR 11:20 – 12:35
FYSM-101-05	Reacting to the Past: John Mertens	TR 1:15 – 2:30
FYSM-101-06	Reacting to the Past: Clyde D. McKee	WF 1:15 – 2:30
FYSM-101-07	Reacting to the Past: David E. Henderson	TR 9:55 – 11:10
FYSM-101-08	Reacting to the Past: Martha K. Risser	TR 2:40 – 3:55

First-Year Seminars for the Class of 2007

SEMINARS 2003-2004

Please note: Students who want to be assured of placement in a Reacting to the Past Seminar may list a different Reacting to the Past Seminar for each of their four First-Year Seminar choices. Simply be sure the time of each seminar does not conflict with other courses you have selected.

Art, Money and Murder: Renaissance Florence, 1300-1600

Fact or Fiction: Science & Technology in our Popular Press

The Thread of Life

God and Satan in Literature

Student Rights, the Courts, & the Constitution

Beautiful Minds

War and the Rule of Law

What is Literature, and What’s It For?

Mind/Body Health and the Self

Reading Faces: Literary and Visual Portraits

The Evolution of Science/The Science of Evolution

Mindful Feelings: The Role of Emotion in Intellectual Life

Despots, Deserts and Harems

Science & the Consumer

Ralph O. Moyer, Jr. is the Scovill Professor of Chemistry. An inorganic chemist, his research interests focus on the formation, crystal structure, behavior, and applications of metal hydrogen systems.

The Musical Theater of Ideas

The Things We Carry

Highlanders: Peoples & Cultures of the Himalayas

Free Will, Consciousness, & the Self

The Beatles and the 60’s

When All Roads Lead to the Sea: A Venetian Journey

The American Experience in Vietnam: 1955-1975

The Weather: Historical Events, Great Storms,
& Modern Forecasting

Understanding Africa

Exploring Sports in Society

Learning: The Human Experience


FYSM-102-01	Imagining Heaven & Hell: Visions of Utopia & Dystopia in Literature & Cinema	TR 11:20 – 12:35 Film Screenings: T 6:45-9:15 p.m.


FYSM-130-01	Reflections on Espionage	TR 2:40 – 3:55


FYSM-250-01	Fallacies for Fun and Profit	TR 9:50 – 11:10


FYSM-126-01	Talkin’ Trash	M 1:15 – 3:55


FYSM-129-01	Transitions	TR 11:20 – 12:35

First-Year Seminars for the Class of 2007

SEMINARS 2003-2004

Please note: Students who want to be assured of placement in a Reacting to the Past Seminar may list a different Reacting to the Past Seminar for each of their four First-Year Seminar choices. Simply be sure the time of each seminar does not conflict with other courses you have selected.

Art, Money and Murder: Renaissance Florence, 1300-1600

Fact or Fiction: Science & Technology in our Popular Press

The Thread of Life

God and Satan in Literature

Student Rights, the Courts, & the Constitution

Beautiful Minds

War and the Rule of Law

What is Literature, and What’s It For?

Mind/Body Health and the Self

Reading Faces: Literary and Visual Portraits

The Evolution of Science/The Science of Evolution

Mindful Feelings: The Role of Emotion in Intellectual Life

Despots, Deserts and Harems

Science & the Consumer

Ralph O. Moyer, Jr. is the Scovill Professor of Chemistry. An inorganic chemist, his research interests focus on the formation, crystal structure, behavior, and applications of metal hydrogen systems.

The Musical Theater of Ideas

The Things We Carry

Highlanders: Peoples & Cultures of the Himalayas

Free Will, Consciousness, & the Self

The Beatles and the 60’s

When All Roads Lead to the Sea: A Venetian Journey

The American Experience in Vietnam: 1955-1975

The Weather: Historical Events, Great Storms, & Modern Forecasting

Understanding Africa

Exploring Sports in Society

Learning: The Human Experience

The Weather: Historical Events, Great Storms,
& Modern Forecasting