145, 146 Encounters (The First Year Experience) (Home Page)

A two-semester introduction to the liberal arts and the academic construction of knowledge. Organized around a variable theme, this course takes as its broad topic the examination of encounters between peoples and cultures, and the formation and transformation of dominant and competing world views. The study of primary sources, discussion, writing, and the construction of knowledge across academic fields will be emphasized. The two semesters will be taught as a single year-long course, with the first semester a prerequisite for the second. The P-D-F grade option may not be elected for this course. The theme for the 2009-2010 academic year will be "Encounters Ancient and Modern."

There are 28 faculty from across the college teaching Encounters in 2009-2010. The director of Encounters is Rebecca Hanrahan, associate professor of philosophy.

245 Critical and Alternative Voices (Home Page)

This one-semester extension of the First-Year Experience will call into question the "dominance" of traditional western world views by critically examining the historical and ideological roles played by "others." The aim is to learn to listen to these alternative voices in their own contexts. Such voices will include those geographically "non-western," as well as those excluded or subordinated by way of race, gender, or class within Europe and America. Prequisites: General Studies 145 and 146.

In 2009-2010, CAV will be taught by Helen Kim, Kari Tupper, and Suzanne Morissey.

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