Please read this entire page for the most up-to-date information about the Freshman Seminar.

For a list of Freshman Seminar descriptions and times as offered for Fall 2008, please click courses.

*** Several courses offered in the Fall 2008 Seminar List are Linked Courses. 

SF 105A (Harkins)
SF 108 (Sandberg)
SF 110B (Rotondo)
SF 166B (Richman)
SF 176 (Cosgrove)
SF 126 (Chambers)
SF 132 (Gallant)
SF 175 (Geisler)
SF 148 (Armbruster)
If you register for one of these sections of the Seminar for Freshmen, you will be automatically enrolled in a section of SU-101.  For a description of the SU program, click here. This one-credit course is offered as an enhancement to the seminar you have selected; there is no charge for enrolling in it, though you will earn a credit for completing it.  After the semester begins, you may drop your section of SU-101 with your instructor’s consent if you do not feel it meets your academic needs.

SF 107 (Jackson)
SF 108 (Sandberg)
SF 110B (Rotondo)
SF 142 (Shatz)
SF 166B (Richman)
SF 176 (Cosgrove)
SF 126 (Chambers)
SF 167AE (Barriales-Bouche)
If you register for one of these sections of the Seminar for Freshmen, you will be enrolled in a "linked" English 101 section: all of the students in your Seminar will also be in your English 101 course.  The university’s hope is that having the same set of students in two simultaneous classes might help strengthen your sense of an academic community.  You will build your schedule around these two required classes at orientation.

***Four Brand New Courses have been added to the Fall 2008 Seminar List and were not included in the Spring 2008 mailing :

SF 172 A "Seeking Paradise: From Modern Fantasy (Phillip Pullman and C. S. Lewis) to the Classics" Jeremy Solomons, English MW 8:30-9:45
The course will begin with reading and discussing His Dark Materials (the trilogy that includes The Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman.  Through reading this exciting but complex fantasy students will begin an examination of the ideas and narrative structures that Pullman uses to expand on and develop his sources, which among others include Paradise Lost, the poetry and paintings of William Blake and The Bible.  Students will then read and examine excerpts from these sources and read about their use in His Dark Materials.  The final section of the course will compare Pullman’s work with that of fellow Oxford resident C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and look at the different ways the two authors use the same source material.  With both authors’ works having recently been filmed and turned into video games, the opportunity is here to look at the influences of elements of the literary canon on 21st century culture.

SF 178 A “Sacred Hoops, Sneaker Pimps, and Hoop Dreams: Race, Gender and Consumerism in 20th Century American Basketball” Richard Miller, English MWF 11:00-11:50

This seminar will study the sport of basketball, particularly its distinct American origin and popular appeal across socio-economic boundaries and within ethnic communities.  Issues of race, gender, and economics, will serve as the main themes of the course. We will also spend time reading texts devoted to basketball, ranging from poetry to prose, as well as visit Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and invite area basketball figures to guest speak in class. 

SF 173 A “Crime in American Society” Donald Morton, Sociology TTH 8:30-9:45
Popular conceptions about crime are often inspired by the media and by criminological theories.  Various theories and media images about crime are examined in detail throughout the course.  The reviews the hits and misses of commonly held beliefs.  Topical questions include: Does more police power make us safer?  Do criminals make rational choices or are they driven by forces beyond their control? and Is capital punishment an effective crime fighting tool?  

SF 179 A “Cultural Encounters in the Americas: from Columbus to Casinos.” Christopher Rodriguez, History MW 4:00-5:15
Since 1492 when “Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” indigenous Americans, European colonists and migrants, and Africans brought over as slaves have fought over power, honor, and land; made love, families, and alliances; and shared food, language, and religion. We will ask questions including: 1) What were some differences/similarities between European colonizers? 2) What were the various actions and attitudes indigenous Americans had to Europeans and Africans? How did Africans shape America? In our quest to understand this 500-year process and its legacies, we will read historical fiction, scholarly works and poetry, listen to music, view images and films, and visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.