Seminar Topics

Faculty: Ortega, Jeannine


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM

This course explores how genres such as science and speculative fiction reframe storytelling through visions of the future. This course borrows from these genres’ assertions to imagine better worlds. Storytelling and composition become vehicles for social change and justice. This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of rhetoric and composition, while exploring the rich possibilities of speculative fiction. We will explore minoritized authors and read across a range of cultural media and consider how science fiction tropes can be used to critique societal disparities. To inform our readings, we will consider concepts such as Afrofuturism and Ethnofuturism in order to contextualize our investigation of rhetoric, composition, and research.

Faculty: Oliver, Crystal


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM

On a page, song lyrics and poems look similar, relying on figures of speech and poetic techniques. But what happens when we add music, performance, and technology? How do songwriters respond to, reflect, and incorporate various musical styles, genres, and themes? What makes songs so powerful? In search of answers, we will pay attention to the sound, structure, form, language, and cultural context of song lyrics across genres and periods as we investigate the historical and literary roots of poetry and song to appreciate their relationship better. We’ll examine the environment in which a song was written and discuss how personal expression, emotional authenticity, social commentary, ritual, and entertainment intersect.

Faculty: Zaman, Nadeem


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM

The short story is one of the most dynamic forms of storytelling. Lifetimes can happen in few short pages, just as the seemingly smallest interactions can alter lives and relationships forever. In this class we will dive deep into the reading of short fiction, discuss their various elements, and read critical works and essays about the short story. Through a series of focused writing assignments, students will engage the knowledge they gain to write analytic, argumentative, and research-based works based on short stories.

Faculty: Semenova, Alla


Schedule: TuTh 12:20-1:35PM

Money may seem like a mysterious and complicated subject. We love it, we hate it, we enjoy spending it, we resent losing it. Money is one of the strongest, pervasive forces in our personal lives, and in modern societies. Many of our individual and national problems seem to start with money. Thinking about money can make us and our politicians nervous and anxious. In this seminar, we will try to uncover the mystery of money. To do so, we will discuss the nature and origins of money. We will analyze the role that money plays in society and our everyday lives. We will address the following questions: What is money? Where does money come from? Why is it so important? Why are we sometimes unable to take control of it? How does money impact our personal lives? How does money work in society? Why is there sometimes too much or too little money? How does the government spend money? Where does the government get the money from? Can the government run out of money? And what about private banks? How do private banks operate? To answer these and other questions, we will read “Money for Beginners: An Illustrated Guide” by Randy Wray, the world’s top money expert. We will also analyze how various money themes are reflected in popular songs about money, revealing money’s social, cultural, psychological and emotional aspects. After taking this seminar, you will be able to see money clearly, and will know more about money than most pundits do.

Faculty: Fehrs, Matthew


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM
For 45 years the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union dominated life around the globe. The impact of this superpower rivalry was felt in American schools and living rooms, villages in Central America, the jungles of Southeast Asia, European capitals, even outer space. The cold war was not just inescapable in politics, it permeated life. Not surprisingly, then as now, films of the cold war captured the fears, excesses, realities, and ideologies of the era.In this seminar we will examine this critical era in U.S. foreign policy through the medium of film. Besides discussing the elements of the Cold War that are captured by the films, we will compare their “reality” to scholarly work about the era. We will also try to use the films to immerse ourselves in Cold War crises to better understand why they unfolded the way they did. Finally, the class will examine whether lessons from the Cold War are still applicable to U.S. foreign policy problems today.While we will focus on a historical period, this is not a history course. Instead, we will also try to see what lessons we can draw from the experiences of the United States during the cold war. How can we avoid war? How does the United States respond to international threats? Should the proliferation of nuclear weapons keep us up at night? Can the United States pursue a moral foreign policy?

Faculty: Adler, Charles,


Schedule: MoWe 3:10PM – 4:25PM

In July, 1633, Galileo Galilei was sentenced to imprisonment by a special court of the Inquisition. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest, blind for the last three years of it. His sentence has become a symbol of injustice and intolerance second only to the trial of Socrates. Why was Galileo, who had friends among the greatest of the Catholic Church, sentenced? Why was the idea that the Earth went around the sun a dangerous one in Italy at the time? Did he really drop cannon balls from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa? In this class we will explore the birth of science in the turbulent times of the late Renaissance and look at parallels to our own times.

Faculty: Williams, Elizabeth


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM

How do individuals become great leaders? Do they ever feel that they cannot “be themselves” while in a leadership role? And how do people think about and develop their careers over time? This course allows us to delve into these questions from a psychological perspective. We will focus on both leadership and career development theories and research. In working with these topics, we will hone skills in writing, presenting, and thinking critically. Through this class, you will also analyze your own leadership experiences and work on career planning.

Faculty: Dennie, Garrey


Schedule: TuTh 8:30AM – 9:45AM

From the music of Bob Marley to the music of Beyoncé, this course examines the ways in which
African Americans, Afro-Caribbean people, and Africans have used music to create zones of
artistic freedom to enrich their experience of faith and interrogate and challenge systems of
oppression in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The fundamental historical challenge is to
understand the contexts within which Africans and African diasporic peoples produced this music,
the impact of the music in shaping the lives of their broader communities, and the changing forms
the music would take. The course is particularly interested in charting how Black musicians in
racially disempowered and marginalized communities have sought to transform their world and
give value to Black lives in a world that remains hostile to this principle. The course is divided into
three geographical units. The first four weeks will be devoted to the Caribbean, the next three to
Africa and the final six weeks to the USA.

Faculty: Goethel, Christina


Schedule: Tu 9:55AM – 11:10AM

This LEAD course is a course designed to introduce new college students to a snapshot of what it is like to work at sea and in oceanographic field work. The course will be structured around discussions and readings about basic ocean science with perspectives from the sea going community. We will dive into topics including the types of boat field work (large scale, long term and short term, smaller scale), international collaborations, cultural expectations on different ships, and women and gender diverse people in STEM, particularly out at sea and the challenges that accompany all of these. Throughout the course of the semester, students will read Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin (a member of the Monty Python comedy group) to learn about a famous Arctic expedition and how modern ships found the famous shipwreck. In addition, the course will discuss the rapid changes many marine ecosystems are experiencing and how we can plan ways to help solve these problems using ship work.

Faculty: McDowell, Jessica


Schedule: TuTh 12:20PM – 1:35PM

In a time and culture saturated with information and images, attention has become a scarce resource. The ongoing competition for your attention has become a driving force of our economy through social media and other algorithmic metrics of digital life, which has consequences for creativity, democracy, freedom, and human experience. This class invites students to think critically about the ways humans engage with technology. We will draw from an array of sources and disciplines, including history, social and behavioral sciences, art, science fiction, and literature, to explore in depth how communication technologies and human identities are intertwined.

Faculty: O’Sullivan, Brain


Schedule: TuTh 12:20PM – 1:35PM

This seminar will explore the varied ways—from the solemn to the silly–in which writers, poets, comedians and filmmakers use the written word to recall and/or call out social injustices and to raise possibilities of positive change in society. We’ll look at literature as a complex set of practices with both aesthetic and ethical dimensions, and we’ll explore its relationship to humor, trauma, memory and other aspects of human experience. Students will write and revise several analytical and interpretive essays about cultural acts of commemoration and satire and will experiment with some creative commentary of their own on social justice issues. Students should expect to propose topics for discussion and for their own projects, to participate actively in discussion during every session of the class, and to write and revise on a weekly basis. Careful reading and listening and mutually respectful dialogue will be emphasized.

Faculty: Boros, Diana


Schedule: TuTh 12:20 PM – 1:35PM

The main purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the many links between art, creativity, political life, revolution, and community-building, as well as the relevant key concepts, theories, and political theorists who have made contributions to this field of study. Public art- art that is created, enacted, or placed, in our public spaces- in particular is interesting to consider, as it brings the experience of art to the general public. In this way, it is inherently democratic. The student will work with a variety of readings in political theory and philosophy, as well as in contemporary art and cultural theory. We will also practice collaborative creation by making a politically-expressive collage as a class.

Faculty: Hlubik, Sarah


Schedule: TuTh 1:45PM – 3:00PM

Our Neanderthal cousins have fascinated researchers and the public since their discovery in the middle of the 19th Century. In this course we will explore the common myths of the Neandertal and examine how and why they have remained one of the most popular of our human ancestors. Using a combination of popular media and scientific texts, we will delve into the biological evolution, cultural innovations, and changing perceptions of Neanderthals in the public eye.

Faculty: Price, J.


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 10:45AM

Why do animals do things that appear to be against their own self interests? For example, why do individuals risk their lives to warn others of danger or forego reproduction to help others raise offspring? Such striking examples of altruism have long puzzled evolutionary biologists. In this seminar we’ll explore the mechanisms underlying these and a variety of other interesting animal traits, with a particular focus on the wildlife we see on the St. Mary’s College campus. In the process, we will cover a range of topics related to the processes and consequences of biological evolution, including the evolution of humans.

Faculty: Beers, Morgan


Schedule: MoWeFr 9:30AM – 10:20AM

TBD

Faculty: Cohen, Inbal


Schedule: MoWeFr 2:10PM – 3:00PM

Meaningful reading for one’s personal life during and after college is the subject of this course. We will discuss whether and how fiction can teach us about life, truths, and character strengths as we read a sample of philosophical and fictional works about friendship and other related virtues. Our discussions will focus on fictional characters who through their interactions and conduct represent various virtues, traits and character strengths relating to friendship, such as wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and justice — and on characters who represent the opposite vices.

Faculty: Click, Benjamin


Schedule: MoWeFr 10:30AM – 11:20AM

TBD

Faculty: Holden, Charles


Schedule: MoWeFr 10:30 AM – 11:20AM

Abraham Lincoln remains a figure of extraordinary interest for many people. But who was he? With so many Lincoln legends, is there still such a thing as the “real” Abraham Lincoln? The answer is “yes” but this seminar will examine both what Lincoln’s actual life was like and how his image has been utilized in the decades since. We will study the creation and the meanings of the image of Lincoln as the “rail-splitter” and “Honest Abe” while he was alive, as well as the modern image of Lincoln as cyborg and vampire hunter.

Faculty: Cohen, Inbal


Schedule: MoWeFr 1:10PM – 2:00PM

Meaningful reading for one’s personal life during and after college is the subject of this course. We will discuss whether and how fiction can teach us about life, truths, and character strengths as we read a sample of philosophical and fictional works about friendship and other related virtues. Our discussions will focus on fictional characters who through their interactions and conduct represent various virtues, traits and character strengths relating to friendship, such as wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and justice — and on characters who represent the opposite vices.

Faculty: Tickle, Jennifer


Schedule: MoWeFr 1:10PM – 2:00PM

Media portrayals such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “A Beautiful Mind” can provide sometimes humorous, sometimes powerful, and sometimes inaccurate portrayals of genius, creativity, and mental illness. This seminar will examine writing and research on genius and creativity, with a focus on psychological perspectives that include personality, clinical, and neuroscientific views. We will explore how genius and creativity intersect with mental illness in characterizations of the “mad genius” and the “tortured artist.” To enliven our discussion, we will connect the science to various representations of genius, creativity, and “madness” in media (such as memoir, poetry, and film) and examine how media can create, perpetuate, or break down these stereotypes.

Faculty: Semenova, Alla


Schedule: TuTh 8:30-9:45AM

Money may seem like a mysterious and complicated subject. We love it, we hate it, we enjoy spending it, we resent losing it. Money is one of the strongest, pervasive forces in our personal lives, and in modern societies. Many of our individual and national problems seem to start with money. Thinking about money can make us and our politicians nervous and anxious. In this seminar, we will try to uncover the mystery of money. To do so, we will discuss the nature and origins of money. We will analyze the role that money plays in society and our everyday lives. We will address the following questions: What is money? Where does money come from? Why is it so important? Why are we sometimes unable to take control of it? How does money impact our personal lives? How does money work in society? Why is there sometimes too much or too little money? How does the government spend money? Where does the government get the money from? Can the government run out of money? And what about private banks? How do private banks operate? To answer these and other questions, we will read “Money for Beginners: An Illustrated Guide” by Randy Wray, the world’s top money expert. We will also analyze how various money themes are reflected in popular songs about money, revealing money’s social, cultural, psychological and emotional aspects. After taking this seminar, you will be able to see money clearly, and will know more about money than most pundits do.

Faculty: Villada, Diego


Schedule: TuTh 1:45PM – 3:00PM

Speaking in public elicits strong reactions, anything from slight nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic. Yet, it is a transferable skill that employers often look for in college graduates. It distinguishes job candidates, leaders, and subject matter experts as people that can command a room, exude authority and authenticity, curate information, and present their work for interdisciplinary audiences. This class will approach public speaking not as an innate gift or special talent, but rather a skill that can be learned, practiced, and perfected. This approach will utilise theatrical acting techniques to prepare speeches, review/analyze speakers, develop basic stage presence, and practice with efficiency. These techniques include researching information, thinking critically about the source and argument(s) of that information, curating information from multiple sources, writing the script for what you are going to say in a public venue, and practicing to increase your comfortability in public oral communication. The aim is for this praxis to lead students towards beginning a journey of self-discovery in the liberal arts, generally, and this communication discipline, in particular.

Faculty: Click, Benjamin


Schedule: MoWeFr 9:30AM – 10:20AM

TBD

Faculty: Wilfong, Matthew


Schedule: TuTh 9:55AM – 11:10AM

In this class, we will explore the Slow Food movement and the intricate connections between people and the environment through the lens of food. Using the books of two Michelin-star chefs turned environmentalists and slow food advocates as a platform, we will explore the slow food movement as a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of locally sourced, sustainably produced, and seasonally available food. In this class, we will delve into the principles of Slow Food, understanding its origins, and examining its impact on global and local food systems and environments. This class aims to inspire mindful and responsible food practices, encouraging you think critically and holistically about your food choices and their resulting impact on the local, regional, and global environment. Throughout the semester, we will explore our local food throughout St Mary’s County and the broader Delmarva region through hands-on, practical engagements with local food practitioners and proprietors.

Faculty: Varner, Janet


Schedule: TuTh 12:20 PM – 1:35PM

Be ready for an interactive class centered on the concept of developing your comprehensive
worldview about best practices for today’s learners in various education settings. We will explore
types and purposes of writing, including children’s and youth fiction, to consider how different
genres can serve to inform the development and use of more equitable policies and teaching
models. Analysis and critical reflection of ideas posed by philosophers, theorists, curriculum
developers, and influencers, both past and present will support this work. A conceptual
framework will be built by utilizing the most current iterations of Crenshaw’s work in
intersectionality, Ladson-Billings’ expertise in culturally responsive pedagogy, and Mezirow’s
theory on transformational learning of adult learners. Students with an interest in the Educational Studies minor may find this section well aligned to their coursework, but that is not a
requirement. At its core, you will flex your skills around the art and science of written and spoken
expression in this course as you embark on the beginning of your academic journey at SMCM.

Faculty: Boros, Diana
Schedule: TuTh 8:30-9:45AM

The main purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the many links between art, creativity, political life, revolution, and community-building, as well as the relevant key concepts, theories, and political theorists who have made contributions to this field of study. Public art- art that is created, enacted, or placed, in our public spaces- in particular is interesting to consider, as it brings the experience of art to the general public. In this way, it is inherently democratic. The student will work with a variety of readings in political theory and philosophy, as well as in contemporary art and cultural theory. We will also practice collaborative creation by making a politically-expressive collage as a class.

Faculty: Bowers, Ruth

Schedule: MoWeFr 9:30AM – 10:20AM

We are surrounded by advertising and packaging for food and over the counter medicines that make claims about their ingredients. In this class, we will look at ingredient classes (including some basic chemistry), examine some of the definitions and legal restrictions on labeling, the history of some of these regulations, as well as the public perception of these claims. This is not a course about nutrition or health, but rather the overlap of chemistry, information literacy, and policy.

Faculty: Lambert, Sterling

Schedule: TuTh 3:10PM – 4:25PM

For as long as love has existed (and when hasn’t it?), music has had something to say about it. In this course we will study two of the most famous and beloved musical disquisitions on love, the operas La Boheme (1896) and Madam Butterfly (1904), by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). Indeed, these works are as relevant today as they ever were, dealing as they do with issues both of public health (La Boheme) and of race and colonialism (Madam Butterfly). We will consider not only the literary sources that inspired them, but also how they in their turn inspired two of the most significant musicals of the late twentieth century, Rent (1996, inspired by La Boheme) and Miss Saigon (1989, inspired by Madam Butterfly).

Faculty: Torres Martinez, Lorena

Schedule: TuTh 8:30AM – 9:45AM

Conservation biology is a LEAD course that introduces key ecological, evolutionary and socio-economic concepts needed to propose strong management and restoration efforts of natural ecosystems. Students will interact with members of state parks and other conservation agencies in the US and Latin America that can provide case-study examples of successful conservation efforts

Faculty: James Mantell


Schedule: TuTh 8:30AM – 9:45AM

In the end, everything is history. This course presents a secular reflection on the fragility of life on our world across deep time. We’ll sweep through the ages to examine global extinction events, calamitous moments in human history, climactic forces that threaten life on our planet, and the certainty of ultimate cosmic doom. By the end of the course, you’ll be prepared to act with new ideas and skills that might bolster our chances. Well, at least for a little while because… nothing lasts forever. It’s the history of The End!

Faculty: Stein, Charles


Schedule: TuTh 12:20PM – 1:35PM

Our personal identities indicate who we are with respect to other persons and in that way guide not only how we are supposed to treat those others but also how we are supposed to conduct ourselves. In this seminar we will explore the question of how we come to be who we are, our personal identity, and its impact on how we should regard and treat each other. In the process we will be introduced to a St. Mary’s liberal arts education by practicing the four crucial liberal arts skills – written expression, oral expression, critical thinking, and information literacy.

Faculty: Taber, Michael


Schedule: MoWeFr 2:10PM – 3:00PM

Thinkers as long ago as Aristotle claimed that humans are social animals. Not only do we find ourselves in (stuck with?) families, but we affiliate quite naturally with friends, and usually go on to experience romantic love, with all its attendant fretting and nail-biting. Through a mix of readings classic and contemporary, the issues we will address in our seminar discussions include the following:
Is there any sense in which we lose the self in these relationships? Or find the self? Or create a new, multi-person self? Can we care for friends and the beloved for their sakes, or always for one’s own? Can we be friends with non-human animals? Can we be friends with fellow gamers with whom we have never spent any in-person time? Can we love robots?

Faculty: Hicks, Louis

Schedule: MoWeFr 3:10PM – 4:00PM

The songs of Mark Knopfler contain a wide range of themes: love and loss, work and sacrifice, war and peace, the past and the future, joy and despair, and so on. They contain a wide range of cultural references and engage with all the major philosophical questions in the traditional liberal arts, such as ethics, aesthetics, and ontology, along with more modern fare such as meaning, memory, and meta. We will take the songs in turn and examine them from various perspectives. We will try to find their sometimes elusive meanings. Along the way, we will cover some aspects of literary criticism, history, and popular culture. Also, we will learn and practice finding information using modern tools.