FYI 169AA HOME ON THE RANGE6 Credits
The course will be divided into three thematic units, all focusing on the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, with an emphasis on human ecology, as explore and expressed through disciplines in both the arts (writing, film, the visual and performing arts, etc.) and the sciences (especially in the arena of agriculture and rangeland management). Wherever possible, emphasis will be placed on examples from the Great Plains Region and close to home. The three thematic units include: The Land (rangeland ecology); The Homestead (animal science and livestock management); and The Wilderness (hunting, recreation and wildlife management).
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AB LEARNING TO SERVE3 Credits
Our inquiry will focus on experiential learning that engages in service opportunities within our community as an integral part of our course. According to a recent study, "Service-learning enhances a 'traditional learning' course by allowing students the opportunity to link theory with practice, apply classroom learning to real-life situations, and provide students with a deeper understanding of course content" and that "service-learning may strengthen students' sense of civic responsibility as well as aiding them in dispelling any stereotypes they may hold regarding the population in which they are interacting." Students in such courses benefit from increased awareness of career options to which they might apply their learning, reinforcement of career choices, greater civic responsibility and commitment to service, enhanced critical thinking, communication skills, leadership, awareness of social responsibility and respect for cultural diversity.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AC THE 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN ROAD6 Credits
This course examines the history of the American highway in the twentieth century--how highways came to be and what consequences they had for American history, literature and film. The road has been the means by which the western frontier has been expanded; it has also been the locus of escape, exile, dispossession and self-discovery. The road, both actual and imagined, has created a body of literature and film that is distinctly American.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AG ANALYZING ADOLESCENCE3 Credits
Adolescence spans the years from eleven to nineteen, a time of dramatic physical, emotional, and intellectual changes. Early, middle and late adolescent development is a unique time of life as puberty, changing gender roles, and more autonomous relationships with parents and peers grow and develop. Adolescent development will be explored from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AH FASHIONOMICS3 Credits
A study of the historic, political, economic, psychological, and social influences of fashion in the global community. Critical thinking and practical reasoning skills will be incorporated with the inquiry process to develop informed, conscientious consumer decisions.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AI RELATIONSHIPS 2.03 Credits
Human relationships in the 21st century will be explored in all dimensions: Social and familial, biological and physical, cognitive and psychological. Development of positive interpersonal relationships, improved communication skills, personal sexual health awareness, responsible decision-making and critical thinking skills will be the focus of this study.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169AK TOPICS IN FIRST YEAR INQUIRY3-6 Credits
Each section of this course will focus upon an interdisciplinary issue or theme that students will engage collaboratively and respond to through critical inquiry and creative problem solving.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Notes: Each FYI course must be approved by the Essential Studies Program Committee.
FYI 169AO MUSIC AND THE MIND3 Credits
Music is omnipresent in film, television, and advertisements. Artists, cinematographers, and advertisers all use music to influence their target audience. This course examines the fundamentals of music, the psychology of music, and how music is used and manipulated to illicit an emotional response in the listener. Your Brain on Music explores the psychology of music and the connection between music and the human brain. This course culminates with a project combining music and images.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AP HOW TO READ A FILM3 Credits
In this course we will view, discuss, and write about a wide variety of films; we will also read about characteristics of the film medium and see how they apply to films studied in the course. The course is designed, as James Monaco writes of film study, to help us become "more sophisticated, creative, or sensitive participants in the [film] process.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AQ HOW TO LEARN ANYTHING6 Credits
Students will examine diverse disciplinary contributions to an understanding of learning as an art of engaging the world creatively.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AR HUMANS AND ANIMALS: FRIENDS OR FOES?3 Credits
This course investigates the relationship of humans and animals by examining the role animals play in human society and culture, and the interactions humans have with animals. Students will examine these relationships through the lens of the emerging interdisciplinary field of human-animal studies which comprises work in social sciences (sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science), humanities (history, literary criticism, philosophy, geography), and the natural sciences (ethology, veterinary medicine, animal welfare science, and comparative psychology), as well as the fields of wildlife management and agriculture.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AS THEATRE AS A COLLABORATIVE ART FORM3 Credits
This course uses the creative process of Theatre to study and research collaborative techniques. A successful Theatre performance depends on strong collaboration between all elements of Theatre. These elements include Playwriting, Acting, Directing, Visual Design Elements (Scenery, Lighting, Costume, Sound) and Audience.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AT HEALTHY SKEPTICISM3 Credits
This course will emphasize principles of skeptical inquiry and scientific reasoning to prepare students to critically analyze promotional claims made in the health marketplace for products, services, and practices. The course is designed to help students distinguish health-related fact from fiction and to spot health-related schemes, scams, superstitions, sensationalism, fads, fallacies, frauds, quackery and general bunk. Students will engage in critical thinking, critical inquiry, and creative problem solving as they learn and discuss how consumers can improve the value and validity of their health-related expenditures.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AU ANCIENT MONUMENTS3 Credits
In this course, we will examine a variety of stone monuments around the globe. We will delve into how they were constructed, where the rocks were quarried, how people moved these huge pieces of rock across the landscape with no engines, and how they have been reconstructed by archaeologists. We will critically assess how these monumental works have been interpreted through time and how they are portrayed today in popular media. Each week we will discuss a region of the planet and cover a well-known monument as well as those that are lesser known. We will cover pyramids, obelisks, walls, forts, and more. This course will culminate with students picking a monument or structure and researching the materials used and techniques for its construction as well as our current understanding of its purpose.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169AV VULCANS AND VOLCANOLOGY3 Credits
In this course, you will critically assess how geology is portrayed in media. We will watch examples from pop culture and discuss the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the geology shown. You will explore the connections between geological processes as they occur in nature and how they are related via media. This course will culminate with students picking a piece of media and analyzing it for accuracy in its representation of a geological event.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169D MONSTERS AND MAGIC6 Credits
The purpose of this course is to examine our culture's fascination with monsters and magic in film, TV, literature, and other mediums of entertainment, using methods and practices of inquiry from literary, gender, film, and race studies.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169H MATHLETICS: NOT FOR SPECTATORS6 Credits
Discussion of various sports and the relationships of the sports to exercise science and mathematics. We will explore how the body works when hitting a baseball, hitting a golf ball, playing billiards, shooting a basketball, and playing tennis. From this, we will integrate mathematics through the use of statistics, geometry, and trigonometry. Students will be asked to participate in various aspects of each of the above named activities.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169K A BETTER YOU-THROUGH FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH6 Credits
This course aims to give students the needed foundation for both a physical and financially healthy life by addressing the components of each and how they are interrelated.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169MU OPENING PANDORA'S MUSIC BOX3 Credits
Music is universal to world cultures, and music can act as a language. However music is not a universal language. How is music produced? What are the fundamental components? What is common to different cultures? Opening Pandora's Music Box explores the physiology and cultural aspects of creating music. Students will explore the motivation for the creation and appreciation of music. The course culminates with a project creating new sounds.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169O 10,000 B.C., GREAT PLAINS, NORTH AMERICA: HUMAN SURVIVAL AND THE ENVIRONMENT6 Credits
Examination of the challenges of answering questions about prehistoric people's adaptation to a changing environment through the application of historical and earth science tools and techniques. Ultimately, you will explore the dynamics of communicating scientific information in the form of natural and cultural history with the public.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169V NUTRITION, WEIGHT LOSS AND WELLNESS3 Credits
A recurring issue in American life is overweight and obesity. This course provides the opportunity for you (students) to inquire and come to conclusions about weight loss methods and diets (weight management), based on the science of nutrition and the theme of wellness. Whether you desire to lose weight, or you want to work with others in resolving their weight issues and maximizing wellness, this course may be for you! This course will help you unlock the mysteries of nutrition, weight, and wellness.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169VG VIDEO GAMES: INTERACTIVE MEDIA & SOCIETY3 Credits
An examination of video games' emergence in the second half of the 20th century as a unique media format, with significant social and cultural effects. Includes collaborative exploration of a specific problem or issue within the broader topic of video games. In addition, students will choose a single video game from any genre or platform (arcade, home console, PC, mobile) to present in detail to the class, before arguing the game's significance in an analytical essay which applies various disciplinary methods and knowledge.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
FYI 169X SURVIVAL SKILLS 1013 Credits
A common theory studied in developmental courses is Abraham Maslow"s Hierarchy of Basic Needs. This course is a study of Maslow's theory as it applies to the traditional college age student. From the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, to the higher needs of esteem and self-actualization, this course asks students to discover the methods and means of making considered choices, regarding basic needs.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
FYI 169Y PLANTS, BEVERAGES-HUMAN HISTORY3 Credits
The interaction of mankind and plant-derived products will be explored in a critical inquiry of conditions and issues of cultivation, harvesting, and preparation; religious and medicinal use; trade and economics; and social and societal consequences.
Essential Studies: SLO #1
Drop Consent: Department Consent
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