Considering Your First-Year Seminar

One of the signature elements of the McDaniel Plan, your First Year Seminar will challenge and excite you. First Year Seminars are innovative topical and thematic courses that provide an introduction to the liberal arts and an academic transition to college. Although you won’t pick exactly which seminar you are enrolled in, you do get to list your preferences.

Listed below is a description of each Seminar course available. Once you’re done reviewing the descriptions, you’ll complete the First Year Seminar Rating Form (link to the form found at the bottom of the page). Advisors will then match each student with a seminar of interest. While we’ll do our best to place you in your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice First Year Seminar, you can be placed in any one of the courses you select.

For students admitted to the Nursing program, you will be placed in the FYS course "EaRNing Your Nursing Degree".

Acting on Stage and Off

An introduction to acting combining practical exercises with study of contemporary texts on acting. Emphasis is placed on scene analysis and scene work, as well as written exercises in performance analysis and acting theory.

Professor Gene Fouche, Theatre

Being a Changemaker

Are you interested in becoming a social worker, learning what social work is about, or how you can bring about change to improve the lives of others? In this class, you’ll learn what social workers do and the values, ethics, and theories that guide their work. You’ll have a chance to meet social workers and others who work to bring about change. And you’ll engage in experiential learning, by addressing food insecurity on campus and beyond. Whether you plan to be a social worker or want to be a Changemaker, this is the course for you!

Professor Jim Kunz, Social Work

Coffee, Tea Chocolate: Hooked on Caffeine

What is your favorite beverage? Is it coffee, tea or perhaps chocolate? Sweetened or unsweetened? Hot or cold? The course examines the history of these beverages, their nutritional and health content, their cultural significance, and the various methods of production, preparation and consumption. In addition, we will explore the cultural, economic, and geopolitical roles of coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar in world history. Special attention will also be paid to how the introduction of coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar led to colonial expansion, created empires and transformed global trading networks with sales and profits in the 100’s of billions per year, with most of the sales and consumption are in industrialized nations while they are cultivated, harvested and exported by the world’s poorest nations. If one of the 3 drinks is your favorite, then this course is for you. Come, taste and enjoy these invigorating beverages while you expand your knowledge about other topics such as Fair Trade, Fair for Life, Rainforest Alliance Certified, coffeehouses, tea ceremonies and the fascinating story of chocolate, “the food of the gods.”

Professor Mohamed Esa, World Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Director of the Food Studies Program

EaRNing Your Nursing Degree

This course is designed to help students gain knowledge of McDaniel College. Students will meet others with similar interests as well as connect with faculty and advisors. Campus resources, personal learning styles, personal goals and critical thinking abilities to promote student success will be explored. Through activities, application, and reflection, the material covered in this course will introduce the profession of nursing, career opportunities, and concepts related to social determinants of health. This course will also introduce students to mathematical calculations in the context of medication administration.

Professor Jennifer Ort, Nursing

Ethics Bowl

Should parents be charged for crimes committed by their children? Should schools be required to ban phones in classrooms? At what age should individuals be able to make their own medical decisions? What sentencing decisions, if any, could permissibly be made by AI? These are not questions with easy answers - but if you’re interested in discussing them, Ethics Bowl may be a good fit for you!

Ethics Bowl is a debate-style competition focused on contemporary issues in ethics. Opposing teams present a response to an ethics case drawn from contemporary problems and must respond to criticism and questions from opposing teams and judges. Ethics bowl promotes civil, respectful debate and critical engagement with the ethical problems lurking in plain sight in our daily lives. If you enjoy discussing ethical problems or engaging in debate - or if you’d like to get better at these valuable skills - then Ethics Bowl is for you!

Professor Danielle Albrecht, Philosophy

The Examined Life

This course will explore classic philosophical questions like: What is the meaning of human life? Is faith a necessary part of life? And, what constitutes a good life? Throughout the semester, we will familiarize ourselves with how major figures throughout the history of Western philosophy and contemporary Western philosophers approached these questions. We will also place these authors into dialogue with several ancient and contemporary Asian philosophical works. This course is unique in that it approaches philosophy as a practice, i.e., the course will open a space in which students can develop the ability to think critically about their own lived experience in light of the readings.

Professor Elizabeth Tyler, Philosophy

Finding Your Strong: Running for your Life

Did you know that regular running strengthens your immune system, improves your mood, and boosts your confidence? It’s true! Running is a sport that doesn’t require fancy equipment or a gym membership; the only things you need are a good pair of running shoes and the open road. Led by an RRCA-certified running coach, we will learn about the physical and mental benefits of this powerful cardio exercise. Through a variety of books, articles, essays, scientific studies, movies, and guest speakers, students will be inspired to run for their lives. (The average runner lives three years longer than the non-runner!). This is an active class where students will be running, jogging, and walking—all in preparation for a local 5K.

Professor Lisa Lebo, Associate Director of First Year Programs, Student Success

Food Chemistry

This is a course that uses food to introduce students to the sub-disciplines of Chemistry. We will indulge your two most chemically related senses - smell and taste in a gastronomical yet scientific journey. We will make and eat food such as popovers, fudge and liquid nitrogen ice cream/Dip and Dots to validate the laws of Physical Chemistry. We will learn about the Biochemistry of bromelain protease enzymes that makes it difficult to prepare fresh pineapple Jello. We will taste the brown glaze on teriyaki chicken that is the result of the Maillard reaction and explore the impact of optical activity on Organic Chemistry flavor molecules, such as the enantiomers of Carvone - one that smells like spearmint and the other that smells like caraway. We will explore the Inorganic Chemistry of nitrite food preservation in how it cures and colors meat through the nitrosylation of iron. We will demonstrate how red cabbage can be used to quantify solution pH and further use Analytical Chemistry to quantify the water content of popcorn. Through examples of food experimentation such as these, students will gain a meaningful understanding of the depth and breadth of the subject that is Chemistry.
Professor Stephanie Homan, Chemistry

Funny Business

What makes something we read or watch funny? Humor is an essential part of human experience, but how does it work? These questions will drive this first-year seminar. We will

Read, watch and listen to a lot of funny material

Learn from comedy pros about humor writing’s forms and techniques

Discuss cognitive psychologists’ research on what makes people laugh, as well as the tremendous impact that humor has on us

Analyze the particular messages—aka the “subtexts”—that pieces of comedy convey

After lots of reading and watching and asking, we’ll apply what we’re learning by writing some short humor pieces of our own. Our raw material will be what we observe in our own lives: our relationships with other people, animals, and institutions; the activities fill up our time and the time of people we know; the vast range of emotions, desires and fears we feel and encounter in others; the experiences of our own bodies; the immediate physical and social environments we negotiate; and larger cultural happenings.

Professor Robert Kachur, English

Gender, Literature, Culture

Be a man! That’s not very ladylike! We’ve all heard statements like these, but what do they really mean? What is “masculinity,” what is “femininity,” and how have these concepts changed over time? This course will examine the social construction of masculinity and femininity over the last century or so. We will read literature and examine cultural artifacts from early twentieth century Boy Scout manuals to contemporary magazine advertisements, and from a sex manual to popular movies and books in an attempt to chart some of the changes in the social construction of gender over the course of the twentieth century. How much have things changed? Have books, movies, television, and advertisements helped advance new gender roles, or have they reinforced traditional ones?

Professor Becky Carpenter, English

Jabber-Talky: Vaccine Science & History

This course will explore the science behind vaccines (a.k.a. "jabs" in some regions of the world) and the history of their development over the past several centuries from combating small pox to Covid-19. It will give an introduction to pathology of diseases, immunology, and epidemiology as well as an objective look at vaccine opposition over time and the role vaccines play in public health and the countless lives they have saved.

Professor Heather Burley, Biology

Latin American Films

This course offers an overview of Latin-American films. Together we will explore familiar topics within Latin America’s film industry such as structural inequality, violence, urban life, human rights and social justice, dictators and revolutions, middle class, etc. In addition, the course will also examine films that highlight pressing issues in the region’s social-political agenda including feminism, LGTBQ rights and movement, racism, narcoculture, migration, environmental justice, youth and coming of age, among others. Special emphasis will be placed on productions directed by women filmmakers as well as films shot in different indigenous languages.

This course will be taught in English. No previous knowledge of Spanish or the Spanish speaking world’s culture will be required for this course. All films have English subtitles.

Professor Elena Campero, World Languages, Literature and Cultures

Nature's Fury Or Media Frenzy

This course explores natural hazards, both modern and historical, and their effect on humanity. The course seeks to provide students with an accurate data-driven framework for understanding catastrophes of a non-human origin while contrasting scientific and popular media accounts of these disasters. Investigates geologic, hydrologic, astronomical, and biological hazards and their impact on society; will contrast quantitative and qualitative reports, including government data, accounts in popular media, and scientific sources. The course culminates in a research project on a particular disaster.

Professor Ben Smith, Mathematics

Philosophy of Music

This course introduces students to the relationship between the study of philosophy and music. We will consider the history of philosophical reflection on music, perspectives from sociology and psychology, and the study of concepts/theories of music composition. Students will not only analyze and critique these perspectives and theories, but will apply them to better understand, evaluate, and appreciate music.

Professor Brian Fink, Philosophy

Pop Culture Shakespeare

From Disney to Dicaprio. From Taylor Swift to punk rock. From Star Wars to Simpsons. From comics and commercials to video games and viral videos. The incredible influence of William Shakespeare and his works continues to define global culture. This course will focus in particular on the role that Shakespeare’s plays have had in twentieth- and twenty-first-century popular culture, including music, advertising, television, film, and much more. Students will read several of Shakespeare’s most well-known and well-beloved plays in order to track their afterlife in modern and contemporary media. Students will also design their own reimagining of Shakespeare’s texts using digital resources. By adapting Shakespeare for today’s audiences, students will come to understand the kinds of creative efforts that have kept Shakespeare relevant for 400 years and counting.

Professor Paul Zajac, English

Psychology and the Law

Why do people confess to crimes they did not commit? Why is eye witness testimony sometimes inaccurate? Are there valid techniques for detecting lies? What factors influence jury decisions beyond the mere evidence of a case? This course will use psychological theories and experiments to answer these and other questions relevant to human behavior and erroneous decision making within the legal context.

Professor Wendy Morris, Psychology

Putin's Russia: Past and Present

Russian president Vladimir Putin is often in the news as he asserts his country’s power. This course will address Putin’s foreign policy in historical perspective as he has intervened in Ukraine and Syria, opposed NATO expansion, forged a Eurasian Economic Union, and meddled in American elections. The course will also examine Russia’s political system, economy, society and culture as they have developed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Overall, Russia’s place in the world will be considered in light of the centuries old debate over Russia’s identity as a Slavic and multi-ethnic state situated on the crossroads between Europe and Asia.

Professor Jakub Zejmis, History and Art History

Rebels in Early America

This course examines rebellion and dissent in early America, with particular attention to two important episodes: 1) the trial of Anne Hutchinson by New England Puritans for her radical views on women and salvation; 2) the coming of the American Revolution to the streets of New York City. Rather than merely investigating events, students will have the opportunity to assume the roles of actual historical figures, mastering the issues of the day, debating from their point of view, and ultimately swaying the course of history. In addition to learning about early America, students will gain writing, research, and rhetorical skills necessary to prosper in college in beyond. 

Professor Stephen Feeley, History and Art History

Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire: Power and Ideology of Star Wars

A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...STAR WARS! In this class we will be exploring power and ideology in Star Wars, encompassing the movies, TV shows, and canonical books. From Tusken indigeneity and land sovereignty in The Book of Boba Fett, to Jedi doctrine (and indoctrination) in The Last Jedi, to carceral violence in Andor, to how the High Republic of the books turns to empire in the prequels...this course will range widely through the Star Wars canon to examine the sorts of theories of power and ideology we often use in academia to understand society.

Professor Alexander Champoux-Crowley, English

Socrates and the Invention of Philosophy

This course will explore the origins of what the Greeks called philosophía—'love of knowledge’—by focusing on a key question: Why was Socrates, Plato’s beloved mentor and friend, tried and executed in 399 BCE? We will conduct a new trial of Socrates in 2025 and our investigation will be far reaching. Why did Plato abandon his own career plans to devote his life to Socrates? What was the ‘Socratic method’ and what were Socrates’ goals in questioning his fellow citizens? Why did Plato write only in the form of dialogues—conversations with Socrates—and how do we distinguish his ideas from those of his teacher? And we will consider how the invention of ‘philosophy’ was related to the cultural achievements of Athens in the 5th century BCE: its poetry and drama, art and architecture, politics and democracy.

Professor Tom Falkner, Philosophy

Take It to the Streets!

Finding your voice, making change, and building a movement are increasingly important as we look toward the future. But how do we do it?  And more importantly, how do we do it effectively? What works and what doesn’t?  Research shows that nonviolence is the most successful strategy. Does that surprise you? Let’s talk about what nonviolence really means, why it is so successful, and how you can use it to amplify your voice, work for social change and bring others to your cause. We’ll have a good time unearthing some real creativity along the way as we figure out how to make change happen.

Professor Pam Zappardino, Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education

Theatre Appreciation

An introduction to the analysis and appreciation of theatre, the student receives an overview of dramatic theory and practice by reading and attending plays, studying critical evaluations of professionals, and participating in classroom discussions. Course work consists of creative theatrical projects tied into each module. Examples include: Greek mask design, publicity poster creation, a costume/set design focused research project and collaborating, writing, and acting in your own 5-min play!

Professor Shana Joslyn, Theatre

Unseen Math in Puzzles and Games

Do you like to solve puzzles and play board games? This is a hands-on, active-learning style course where we will play games and solve puzzles and along the way discover interesting ideas in mathematics. Students will be introduced to elementary ideas in college mathematics by looking for patterns. The mathematics in this course is designed to be accessible to all incoming students. Topics we explore will include an introduction to graph theory, topology, and probability.

Professor Michele Gribben, Mathematics

Water, Food, and the Environment in China

Water and food have been a crucial but often overlooked part of Chinese history. How have changing patterns of its production and consumption shaped China’s ecology and its daily life? What elements have shaped the Chinese relations with water, food, and ecology? Despite lakes and rivers, why have Chinese repeatedly suffered in history for lack of water? Which plants were served as staple or exotic foods in China? With diverse fauna and floras, why has China faced repeated famines? How have solutions to these problems been wrapped in economic shifts, cultural integration and disintegration, and the expansion/diminishing of state power? Employing a range of disciplinary perspectives—historical, literary, philosophical, economic, technological, and ecological —this course examines the changing images of water, food, and ecology in Chinese history.

Professor Qin Fang, History and Art History

A World of Light and Color

Step into the dazzling world of light and color, where science meets wonder! This engaging course explores the fundamental principles behind the nature of light, from the physics of waves to the mesmerizing ways color manifests in the world around us. Discover how light interacts with materials, creating stunning natural phenomena like rainbows, iridescence, and vibrant hues of the natural world. Dive into interference and diffraction to understand the secrets behind colorful soap bubbles and peacock feathers. Experiment with color mixing to uncover how artists and scientists alike manipulate light to create new shades and effects. Learn how the principles of optics shape everything from cameras and telescopes to the very way we see the world. Through hands-on activities, this course will change the way you perceive the universe—one wavelength at a time.

Professor Apollo Mian, Physics

Finished reviewing them all?

Good job! Now it’s time to pick your favorites.

Grab some paper and a pen.
Write down your top First Year Seminar of Interest.
Make a list of your five First Year Seminar alternatives. (These are five additional seminars that sparked your interest and you’d love to take.)
Now you’re ready to complete your First Year Seminar Rating Form. Click here to submit your selections.