UA Home > Division of Academic Affairs > Freshman Seminars

CURRENT SEMINARS

Stephen Black – UHP 155-001: Freshman Seminar - Alabama 2008: A State Odyssey

NT 283
M 4:30-6:45 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

This seminar will examine some of the main institutions and actors shaping contemporary Alabama politics as well as the values which seem to be most crucial in influencing the behavior of voters. Students will have the opportunity both to do in-depth research and to meet men and women who occupy positions of leadership. NOTE: Course open to UHP ENTERING FRESHMEN ONLY.

return to seminar list

David Lanoue – UHP 155-007: Freshman Seminar - Issues in American Politics

NT 283
W 03:00-05:30 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

The seminar will examine many of the controversies currently shaping public debate in the United States. This study is especially relevant in the context of a presidential campaign in which voters are being asked to decide between candidates based on how these aspirants stand on complex, highly divisive issues. Students will have a common core of readings from texts but will also perform independent research and share with their colleagues what they have learned about public problems and possible solutions. NOTE: Course open to UHP ENTERING FRESHMEN ONLY

Dr William H. (Bill) Stewart is professor emeritus of political science. His graduate work was at The University of Alabama and George Washington University. He was associated with UA fill-time from 1969-2000. He has published in numerous scholarly outlets and has developed a reputation as the leading scholar on the Alabama Constitution, concerning which he has written two books and numerous articles and conference papers. Dr. Stewart was chair of Political Science from 1992-2000. Even though semi-retired he still pursues an active teaching and research agenda and is probably the most quoted analyst of Alabama politics.

return to seminar list

John Watkins – UHP 155-002: Freshman Seminar - Judicial Procedure

NT 283
T,R 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

Course content includes legal reasoning, court structures, trial procedures, the jury and jury trials, legal education, the structure of the legal profession, criminal procedure and criminal punishment, including the capital punishment question.

return to seminar list

Emily Warren — UHP 155-004: Freshman Seminar – Ahead of Their Times

BD 375
T 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

In all cultures crossing the span of humankind, there have been those handful of individuals who have always been “ahead of their times”. Be they known as movers and shakers, visionaries, prophets, seekers, or misfits, eccentrics, oddballs, and rebels, many have made numerous contributions which have eternally changed not only the world in which they lived but our world today. Using as the text noted individuals from the late Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, we will develop advanced research skills that will reveal what environments create such individuals; what positive and negative consequences one might expect when standing outside the norm; and even make some educated guesses as to how such people would fare in our world today . Keeping fingers crossed, from such a study we might just discover important lessons that will make our time on Earth just as triumphant with significantly less stress.

Emily Warren is a Tuscaloosa native with a Masters Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Alabama (concentrations in history and political science). She continued post graduate studies at Berbeck College at the University of London, Mexico City, Mexico and Edinburgh, Scotland. She has traveled with her family and has lead numerous student and adult group studies to England, Ireland, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy.

return to seminar list

John Watkins — UHP 155-005: Freshman Seminar - International War Crimes

NT 292
T,R 11:00-12:15 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

Course covers international war crime trials from WW-I through recent U.S Supreme Court decisions after 9/11 to include emphasis on the Nuremberg Trials and the Tokyo trials after WW-II, Vietnam, the Balkan Cases and the international terrorism issue as well as the formation of the International Criminal Court in l998. NOTE: Course open to UHP ENTERING FRESHMEN ONLY

John C. Watkins, Jr., is a native of Mobile, Alabama, has taught college for the past forty-two years, forty of which have been a The University of Alabama. Watkins retired from full-time teaching in the College of Arts & Sciences at Alabama in 2003. He holds degrees from The University of Alabama (B.S. and J.D.), The Florida State University (M.S.) and Northwestern University (LL.M.). He is author/editor of five books on both domestic and international criminal justice subjects. Professor Watkins served as a staff law clerk on both the Supreme Court of Alabama and on the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals during the early and mid-1960s and has held several adjunct appointments at The University of Alabama School of Law. He was a company-grade officer in the Army of the United States with the 507th U.S. Army Security Agency Group, 7th United States Army, Heilbronn, Germany, from 1958 to 1960. In 1971 Watkins was appointed the Founding Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice in the College of Arts & Sciences at Alabama and remained in that position for five years before resuming full-time teaching. Currently, Professor Watkins holds an adjunct appointment in the Honors College at The University of Alabama, teaching undergraduate seminars in judicial process and international criminal justice. He is a former member of the American Bar association, the American Judicature Society, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology. Currently, he is on in-active status with the Alabama State Bar Association and holds membership in the American Society of International Law and is a listee in the 2006-2007 edition of the Cambridge Who’s Who Executive and Professional Registry and the 2007 edition of Marquis Who’s Who in American Education.

return to seminar list

Frannie James — IHP 155-001: Freshman Seminar – Culture & Human Experience

First-year Freshman International Honors Program Students only
BC 254
T,R 11:00-12:15 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

Get ready for your overseas study by becoming familiar with intercultural communication, practicing communicating across cultures, and gaining new perspectives on “American” culture! Upon completion of this course, you will be able to more successfully communicate with others from different cultural backgrounds and have a deeper appreciation of the fact that certain views, priorities, and values that you hold may or may not be universal.

This course is limited to students accepted into the International Honors Program. For more information, go to: http://honors.ua.edu/ihp/

Frannie James is an instructor in the International Honors Program and in Capstone International Programs. Her areas of expertise are intercultural communication, second language acquisition, and information literacy.

return to seminar list

Dr. Fran Oneal — IHP 155-002: Freshman Seminar – Culture & Human Experience

First-year Freshman International Honors Program Students only
NT 173
T,R 2:00-3:15 p.m.
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

Get ready for your overseas study by becoming familiar with intercultural communication, practicing communicating across cultures, and gaining new perspectives on “American” culture! Upon completion of this course, you will be able to more successfully communicate with others from different cultural backgrounds and have a deeper appreciation of the fact that certain views, priorities, and values that you hold may or may not be universal.

Dr. Oneal is head of the International Honors Program at the Honors College, and a political scientist specializing in international relations. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and has recently returned from India where she spent 6 months teaching American Foreign Policy and studying Indian society and culture. Her recent writings have dealt with U.S. relations with South Asia.

return to seminar list

Kathleen Bolland — SW 155-001: Freshman Seminar – Social Epidemiology

LI 101
TWR 9:30-10:45 am
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavior Sciences
3 Credits

Social epidemiology examines how social interactions and collective human activities affect health. The premise is that social context and experiences influence health and health influences social context and experiences. By examining social processes and phenomena such as social inequities, social integration, neighborhood characteristics, and social variations in health, students will develop a beginning understanding of the impact of social, cultural and behavioral variables on public health. Students will discuss such issues as how violence and obesity in America became epidemics.

return to seminar list

Jeffery P. Richetto — GY 155-001: Freshman Seminar – Thinking Globally, Living Locally

FA 116
M 3:00-5:50 pm
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

The world is becoming a fragile interlocking system. The general well-being of nations, cities, and local communities depends not merely on events occurring in their own ‘backyards’ but increasingly on events taking place at a larger, global scale. Examples of global-to-local and local-to-global interdependencies are global warming, the formation of multinational trading blocs, a strained world food-producing system, and consumption of sustainable versus non-sustainable resources. Student activities in this community enhance understanding of the local-global connection.

Dr. Jeffery P. Richetto, Associate Professor of Geography, received his doctorate form Ohio State University. His areas of expertise include international and regional economic development, industrial planning and location, and urban growth management.

return to seminar list

Garry Warren — 155-001: Freshman Seminar – Energy, Environment and Materials

HC 316
MW 2:00-3:15, T 2:00-4:00 pm
Core Curriculum: Natural Sciences
4 Credits

Do you believe in global warming? How long will the world’s petroleum resources last? Are there acceptable alternatives? What is the future of hybrid cars? This seminar provides a science background that enables you to understand and respond to these questions. Students in this seminar analyze examples of energy usage and environmental problems, investigate the development of new materials, and translate science into practical and beneficial outcomes. The seminar includes both hands-on experiments and field trips to local industries.

Garry Warren is a Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. His areas of expertise are electrochemistry and corrosion. He has performed research in the corrosion behavior for powerful new magnets, the reliability of magnetic and electronic storage devices, and has been involved in developing software programs for teaching electrochemistry and the periodic table.

return to seminar list

Dr. Susan Gaskins– NUR 155-001 HIV / AIDS: A Global Pandemic

ST 213
W 3:00-5:30
Core Curriculum: Social & Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

Now in its third decade, HIV/AIDS continues to challenge scientists, individuals, communities, and society. The history, facts and trends of the evolution of this disease will be explored with a particular emphasis placed on the prevention and early detection of infection for college students. Students will have an opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of the disease and the impact it has had on individuals, special populations, and the world.

return to seminar list

Dr. Felecia Wood, Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, Dr. Rebecca Kelly – NUR 155-002 Living with Diabetes

147 Bryant
TR 3:15-4:45
Core Curriculum: Social & Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

College students get a liberal arts education at the University -- those students with diabetes additionally are thrown into adjusting insulin levels when eating at campus dining halls, balancing blood sugars and stress, and finding time for physical activity and still attending class. This course is an overview on how to create a strategy to successfully survive the college experience while living with diabetes. Students will attend interactive classes that include guest lecturers on their respective topics. Discussions will pertain to basic campus resources, nutrition, physical activity, alcohol and substance abuse, stress, communication, general health & physiology, complications, and the future of diabetes and technology. All students will gain a deeper understanding of diabetes in multiple areas.

return to seminar list

Kerry G. Brothers – HD155-001: Freshman Seminar – Turning Personal Strengths into Leadership Skills

MWF 9:00 am – 9:50 am
Core Curriculum: Social and Behavioral Sciences
3 Credits

We are all different – physically, emotionally, mentally, and intellectually. This course will explore different personality types and how we can all be leaders in both our personal and professional lives.

return to seminar list

Thomas B. Ward & B.S. Bridges – PY155 Freshman Seminar -Creativity

 

return to seminar list