In recent years, philosophers have focused a lot of attention on ethical questions regarding the food we eat. Is it ethical to eat animals? Is it ethical to genetically modify food? What obligations, if any, do we have to people who are starving? Do people have a right to things like water? Etc. Apart from these kinds of ethical questions, however, there are other philosophical questions raised about food. These include aesthetic questions regarding judgments about what is delicious or “good” food and how such judgments can be justified. For example, when we say that this wine or cheese is “better” than that wine or cheese, is that claim valid in any universal sense or does it simply reflect one’s personal opinion? There are also metaphysical questions that philosophers ask about food. What is the meaning or significance of food in our lives? Is the purpose of food simply to meet our nutritional needs or does food have a contribution to make to how we understand ourselves as individuals and/or members of a culture?

It is these types of questions that we will be exploring during the course of this seminar. In asking these kinds of philosophical questions about food we will also inevitably touch upon other disciplines including science, history, anthropology, sociology, art and literature.11

Students in this First Year Seminar will explore questions about gender definitions and roles both historically and today through study of what is commonly termed “speculative fiction”—works of science fiction, fantasy, supernatural horror and their hybrid variations. These speculative works (novels, stories, films, television shows, and other cultural products) will provide us strange and often provocative lenses through which to examine gender issues in American society. By introducing us to alien peoples, genderless cultures, third sexes, advanced technologies, alternate histories, and both utopian and dystopian worlds, this literature will reveal to us the potential detriments of a rigidly gendered society as well as the possibility of a future free from gender's restrictive influence. Readings extend from the early 20th century to the present, with selections from major speculative authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Joanna Russ, Octavia E. Butler, Amal El-Mohtar, and Carmen Maria Machado.

While classical music is often stereotyped as a form of music that “only old people enjoy,” the music of composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms is played every season in most major orchestra programs. If classical music is only popular with a limited audience, then why does it continue to be played so frequently throughout concert halls. This FYS will consider the place of classical music in today’s society. In addition to considering the style of music itself, the class will think about the contexts in which it is played, examining things like stage setups, orchestra attire, and audience attire. Ultimately, we will explore how orchestras have (or have not) adapted over time to consider changing musical interests, the impact of social media, the influence of the COVID pandemic, and more for modern audiences. 

In this course we will read 20th and 21st century poets and discuss the concerns of various kinds of poems. How do poets capture the “feeling” of their times? How might they show us our history in a particular way? How do they approach the big questions of life: what are we doing here and what does it mean to have purpose? What is love? What is loss? But also, how does language explore and celebrate all of these concerns?

The course will be divided into three parts: students will write an analytical essay about poems of their choosing; they will write their own poems using the poems we’ve read as models; and the final part of the course will be discussing performance poems and learning to perform our own poems. There will be a midterm exam to cover poetic terms and analyze the poems we have studied.

The word “nostalgia” was first coined in the 17th century to describe a homesickness so severe it required medical treatment. Today, we more often think of nostalgia as a mild, even pleasant, desire for a better time, whether one that we’ve actually lived through or one we've only imagined. In this course, we will read works about nostalgia from a variety of disciplines. Some of these theorists write about nostalgia as a private way of engaging with the world, while others argue for nostalgia as a social activity. We will also read fiction, personal essays, and poetry, watch films, and analyze current forms of media that enact nostalgic desire. Along the way, we will develop our own theories of nostalgia and deepen our understanding of nostalgia as a complex and significant aspect of contemporary life.

We all have families, be they adoptive, biological, or chosen, and many face the question of whether to start families in the future. Although we don’t always consider them, families raise various philosophical questions, which we will explore in this class. Through reading and discussion, this course will challenge and enrich your thoughts about parenthood and family. We will also work on the development of skills that will be central to your college career and beyond: writing, public presentation, and information literacy.

For some people, Africa is a country. For others, it is a country filled with poverty, diseases, warfare, and corruption. Some who identify Africa as a continent, including Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley, have named it the “Dark Continent.” This FYS aims to disrupt these misconceptions, demonstrate what the continent is about, and highlight the dangers emanating from these misconceptions for Africans and non-Africans. We will watch films/documentaries and read readings (fictional and non-fictional) showing that (1) Africa has 54 countries with over 1.4 billion people who speak over 2,000 languages, and (2) the continent does not have a single narrative of pain. Ultimately, students who take this class will be challenged to engage with the African continent in a way that makes them emphatic citizens of the world in the twenty-first century.

This class examines the millennia-long history of the taco. Using the history of food as a way to open up larger questions about the histories of agriculture, colonialism, modern society and the environment, we will trace the evolution and spread of one of the world’s most popular food items, following the taco from its historical origins in the ancient civilizations of the Americas to the food’s complex transformation within the 21st century global fast-food industry. We will explore the deep historical roots of corn and barbecue as sacred and technologically complex items in the cuisines and cultures of the Precolumbian America, and we will then examine the many transformations of the taco over centuries of colonial rule and capitalist development. Drawing on the fields of anthropology, history and commodity studies, we will explore the social and ecological parameters of the taco’s rich and multilayered history, and through the story of the taco’s global spread, we will examine some of the major themes in Latin American history and in the history of globalization.

Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking blockbuster shocked the world with its popularity and has generated a wide range of reactions and interpretations. On one hand, its content appears comedic and familiar, drawing on a mainstream toy that has been popular for over sixty years. On the other

hand, it offers an overtly feminist message, particularly in its identification and critique of "patriarchy,” which first emerged in radical feminist tracts in the 1960s and 1970s. In this FYS we will explore the history of Barbie–from the development of the doll in the late 1950s to the 2023 film. We will delve into post-war consumer culture, gender, race, girlhood, toys, and feminist theory. Our goal as a class will be to examine the entire Barbie phenomenon, placing it in an historical and global context.

In this FYS, we will examine the concept of “celebrity” in order to better understand what it is, how it is cultivated, and how it changes over time. In particular, we will focus on literary celebrity, studying the written works and publicity methods of several celebrated personalities of the nineteenth century: Gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe, prolific poet Emily Dickinson, abolitionist and activist Frederick Douglass, and investigative journalist Nellie Bly. In addition to thinking about their cultural value in their own time, we will consider their legacies and examine more modern representations of these figures. We will also think about creative and interdisciplinary ways to introduce these authors to new and modern audiences.

In this course, we will explore the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals from countries across the world. We will use documentaries, short films, peer-reviewed research, personal narrative, popular press articles, and more to gain an interdisciplinary understanding of the state of LGBTQ+ issues globally. We will focus on legal rights and access, mental and physical health, and discrimination and prejudice. Throughout the semester, students will identify common threads of experience, while also gaining an understanding of the unique circumstances that LGBTQ+ people are in based on their geographical location. As we “travel” around the globe, students will also gain skills in writing, information literacy, critical thinking, creative expression, and oral communication.

In this course, we will examine the nature of love and friendship by studying some of humanity’s finest philosophical and literary texts on these subjects. We will compare the philosophical analyses of love to works of literature that contain rich, concrete examples of both healthy and unhealthy ways of handling the love we experience. The course is organized around three different ancient Greek terms, all of which can be translated into the single English word “love”: erōs, philia, and agapē. Broadly speaking, erōs is erotic or romantic love, and philia is the type of love we feel for our family and friends. Finally, agapē (“charity” or “divine love”) can be described as the love humans can feel for the divine and/or all beings. Authors we will read include Sappho, Plato, Aristotle, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Hesse, Aldous Huxley, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams.

We live in a throwaway society, but what happens when we run out of places to throw things? This course will explore the impact of consumerism on waste production and how recycling and other sustainable practices can help mitigate environmental damage. Students will investigate successful recycling practices on other college campuses and around the globe, considering how these ideas could inspire better waste management strategies. We’ll take a couple of field trips, watch documentaries, and discuss real-world case studies. Students will develop college-level skills through research projects, discussions, and presentations while exploring the intersection of waste, society, and environmental responsibility.

Would you like to learn about your new surroundings? If you are from the area, are there things about the Hudson Valley that you've always wanted to learn about, but never took the opportunity to do so? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, then this course is for you! We will explore the history and culture of the region, as well as visiting a few landmarks in the area. You will have an opportunity to research an aspect of the Hudson Valley that is of a personal interest to you.

We will consider how a range of American writers frame human interactions with “Nature,” and explore their various representations with the natural world. How has “wilderness” been imagined? How do authors construct language to shape the way readers think about the environment? What vision do these texts offer about the relationship of individuals to society, and about progress, industrialism, and technology? We will examine Native American stories, early accounts of natural history, diverse representations of plants, animals, and insects, memoirs of the local, as well as narratives of exploration and essays on urban nature. Nature writing often combines rhapsody and science and runs the gamut of the scientific, philosophical, psychological, aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual. We will explore how authors depict a range of diverse habitats and places, from oceans to deserts to rainforests. In this class you will construct essays based on meaningful places, on course readings, and on your classmates’ presentations.

Why have fairytales maintained popular literary and cultural status over the centuries? How do these seemingly simple stories transcend time, geography, and culture? There are so many tales that continue to be a part of our social tapestry that influence our social constructs. Young and old, fairytales continue to be a favorite genre around the world. This class will explore the tales from a historical perspective as we trace the cultural evolution of this literary genre.