James Sieck

In this first-year seminar course, we will explore a variety of contemporary short films, stories, and poetry to help us hone our ability to make meaning with complex works of art and to engage in critical, interpretive analysis of how and why each work was constructed. Using short films, short stories, and poems as our core texts gives us the unique opportunity to engage with a wide range of both storytellers and stories told. Meaning, expect to interact with a diverse landscape of authorial voice, thematic content, and narrative technique. All three of these forms are able to convey complex truths about the world we live in, and our discussions and classroom practices will give us the tools to create focused, nuanced interpretations of each piece and to make critical connections between themes and techniques. By the end of this course, students will have a more sophisticated grasp of the mechanics of film, narrative, and poetry. This is an inquiry and discussion based course, and we will learn to situate questions as the basis of our practice as readers, writers, and thinkers. In addition, FYSI guides students through college-level writing, establishing foundations for FYS II and upper level Liberal Arts classes. Students will write 15 to 20 pages of formal, revisable writing. Our writing workshops will focus on generating questions and language, collecting meaningful evidence, constructing sophisticated thesis statements, creating helpful outlines, and drafting our essays. Peer feedback; 1-1 teacher feedback; and in-class writing workshops will be key components of this course.

Nearly three years into the Covid pandemic and we are still in the midst of a prolonged state of grief. As we consider the ways in which we have found - or struggled to find - help with our grief, the questions must be asked: What mechanisms were in place for communal grief? What mechanisms were in place for individual grief? Moreover, in times of tragedy and trauma, who or what can we turn towards to help us with this incredibly complex and human process? In this second semester course, each student will build off the academic writing and critical reading skills of FYS1 and work to construct a formal research essay that examines the role of art in grief. While our individual work will be specific and focused, our combined efforts will represent a broad exploration into the psychology of grief in the context of art. As a class community, we will examine the behavioral science behind grief, the various cultural practices and traditions around grief, and the ways in which both visual and written art are often our best tools for understanding grief. Sources may vary, but expect to read and analyze a diverse collection of authors and artists, including: Jhumpa Lahiri, James Joyce, Pema Chodron, Pauline Boss, Ada Limon, Roger Robinson, Carrie Mae Weems, and Chimamanda Adichie. Students will learn how to formulate a meaningful research question, vett and synthesize a variety of sources, and produce a polished academic research paper. We will utilize writing workshops, peer review, and process-oriented feedback to help us each produce 20-25 pages of formal and revisable writing.