Spring 2025 First Year Seminar

Concepts of the Human: Freaks, Others, and In Groups - FSEM 100-11 (CRN 5082)

This course explores various conceptions of what it is to be human and what it is to be viewed as less than human (thus, a freak). Academics label such outcast status "otherness." Fundamentally, to be 'other' is to be different from the norm. Indeed, in viewing human beings as persons with dignity and worth, we often exclude those we view as different as not deserving of equal treatment. In order to come to an understanding of what we as a society value, however, we must understand otherness. It is only by deconstructing difference, by understanding what constitutes the 'other' and how it is defined by the in-group, that we can ultimately become a truly multicultural and diverse community. Deconstructing difference promotes awareness of diverse peoples by deconstructing the concept of the 'other' and the role it plays in fostering fear and discrimination. In order best to understand how discrimination works, its historical and literary origins in Western culture, its enduring conceptual power, and its pervasive presence in modern America, we intend to pursue a multilevel analysis. This course will begin with an examination of prejudice in Harry Potter's world, then turn to classical Greek origins of identity and the concept of otherness, and finish with a deconstruction of contemporary attitudes toward the various '-isms.' The class aims to embolden students to reconsider the significance of contemporary models of the human, as supplied by various religious, scientific, philosophical, and pop-cultural sources.

Your Professor

Susan Peppers-Bates, PhD, attended Davidson College as an undergraduate and received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. She has published on figures in early modern philosophy, topics in the philosophy of religion, friendship in Harry Potter, and on existentialist vampires. She has two fabulous daughters, Anne-Marie (8) and Sophia (3). She is fond of science fiction, medieval murder mysteries, gardening, and all things philosophical.

Countercultural and Artistic Revolutions for the Twentieth Century - FSEM 100-26 (CRN 8705)

Countercultural movements throughout the twentieth century, holding values contrary to those of mainstream society, have sought to challenge the status quo with radical works of music, art, and literature. Were they effective? Does art have the power to change the way people think? Have these works of music, art and literature contributed to the creation of the culture in which we live, and, if so, how? In this course, students will be introduced to some of the more radical and controversial works of music, poetry, theatre, and visual art from the 1880s to today as well as the cultures that produced them: from the composers, writers and painters of the Fin de Siècle to those of the New York art scene in the 1960s; from the writers of the Beat Generation to the musicians and artists of the San Francisco psychedelic movement, to the formation of hip-hop in the late 1970s. Through class discussions and writing assignments, students will be asked to reflect upon what art is and what its role is in society. They will be asked to reflect upon the music and art of their own generation, its culture and its countercultures and identify the values that are propagated by it.

Your Professor

Lonnie Hevia holds a DMA in composition from The Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Christopher Theofanidis, Nicholas Maw and Michael Hersch. His bachelor's and master's degrees in composition were earned from The Florida State University School of Music, where he studied with John Boda and Ladislav Kubik. Professor Hevia has presented music in master classes conducted by John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse and Justin Dello Joio, and he has taken individual lessons from Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Libby Larsen and Chen Yi. His music has been performed throughout the United States by world-class musicians. It has been presented at conferences of the College Music Society, Society of Composers, Inc. and The Midwest Graduate Music Consortium. The confluence of a variety of influences, Hevia's music often combines the energy of rock, the melodic lyricism of pop, the harmonic and rhythmic complexities of jazz, the timbres of spectral music and the counterpoint and dramatic form of concert music, all into a unified style that is uniquely his own. While at Peabody, Hevia earned a second master's degree in music theory pedagogy, and, before his appointment at Stetson, he held teaching positions at Peabody, Towson University and Johns Hopkins University. He has taught music theory, aural skills, keyboard skills, counterpoint, form and analysis, twentieth-century theory, composition, arranging and the history of popular music. 

The Spirit of Travel - FSEM 100-25 (CRN 8615)

In this course, we'll look at the relationship between travel and spirit, in other words, the relationship between outer journeys and the inner ones. Pilgrimages have long been a part of religious and cultural traditions. Consider, for example, the centuries of trips to the Holy Land, Mecca, Bodh Gaya, Lourdes and Santiago de Compostela. Think about secular pilgrimages to places like the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Vietnam War Memorial or Graceland. Besides pilgrimages to one specific place, many travelers have more free-ranging objectives: for example, the Australian walkabout or even the post-college rite of backpacking around Europe. Why is travel such a catalyst for spiritual growth? In this course, we'll focus on the ways in which travel--especially unpredictable travel outside one's comfort zone--has an effect on the spirit. We'll read books and essays—fiction and non-fiction—and watch movies and videos, alas jumping-off points for thoughtful insights, discussions, and writings about the spiritual transformations of travel.

Your Professor

Nancy Barber has been a lecturer at Stetson University since 1998. She majored in political science at Davidson College, then worked as a journalist before getting an MA in English at Stetson, and an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Florida. Barber specializes in creative nonfiction. Among her other writings, she published an essay on human cannonballs in Raritan Quarterly in 2006, she co-wrote Meals Worth Stopping for in Florida: Local Restaurants within 10 Miles of the Interstate in 2008, and she published VOL STATE 500K: A Journey Through Madness, Blurring the Lines of American Division in 2024. She is a veteran of both sacred and secular pilgrimages.