CUA 1-Credit Courses

Each semester, faculty and staff from the Center for University Advising offer voluntary 1-credit courses. Many of these courses are specifically designed to assist and empower first-year students as they transition into collegiate life. Prior courses have included

Giving Back Through Education
Language, Race, and Justice
More Than Stick Figures
Politics and Film
Take a Deep Breath
Theology of The Mandalorian
What is Catholic Literature?

Fall 2022 FYS 1-Credit Courses

Ue the Subject "FYS First Year of Studies" to search within Class Search each semester. Or, search for a specific FYS course listed below!

FYS 10405 - Giving Back through Education

Recognizing the fundamental importance of qualified teachers in the unique experiment that is American education, this course explores the connection between strong students and strong teachers. The impetus behind this one-credit class is a practical one: American society needs more of its brightest young minds participating in education beyond their own years as a student. While at its core a discernment tool for First Year students of all major intents considering teaching as a vocation, the lectures and discussions will also preview opportunities for individuals external to the profession to positively impact education in their communities. Topics of study will include: the history of teachers in the United States compared with other industrialized societies, teaching as a vocation/profession, a portrait of elementary and secondary teachers today, where the profession is headed, the importance of intellectually-gifted persons working as teachers at all levels, post-graduate service opportunities in teaching, transition to teaching programs and professional opportunities for students without a degree in education, and the importance of community engagement in education. NOTE: This course begins after mid-term break.

FYS 10416 - Politics in Film

This course examines topics of political import and their representation through film in order to recognize the influence of politics in film and the influence of film on public opinion. We will watch films and consider the arguments they make about topics covering, for example, democratic idealism, race, incarceration, health care, and immigration. Each week, we will pair a film with a short reading that situates the film in its historical, cultural, and political context. We will hone our abilities to decode films to understand and appreciate each director's vision and argument. We will learn to think of films as political rhetoric as we consider how filmmakers author messages through both story and intentional artistic choices (e.g., sound, cinematography, mise-en-scène).

FYS 10422 - Intro to Gl. Arts & Identity

This course is designed to introduce students to the arts as a sophisticated means of communicating personal and social values and understandings of identity. Identity (both self-created and imposed from without) is a major concern of artistic disciplines from across the globe. Topics covered will include selected aspects of Polynesian, Native American and other American arts. Students will complete the course with the skills necessary to approach art forms and cultures new to them with increased confidence and with an appreciation for the brilliant and complicated way in which values and identity are reflected in art from across the world and across disciplines.

FYS 10424 - Writer as Physician

This course will immerse students in the rich literary tradition of physician-writers from the late 19th century to the present, as well as the growing body of literature by non-physicians chronicling the complex, traumatic, and transcendent experiences of being ill or being a caregiver to someone who is ill. Through the close reading and analysis of such texts, and through imitative creative writing assignments, students will reflect on their own experiences as patients, caregivers, and aspiring medical professionals, with the ultimate goal of deepening their understanding of the role reading and writing play in the development of curiosity, empathy, and advocacy--key virtues for those interested in careers in healthcare.