This seminar will examine The New York Times' 1619 Project -- an examination of slavery in the historical and ongoing political and social development of the United States -- from many sides. Beginning our approach of this work as a body of scholarly and popular writing, we will critically scrutinize how these arguments are presented and why they do or do not work in their current forms, questions that will include the criticism of the series voiced by professional historians.

Associated with darkness, disorder, and death, the underworld can seem like a realm of punishment. But beneath its darkness, literary underworlds are sites for a character's evolution. This term, we'll see how narratives variously adapt the underworld topos. Underworlds and otherworlds connote supernatural encounters and obstacles, but they also represent realms of heightened rationalism or optimistic possibility. We'll ask what happens in a hero's passage through an underworld or otherworld that cannot happen anywhere else?

This first year seminar is a critical thinking boot camp. Students will learn to charitably interpret, logically reconstruct, and critically evaluate arguments. The arguments come from classic and contemporary readings in philosophy about God, free will, and morality. We will focus on questions such as: Does God exist? Is it rational to believe in God? What should I do if I want to do the right thing? When is it ok to criticize other cultures? How much do I owe to others? Do we have free will? Can we ever be held responsible for anything?

In this first-year seminar, we will read Irish poetry from 1798 to the contemporary moment, examining how a variety of poets engage with urgent questions of gender and nation as well as the gendered tropes of nationalism. We will pay particular attention to interventions by feminist and queer poets and Irish poets of color who resist and in some cases revolutionize dominant poetic traditions and forms. Poets will include Lady Jane Wilde, James Clarence Mangan, W.B.

This course explores the visual and sonic history of resistance movements in the United States from the American Revolution to Black Lives Matter. Through the close study of art objects and music, engagement with primary source material and group discussions, first-year students will develop adept visual and cultural literacies alongside more traditional written and verbal registers.

Topics course: This seminar explores the status of the family in American political life and its role as a mediating structure between the individual and the state. Emphasis is placed on the role of the courts in articulating the rights of the family and its members. Suggested preparation: GOV 202 or WST 225.