There's more than one way to find success in college and the path to getting there is different for every student. Our goals in this course are to connect with fellow students and the instructor as you become a contributing member of the community, both at UMass and beyond; start planning your individual academic goals and pathways toward achieving them; explore the different majors in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and start thinking like a social scientist.

There's more than one way to find success in college and the path to getting there is different for every student. Our goals in this course are to connect with fellow students and the instructor as you become a contributing member of the community, both at UMass and beyond; start planning your individual academic goals and pathways toward achieving them; explore the different majors in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and start thinking like a social scientist.

There's more than one way to find success in college and the path to getting there is different for every student. Our goals in this course are to connect with fellow students and the instructor as you become a contributing member of the community, both at UMass and beyond; start planning your individual academic goals and pathways toward achieving them; explore the different majors in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and start thinking like a social scientist.

There's more than one way to find success in college and the path to getting there is different for every student. Our goals in this course are to connect with fellow students and the instructor as you become a contributing member of the community, both at UMass and beyond; start planning your individual academic goals and pathways toward achieving them; explore the different majors in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and start thinking like a social scientist.

This course is designed as an introduction to Brazilian, Portuguese and Lusophone African cinemas and cultures. The selected films will afford students an opportunity to engage with film theory and criticism, and to examine a variety of topics such as the formation of national identity, gender and family dynamics, social inequalities, rural vs.

"Movement" is a word with multiple meanings. People use "movement" to describe exercise and sport but also to characterize groups intent on political or social action and artists working toward similar themes or genres. In this First Year Seminar, we will engage in the physical movement of running and explore its place within society, culture, and politics.

This class examines hunter-gatherer societies and the origins of inequality, the state, and patriarchy. We will explore how people organized their lives economically, socially, and politically to create a deeply egalitarian world. Finally, we will see how the emergence of surplus food coincided with the rise of inequality. As a First-Year Seminar, this will be a discussion-based class featuring weekly short writing assignments to allow for deeper reflection and analysis.

What does it mean to build part of your life outside the United States? When many students imagine an "international career," they picture travel, business deals, or global headlines. But an international life often begins much earlier - with curiosity, language study, cultural discomfort, and the decision to step into an unfamiliar environment. This course explores what it means to live, study, and work abroad as a young adult.

In this course, we will review the history of the modern tech industry in America. We will begin with a review of Google's innovation in indexing the early worldwide web, then move into how their early revenue model influenced the subsequent social media behemoths of Silicon Valley, and finally, how models like ChatGPT function - the good, the bad, and the ecologically horrifying. Throughout each discussion, our conversation will focus on two key questions: 1) What is the value of original human thought in the era of agentic AI?, and 2) How do we use amoral technology morally?

Negotiation is a vital skill in both the workplace and society and students are in a unique position to develop their negotiation skills in a low stakes environment. This course will introduce first-year students to negotiation fundamentals, philosophies, and strategies that they can employ in their lives and future careers.