Spring 2026 Freshman Seminar Course Descriptions
FSEM 101-01 (CRN: 11211): “Understanding Conspiracy Theories”
MWF 09:00-09:50
Professor Bevsek
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-01 (CRN: 11467) MWF 10:00-10:50 – Professor Ohlandt
Description: Whether it’s the belief that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, that reptilians run our government, that unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs aka UFOs) are alien spacecraft, or even that the government does not tell its people the truth all the time, almost everyone believes at least one conspiracy theory. One could just discount every conspiracy theory; however, the fact is that some conspiracy theories turn out to be true, e.g., the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. So how is one to decide what to believe? In this class you will learn tools to help you decide whether a fantastical claim is definitely true, likely to be true, likely to be false, definitely false, or truly unknown.
FSEM 101-02 (CRN: 11212): “Reason & Responsibility”
TR 08:00-09:15
Professor Granger
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-02 (CRN: 11468) TR 11:00-12:15 – Professor Allen
Description: This course will explore ethical questions from the point of view of a neuroscientist, a clinical practitioner and an environmental policy maker. The intersection of ethics with religion is also explored.
This seminar examines major schools of ethics in the context of major religious traditions with discussion of varied specific topics within these disciplines.
In this course, students will learn how to construct a reasoned argument, identify the premise of an argument and to deconstruct that premise. This is also a writing intensive course. Students will learn the art of distillation in writing short, concise, and persuasive passages.
FSEM 101-03 (CRN: 11469): “Early Heroic Ages”
TR 09:30-10:45
Professor Maddox
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-03 (CRN: 11470): TR 13:30-14:45 – Professor Adair
Description: Coming soon!
FSEM 101-04 (CRN: 11471): “Show Me the Money”
TR 13:30-14:45
Professor Meeks
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-04 (CRN: 11472) TR 11:00-12:15 – Professor Booth
Description: In This course is a college introduction to investing, and it assumes no prior knowledge of finance. Whether you end up being a Marine, doctor, lawyer, or police officer, or if you do anything else professionally at all, you must know how to manage your money. In the end, it’s solely your responsibility. We’ll work from a textbook just to organize our discussions, but we’ll leverage free real-time data online to practically use what we learn. Also, note that we’ll follow current business news carefully. As we go, we’ll delve into basic personal finance concepts too, particularly as they relate to investing. You don’t have to be a “quant,” or even plan to take courses at the Baker School, to learn and to succeed in this class. Specifically, we’ll study investment vehicles (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and alternative assets), investment risk and return trade-offs, portfolio construction, and the workings of financial markets.
FSEM 101-05 (CRN: 11473) : “Reading Urban Spaces”
TR 09:30-10:45
Professor Mushal
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-05 (CRN: 11474): TR 13:30-14:45 – Professor Leonard
FSEM 101-06 (CRN: 11475) : “Reading Urban Spaces”
TR 11:00-12:15
Professor Mushal
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-06 (CRN: 11476): TR 15:00-16:15 – Professor Leonard
Description: Why do different towns and cities look the way they do? How do geography, economic concerns, and cultural values shape a city? Can you tell a city’s history by looking at its buildings and roads? How do cities adapt to new challenges? This class will examine key aspects of urban development over the past three centuries. These will include 18th-century ideas of trade and ordering the landscape; 19th-century industrialization and the creation of new parks in cities; the role of commerce and transportation networks in shaping urban layout; the role of cars and other new technology in shaping building forms and urban expansion; and some of the challenges facing American cities today. We will discuss how each of these developments reflects larger social values, and how they have shaped experiences of urban life.
FSEM 101-07 (CRN: 11477): “The Titanic”
MWF 11:00-11:50
Professor Grenier
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-07 (CRN: 11478) TR 11:00-12:15 – Professor Plichta
Description: This Freshman Seminar will examine two tragic and dramatic events of 1912 which have developed mythic significance: the “Race for the South Pole” and the sinking of the RMS Titanic. We will consider the history of these events in the context of early twentieth-century British and American history. When, where, why, and how was Titanic built? Why did it sink? Who survived and who did not? Who bears responsibility for this disaster? Why do people continue to be fascinated by this event? Why was the effort to be the first men to reach the South Pole considered so important, and why did the men involved come to be considered heroes? Through newspapers, books, and movies we will explore how people in the early twentieth century and since have interpreted these disasters, and why they have captured so many imaginations.
FSEM 101-08 (CRN: 11479): “Video Game Culture“
TR 13:30-14:45
Professor Skenes
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-08 (CRN: 11480): MWF 10:00-10:50 – Professor Rink
Description: This First-Year Seminar will give students a behind-the-scenes look at the cultural phenomenon of video games. The class will begin by looking at the history of video games from a technical standpoint and move into a discussion of the increasing role video games have played in culture and politics. From there, the course will move into a discussion of creative license and censorship in an artistic medium, and the various ways video games are treated in this manner. This will be followed by a discussion on historical accuracy and the integration of real-life events into a player-controlled story. As part of this historical accuracy section, students will be expected to model fundamental physics to predict how objects behave when acted upon by forces in the real world. The course will then address business models for creating video games and how they differ between AAA-level studios like Electronic Arts or Blizzard and indie developers on a shoestring budget. Finally, students will spend time studying the potential effects of video games on real-life actions, ranging from possible links to violence and addiction to therapeutic treatment and the development of fine motor skills.
FSEM 101-09 (CRN: 11499): “Games and How to Win Them”
MWF 08:00-08:50
Professor Swart
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-09 (CRN: 11496) TR 09:30-10:45 – Professor Spring
FSEM 101-10 (CRN: 11500): “Games and How to Win Them”
MWF 12:00-12:50
Professor Swart
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-10 (CRN: 11497) TR 11:00-12:15 – Professor Spring
Description: In this FSEM 101, we will explore a variety of deterministic combinatorial games, including impartial and partisan games. For each game, we will determine winning strategies. Justifications will play an important role in this course. Games investigated may include Nim, Hex, and Hackenbush.
FSEM 101-11 (CRN: 11482): “History of the FBI”
TBA
Professor TBA
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-11 (CRN: 11483) MWF 09:00-09:50 – Professor Hendriks
Description: This course introduces students to the history of the FBI as a prism through which to view the larger history of the United States’ approach to law enforcement and intelligence over the last 120 years. What began as a controversial, “federal” creation in the tenuous years following the Civil War eventually burgeoned into the FBI as we know it today—a large organization with the ability to investigate worldwide wrongdoings, led primarily through the work of special agents. This course will challenge traditional stereotypes of the Bureau by looking at specific instances in history, assessing spheres of power, and evaluating the impacts of popular figures (i.e., J. Edgar Hoover) on the Bureau’s development. The class will strengthen students’ ability to analyze and communicate different issues and be informed citizens concerning issues related to the FBI. Students will uncover the iterative nature of crime, espionage, and war, which led to paradigm shifts in American society.
FSEM 101-12 (CRN: 11484): “Superheroes and Conflict“
TR 11:00-12:15
Professor Vilouta-Vázquez
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-12 (CRN: 11485) MWF 11:00-11:50 – Professor Rink
Description: This course explores the representation of superheroes in comic books as a lens for understanding various conflicts—social, political, and personal—throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. From World War II to modern-day social movements, comic book superheroes have been central to the evolving discussion of power, justice, and conflict. Through an in-depth analysis of selected graphic novels and critical secondary sources, students will examine these themes while developing critical reading and analytical writing skills. Special attention will be given to Ms Marvel (2014) and La Borinqueña (2016) as groundbreaking 21st-century comic books that stand out by presenting superheroes who confront real-world challenges beyond traditional crime-fighting narratives.
FSEM 101-13 (CRN: 11486): “Participatory Democracy“
MWF 09:00-09:50
Professor Owens
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-13 (CRN: 11487) TR 09:30-10:45 – Professor Booth
Description: Democracy and true self-government require citizens participate in making decisions. Civic knowledge is maintained through practice. This course will focus on the ways civic engagement is propelled by social interactions and respect shown in the process. This gives an opportunity to explore critical details of South Carolina’s communities and tracking policy trends over time. The purpose is to see politics from the public’s perspective and how politicians can represent diverse perspectives.
FSEM 101-14 (CRN: 11488): “Physics and the Nature of Reality“
TR 11:00-12:15
Professor Hurka
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-14 (CRN: 11489) TR 13:30-14:45 – Professor Allen
Description: Quantum Mechanics and the Special and General Theories of Relativity have allowed physicists to explain phenomena that extend well beyond our direct, everyday experiences – from objects moving close to the speed of light to massive galactic clusters to the smallest building blocks of matter. But with these theories have come ideas about the nature of reality that seem very counterintuitive and that are at odds with our commonsense notions of reality. In this course, we will first examine how scientists develop scientific models and we will gain an understanding of the complexity and limitations of this process. We will also explore how a failure to recognize these complexities and limitations can lead to a simplistic view of science that can (and has) lead to misunderstandings of what scientists do by those outside of that culture. We will then discuss the Special and General Theories of Relativity and what they say about the nature of space and time. Finally, we will discuss Quantum Mechanics and what it has to say about the basic building blocks of nature and the possible limitations it seems to impose on what we can know about the entities that make up reality.
FSEM 101-15 (CRN: 11490): “French Culture – Evolution/Revolution“
MWF 10:00-10:50
Professor Frask-Ramos
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-15 (CRN: 11491) MWF 12:00-12:50 – Professor Ohlandt
Description: The romantic language, the internationally beloved art, the sophistication, the fancy cuisine. What makes the French so… French? Find out in Culture of France where we’ll take a leisurely tour of France’s cultural traditions from their core values such as liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality and brotherhood) to their artistic legacy in literature and even their culinary creations! We’ll also be looking into their rich tradition of intellectualism as well as pivotal historical events. If you want to find out why the French are who they are, Culture of France is the class for you!
FSEM 101-16 (CRN: 11492): “Epic French Songs“
MWF 12:00-12:50
Professor Frask-Ramos
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-16 (CRN: 11493) MWF 13:00-13:50 – Professor Ohlandt
Description: This course seeks to enlighten students about the depth of the French culture in the Middle Ages and its rich history involving a lot of bloodshed, battles, victories, defeats, alliances, philosophies, religions, artistic expressions, political and cultural influences.
FSEM 101-17 (CRN: 11494): “Theory of Knowledge“
TR 08:00-09:15
Professor Ortiz
*Co-requisite: FSWI 101-17 (CRN: 11495) TR 13:30-14:45 – Professor Booth
Description: In this course, students reflect on the nature of knowledge, and how we know what we claim to know. Through critical thinking and inquiry, they are encouraged to question assumptions, analyze different perspectives, and support their ideas with evidence. Rather than passively accepting information, students learn to engage actively with knowledge, construct reasoned arguments, and navigate its complexities with clarity and coherence.