Courses Offered

FMS 115-01
M/W | 2:00 – 3:15 PM 
Instructor: Nora Webb 
MAC: Written Communication

This course examines dress codes and other appearance advice as persuasive genres that determine who belongs in a classroom, workplace, and beyond. Students move from personal reflection to argument, analyzing how appearance norms are formed and then justified or contested across various settings. Along the way, they evaluate how these texts identify and address particular audiences, revise their own writing in response to feedback, and reflect on how they contribute to ongoing conversations about appearance and belonging.

FMS 115-02
T/TH | 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Instructor:​ Brytani Raymond
MAC: Written Communication

Students will analyze animated short films as visual arguments, examining how writers and animators use images, sound, narrative, style, color, and more to communicate brief but extraordinarily powerful and persuasive short-form stories. Students will apply these rhetorical strategies to their own writing processes, drafting, revising, and adapting dynamic texts for varied contexts and audiences. Students will have the opportunity to consider their own rhetorical choices and how their compositions can be evocative, surprising, and impactful. No animation experience required!

FMS 115-03
M/W | 2:00 – 3:15 PM 
Instructor: Christina Cary 
MAC: Written Communication

Through science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other forms of speculative storytelling, this course explores how imagined worlds help us examine our own. Students will consider how writers use speculative fiction to challenge social norms, expose systems of power, explore identity and relationships, and imagine alternative possibilities. Through fiction, graphic narratives, and other media, students will investigate how stories respond to their historical moments, enter conversations with other texts, and invite readers to reconsider what seems ordinary, inevitable, or possible.

FMS 116-01
T/TH | 2:00 – 3:15 PM
Instructor: William Dodson 
MAC: Oral Communication

In this course you will learn the fundamentals of Aristotelian rhetoric and apply its principles to contemporary ethical dilemmas. You will learn about the rhetoric of belief, how we come to accept certain values and reject others, and how shared beliefs form the basis of our communities. You will also develop your written communication skills, facility for critical and synthetic reading, and ability to articulate coherent arguments.

FMS 116-03
T/TH | 9:30 – 10:45 AM  
Instructor: Sarah Krive 
MAC: Oral Communication

Using Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment as its central text, this seminar explores questions of crime, responsibility, poverty, conscience, punishment, and redemption. Students develop oral communication skills through discussions, short presentations, debates, and research-based arguments. Emphasis is placed on engaging in close reading, marshalling evidence, active listening, collegially responding to competing interpretations, and communicating complex ideas clearly to others.

FMS 117-01
M/W | 2:00 – 3:15 PM  
Instructor: Christopher Hodgkins 
MAC: Civics and Community

Our founding documents imagine America as a sphere of freedom where imperial governments will be replaced by self-government in a democratic republic. This seminar will explore these documents and some literary responses – from Thoreau and Twain to Lazarus and Hemingway – that reflect on our dynamic tensions between liberty, control, and nationhood.

FMS 117-02
T/TH | 3:30 – 4:45 PM  
Instructor: Calvin Lowery 
MAC: Civics and Community

In this class students will explore the roots and contradictions of American Democracy. Students will critically examine the founding documents and the movements advancing justice. Ultimately, this course will study how power is gained and maintained in society.

FMS 135-01
M/W | 11:00 AM – 12:15 AM
Instructor: Joyce Clapp
MAC: Health and Wellness

How does where you live contribute to your physical, mental, and societal health? What do we even mean by health and wellness? How do we decide where to live, and how much is where we live a choice? This course will discuss these questions and more, along with providing important skills in evaluating and citing information sources.

FMS 135-02
T/TH | 12:30 – 1:45 PM 
Instructor: Sarah Krive 
MAC: Health and Wellness

What if present-moment awareness without judgement could help you handle stress, find meaning, and bounce back when life gets tough? In Mindfulness, Resilience, and Meaning, we will explore how mindfulness works, where it comes from, and why it’s become a buzzword in health, wellness, and psychology. Together, we will dig into what it means to live with greater awareness, how people find meaning in challenging times, and what resilience actually looks like (spoiler: it’s not just “staying positive”). You’ll also build essential college research skills-learning how to find, read, and interpret studies on mindfulness and mental health. Along the way, you’ll try mindfulness practices for yourself and develop skills to help you stay steady and define the values that give your life meaning and purpose.

FMS 115-01
M/W | 2:00 – 3:15 PM 
Instructor: Christina Cary 
MAC: Written Communication

This seminar invites students to explore how horror, sci-fi, and fantasy serve as a lens to examine societal issues in American society. Through readings of novels, short stories, and graphic novels from diverse authors, students will analyze how these narratives challenge societal norms and envision alternative futures. By engaging with works from authors such as Amal El-Mohtar, Aiden Thomas, Derrick Bell, and Ted Chiang, we will investigate how these genres reflect and reshape discussions about traditional representations of marginalized communities. Writing assignments will encourage students to articulate their own perspectives, using speculative storytelling and genre fiction as a tool for social critique and personal expression, while also emphasizing the writing and revision process, reflection, and critical review. 

FMS 115-02
M/W/F | 10:00 – 10:50 AM
Instructor:​ Isaac Oplanic 
MAC: Written Communication

Our inevitable doom is always said to be just around the corner. Scroll long enough, and it can feel like the end is already here. But this feeling—this “end of the world fever”—is not new. Across history, writers, thinkers, and entire cultures have imagined collapse, lived through it, overcame, and tried to make sense of it. This course invites you into that strange, compelling space where anxiety meets imagination, a place which throughout our class will be populated by zombies, plagues, runaway human-replicants, poets, angels, and the last human. By exploring crisis poetically, historically, and globally, students will develop their own perspectives on both the lived realities and the cultural narratives of doom, cultivating critical thinking, rhetorical awareness, experimental research, and creative engagement with one of humanity’s oldest and most persistent questions: how do we go on in the end times?

FMS 115-03
T/TH | 12:30 – 1:45 PM 
Instructor: Anne Malin Ringwalt 
MAC: Written Communication

How can narrative language represent us as we attempt to tell the stories of our lives? As writers, can we ever claim to know—or tell—the truth? How do our subjective worldviews and subconscious biases inform the words we use, the ways we talk, and the stories we tell about ourselves? This class centers on how these questions can and cannot be answered, using works by Audre Lorde, Kate Zambreno, and Brandon Shimoda as formative examples and touchstones alike. Creative writing, experimental research, and collective workshop will allow us all to see our writing as a process, with truth and self-understanding as possible facets of our explorations. 

FMS 115-04
M/W | 2:00 – 3:15 PM
Instructor:​ Ryan Ridpath
MAC: Written Communication

This seminar explores the lessons we can learn from myths and stories throughout human culture. From creation origins to the hero’s journey, myths can teach us how to tell stories, understand hidden messages, and take charge of our lives. Students are expected to create their personal mythologies and build their skills in both creative and academic writing.

FMS 115-05
T/TH | 3:30 – 4:45 PM 
Instructor: Sope Kahn 
MAC: Written Communication

How does writing work within the world of Roblox? In this course, we will analyze how writing works from the perspective of the game creators and players. Through a selection of Roblox games, we will think critically about the choices of language made with awareness to the audience, context, and purpose of the game. Our analysis will stem from the field of Women’s Studies, and we will consider the intersecting forces of power that influence language and social interactions. In this course, we will work collaboratively to play the games and develop our own Roblox video game narrative.   

FMS 115-06
M/W/F | 12:00 – 12:50 PM  
Instructor: Michiel van Veldhuizen
MAC: Written Communication

Humans turn into dolphins; puppies are sacrificed on altars; gods take the form of birds. Animals – real and imaginary – are everywhere in ancient Greek and Roman mythology and religion. But why? This course explores expressions of human-animal metamorphosis, animal sacrifice, vegetarianism, and much more, by looking at ancient literature and material culture. Bring your own views about pets, pests, and pescatarians to the classroom, and get ready to examine why animals are so useful in helping us think about the ultimate question: what does it mean to be human?

FMS 115-07
T/TH | 3:30 – 4:45 PM 
Instructor: William Dodson
MAC: Written Communication

What do we believe—and why? In this course you will learn the fundamentals of Aristotelian rhetoric and apply its principles to contemporary ethical dilemmas. You will learn about the rhetoric of belief, how we come to accept certain values and reject others, and how shared beliefs form the basis of our communities. You will also develop your written communication skills, facility for critical and synthetic reading, and ability to articulate coherent arguments.

FMS 116-01
T/TH | 9:30 – 10:45 AM 
Instructor: Jessica Sullivan 
MAC: Oral Communication

I can’t believe you just said that.  Why won’t you talk to me?  What do you mean that topic is “off limits?”  We’ve all been there.  We’re trying hard to have a meaningful and productive conversation with someone, but are finding it difficult to make headway.  Maybe you’re trying to address someone’s bias or discrimination.  Maybe you’re trying to communicate your own identity, or work through challenging family dynamics. In this class, we’ll explore theories and strategies to guide us toward effective listening, conversations, and conflict resolution.  You’ll have opportunities to practice ethical dialogue and will learn to clearly articulate your own positions and feelings orally.

FMS 116-02
T/TH | 12:30 – 1:45 PM 
Instructor: Talia Gray
MAC: Oral Communication

As digital platforms increasingly become the site of our society’s socialization and interactions, our course will focus on how one may identify, build, engage in, and most certainly communicate within and outside of online communities. We will strategize and discuss the most effective methods of establishing community and engaging one another within communal discourse. Our class will also serve as a learning community where we will practice various communication strategies within digital platforms in an effort to apply what we have learned through observing online social movements. Students will have the opportunity to use various mediums of communication like recorded video, face to face discussion, voiceovers, presentations and other modes of communication relevant to digital platforms. Developing such skills will allow for students to expand the tools available to them as they continue their education and professional careers. At the end of the course, students will have several communication strategies in their employ, understand the position of the audience, and contextual factors in shaping their messages, be able to identify online communities and their goals/functions.

FMS 116-03
T/TH | 12:30 – 1:45 PM  
Instructor: Candace Lilford 
MAC: Oral Communication

Do you remember a time as a child when you were told a story? Do you remember being transported to magical and thrilling other worlds just by someone else’s words and your imagination? In that spirit, this course will dive into the ways oral storytelling and spoken performances are able to craft a world the listener is enveloped in through speech alone. There are different spoken performance traditions across different eras and cultures, from radio dramas and traditional folktales to podcasts and audio book culture. We will explore oral performance and presentation techniques while analyzing and researching storytelling traditions as you construct your own ways of telling your stories.

FMS 116-04
T/TH | 2:00 – 3:15 PM  
Instructor: Holly Williams 
MAC: Oral Communication 

This course explores the intersection of music, poetry, and communication, using the theme of love in its many forms—romantic, familial, platonic, and self. Through analysis and performance, students will develop their public speaking and expressive skills while creating and sharing original works that communicate the emotional depth of love. No prior experience in music, writing, or performance is required—this course is open to all who are interested in exploring creative expression and communication. 

FMS 117-01
T/TH | 3:30 – 4:45 PM  
Instructor: Calvin Lowery 
MAC: Civics and Community

In this class students will explore the roots and contradictions of American Democracy. Students will critically examine the founding documents and the movements advancing justice. Ultimately, this course will study how power is gained and maintained in society. 

FMS 135-01
T/TH | 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Instructor: Sarah Krive 
MAC: Health and Wellness

What if present-moment awareness without judgment could help you handle stress, find meaning, and bounce back when life gets tough? In Mindfulness, Meaning, and Resilience, we’ll explore how mindfulness works, where it comes from, and why it’s become a buzzword in health, wellness, and psychology. Together, we’ll dig into what it means to live with greater awareness, how people find meaning in challenging times, and what resilience actually looks like (spoiler: it’s not just “staying positive”). You’ll also build essential college research skills—learning how to find, read, and interpret studies on mindfulness and mental health. Along the way, you’ll try mindfulness practices for yourself and develop skills to help you stay steady and define the values that give your life meaning and purpose. 

FMS 170-01
T/TH | 11:00 – 12:15 PM 
Instructor: Keadija Wiley 
MAC: Critical Thinking in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

This first-year seminar examines the development of Black American children within the context of family, culture, and society. Students will explore psychological, social, and historical factors influencing identity formation, parenting practices, education, and well-being. Emphasis is placed on critical analysis, discussion, and reflection to promote cultural competence and academic skill development.

FMS 183-01
T/TH | 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Instructor: Randall Hayes
MAC: Critical Thinking in the Sciences

One of the most basic assumptions of Western culture is that we are immortal souls currently trapped in mortal meat bodies.  This belief affects everything from our food systems to criminal justice to how we treat mental illness (as a separate category, and not very well).  But what if it’s not true?  Through readings, discussions, and practical first-person experiences of meditation and hypnosis, we examine the mind/body issue as it relates to sickness and health.  This includes mainstream practices as well as more “fringe” things like crystals and homeopathy.

FMS 183-02
T/TH | 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Instructor: (Gayle) Hunter Cole
MAC: Critical Thinking in the Sciences

This course focuses on fundamental principles and concepts in several areas in the biological sciences, from molecular biology to human anatomy. It covers the scientific method, the basics of experiment design. The course culminates in students creating their own group biological portrait. With biotechnology becoming a greater part of our daily lives, there seems to be a movement in the art world to integrate art and science. Throughout the course, students become familiar with contemporary artists who use biological concepts and biological materials in their artwork. Many of these artworks reflect on how biological concepts and technologies will impact the individual, community, and society.

FMS 195-01
M/W/F | 11:00 – 11:50 AM  
Instructor: Kevin Reese
MAC: Mathematics

This course will present the development of geometry, one of the most ancient branches of mathematics, both by considering historical contexts and by working through proofs written by Thales, Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, and other geometers of antiquity. Students will use compass and straightedge, the fundamental tools of the geometer, to carry out geometric constructions and to do proofs. Special attention will be paid to the Pythagorean Theorem, one of the cornerstones of world mathematics. Students who wish to take this course will need only a background in high-school algebra, geometry, and trigonometry (NC Math 1, 2).