Freshman Seminars

Connect to faculty and staff, and build community in a small seminar class.

The UW offers two types of freshman seminars: Collegium Seminars and Inquiry Seminars. Both are small, 1-2 credit, discussion-based formats with 15-20 students, designed specifically for first year students.

Spring 2012 Course Offerings 

• Collegium: What Makes a Leader? M 2:00-2:50 (SLN:14191)

  GEN ST 197 (A): This seminar course will draw from psychology, sociology, and management to introduce students to the theoretical frameworks of leadership. We’ll answer questions such as how to define leadership? How do we know when a leader is effective? What makes people emerge as leaders? What makes people follow?  We will use Seattle area leaders as living case studies to apply our frameworks (well-known leaders such as Bill Gates, Howard Behar, Jeff Bezos, as well as lesser known individuals who are making a difference in the Pacific Northwest). Depending on student interest, we may have invited guest speakers and field trips to area businesses.

  Department: Foster School of Business
  Professor: Christina Fong

  Christina T. Fong is a Senior Lecturer in the Management and Organization department at the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. She received her PhD in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University in 2003. Her research and consulting interests include the study of emotions in the workplace, psychological conflict at work, impression management, power and politics within organizations, and management education. Her research has been covered in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, among others. She has also been the recipient of several teaching awards, including the 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award, a university wide award recognizing “extraordinary success of a nominee’s superior ability in the teaching/learning process”.

• Collegium: Walk on the Wild Side of Campus W 1:30-2:20 (SLN:14192)

  GEN ST 197 (B): Would you like to learn about the wild side of campus life?  We will explore the world of urban vertebrates, from Raccoons to Great Blue Herons by taking a variety of walking tours through different parts of the campus, as well as behind the scenes tours of the Burke Museum & the University of Washington’s Fish Collection.  Interspersed with our tours, we’ll discuss how and why researchers study urban wildlife.  You will learn about a few of the animals you might see every day on campus and learn how some species are monitored using the help of volunteers.

  Department: Biology
  Professor: Karen Petersen

  I grew up on a farm in the Midwest where my observations of Burrowing Owls, and Red Foxes helped inspire me to become a biologist. I received my Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in 1988. I have been a lecturer at the University of Washington for over 20 years, and I teach an upper division course in Vertebrate Biology during spring & summer quarters.

• Collegium: Puzzles in Political Economy F 11:30-12:50 (SLN:14194)

  GEN ST 197 (D): Why does popcorn cost so much at movies; and how is the cost of popcorn related to tax policy? Do students help children in developing nations by boycotting soccer balls made in sweatshops? And why do people line up for days to get the latest iPhone release or to see the newest Avengers movie; and how does that relate to college financial aid? Find out answers to these and more questions with Prof. Anthony Gill, the only UW faculty member to wear a cowboy hat.

  Department: Political Science 
  Professor: Anthony Gill

  Anthony Gill is a professor of political science at the University of Washington and recipient of the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award (1999). He also has research affiliations with Baylor University and Georgetown University and hosts his own weekly podcast series called, Research on Religion.

• Collegium: Philosophical Puzzles and Paradoxes T 1:30-2:20 (SLN:14193)

  GEN ST 197 (C): We will discuss ten philosophical puzzles and paradoxes (on a wide range of topics such as ethical decision-making and epistemological conundrums in science). The emphasis throughout the course will be on building skills to reason our way through difficult problems.

  Department: Philosophy 

  Professor: John Manchak

  John Manchak is an assistant professor of philosophy. His research focuses on philosophical consequences of Einstein’s theory of relativity.

• Collegium: Rock the Archive: Music, Gender, & Digital Archives Th 3:30-4:20 (SLN:14197)

  GEN ST 197 (G): This course provides an introduction to oral histories of fascinating musicians hosted in the new Women Who Rock Digital Oral History Archive (womenwhorockcommunity.org). The archive has recently been developed in partnership with UW Libraries Digital Initiative Program. Learn how local hip-hop, indie rock, and son jarocho scenes in Seattle and Vera Cruz, Mexico have contributed to community building and social transformation. Find out why UW Libraries became involved in developing this collection into a digital archive. Watch riveting oral histories, and listen to/discuss music made by the archive’s musicians. Meet the archive’s featured musicians/writers at the Experience Music Project’s annual Pop Conference and Seattle Fandango Project workshop.

  Department: Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
  Professor: Michelle Habell-Pallán

  Michelle Habell-Pallán is an Associate Professor of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies and adjunct professor in Communication and the School of Music at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is author of Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicana and Latina Popular Culture (NYU Press). She is guest curator of the award-winning bilingual American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music exhibit, a UW and Experience Music Project collaboration sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (americansabor.org). She co-directs the Women Who Rock Research and Oral History Project hosted by University of Washington Libraries Digital Initiative (womenwhorockcommunity.org)

• Collegium: We're Not Aliens or Illegals W 9:30-10:20 (SLN:14195)

  GEN ST 197 (E):This seminar is taught by a Tracy Harachi, a UW School of Social Work faculty member who is passionate about the topic of migration and immigration because of her own personal history, research and work experience in Cambodia after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. In this class, you will create a critical learning community in the classroom to enhance your understanding about the forces of migration, a historical context in the U.S. and how this topic impacts the daily lives of members of our local community. As a student, you will take leadership in facilitating discussions about class readings and complete reflection writing assignments to synthesize their understanding. If you have with a strong interest in social justice and desire to empower communities of color, you are encouraged to join this seminar.

  Department: Social Work
  Professor: Tracy Harachi

  Tracy Harachi has been an instructor within the School of Social Work since 1991 and has a passion and interest in issues related to immigration given her personal background, research and work experience in Cambodia after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime.

• Collegium: Microbial World: Friend and Foe W 3:00-3:50 (SLN:14199)

  GEN ST 197 (I): This seminar will introduce students to a wide range of research and research topics in microbiology with an emphasis on how the research relates to their daily lives. Topics might include: bacterial biofuel production, HIV vaccines, food safety and bacterial and viral pathogens involved in aquaculture and the health of wild fish populations.

  Department: Microbiology
  Professor: Roger Bumgarner

  Roger Bumgarner is an Associate Professor in Department of Microbiology with affiliate appointments in Biomedical and Health Informatics, Computational Molecular Biology, and the Molecular & Cellular Biology Program.  His research includes the development of methods and tools to convert genomics and function genomics data into mechanistic understanding.

• Inquiry: Inspiration from Contemporary Thinkers: Exploring Your Place in the Universe M 2:30-3:50 (SLN: 20215)

  GEN ST 297 (A): In this seminar we will seek inspiration from the work of great contemporary thinkers and doers. Using this inspiration, you will have an opportunity to examine a topic of passion in which you may choose to make a vocational commitment. This course is well-suited to students who want to explore how their interests might turn into work that benefits humankind and the planet.

  Department: Libraries
  Professor: Deborah Pierce
  

  Deborah Pierce is a musician, educator, and lifelong learner who has interests and training in adult learning and social artistry, which she describes as “the art of enhancing human capacities in the light of social complexity.” She has worked as an information specialist and educator for over 30 years in higher education and also has credentials as a Neurolinguistic Programming Practitioner. Her teaching philosophies include teaching to personal relevance, lifelong learning skills, and creating teaching/learning communities in the classroom.

• Inquiry: Exploring Majors in Math & Science F 10:30-11:20 (SLN: 20398)

  GEN ST 297 (B): This seminar will explore the variety of majors possible in Engineering, Math and the Sciences. Faculty from our award-winning departments will give presentations and facilitate discussions with students about why their research and disciplines are so important in our present time.

  Department: Earth and Space Science
  Professor: Noell Bernard-Kingsley and Stanley Choi

  Noell Bernard-Kingsley is an adviser in the department of Earth & Space Sciences.

  Stanley Choi is an adviser in the Materials Science and Engineering department.

• Inquiry: Sport Psychology T 11:30-12:20 (SLN: 14196)

  GEN_ST 197 (F) 1-credit: This seminar is open to all freshman performers including musicians, performing artists, and recreational sport athletes. The course is designed to introduce participants to psychological skills training for successful performance. Students will learn the building blocks for successful performance, better understand what it means to be ready to play, and learn how thoughts and emotions interact to impact performance. Students will gain better awareness of their performance readiness through reading, journal writing, class discussions, and meetings with the instructor. 

  Department: Athletics
  Instructor: Ron Chamberlain