WittSems: The WittSems (short for Wittenberg Seminars) are small, topical courses designed by individual instructors or teams of instructors based on their intellectual interests and training. Required of all first-year students, the WittSems serve as an introduction to the core matters of academic inquiry at Wittenberg.

First Year Travel Opportunities: We have created a set of short-term international experiences (one to two weeks in length), led by Wittenberg faculty members. Designed to lead students to understand the basis for the University’s commitment to a curriculum “infuse[d] with an international perspective” and its commitment to “provid[ing] a study abroad opportunity for every . . . student,” these unique opportunities are meant as an integral part and extension of the first-year experience” and will function as a complement to a WittSem. Listed below you will see three such experiences. Keep in mind this is a unique opportunity to have a study abroad experience in your first year at Wittenberg. Each class is limited and will be assigned based on a first come first serve basis. Deposits for travel will be due mid-fall semester.

If you are interested in participating in one of these travel opportunities, please “preregister” for one of these courses. Participation is limited.

Experiencing Guatemala (Spring Break 2009)  
Cost: $2000.00

Do you wonder where your cup of Starbuck coffee comes from? Or what the life of a coffee grower is like? If so, then travel with us to Guatemala to visit coffee plantations in the Western Highlands where your cup of daily brew is grown, picked, dried and sorted by communities who have lived in this region for thousands of years. You will stay on a protected nature reserve where coffee grows bio-dynamically in the rain forest surrounded by volcanoes, visit a coffee cooperative run by Mayan families, and a large corporate coffee plantation. You will speak to the people who grow your coffee and learn about the lives and cultural histories of these coffee workers, as well as experience the rich culture of Guatemala that exudes both Mayan and Spanish heritages. We will also stay in Antigua, one of the oldest Spanish settlements in Guatemala and Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, a well-known tourist haven, with a rich history of its own.

 

Making Coffee: Culture, Capitalism, Consumption                               
(18 seats available)
Dr. Nancy McHugh (Philosophy)
Team-taught section
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday

Coffee, variously considered an elixir, drug, health risk or necessity, has played a major role in the shaping of modern world history.  From the political and philosophical societies gathered at coffeehouses in Europe to the Jewish and Muslim merchants who introduced coffee to wide audiences in commercial centers, people have used coffee as cultural and commercial exchange.  This course looks at the history and philosophy of “coffee cultures” since the 1500s.  We will ask questions about the cultural diversity of coffee cultures, explore the labor dynamics in supplying this commodity to the world, and delve into the deeper puzzles of coffee’s role in stimulating political action, philosophical debate, and religious ceremony.  WARNING:  coffee will be consumed in this class!

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit Guatemala during Spring Break 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Making Coffee: Culture, Capitalism, Consumption                              
(18 seats available)    
Dr. Tammy Proctor (History)
Team-taught section
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday 

Coffee, variously considered an elixir, drug, health risk or necessity, has played a major role in the shaping of modern world history.  From the political and philosophical societies gathered at coffeehouses in Europe to the Jewish and Muslim merchants who introduced coffee to wide audiences in commercial centers, people have used coffee as cultural and commercial exchange.  This course looks at the history and philosophy of “coffee cultures” since the 1500s.  We will ask questions about the cultural diversity of coffee cultures, explore the labor dynamics in supplying this commodity to the world, and delve into the deeper puzzles of coffee’s role in stimulating political action, philosophical debate, and religious ceremony.  WARNING:  coffee will be consumed in this class!

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit Guatemala during Spring Break 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Experiencing Southern China (Summer 2009)         
Cost: $3000.00

Are you fascinated enough by China to explore it?

Then, come with us to Southern China to experience the bustling streets of Hong Kong, the exploding development of the Pearl River Delta, the spectacular karst topography around Guilin, and unique villages housing non-Han ethnic groups in North Guangxi Province. Visiting these diverse places will allow us to see the degree to which the globalization process has spread across the economic landscape of China, from the extreme capitalism on the coast to traditional rural communities in the interior.

World at your Fingertips                  
(18 seats available)
Dr. Olga Medvedkov (Geography)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday

We live in a world where the cold war has been replaced by globalization. A world divided by the iron curtain is fading away to be succeeded by a world connected through the Web. This new global system brings a lot of advantages and disadvantages at the same time. A more transparent world allows fast movement of ideas, innovations, transactions, and people. The challenge is that this new world order provides an avenue for good ideas and bad ideas, for legal transactions and illegal, for travelers/ legal migrants and for terrorists. Globalization is responsible for McDonaldization of the world, homogenization of different cultures, and for shifting jobs overseas. It fast forwards medical advances to the developing countries but also spreads diseases such as AIDS and SARS at a fast pace.  In this seminar we will examine and discuss the pros and cons of globalization  and its consequences. How globalization changes the whole world and our personal world? How countries and individuals can succeed in this ever changing environment? In addition to lectures and discussions students will get hands-on experience in putting events on a map electronically.  This seminar is writing intensive (W) and meets an integrating learning goal (L) for General Education.

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit China in May 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Globalization in Southeast Asia            
(18 seats available)                                                            
Dr. Ralph Lenz (Geography)                                                                                                            9:10-10:10 Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Southeast Asia is an enormously interesting region. Set between South Asia and East Asia, and influenced by each, it retains its own unique heritage. Among its nations is Indonesia, noted for its physical beauty and cultural distinctiveness, and also home to the world’s largest Muslim population. Recent events have thrust Indonesia and its Southeast Asian neighbors into the spotlight as a source of global terrorism, creating concern about the future course of Islam there. Extreme levels of diversity in ethnicity, culture, and religious orientation in Indonesia complicate the issue. Javanese people, long known for their moderate, non-fundamentalist brand of Islam, have generated much of the recent violence in the archipelago. While head scarves and conservative Muslim clothing, once rarely seen, are now almost universal among female university students, Indonesian pop groups dominate Asian MTV, and television images are relatively risqué. Can these contrasts continue to coexist? This WittSem will seek an understanding of the cultural heritage of populations in Indonesia and the neighboring Muslim regions of Malaysia, Mindanao (the Philippines), and South Thailand in an attempt to gauge potential outcomes of present religious tensions.

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit China in May 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Experiencing London (Summer 2009)                      
Cost: $3000.00 

High Tea at Kensington Gardens. Daytripping to Stratford upon Avon. Finding a bargain at the Camden Markets. Watching a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Observing Americans abroad. Getting lost on purpose. Attending a football match. Ordering Nepalese food. Learning to pass as Brits. Reading three maps at once. Encircling the chopping block at the Tower of London. Choosing a good fish and chips stand. Being a tourist. Being an anthropologist.

‘Fieldwork: London’ will introduce participants, in the course of ten overstuffed days, to the skills necessary to navigate and understand another culture and a great city. Our guiding metaphor will be anthropological; as participant/observers as we will immerse ourselves in the unique cultural phenomenon that is present day London. Think of it as having fun with a journal in your hand. The trip will culminate with travelers drawing upon their new fieldwork skills as teams undertake a day-long scavenger hunt across London. This trip is being led by Wittenberg English Professors and British literature specialists Fitz Smith and Ty Buckman.

Ways of Seeing, Ways of Being        
(18 seats available)
Dr. Fitz Smith (English)
3:50-5:20 Tuesday and Thursday

A scholar once defined a mythology as 'the stories that a culture tells itself about itself.'  This seminar will broaden our ideas about the meanings and motivations of such stories.  With a careful attention to works from literature, history, philosophy, music, and visual arts, we'll engage in the difficult question that underpins the liberal arts: how do different academic and intellectual pursuits inform our understanding of ourselves?  Drawing heavily from daily reading journals, our discussions will range widely, but will maintain a common goal of deepening our appreciation for the works and ideas that have contributed to our definition of ourselves. The seminar student will also prepare several short analytical essays as well as one formal presentation at the semester's end.  After our readings and discussions, the student should expect to have a response to E.M. Forster's four characteristics of a liberal arts student: she must have curiosity, a free mind, belief in sophisticated ideas, and a belief in the human race.  This seminar will challenge and consider these attributes as they shape both our ways of seeing and our ways of being. .

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit London in May 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

New Worlds in the Old World                  
(18 seats available)                                             
Dr. Ty Buckman (English)
11:30-12:30 Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Before films presented us with fantastic life forms and unfamiliar civilizations in distant galaxies, before anyone had thought to write science fiction or fantasy novels, before we had fully mapped our own planet, people were fascinated by the idea of “new worlds,” of places completely foreign to their own experience. In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will use the resources of literary criticism, history, and anthropology to study several of these new world encounters and ask the twin questions: What is the appeal of the new world as a concept? How does experience of the old world shape an encounter with the new? We begin our journey with the archetypal travel adventure Homer’s Odyssey, voyage with a small band of Vikings as they “discover” America in the Vinland Sagas, follow Marco Polo on his Travels along the Silk Road in thirteenth-century Asia, debate the merits of Sir Thomas More’s vision of an ideal society in Utopia, and finally visit the magical island on which Shakespeare set his late play, The Tempest. As an epilogue, we will invert the course theme and spend our last few weeks studying an old world in the new world—reading about and visiting an Amish community here in Ohio. Participants will be expected to contribute to the success of the seminar by reading faithfully, writing papers, taking part in class discussions and debates, keeping a reading journal, and eating one very large Amish supper.

**NOTE that this course has a travel component to visit London in May 2009 for an ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

The Moral of the Story
Dr. Miguel Martinez-Saenz (Philosophy)
3:50-5:20 Tuesday and Thursday

Once upon a time there was an old … Do stories have “more power” than theories to make us change who we are? What types of stories compel us to act? We will be focusing on this question throughout the semester.  By the end of the semester students should not only have an answer to the question, but should be able to recognize how narratives have theory embedded within them.  We will be reading a number of novels, short stories and autobiographies discussing and evaluating the “ethical.” Moreover, we will be watching three films and two documentaries.  In order to gain a greater appreciation of difference our reading and viewing selections will cover a wide range of topics including but not limited to the following: gender, race, religion, economics, war/history.  Students will be expected to write four reflection essays, one critical essay and one exam.  There will also be short answer quizzes given periodically on the reading assignments. Furthermore, all students will be required to give a short presentation on their critical essay. In this class students will be expected to engage in dialogue with me and with each other.

From the Steppes of Chinggis Khan
Dr. Marcia Frost (Economics)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday 

In the 13th century perhaps 130,000 Mongol horsemen under the leadership of Chinggis Khan swept out from the steppes of north central Asia, conquered vast regions of Eurasia, established the world's largest ever land empire, and stimulated an extensive transfer of peoples, knowledge and cultures.   Today the Mongol homeland, nestled between southern Siberia and the Gobi desert, is undergoing profound and rapid change from an isolated, totalitarian, communist state to an outward-looking, vibrant, capitalist democracy.  In this seminar we will explore both the Mongol past and the present: who are these Mongol people?  How do they interact with their natural environment?  How do they earn a living? worship? play?  What have they accomplished?  How can they ensure that their 21st century transition will improve the welfare of all Mongolians?  We will use the tools of numerous disciplines—geology and geography, anthropology and economics, religion and political science, history and the arts—as we explore these questions.  Course materials may include folk tales and epics, travelers' accounts, music, film and numerous articles and books.  Through reading, listening and watching assignments, informal and formal writing, class discussion and independent investigation, students will learn about the human experience across both time and space.

Art and the Human Body from Leonardo to Now 
Dr. Alejandra Gimenez-Berger (Art)
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday

The beautiful body is an obsession in popular culture. This course explores the cultural significance of representations of the human body and embodiment in art and popular culture.  The anatomies by Leonardo da Vinci will serve as our point of departure as we trace the artistic, scientific, and ethical concerns that inform the Western understanding of the body.  We will examine the impact of artworks from diverse time periods, ranging from the Renaissance to Japanese anime. Our readings will be drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, medicine, cultural studies, science, and fiction.  Students will produce a creative self-portrait series (textual or visual) in response to class discussions.  

Mind, Body, World
Dr. Janice Glowski (Religion)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday 

What is the mind, and what is the body? Are they separate entities that interact periodically, or are they intricately linked and somehow dependent upon each other? Do the mind and body bear any relationship to the external world one inhabits? Do the answers to these questions have an impact on a person's life and how cultures function? This course explores the nature of the mind, body and world, and their relationship to each other, through the comparative examination of Western and Asian religious/philosophical theory, artistic expressions and cultural practices. The course will also look briefly at contemporary socio-religious movements that have used answers to these questions as a foundation for social action. Students will gain both intellectual and experiential knowledge of how the mind, body and world have been understood by different cultures over time.  This course includes extensive group work and hands-on activities; therefore, active student participation is critical.

Balancing Bodies: Exploring the Physiology, Biomechanics and Societal Constructs of Health and Fitness
Dr. Margaret Goodman (Biology)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday

We will explore human health and physical fitness from an interdisciplinary perspective but with emphasis on the biological foundations.  We will begin by examining musculoskeletal structure and function, metabolism, circulation and the changes that occur during physical activity.  As we progress through the semester we will address the social constructs and influences on physical fitness and health, considering training programs, performance enhancing drugs, and body image.  Be prepared to consider your own lifestyle choices and experiment with exercise routines and new activities as well as engaging in intellectual exploration.

The Arts Challenge in America
Dr. Jimmy Humprhies (Theatre and Dance)

Conduct a major symphony orchestra here with a name like “Davis” or “Jones?” Why does my spell check always want to correct the word theatre?  How did John F. Kennedy’s mandate of a focus on math and science in our public schools affect not only the arts curriculum but negatively change our student’s world ranking in math and science?  These things and many more will illustrate a cultural bias in the United States against the Arts.  We will examine the development of this bias from a historical standpoint.  Students will also study what governmental policies have been adopted as a result of this bias.  We will look at other countries that have had a similar cultural bias to the arts.  

Pop Music around the World: Local Flavor vs. Global Domination                                    
Dan Kazez (Music)
10:20-11:20 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

The cultural distinctiveness of non-Western countries is evident to all the senses.  We note this in food, clothing, and music, to name but a few elements of culture.  Will this distinctiveness decline as the United States increasingly “exports” its culture to non-Western countries?  In this Witt Sem, we will examine (1) the extent to which the popular music of various non-Western countries has maintained its local flavor, and (2) how and why the music of the West has entered the popular music styles of these countries.  The ability to read music is required.  We will examine printed music (sheet music), listen to recorded music, and study the soundtracks of non-Western feature films.  The course will, in large part, consist of learning how to research, collect, and present information.

 Forgive Us Our Press Passes

Dr. D’Arcy Fallon
11:30-12:30 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; 5:00-7:00 Tuesday 

This course takes a look at journalists in film and literature—from the gimlet-eyed muckraker (Jessica Mitford in American Way of Death) who wrote a scathing expose on the funeral industry to those intrepid reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (All the President’s Men), whose investigation uncovered the details of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.  There has always been tension and distrust between journalists and the world they cover—sometimes with good reason. This course will provide an overview of social and culture representations of journalism and journalists, particularly as reflected in film and literary contexts. We’ll look at war correspondents, Gonzo journalists, gossip columnists, and activist-journalists throughout the semester. Plan on watching at least one movie a week in the evening outside of class, taking part in class discussions and debates, writing several short critical papers, a critical paper, and producing a creative team project with the rest of class. **NOTE: In addition to meeting three times a week, students will be expected to be free on Tuesday evenings beginning at 5:00 p.m. to watch a movie. Do NOT sign up for this class if you can’t make the movie screenings.

Life in the universe
Dr. Timothy Lewis (Biology) and Dr. Dan Fleisch (Physics) Team-Taught Section
8:00 - 9:30 Tuesday and Thursday 

Have you ever wondered what life really is and how it came to flourish here on the Earth? Are we alone in the cosmos, or might the universe be teeming with intelligent civilizations? Is it possible to communicate with such civilizations?  The sciences of Biology and Astronomy have begun to provide the data that will allow us to answer these questions.  To do that, you need to ask what stars are and how rapidly they form.  How many of those stars have planets, and could any of those planets – or their moons – have conditions capable of supporting life?  How probable is life given suitable conditions?  Is intelligent life common or rare, and what is intelligence anyway?  How often do intelligent life forms develop technology that would allow communication or detection from afar?  Are those societies brief flickers in time or beacons that last for many millennia?  And what can we learn about life on this planet through such cosmological pondering?  In this team-taught course, students will explore these and related questions under the guidance of a space physicist and an evolutionary biologist.

Why We Believe Weird Things
Jeff Brookings (Psychology)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday

“Watching television causes autism.”  “Playing Mozart to infants increases their intelligence.”  “Prayer cures cancer.”  These and other sensational claims are reported daily by the popular media, who usually present them as factual because there is—purportedly—scientific evidence of their validity.  But what qualifies as scientific evidence, and how do we distinguish scientifically- supported conclusions from plausible-sounding but unsubstantiated, untestable assertions?  In this course, we begin by defining what science is and how it differs from pseudoscience.  We then consider the basic perceptual and cognitive mechanisms through which humans gather and process information about the world, emphasizing errors in thinking and reasoning that, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, predispose us to believe “weird” things.   Finally, we will use what we have learned to investigate phenomena of particular interest to behavioral scientists, including extrasensory perception, subliminal perception and persuasion, astrology, criminal profiling, faith healing, and repressed memories.  Our goal is to be open to novel claims, coupled with the determination to subject those claims to scientific scrutiny. 

Black Gold: Oil in the Global Political Economy
Dr. James Allan (Political Science)
10:20-11:20 Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Oil fuels the global economy—and our lives—in multiple ways. Worldwide, more than 80 million barrels of oil are consumed every day, with the United States alone accounting for around a quarter of this total. This course examines the past, present, and future of oil as the world’s most strategically important commodity. It begins with a history of oil since the mid-nineteenth century, investigating how and why it gained its vital role in international politics and economics. It then turns to the impact of oil on a variety of countries: developed and less-developed, major consumers and major producers. How does oil affect national and international security? Have some countries become “addicted to oil?” Has the discovery of oil reserves in developing countries been a blessing or a curse for them? What are the social and environmental consequences of oil production and consumption? Finally, the course critically examines the debate over the future sustainability of current patterns of global oil consumption.

What is Friendship?
Dr. Keith Doubt (Sociology)
8:00-9:30 Tuesday and Thursday

In this first-year seminar, we focus on the question of how friendship is distinct from other types of relations such as acquaintanceship, partnership, brotherhood, enmity, and, of course, love. Examples of compelling friendships are taken from popular culture as well as classical literature. Cinema is used to examine friendships in a cross-cultural perspective. Facebook, as a cyberspace site where friendship is sustained, is critically examined.  We examine our subject through the lens of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and literature. We know that you already have excellent ideas about friendship; this course is a chance for you to test your ideas against such great thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Emerson, Kierkegaard, and others.

The Numbers Don’t Lie – Or Do They?
Dr. Gina Post (Education)
1:50 - 2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday

“Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write.” (H. G. Wells). Today we seem to be inundated with an endless flow of numbers pouring in from economists, politicians, activists, manufacturers, analysts, and anyone else that has an ax to grind, a point to prove, or a product to sell. However, statistics are rife with misuse from graphical representations that add drama to nonexistent trends, to faulty cause and effect reasoning, to results detached from their meaning and methods. In this class we will examine a variety of ways in which data informs the public and shapes our thinking about social, political, economic, and scientific issues. We will consider the ramifications of statistical misuse from multiple perspectives, as well as examine the broader social and mathematical issue, innumeracy, and its consequences. Students will learn to become more critical and empowered consumers of statistics and develop a clearer, more quantitative way of looking at their world.

Into the Unknown
Dr. Horton Hobbs (Biology)
8:00 - 9:30  Tuesday and Thursday

As I backed over the edge of the cave entrance shaft and began my descent along the nylon rope, I observed the sunny green world recede above me. When my feet touched the bottom, I adjusted my helmet and light, took one last look at the blue sky far overhead, and set off into the blackness…  Such are the memories and experiences of speleologists who have found a variety of ways in which scientific questions and adventure can overlap.  During the semester we shall accompany these explorer-scientists vicariously on many of their quests for understanding the nature of the subterranean world. We shall examine their expeditions through the connections of biology, geography, geology, history, philosophy, psychology, and technology. We shall study the techniques utilized to navigate, study, and survive in the extreme conditions of the dark underworld. At the end of the semester, we shall understand better how science explores the unknown and we shall have a heightened curiosity of our surroundings.  We shall emphasize how individuals deal with their own limitations (mentally and physically) and how they work together as a team using the scientific method to peel back layers of information concerning the hostile milieu. And we shall have an appreciation of how one undertakes a venture into the unknown, whether it be as a college student, a caver, or as a Wall Street broker. 

What is Friendship?
Dr. Keith Doubt (Sociology)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday

In this first-year seminar, we focus on the question of how friendship is distinct from other types of relations such as acquaintanceship, partnership, brotherhood, enmity, and, of course, love. Examples of compelling friendships are taken from popular culture as well as classical literature. Cinema is used to examine friendships in a cross-cultural perspective. Facebook, as a cyberspace site where friendship is sustained, is critically examined.  We examine our subject through the lens of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and literature. We know that you already have excellent ideas about friendship; this course is a chance for you to test your ideas against such great thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Emerson, Kierkegaard, and others. 

The Cosmos as Seen by Science and Faith                                                                                  
Dr. Anders Tune (Campus Pastor)                                                                                                    9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday

Science provides a compelling explanation of how the universe came about, and Christian thought, informed by faith, gives a coherent account of what the universe's existence means. And, for many decades, these two views of the cosmos found themselves in conflict with each other. Yet in recent years a dialogue between science and Christian faith has generated intriguing new perspectives, and even some surprising agreements. This seminar will study this dialogue and what these two views tell us about the universe. What are the views of science and faith of the beginning, existence, and future of all things? What can these two views learn from each other? How might they each contribute to the flourishing of human and non-human life?

Stranger in a Strange Land
Dr. Bob Welker (Education)
8:00- 9:30 Tuesday and Thursday

We are all on a journey that for the sheer adventure of it, for the risk of it -- OK for the love of it—puts us in the company of people we don’t know.  We are strangers.  They are members, residents, citizens, homeboys, and natives.  We are outsiders, foreigners, interlopers, and perhaps, potential intruders.  We find ourselves relying on the “kindnesses of strangers.”

In this WittSem, we explore what it means to be a stranger and what it means to enter a strange land, to face the mystery of the unknown while we also encounter various cultures of welcome and hospitality.  Sure for us, both Wittenberg and Springfield may be that new place, and we may be the “inspected” one.  But in this Witt Sem, we enlarge our stories with the stories of the stranger through fiction and nonfiction and through an investigation of how various cultures provide for rituals of welcome when a stranger enters.  This Witt Sem embraces whole heartedly story – telling our stories and collecting others, and in the end, yes writing them down or otherwise recording them for others to enjoy.  In the end, we will together produce a publication. Will it be a book, a web page, a film, a collection of photographs?  We will decide that together, but in the end we will have published – a contribution that might be some recognition that when someone new enters, things can change and, moving beyond the portal of fear, they can change for the better.

Words Made Fresh: Oral History and the Past as It's Lived Today
Dr. Hester R. Westley
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:50  - 5.20pm

In the famous words of William Faulkner: 'The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past'. This course introduces the students to the ethical, practical, and theoretical questions that shape oral history and its relationship to this living past.  We'll consider together such pressing questions as: what is the reliability of personal memory? How does testimony influence narrative? And how does an academic, a student or a researcher transform conflicting accounting into a compelling argument about an issue?

Although oral history is the newest form of scholarship because it uses modern technology, there is nothing new about talking about the past; folk tales, family histories and myths have been passed down by word of mouth for time immemorial.

In this course we'll explore issues surrounding memory and narrative. Theoretical perspectives will be supplemented by a practical understanding of the collection and application of oral history. Students will also become oral historians: each student is required to conduct a 'life story' interview over the course of the semester. In addition to these ongoing projects, the students will also explore their ideas in writings both formal and casual.

Oral history personalizes, colors and enlivens our grander senses of 'history'. It rescues the individual from the crowd, and corrects the imbalance that gives greater credence to the powerful and influential to the detriment of the ordinary and everyday.

Playin’ Mas: Calypso and Carnival
Dr. Carmiele Wilkerson (English)
1:50-2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday 

Music, color, tradition, dance and the beautiful Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago will be our focus.  This Witt Seminar will focus on Trinidadian carnival and a particular aspect of the carnival, “The Calypso.”  We will study Calypso as an art form that combines music, lyric poetry, theatrics and dance.  The class will read two novels, view films on the history of carnival and study the Calypsonian and the Calypso written form. A Description of Carnival: “Caribbean Carnival's principal components are calypso, steelpan and playing mas (masquerade). In the historic capital City of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, these elements are harmoniously structured to form a five day ritual pageant beginning with the King & Queen Contest (Friday), Panorama (Saturday), Dimanche Gras (Sunday), J'Ouvert (Monday) and the Parade of the Bands (Tuesday). These main events and countless others build to an unforgettable epiphany of beauty and stunning display of the irrepressible human spirit before concluding and allowing the quiet first day of Lent and reflection known as Ash Wednesday to be admitted to consciousness.  While the African influence is predominant, the Carnival carries an overriding theme of unity, a central part of this unique culture's mythology.” (excerpted from www.carnaval.com/cityguides/trinidad/trincarn.htm#)

African American Economic History                                                                                            
Dr. David Wishart (Economics)

African American Economic History introduces students to the complex history of African Americans in the North American colonies and the United States from an economic perspective. The course explores African American history from the beginning of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century through the “Great Migration” of blacks from the rural South to northern cities during the 20th century. Economic theory and statistical analysis will be used as tools to examine the economic circumstances of African Americans over time. To paraphrase a line from Time on the Cross, a famous and controversial text on the history of slavery in the United States, the primary goal of this course will be to “reveal” to students “that part of American history which” represents “the record of black achievement under adversity” (Fogel and Engerman 264).  Readings are taken from principles of economics textbook and selected books and articles related to African American economic history.  We will take field trips to the Clark County Heritage Center Museum and the Freedom Center Museum in Cincinnati. There may also be an opportunity to do research at a blues festival in Yellow Springs.  The course is both math and writing intensive. The required Math Placement Level for this course is 22 or higher.

Class, Gender, and Race in the Media
Dr. Forest Wortham (Multicultural Affairs)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday 

This course is designed to take an analytical look at how the media consciously and unconsciously shapes and delivers images of gender, race and class.  It will address how stereotyping in the media impacts our perceptions of individuals and groups, and how we communicate  with them locally and globally. Throughout the course you will develop an understanding of the role the media has played in reinforcing and creating images.  While we will focus on the images of  women, and African-Americans; we will, also explore the media’s portrayal of other groups including gays, lesbians, persons with disabilities, white males and other ethnic groups in the United States. The material used for the course will include but not be limited to films, videos, TV sitcoms, magazines, internet web pages, newspapers, and journal articles.

Personal Financial Planning:  What?  Me Worry?
John Fenimore (Management)
8:00-9:00 Monday, Wednesday and Friday 

“Inflation is Rising,” “Home Prices Drop,” “Economy Falters,” “Credit Card Issuers Target College Students,”….. These are a few of the headlines about stories we see on TV or the newspaper.  They highlight the constantly changing nature of our financial environment.  Indeed, these changes, along with the changes in our own lives: family, health and job, make personal financial planning both necessary and challenging. This WittSem provides the framework and tools for preparing plans that will serve as personal road maps for goal achievement, and emphasizes the dynamics of life changes on the financial planning process.  We will build a model that links together all the major elements of effective money management and how to use it to address all of the major financial planning issues and problems that individuals encounter in their lives. 

Perception and Extrasensory Perception               
(Honor's Section)
Dr. Jo Wilson (Psychology)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of scientific reasoning as a first step in learning to think critically about issues in the natural and behavioral sciences.  The focus of the course will be on the phenomenon of extrasensory perception, a topic that has been a center of controversy in the field of psychology.  The course will begin with a consideration of the biological and psychosocial processes underlying human sensation and perception.  We will then look at several non-human models of perception, to give the student an appreciation for the diverse nature of perceptual abilities.  After students acquire an understanding of basic perceptual principles, we will begin to read about extrasensory perception (ESP).  Readings will be supplemented with hands-on experiments and demonstrations that are designed to support or refute the concept of ESP, web (internet) exercises on some outstanding websites, and classroom visits by local psychics and psi researchers.  Students will consider the evidence for ESP that arises from both scientific and spiritual knowledge bases and will be asked to compare and evaluate this evidence.  Writing and speaking requirements in the course will meet the writing-intensive and speaking requirements for Gen Ed courses.