First Year Experience
Claudine
Grunenwald
Kirschner
Director
of
First-Year
&
Sophomore
Experience
(440)
826-8523
cgrunenw@mtzhjy.com
The first-year experience (FYE) class provides you the opportunity to discuss engaging issues while you develop your critical thinking and communication skills. Each class has around 16 first-year students, an upper class student mentor known as a course assistant, a BW staff member who works closely with first-year students and a faculty member. Each FYE class is focused on a unique subject (see examples below), but all FYE classes are about intellectual curiosity, making campus connections and learning how to thrive in the BW community.
Examples of Past First-Year Experience Courses
"This
Course
is
So
Gay:
Debating
the
Current
Pride
and
Pitfalls
of
LGBT
Culture"
From
RuPaul
to
Fred
Phelps,
marriage
equality
to
employment
discrimination,
blood
bans
to
school
bullying,
this
course
will
examine
hot-topics
as
they
pertain
to
modern
LGBT
culture.
We
will
explore
that
crowded
intersection
between
identity,
controversy,
history
and
media
representation.
"Public
Health
Within
an
Apocalypse"
How
likely
is
a
world-wide
environmental
or
infectious
disease-based
calamity
like
the
zombie
apocalypse?
In
this
course,
we
will
examine
apocalyptic/dystopic
literature
(movies,
books)
as
a
way
to
discuss
real-world
environmental
and
health
issues.
We
will
critically
examine
these
stories
in
order
to
consider
their
plausibility
and
their
similarity
to
existing
issues
within
society.
"Barbie,
Mad
Men
and
Shopping
Malls:
Reading
Popular
Culture"
How
do
we
experience
and
understand
popular
culture?
In
this
course,
we
will
examine
the
role
of
popular
culture
in
everyday
life,
paying
particular
attention
to
the
mass
media
industry,
the
role
of
consumption
and
identity,
and
the
significance
of
leisure
activities
such
as
shopping
and
sports.
"The
Quest
for
Immortality
Across
Time
and
Space"
Can
we
live
forever?
Would
we
want
to?
The
goal
of
the
course
will
be
to
explore
these
"enduring
questions"
while
looking
at
immortality
from
multiple
perspectives,
from
science
and
technology
to
pop
culture.
From
the
Epic
of
Gilgamesh
to
Harry
Potter
and
the
Sorcerer's
Stone
(and
others),
we
will
read
texts
that
explore
this
topic
over
the
spans
of
time.