This seminar will explore and compare cultures and religions of the middle east. The course will also include an introduction to ancient Egyptian culture and history. By examining the development of three world religions; Christianity, Judaism and Islam, students will have a more complete understanding of current political situation in the region. Students will enjoy opportunities to experience the arts, food and language of several middle eastern nations. One exam and one research paper will be required.

This section of First Year Seminar will examine the social issues of race and gender in order to explore the positive and the negative influences these issues have on first year Ramapo College students from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Through class discussions, readings and speakers, we will examine how students from different ethnic backgrounds adjust to campus life, socially and academically. Additionally, we will also examine gender issues that impact on first year Ramapo College students.

Through research, students will explore techniques to assist first year students experiencing difficulties with race and or gender issues to become comfortable on the Ramapo campus.

This course starts with two basic assumptions: first, that we all have opportunities to practice leadership in some way, regardless of our official titles; and second, that leadership is inherently tied to a commitment to community. Therefore, this course is designed to help you develop your own leadership capabilities and to explore how being a leader necessarily brings you into relationship with others to impact a larger community. The course also assumes that leadership starts with knowing oneself deeply. As one leadership coach has recently written: "Leading from the inside out means to first shape decisions from the most inside part of yourself — from your paradigms, your beliefs, your character, your motives and personality. All leadership begins with understanding who we are and taking responsibility for that as we relate to others and in community." So, one of our goals will be to examine how we have been shaped by society, how our positions and social identities impact our leadership, and how we can best exercise leadership in our multicultural world. Overall, this course will include a wide range of self-exploration and self-reflection activities, leadership self-assessment tools, skill development workshops, studying of leadership theories and diversity issues, and reading about important contemporary "leaders" in the everyday world. The experiential component of the course will include service learning opportunities, and a final project defined by the class.

You have an idea for a great event! How do you take it from that light bulb moment all the way to a successful program? How do you generate new ideas? How do you motivate and lead a programming team to success? If you got the planning bug in high school or would like to know how to organize and promote events, join us. Strengthen your leadership and event planning skills in this interactive class.

The purpose of this section of First Year Seminar is for students to gain a sense of self-awareness through focusing on individual strengths and weaknesses as well as life experiences that have and continue to shape their lives.

Using the book Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Albom, students will see how one man’s experiences shaped who he was and how these lessons taught him to live more freely and awake to what really matters in life.

This course will include other assigned readings and group discussions, as well as a research project and small presentation based on the biography of someone in the public spectrum who has had an influence on the student's life.

Students will also be asked to create their autobiography and discuss who they are, where they have come from, what they have learned, and where they hope to be in the future.

By learning about themselves and their classmates, students will form friendships and connections that could begin their first year at Ramapo and last a lifetime.

Focusing on how to make the most out of the college experience, this course will explore what it means to be a successful individual. Academic, social/emotional, spiritual, and physical success will be discussed, along with developing solid habits for achieving in college and beyond. Through readings and other media on historical and modern-day figures, students will analyze the factors that enabled these individual to become successful. Among the topics that will be explored are: finding a passion and a purpose; recognizing opportunities for growth; goal-setting; prioritizing activities; and giving of yourself/service.

We as individuals interact with one another on a daily basis by saying a simple "hello." We might not realize that our greatest teachers may have just passed us by and in return, we may never realize what an impact we would have on each other if our stories were shared with one another. This course will allow you to listen and read the life stories of many individuals via guest speakers, readings, the media, your peers and your own self-awareness. By gaining awareness of these life stories from various cultures, you will hopefully be motivated to write and tell your own life story. You will be expected to write a weekly journal on your story. Quizzes will be given on the readings and an autobiography will be required at the end of the term. As our final project we create "our story." LET YOUR STORY BE HEARD.

This course will describe how to understand the mindset and culture of the nations from the Balkans and a few Eastern European countries considered part of the Balkans as well. In essence, the process of identification of each Balkan nation's culture, religion, political orientation and above all customs and tradition will be described along with the major difference in the languages spoken on their individual territory. A brief history of the land will be necessary!

This course is designed to appeal to the left and right sides of your brain. We'll begin with a very practical introduction to the computing tools that you will be using throughout your four years of study at Ramapo. We'll learn to use e-mail software word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. In the second, part of this course, we'll read and discuss a best-selling biography of a contemporary scientist. We'll learn about the author's upbringing and about the motivations and inspirations that drove him to ultimate success in his profession and in his personal development. The third part of this course will involve you in a group project in which you will photograph the objects of science. These photographs will be taken in laboratories and in the outdoors and they will be assembled on web pages that will be designed by you to express science as art. Some scientific experimentation may be involved; lots of artistic experimentation is expected. Students from all backgrounds and interests are encouraged to consider enrolling in this course.

This is a seminar for those of you with particularly strong interests, opinions, and feelings about music. Perhaps you are active in music making or in other music-related activities. Certainly you listen to a lot of music, keep up on it, and go out of your way to hear the different kinds of music that you like. Hopefully you are also eager to share your own musical interests, and discover new ones through a process of listening, exchange and dialogue. As a group we will also be working on a collaborative project to connect contemporary music with important personal, social and cultural issues of our time.

At the center of this course is a focus on the human body as a agent or vehicle of multiple messages. In more ways than one, the human body can function as a marker of identity (gender and otherwise), source of pleasure and/or instrument of learning. In this course, these three aspects will be explored primarily in the context of music and dance. In order to study and articulate ways in which, through the interaction with music and dance, the body can act as identity marker, source of pleasure, and instrument of learning, all at the same time, we will look, indivually and collectively, at the ways we have come to understand what music, dance, and the physical aspect of identity mean in relationship to each other. The sometimes unquestioned "attractive" or non-threatening qualities of music versus the "threatening" potential of dance will also be explored.

This seminar will begin by discussing the existential works of authors Mitch Albom, Jerzy Kosinski, and Spencer Johnson. Students will learn the value of living for today’s moment, and will experience first hand the importance of giving back to one’s community, through the eyes of the greatest leaders of years gone by. Students will then use these works as a foundation for understanding the most spectacular speeches ever given, including but not exclusive to Abraham Lincoln’s "Gettysburg Address", Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" etc. We will discuss the question of what makes speech great, the written text or the oral presentation of the text? We will work as a group to present these great works, and to put them into their proper historical and cultural perspective. This course is recommended for those who enjoy public speaking, or those interested in improving on this skill.

This first year seminar will focus on four distinct themes: knowing yourself, knowing Ramapo’s campus, getting involved in the College’s extra-curriculum, and becoming a student leader. Since the course is set against the backdrop of the transition to college, secondary themes will include adjusting to living away from home, time management, stress management, etc. The course’s major themes will be explored through various in class activities and staff/faculty presentations, reading and discussion of theme-related books and materials, and also through a capstone project focusing on each student’s family and personal histories, which will be shared with classmates. The secondary themes will have a more consistent focus, with both the instructor and peer facilitator available during and after class to provide necessary assistance to students.

At the completion of the course, the individual student will have: become familiar with who they are and their background, become comfortable on the Ramapo campus, taken on a role in student clubs and organizations, and will understand the meaning of being a student leader at Ramapo College.

This seminar is designed to provide you with the means to gain a better understanding of your new environment, Ramapo College. It also is intended to challenge you by involving you in group projects that will use multi-media, cultural food, and handouts to explore the diverse cultures of our global community. You will be better able to understand your classmates and faculty. This seminar will also help you make a smooth transition to dorm life. This course is designed to help all students but International Business majors may find this doubly rewarding.

We will use the 3 "C"s from the title of this seminar to explore food and its cultural origins and employ them as vehicles for learning cultural differences around the world. We will also examine how globalization has played an important role in bringing different ethnic groups together. Students will get hands-on experience by cooking foods of various national origins.

This section of First Year Seminar is designed to explore the complex world of radio and the important connection between college radio and commercial stations. Students will learn about both the on-air, back-office, and regulatory aspects of this exciting medium.

Students will have an opportunity to learn about production techniques with hands-on workshops and explore programming including market research, trend spotting, and planning. To help build market share, students will have the opportunity to develop and implement station identity campaigns along with promotional vehicles.

Those interested in broadcast journalism and sports reporting will have an opportunity to write and produce programming and explore different interview techniques. The continued popularity of radio sports will be explored with workshops on live broadcast techniques and sports reporting.

The seminar will include guest speakers from the popular Ramapo College radio station, WRPR-FM and planned field trips to a commercial radio station and to the Museum of Broadcasting in New York.

Discover all the story possibilities in your everyday life. This seminar will explore new ways of storytelling in the Information Age. The course is designed to introduce students to all facets of the journalist's craft: reporting and writing and the roles of design, graphics, photography, and multimedia. The emphasis will be on idea development: What makes a good story? Students will also learn the basics of interviewing and reporting as well as elements of good writing. Students will be introduced to the college newspaper, The Ramapo News, and other writing opportunities on campus.

Because we are a campus community of numerous and diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities we must build upon that foundation with individuals of strong character -- peoples with core ethical values such as honesty, responsibility, respect for self and others, caring, fairness -- to name but a few. Following in-class lectures, readings and discussions, students will create both campus and community projects that promulgate these values (i.e.: create role plays focused on certain character traits demonstrating what life would be without those traits; set up a "Responsibility Campaign", freshmen class vs. sophomore class, seeing which class will end up having, using and maintaining the greatest sense of responsibility in all that they do on and off campus). This class will offer many opportunities for interactions across every layer of our campus and surrounding communities.

In this seminar you will learn that photography is more than cameras and chemistry. Working with The Arch, the Ramapo College Yearbook, you will learn photographic techniques that will be useful for both the yearbook and for your own personal uses. Making the most of light and composition you will learn some of the elements that make up a good photograph and you will learn how anyone can become a competent photographer. Students will also be introduced to Adobe Photoshop, a software package designed to enhance photographic images on a computer. Students will learn how to improve on the photo taken or how to change it into something totally different.

There will be assigned readings, papers and/or projects.

This seminar will explore how we come to value certain foods in connection with our pasts, our family histories, and our culture, how foods have historically been a part of the construction of cultures, how foods have changed as cultures have changed, how foods have changed as they've crossed cultural barriers, how Americans have changed the cultural definition of foods, and how we can create our own cultural definitions of foods.

The course will include readings, tastings, guest speakers, and off-campus visits. There will also be a course requirement of a service-learning activity connected with food. Close reading of sources will be required, as will in-class and out-of-class writing.

This course will introduce students to the idea that life is a performance. We will develop skills that will help participants to be successful in school, and in life. Students will learn that they have the option of "changing the script." Students will take part in volunteer activities working with the All Stars Talent Show Network, helping in all aspects of production. This activity will give students the opportunity to operate in a new cultural context. The class will also create a performance of their own as a final project. This course is not targeted only for those students with current interest or expertise in the arts: we will look at the kinds of performances that make on successful in academia and in the business world. And….we will have fun!

This course is designed to introduce freshman to the art of creating theatre from their own life experiences. Using improvisation techniques, theatre games, live performance and video viewings, and creative writing assignments, students will explore the issues they face at college and work together on original material which will be performed at the end of the semester for the other FYS sections. Some outside rehearsal will be necessary before the final showing of the work.

The magic of Spider Woman is in the lessons she taught to her people. In the Native American tradition these lessons are taught through the myths and stories of a people. In this course we will use these stories to better understand and appreciate the many cultures that we refer to as Native American, with a focus on the cultures of Southwest America. Dance, film and art, both modern and traditional will also be a part of our discussion. Our semester will include a visit to the Museum of the American Indian in NYC as well as other events occurring locally.

Science is not so much a body of knowledge but a method for obtaining an understanding of our physical universe. This seminar will examine the self-correcting nature of scientific research and the work of the scientific community in uncovering errors. We will look at some of the classic stumbles - intentional, self-delusional, or just due to sloppy methodology- which the science community ultimately rectified. The course should be of interest to all science majors but is accessible to others who are just interested in how science knowledge is obtained. We will read and discuss assigned topics in the two required books as well as short articles published in a variety of sources. Students, working in groups, will research and present contemporary so-called scientific or medical invention or innovation of dubious value.

Important social and psychological issues, which affect our lives, have been depicted in film. Some examples of these films include Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, which deal with technology and its impact upon societies; Synthetic Pleasures I and II, which deal with man’s interest in technology and virtual reality; The Mission, which depicts the struggles of Christian missionaries in South America; The Killing Fields, which follows the struggles of a journalist in Cambodia, Requiem for a Dream, which depicts how substance abuse affects adults in different stages of life; Ordinary People, which portrays a family’s struggle with a son’s accidental death and another son’s attempted suicide; A Beautiful Mind, which shows a brilliant mathematician’s struggle with schizophrenia; and American History X, which portrays a young man’s struggle to overcome his own racist beliefs. A reading will be assigned, which discusses the issue in each film and a three page paper will be written about each reading and film. Students will, also, work as part of a small group to research and present current information about one of the film’s social or psychological issues.

Probably the first questions a human had after "what’s for dinner?" might have been "who am I, how did I become me, and what can I do with me?" This First Year Seminar will examine the ways in which our identities develop. Through assigned readings of all kinds, films, music, class projects, role play, and interpersonal class discussion, the students will look at the ways in which family and related culture, media, friends, school, the environment, and innate personal traits and abilities direct the development of our actual or perceived identities, self-concepts, goals, relationships, and ambitions. With increased self-awareness we may then make life decisions which best fit our personalities, interests, and aptitudes.

College is the time and place to become anything you want to be! Throughout this course, not only are you going to learn about the resources Ramapo College has to offer, you will also learn the skills necessary to adjust to the academic and personal demands of higher education. You will explore various skills that will assist you in decision making, setting realistic goals, and exploring different majors and career options.

To prepare you so that you are "ready for the world", we will discuss various topics. Some of these topics include diversity and multiculturalism, self identity, conflict resolution and several other topics that will assist you in your daily lives. Evaluations will be based on a variety of tasks ranging from written assignments to oral presentations.

The goal of this course is to provide opportunities for Ramapo students to learn life and leadership skills through the sponsorship of on and off campus weekend programs. In an effort to improve weekend culture, students must be available two full weekends to coordinate, promote, supervise and evaluate weekend programs. Weekly journals, class discussions and a final paper will be based on readings of the required text. Other topics of focus include diversity, cultural appreciation, social interaction, recreation, community service, fundraising, and school pride.

This is the seminar about seven identities: sexual, gender, socioeconomic, race, religious, cultural, and physical - that society often puts labels upon. Lets see what happens when we stop putting labels on each other and start to get real.

This course is designed for you to explore and understand yourself as a individual interacting in a higher education environment. The first few classes are geared to help you identify and utilize campus and community resources that will enhance your academic program. The remainder of the semester is designed for us to delve into our identities. Through readings, visual presentations, speakers and class discussions we will examine how our identities are realized.

This course is designed to introduce students to the college experience, and more specifically to Ramapo College life. It will follow two paths: the first, more traditional, path will expose you to the values and goals, the resources, and demands of a college education, and provide you with a variety of tools to make the most of your college experience at Ramapo.

The second path will lead students from an examination of their identities to an understanding of how these identities (role, culture, nation, gender, class) exist and intersect in a matrix of cultural, economic, and political relationships.

Students will analyze the philosophical premise of these identities and explore their similarities and differences through the contemporary works of women writers and artists.

This course will describe a method for understanding easily and quickly the cultural mindset of a nation and comparing it to those of other nations. In essence, the method involves identifying some phenomenon, activity,or institution of a nation's culture that all or most of its members consider to be very important and with which they closely identify. Cultural metaphors are not stereotypes; they rely upon the features of one critical phenomenon in a society to describe the entire society. The characteristics of the metaphor then become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the society. For example, the Italians invented the opera and love it passionately. The key characteristics of the opera are used to describe Italy and its cultural mindset. Thus the metaphor is a guide or map that helps the student understand quickly what members of a society consider to be very important.

Political satire and topical humor provide a necessary relief from the usual cacophony of politics and scandals in the news. Designed for students interested in media, popular culture, and/or politics, this course will explore how a sense of humor can help us survive life’s toughest challenges. We will also examine what this brand of humor tells us about our culture. We will take a close look at examples of the films, television shows, cartoons and print media that make us laugh the loudest at our political and cultural world. We will also look at the history of political humor starting with Aristophanes through the first publication of Punch in the 1840s to the comedy of modern late-night talk-show hosts. Invited guest speakers may include comedy writers and/or television producers. This course will make you laugh while developing your ability to think critically about popular culture, politics, and the media. Students will be asked to read a daily newspaper (free copies of the New York Times are available free to all students) and submit a weekly journal related to current events. Finally, students will work in small groups on a project that examines a particular theme or event in the recent news.

The international cultural and commerce center of the world is 28 miles east of Ramapo College: New York City. If you are coming to college not merely to accumulate a collection of credits, but to become a truly educated citizen of the world, then perhaps you'd like to start with this course. We'll be regularly in Manhattan to visit Ramapo faculty and staff in their lives as archaeologists, artists, scientists, advocates, and residents of "The Big Apple." Potential activities might include trips to museums and avant-garde plays, adventurous dining, exploration of neighborhoods, and analyses of city architecture culminating in a rigorous but creative academic project that will forge an individual connection between you and New York.

Caveats:

• a. although efforts will be made to keep student costs down, you should expect to incur some extra expense with this course, for ex., some transportation, food
• b. if you're looking to do "classic" NYC tourist activities like big Broadway shows or visiting The Hard Rock Cafe, this is not the course for you
• c. we will meet every other Saturday for at least 6 hours each time
• d. there will be five weeks where you will be required to meet for class on campus during the week, on Tuesday mornings.