FSEM Courses

In this FSEM, we will examine the major directors and films of this movement, as well as the the themes and social issues that animate these works. We will explore how these films revolutionized film production, form, and the portrayal of political and social changes.

Through the close examination of eight landmark theatrical texts of the twentieth century, this course explores the major contributions of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim to the American musical.

This First-Year Seminar explores the art, ideas, and enduring influence of Andy Warhol. Through close looking, discussion, reading, writing, and creative experimentation, students will examine how Warhol reshaped ideas about art, authorship, celebrity, media, and everyday life. Or students will learn how to speak and write about contemporary art. We will examine artistic practices since the 1970s alongside the critical discourses that shape how contemporary art is made, understood, and debated.

Entertainment design and technology has a rich history of development extending back as far as the first performance. In this FSEM students will investigate the past, and they will also explore contemporary theatre companies and how they utilize today’s technology.

Throughout modern history, individuals have taken extraordinary pleasure in sharing the music that they love with others. Why we like the music that we do and why we feel the need to share it with others can tell us a lot about who we are as individuals.

In this first-year seminar, you will become the hero of your own story, learning from the searching exploits of mortals and demi-gods who explored unknown lands and divine realms and who, like Odysseus’s son Telemachus, searched for meaning and fulfillment as they transitioned into adulthood. 

What makes something visually stunning? Is it the thrill of chasing something bigger and better, or is it the experience of something small and relatable? 

The history of literature is inextricably bound up with various forms of the supernatural. This course will examine how the supernatural has meant different things in different times and places, from ancient Mesopotamia to modern Hollywood.

A deep and meaningful relationship exists between a work of art and the place in which it came into being. Plays, works of visual art, music, dance, architecture, novels, poems, and all kinds of work marked out as “art” by its culture are profoundly shaped by the place in which the artist, author, or performer lived and worked. FSEM sections of Art and Place explore these connections, looking at artistic traditions which develop in one particular place.

This course will examine the role of villains across literature, film, and pop culture, uncovering why their stories captivate us as deeply as those of the heroes. We will step into the shadows of the narrative, exploring the motives, missteps, and turning points that create the complex villains we love—and love to hate.