FSEM Courses

Have you ever wondered what exactly is the NCAA?  Or, what is the difference between Division I, II, and III?  Or, why is there so much controversy over collegiate athletes being paid?  This seminar will provide a brief look at the history of collegiat …

Frank Sinatra was a dominant figure in American culture for much of the twentieth century, embroiled in everything from music and film to politics and the mafia. He was an embodiment of American complexities, and he is worth talking about.

What is Cool? Who decides? This first-year seminar studies the elusive but ever-so-attractive idea of Cool by looking at both historical and contemporary ideas of that quality. From its post-WWII emergence from the world of jazz into subgroups like the …

Unlike post-Nazi Germany, post-dictatorial Spain has never been forced officially to face its violent past, nor have the perpetrators of violence and other forms of repression ever been held accountable legally for their abuses of power. As a result, t …

This course will explore how an intensive immersion experience with cinematic and literary representations of autism might serve as a test case for how the neurodiversity perspective may not only help increase our awareness of popular attitudes toward disability but also even lead to acceptance and appreciation of autism as a natural form of human variation and difference.

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.

In this course, we will explore the life and work of James Farmer, an exemplary leader of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement who taught at Mary Washington during the 1990s. We will investigate the history of the concept of race and its impact on how we perceive ourselves and the world.

Are the 2,711 monumental concrete steles of the recently opened Holocaust Memorial in Berlin an appropriate way to remember the victims? This seminar will investigate the particular strengths and limits of a wide range of texts and images, facts and fictions, that each in its own way claims to represent some “truth” of the Holocaust.

Where does evil come from? This FSEM will discuss what evil is and where it comes from, allowing students to study a real-life villain of their choosing.

This course will examine what it meant to be a Roman of the second century of our era. While exploring the literary and physical remains of the period, students will uncover the basic structures of Roman society and intimate details found in the daily lives of individuals.