What can a pop song, an instagram post, or a re-recorded album teach us about power, identity, and culture…and how can we gain the skills needed to succeed in college along the way? UMW students know all too well how important it is to start their college experience off on the right foot. This first-year seminar uses the music, career, and cultural influence of Taylor Swift as a framework in which students practice the foundational and academic skills needed for success at the University of Mary Washington.

This first-year seminar will explore ways of measuring power in international relations, the consequences of the distribution of power, and which grand strategy the United States should adopt given the world it confronts.

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.

One of the most challenging human rights violations to investigate are forced disappearances. The challenges are vast, from identifying what legally constitutes a forced disappearance, to creating avenues for accountability when there is little evidence and identifying who is responsible for uncovering the truth.  This course examines why some cases have achieved meaningful progress toward accountability while others continue to struggle.

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.

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.

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? 

While ADHD has often been understood as a disorder that individuals must overcome in order to be successful, some researchers have begun to examine how ADHD traits can be the source of great creativity and innovation.

All kids play, right? It seems spontaneous, often unstructured, and even though we say “kids need time to play,” we don’t pay a lot of attention to what kids DO when they play.

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.