Spring Break
First Year Experience classes more than just the basics
Lidia Ryan
Issue date: 10/31/08 Section: News
First Year Experience (FYE) courses are designed to help freshmen adjust to college life, but they extend far beyond a basic college-survival class.
Since the program started in 1996, many topical classes have been added. These include classes like UCan Cook at UConn, Creative Thinking, Performance Poetry, Pirates of the Caribbean and Dancing with Jane Austen. The topical classes are also open to sophomores.
David Ouimette, director of first year programs, said the FYE program has grown over the past eight or nine years to include many topical classes. There are currently more than 150 sections of FYE classes available. Ouimette said he and the instructors try to pick topics that will be interesting and fun for both the students and the instructors.
"The classes help in building a sense of belonging here at UConn," Ouimette said.
Katherine Tsantiris, a 1st-semester environmental science major is enrolled in an FYE class called "This I Believe." Tsantiris said she took the class because she is not sure if she wants to stick with her major, and this class allows her to explore other options.
"It keeps me from ruling things out," Tsantiris said. "It has made me consider my personal beliefs regarding my own education in a way that I had not done before."
Steven Park, the manager of the learning resource center in the library, teaches the FYE class, Pirates of the Caribbean. Park, who has his PhD in 18th-century maritime history, said he was asked to teach an FYE class related to his field of study. He thought maritime history would be boring as an FYE class, so he changed it to piracy in the 18th-century.
To advertise for the course, Park put up a large cut out of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the library with the URL of the class' website. Students who enroll will create a Wikipedia page about 18th century pirates, or improve on an exiting one. The class will be taught for the first time this spring.
Since the program started in 1996, many topical classes have been added. These include classes like UCan Cook at UConn, Creative Thinking, Performance Poetry, Pirates of the Caribbean and Dancing with Jane Austen. The topical classes are also open to sophomores.
David Ouimette, director of first year programs, said the FYE program has grown over the past eight or nine years to include many topical classes. There are currently more than 150 sections of FYE classes available. Ouimette said he and the instructors try to pick topics that will be interesting and fun for both the students and the instructors.
"The classes help in building a sense of belonging here at UConn," Ouimette said.
Katherine Tsantiris, a 1st-semester environmental science major is enrolled in an FYE class called "This I Believe." Tsantiris said she took the class because she is not sure if she wants to stick with her major, and this class allows her to explore other options.
"It keeps me from ruling things out," Tsantiris said. "It has made me consider my personal beliefs regarding my own education in a way that I had not done before."
Steven Park, the manager of the learning resource center in the library, teaches the FYE class, Pirates of the Caribbean. Park, who has his PhD in 18th-century maritime history, said he was asked to teach an FYE class related to his field of study. He thought maritime history would be boring as an FYE class, so he changed it to piracy in the 18th-century.
To advertise for the course, Park put up a large cut out of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the library with the URL of the class' website. Students who enroll will create a Wikipedia page about 18th century pirates, or improve on an exiting one. The class will be taught for the first time this spring.
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Caribbean Cruises
posted 2/11/09 @ 6:14 AM EST
We could also create a website with today's pirates. Yes, you have read well. There are modern pirates in some parts of the world that use AKMs and Uzzi automatic weapons in order to rob some cargo ships or a ship that is worth robbing. (Continued…)
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