From creating comic strips to cooking feasts in a science lab, the new First Year Seminars are teaching students to embrace unfamiliar subjects.

On this page:

• Kitchen Chemistry
• Comic Strips and the Communication of Culture
• Rites of Passage: Global Perspectives

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Liesl Parrish ’11, an aspiring librarian from York, Pa., is focusing intently on pouring a steaming pot of peas through a colander in the First Year Seminar “Kitchen Chemistry.” She is testing the effect different salts have on the color of cooked vegetables. A chemistry lab is not the usual place to find this bookworm, but Parrish is undaunted.

“Chemistry isn’t my strong suit, but I’m interested in food and kitchen stuff. Plus, I like the hands-on nature of the course,” says Parrish.

A kinder, gentler, more real-life chemistry course is what Assistant Professor of Chemistry Peter Craig had in mind when he designed the new First Year Seminar.

“The point is not to wow them with how complicated science can be but to get them involved with science,” says Craig, who is hoping to hook a few non-science minds with lessons that include how to make ice cream with liquid nitrogen, how a flame caramelizes sugar atop Crème brûlée, and why chili makes us sweat.

Five of the 16 students in the course are considering majoring in Biology. Others, like Sarah Maize ’11, a Business Administration major, chose it because the science in the course is accessible and applicable to everyday life.

“I’m learning a lot of cool tips and tricks, like what to cook food in in order to maintain its flavor,” says Maize. "And plus, I love cooking."

Marley Rice ’11 boils peas with salt

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Jaime De Atley ’11 likes to make people laugh, and he’s getting his chance in the new First Year Seminar “Comic Strips and the Communication of Culture.” Every week, students each present an original comic strip created through the Mac program Comic Life.

“I like to think about funny conversations I’ve had, funny things that happen to me, and incorporate it into comics,” De Atley says. He has plenty of inspiration from his early days on the Hill.

Beyond the course’s creative component, students are learning how the funny pages fit into history and reflect aspects of culture including politics, race, family and personal relationships.

“We’re able to see ourselves when we read comic strips,” says Associate Professor of Communication Robert Lemieux. “Students will no longer read cartoons only for a laugh. They’ll learn that there’s also a cultural and historical relevancy to them.”

Students are learning, for instance, that the first comic was “born” in the 15th century – a single panel made possible by the invention of moveable type. When, in 1867, cartoons hit newspaper stands, it led to fierce competition in the publishing industry. The color Sunday comic debuted in 1896 and became a standard that still exists today.

As they examine historical comics, students will learn how then, as today, the simple storytelling reflects the hot-button issues of the times.

View the students’ current and past work here.

http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/rlemieux

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In the new First Year Seminar “Rites of Passage: Global Perspectives,” students grilled bestselling author Keith Donohue. Each read his novel “The Stolen Child” over the summer. They analyzed the book from the perspective of the rite of passage undergone by the main character, Henry Day, when he is brought into a community of fairies known as changelings.

And now the students want to know the author’s motivation.

“Henry Day makes the rite of passage into the new community,” says Donohue. “But he wants to grow up, and that is the inner conflict of the work. The core of the book is about how we struggle for our identity.“

The concept is familiar to this group of first-year students, as their seminar course examines how the American college experience is a rite of passage to adulthood. They’ll learn about the stages of separation, initiation and return in other cultures through rituals young people experience in Peru, Taiwan, Australia and Senegal.

“I want them to reflect on college as a significant rite of passage, as opposed to something you’re supposed to do because it is what everyone does when they’re 18,” says Assistant Professor of English Reanna Ursin. “I want them to be able to reflect on college as a time for meaningful interactions with professors and classmates and think about what they can learn from those experiences as they are defining who they are.”

“The Stolen Child” was chosen as summer reading because it can be examined through different perspectives. After his lecture in the English course, Donohue addressed a philosophy course about how the novel relates to childhood development.

Keith Donohue, author of "The Stolen Child."