The Loyola Seminar courses (UNIV 102) are intended to provide Loyola University Chicago’s first-year students with an academic experience that exposes them to active and collaborative learning in a supportive environment. Courses are taught by full-time faculty and other leaders on campus, including LUC President, Father Garanzini, and Associate Provost, Patrick Boyle. The one semester, one credit-hour, course meets weekly for 50 minutes with additional activities outside of scheduled class time to assist in community development and the integration of curricular and co-curricular learning.

Seminars are offered within several of Loyola’s Major areas of study, exposing students to the discipline as a possible Major. Importantly, no background knowledge in the topic area is needed for students, as they are encouraged to explore new areas of interest. 

Why take a Loyola Seminar?

• Continue striving for first-year success in this small, seminar-style class;
• Get to know a faculty member from one of your areas of interest;
• Gain more exposure to the Ignatian approach to learning: experience, critical reflection and action;
• Explore a major field of study while studying a unique and intriguing topic;
• Participate in a class that lets you ask questions about your academic transition to college;
• Deepen your connection to Loyola University Chicago;
• Stay engaged and excited about your education!

Past Loyola Seminar Topics - Spring 2012

Architecture of Happiness
How does one talk about happiness?  What makes us happy?  How do we “build” happiness in our lives and in our world?  What do the words “truth,” “goodness,” and “beauty” mean for us today and how is it always under construction in our lives?  These questions will be threaded through weekly discussions and readings on architecture, art, literature and spirituality.
Instructor: Fr. Mark Bosco, SJ
English and Theology 

Campaigns, Election, & Government Process
In a relaxed, small-group setting, this class will focus on the campaign and election process in the U.S. with an emphasis on those factors influencing the 2012 presidential and congressional races. This snap-shot of the political science discipline and, more specifically, the election and governing process, will hopefully engage you and suggest that a life-time of being an informed and active political citizen is crucial to our lives. We will use the study of American politics as a means of developing an Ignatian approach to learning, an approach which values critical thinking, experience, reflection and action. We will also exam our transition to college and specifically Loyola University.
Instructor: Dr. Alan Gitelson
Political Science

Chicago Stories: Non-Fiction Writers & Writing
This course will explore some of the most noteworthy non-fiction authors in Chicago’s history, including Studs Turkel, Nelson Algren, Upton Sinclair and Saul Bellow. Students will reflect on the readings through course discussion and a blog. The goal of the course is for students to gain a greater appreciation of Chicago culture though readings and field trips. As a service-learning component, Loyola students will mentor junior high students from Francis Xavier Warde Catholic School. Loyola students will visit Francis Xavier Warde school to discuss Chicago authors with junior high students and help them with their writing.
Instructor: John Slania
Journalism

Communication & You
Students will explore the field of communications through discussions of film, social media, politics, advertising, journalism, and the impact of Harry Potter.
Instructor: Dr. David Romanelli
Communications

Counseling Skills/Helping Professions
This course will explore the use of counseling skills in a variety of professions--e.g., therapy, social work, law, teaching, etc.--and will provide an opportunity to explore the issues and concerns that inform and guide good counseling and intervention strategies for individuals and families in need.
Instructor: Fr. Michael Garanzini, SJ, President
Psychology and Social Work

Diversity: Post-Civil Rights America
This is a course about diversity.  It is a course about taking the Jesuit mission of social justice and critically applying it to how we think, feel, and understand inequalities in a society that touts equality for all, yet in practice continues to exclude folks on the basis of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and age, for example.  In addition to understanding the broader implications of diversity in society, we will also take a critical look at the diversity ideology, the idea that diversity has become a shell with no substance, especially with respect to racial and gender equality.  Thus, institutions such as universities, corporate businesses, and even churches can express their desires to become diverse without ever having to really “become” diverse.
Instructor: Dr. David Embrick
Sociology

Encountering World's Religions
In this course, we will explore basic elements of three of the world’s major religious traditions: Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.  The class will include three outside events, including the viewing of the film The Chosen, a visit to the campus mosque, and a visit to observe a Hindu "puja" (ritual worship).
Instructor: Dr. Tracy Pintchman
Theology

Exploring Living Organisms through Art 
Bioart is art created with living organisms, DNA or protein. Find out how you can makea  watermelon grow in the shape of a cube, a rabbit glow fluorescent green, and put messages into DNA. One class will be taught in a room illuminated with drawings created with bioluminescent bacteria. 
Instructor: Dr. G. Hunter Cole
Biology

Global Citizenship: Pathways & Possiblities
This course engages students in a discussion of the contemporary meaning of global citizenship, and relates that to field of political science.  Classroom discussions will be supplemented by student interviews of NGO leaders and/or representatives of local consulates.  Learning outcomes include: familiarity with introductory concepts in international relations; understanding of several career paths in global citizenship; discussion of models of global citizenship.
Instructor: Dr. Patrick Boyle, Associate Provost
Political Science

Higher Education, Changing Careers & Social Inequalities
This course will offer a brief introduction to sociology by looking at something very familiar to you from a new perspective: your college experience and what kinds of careers await you after graduation.  Every week, we will discuss current trends in higher education, the labor market, and social class inequality, and use various sociological theories to help us understand them.  Moreover, we will discuss ways in which a sociological perspective can help you navigate your own college and professional careers.
Instructor: Dr. Judson Everitt
Sociology

Religion, Violence & Peacemaking
This course will examine how religious appeals can be employed to promote justice and peace, but also aggression.  We will examine the psychology of aggression and see how in times of conflict we tend to employ tight “us” versus “them” understandings that often tend to justify violence and hatred.  By looking at the life and work of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Archbishop Romero we will examine three cases of structural violence and oppression and three religious approaches for working for justice, human understanding, and peace.  We will look at Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem in terris to see how we now need to be mindful of our global responsibilities in addition to our local and national commitments.
Instructor: Dr. William French
Theology 

Uncommon Sense in the Media
Although we assume that we know the world through all of our senses, current  theories claim that we know the world first through images.  These images appear in many media—nursery rhymes, books, movies, TV, art, theater—and determine how our senses perceive our environment.  In this course we’ll test this claim by analyzing popular ads, visiting museums, and attending performances. The aim of the course is to resist the power of images to make us believe they represent reality.
Instructor: Dr. Joyce Wexler
English Literature