This section of First Year Seminar is designed to explore one's own set of values. Students will gain awareness of how other individuals’ values differ from their own and explore why sets of values are unique to each individual. The student will discover how culture, gender, sexuality, age, etc. can influence one's own set of values. Values are challenged and reevaluated when individuals encounter different life experiences. On completion of this course the student will be able to discover or reevaluate their own set of values, through the exposure of unique values that different cultures identify with and their experiences as a first year college student. Students will expect to write a weekly journal of their Ramapo experiences. A final paper will be assigned to integrate the course readings and their experiences that challenge their values during their first semester at Ramapo. In addition students will work together as a group in creating a panel of individuals from different aspects of life that will illustrate the importance of values to each member of society. Students will be responsible to plan, organize, and present the panel to the Ramapo community with the guidance of the instructor.

Today, students are faced with numerous social and psychological issues that affect their every day lives, such as 1) terrorism, fear, anxiety, and the future, 2) family, peer, intimate, and sexual relationships, 3) peer pressure, conformity, and making responsible choices, 4) gender roles and homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual lifestyles, 5) substance use and abuse, 6) prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, 7) motivation, achievement and success, 8) managing academics, work, and social obligations, and 9) stress, coping, and adjustment to college life. This course is designed for students who are interested in psychology and how psychological perspectives attempt to explain many issues that affect the way people think and behave.

The underlying theme of this course will be to discuss common concerns facing college students today to help students understand mental processes and behavior and how they affect their social interactions and emotions. Stress reduction techniques will be taught, such as meditation, progressive relaxation, and guided imagery. The course will engage a small and large group discussion group format, so that students can learn the skills involved in effective group process. Students will be involved in a group presentation and will be required to keep a journal, which will be the source for a short paper.

This first year seminar section is designed for students affiliated with the Student Support Services/TRIO project through the Office of Specialized Services.

The psychological and sociological aspects of culture will be broadly established. Then, college culture, campus culture and disability culture will be explored in more depth. The final project will be address self-expression and self-identity expressed through art and music.

This is an interactive class.

Students will experience the personality that develops within a class as they work in different configurations: individually, small group and the final large group project. Issues such as advocacy, student rights, stress management, time management and interaction with key campus departments will be addressed through role-playing, lecture, group discussion and personal interview.

Learn how to outsmart the challenges, outplay the expectations and outlast the obstacles in order to survive your freshman year. In this seminar you will learn how to maximize your on campus living experience. Learn how to manage conflict, how to live cooperatively with others, how to get involved on campus, what resources are available and much much more! We will explore the contemporary social issues that college students face and how to contribute to your residential community. This is an interactive class where active participation will be the key to your survival in class and in college as a whole.

This section of the first year seminar encourages students to develop individual skills and share same with fellow students. The instructor will introduce students to various tools and skills that will be essential to their academic life at RCNJ and later in the workforce. Tools and skills to be explored will include but not limited to MS Excel, Word, Powerpoint, digital camera, GPS, GIS and remote sensing tools and skills such as scientific report writing, library search, web searching, etc. Although instructor will facilitate the exercises, however, individual students will be encouraged to (become the instructor) share with the class what different aspect of the tools and skills they may have used before and which their classmates may not be familiar with.

In the second part of the class students will be encouraged to review and discuss published articles on aspects of current environmental issues of their choice. Students will explore how the tools and skill they have can be used to highlight some of the environmental concerns. At the end of the course one of the issues explored will be posted on course web site. Guest lecturers may be brought in from time to time to address the class on any topic of interest.

This course is designed to appeal to the left and right sides of your brain. We’ll begin with a very practical introduction to the computing tools that you will be using throughout your four years of study at Ramapo. We’ll learn to use e-mail programs and word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. In the second, part of this course, we’ll read and discuss a best-selling biography of a contemporary scientist. We’ll learn about the author’s upbringing and about the motivations and inspirations that drove him to ultimate success in his profession and in his personal development. The third part of this course will involve you in a group project in which you will photograph the objects of science. These photographs will be taken in laboratories and in the outdoors and they will be assembled on web pages that will be designed by you to express science as art. Some scientific experimentation may be involved; lots of artistic experimentation is expected. Students from all backgrounds and interests are encouraged to consider enrolling in this course.

This seminar's primary focus will be to immerse ourselves in the experience of poetry: reading, hearing, studying, and writing it. Both experienced poets and students who have never written a line of poetry are welcome! This seminar is based on the belief that poetry is an essential form of communication that feeds us and gives voice to what must be said. It can also help us better understand our complex, vibrant and multicultural world. The class will seek to create a community of writers through weekly workshops in which students share their poetry and learn how to offer constructive feedback to one another. We will also study various forms, styles, and traditions of poetry. The class will include guest poets and occasional field trips to local poetry events. Our class project will be an end-of-the-semester public reading featuring student work as well as the publication of a course anthology.

Today, students are faced with numerous social and psychological issues that affect their every day lives, such as 1) terrorism, fear, anxiety, and the future, 2) family, peer, intimate, and sexual relationships, 3) peer pressure, conformity, and making responsible choices, 4) gender roles and homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual lifestyles, 5) substance use and abuse, 6) prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, 7) motivation, achievement and success, 8) managing academics, work, and social obligations, and 9) stress, coping, and adjustment to college life. This course is designed for students who are interested in psychology and how psychological perspectives attempt to explain many issues that affect the way people think and behave.

The underlying theme of this course will be to discuss common concerns facing college students today to help students understand mental processes and behavior and how they affect their social interactions and emotions. Stress reduction techniques will be taught, such as meditation, progressive relaxation, and guided imagery. The course will engage a small and large group discussion group format, so that students can learn the skills involved in effective group process. Students will be involved in a group presentation and will be required to keep a journal, which will be the source for a short paper.

This seminar will explore how we come to value certain foods in connection with our pasts, our family histories, and our culture, how foods have historically been a part of the construction of cultures, how foods have changed as cultures have changed, how foods have changed as they've crossed cultural barriers, how Americans have changed the cultural definition of foods, and how we can create our own cultural definitions of foods. The course will include readings, tastings, and off-campus visits.

This is a seminar for those of you with particularly strong interests, opinions, and feelings about music. Perhaps you are active in music making or in other music-related activities. Certainly you listen to a lot of music, keep up on it, and go out of your way to hear the different kinds of music that you like. Hopefully you are also eager to share your own musical interests, and discover new ones through a process of listening, exchange and dialogue. As a group we will also be working on a collaborative project to connect contemporary music with important personal, social and cultural issues of our time.

The purpose of this seminar is two-fold. First, to examine how to better articulate thoughts and actions through the art of public speaking. Students will be expected to give numerous oral presentations in a group setting, and specific emphasis will be placed on speech delivery and building self confidence in the realm of public speaking. The topics students will address in presentations will be directly related to the first year experience i.e. diversity sensitivity, gender equality, adjusting to being away from home for the first time, time management, stress management, etc. Although written skills are important for this seminar, students' willingness to express themselves verbally is a necessity for this class.

The second portion of the course will be dedicated to discussing the existential works of authors Mitch Albom, Jerzy Kosinski, and Spencer Johnson. Students will learn the value of living for today's moment, and will experience first hand the importance of giving, not just to those less fortunate, but also to those equally and more fortunate in hopes of creating a more civil society. Students will work together on a public service oriented project designed in collaboration with the instructor and the course's peer facilitators.

This section of First Year Seminar is designed to explore the complex world of both commercial and college radio. Students will learn about both the on-air and back-office aspects of this exciting medium.

Students will have an opportunity to learn about production techniques with hands-on workshops and explore programming including market research, trend spotting and planning. To help build market share, students will have the opportunity to develop and implement station identity campaigns along with promotional vehicles.

Those interested in broadcast journalism and sports reporting will have an opportunity to write and produce programming and explore different interview techniques. The continued popularity of radio sports will be explored with workshops on live broadcast techniques and sports reporting.

The seminar will include at least two field-trips to a commercial radio station and to the Museum of Broadcasting in New York.

The three "C's" will explore food and its cultural origins as the vehicle for learning cultural differences around the world. The book, "Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches "by Marvin Harris, explores such differences and offers "startling insights into the riddles of cultures including western culture".

Students will get hands-on experience with cooking foods of various countries.

This course will describe a method for understanding easily and quickly the cultural mindset of a nation and comparing it to those of other nations. In essence, the method involves identifying some phenomenon, activity or institution of a nation’s culture that all or most of its members consider to be
very important and which they identify closely. Cultural metaphors are not stereotypes; they rely upon the features of one critical phenomenon in a society to describe the entire society. The characteristics of the metaphor then become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the society. For example, the Italians invented the opera and love it passionately.

The key characteristics of the opera are used to describe Italy and its cultural mindset. Thus the metaphor is a guide or map that helps the student of foreigner understand quickly what members of a society consider to be very important.

In this seminar we will create a staged presentation of scenes conceived, written, directed and performed by students in the course. Improvisation and theater games will be used to explore issues relating to college life. Students interested in theater, both backstage and performance, will enjoy this seminar. Other work designed to strengthen writing and critical thinking skills will also be included. Some outside rehearsal time will be required towards the end of the semester. The work will culminate in a performance to which all college seminar sections will be invited to attend.

This First Year Seminar class will serve as a student events planning board. Participants will learn how to work in committees to create social, recreational, cultural and educational activities for the campus. The class will participate in leadership exercises that will allow them to explore their own unique styles of leadership, learn to work cooperatively in groups, plan and advertise activities, set personal and committee goals and objectives, and design events that support a theme and the Ramapo College mission..

The mission of this class is to provide opportunities for students at Ramapo College to learn life and leadership skills through the sponsorship of weekend on and off campus activities, events, meetings,
retreats and classes. Topics of focus include diversity, cultural appreciation, social interaction, recreation, community service, fundraising, and school pride.

Focused on how to make the most out of the college experience, this course will explore what it means to be a successful individual. Academic, social/emotional, spiritual, and physical success will be discussed, along with developing solid habits for achieving in college and beyond. Through readings and other media on historical and modern-day figures, students will analyze the factors that enabled these individuals to become successful. Among the topics that will be explored are: finding a passion and a purpose; recognizing opportunities for growth; giving of yourself/service; goal-setting; and prioritizing activities.

Perspectives in the history, evolution, and current status of the human experience in matters of race and color, gender, religion, and sexual preference. Emphasis is on stereotypes, myths, innuendos, and the politics governing adversarial relationships between, as well as within, racial and ethnic groups. The course will also focus on the roles educational systems, government, and local leadership in identifying problems and promoting harmony among people in issues concerning race, gender, religious beliefs and practices, and sexual preference. In addition, students will engage in activities aimed at developing responsibility in such matters as individuals and as members of society in general.

This section of First Year Seminar will look at ways in which we develop our identities. Through assigned readings, class projects, role play, and especially, class discussion, students will examine the ways in which family and related culture, media, friends, school, the environment, and innate personal traits direct the development of their actual or perceived identities, self-concepts, goals, relationships, and ambitions.

Because we are a campus community of numerous and diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities we must build upon that foundation with individuals of strong character -- peoples with core ethical values such as honesty, responsibility, respect for self and others, caring, fairness -- to name but a few. Following in-class lectures, readings and discussions, students will create both campus and community projects promulgate these values (i.e.: create role plays focused on certain character traits demonstrating what life would be without those traits; set up a "Responsibility Campaign", freshmen class vs. sophomore class, seeing which class will end up having, using and maintaining the greatest sense of responsibility in all that they do on and off campus). This class will offer many opportunities for interactions across every layer of our campus and surrounding communities.

The course is designed for students to prepare entries in a literary magazine of the arts. The magazine will be both in text and on-line. Students who are interested in literature and other arts, as well as those who enjoy visual design, should enjoy this. We will discuss and create a literary /arts journal based on, but not necessarily mirroring, our experiences at Ramapo. Works can be fiction or non-fiction, visual, musical-- everything will be considered. We will meet to plan and develop the literary/arts journal, which at semester's end will be archived in the Potter Library. Students will interview Ramapo faculty and staff to get a sense of the "culture" of Ramapo College, and the information gleaned will serve as the basis for our literary/arts work. We will devise our journal as a culmination of our first semester here-- thus the name, First Flurries

Science is not so much a body of knowledge but a method for obtaining an understanding of our physical universe. This seminar will examine the self-correcting nature of scientific research and the work of the scientific community in uncovering errors. We will look at some of the classic stumbles- intentional, self-delusional, or just due to sloppy methodology- which the science community ultimately rectified. The course should be of interest to all science majors but is accessible to others who are just interested in how science knowledge is obtained.

College is the time and place to become anything you want to be! Throughout this course, not only are you going to learn about the resources Ramapo College has to offer, you will also learn the skills necessary to adjust to the academic and personal demands of higher education. You will explore various skills that will assist you in decision making, setting realistic goals, and exploring different majors and career options.

To prepare you so that you are "ready for the world", we will discuss various topics. Some of these topics include diversity and multiculturalism, self identity, conflict resolution and several other topics that will assist you in your daily lives. Evaluations will be based on a variety of tasks ranging from written assignments to oral presentations.

Focused on how to make the most out of the college experience, this course will explore what it means to be a successful individual. Academic, social/emotional, spiritual, and physical success will be discussed, along with developing solid habits for achieving in college and beyond. Through readings and other media on historical and modern-day figures, students will analyze the factors that enabled these individuals to become successful. Among the topics that will be explored are: finding a passion and a purpose; recognizing opportunities for growth; giving of yourself/service; goal-setting; and prioritizing activities.

Through the vehicle of service-learning, this seminar will ask students to explore social issues within international and national affairs. It will also provide students with the opportunity to make a commitment to the common good through community service. They will be asked to address contemporary social problems, including (but not limited to) poverty, racism, homophobia, and gender issues. A variety of class readings and journaling exercises will also be used to help the students develop and interpret global affairs. Students will also be required to participate in an electronic forum, which will help them share the spectrum of their experience. To reinforce this commitment to building community, students will have the option to complete an alternative break service experience at the end of the semester. **Taught by Cahill Center Staff**.

The magic of Spider Woman is in the lessons she taught to her people. In the Native American tradition these lessons are taught through the myths and stories of a people. In this course we will use these stories to better understand and appreciate the many cultures that we refer to as Native American, with a focus on the cultures of Southwest America. Our semester will culminate in a storytelling event/project that will allow us to share our learning with others. Using this theme we will work on developing the thinking, writing, communication and library skills necessary as you begin your academic career.

This course follows an experiential/analytical method to explore conflict and global choices. Students develop tools and strategies to negotiate their own relationships, improve their problem-solving skills and make informed choices. After gaining a greater understanding of interpersonal conflict, they apply the learned concepts in discussions of controversial public issues and international and global conflicts. The seminar consists of a main experiential component where students work in-groups and use drama to identify conflict and explore conflict resolution techniques: First, students select a particular scene of conflict in a play or film. Second, they read and discuss specific articles in conflict resolution and do experiential exercises to explore the particular situation. Third, students work in-groups to role-play the selected scene, allowing the characters to improvise and modify the original situation according to the conflict resolution skills they learned. Finally, they write a short one-act play that explores the various ways of dealing with conflict. The seminar culminates in a public performance of this play.

Public Art ranges from official monuments to unsanctioned street paintings. This seminar is for students who are considering study of artmaking, art history, art education, and art therapy. It will involve several field trips to see examples of public art in Bergen, Rockland, and Orange counties, as well as in New York City. Among other things, we will visit Storm King Sculpture Center, SOHO and Chelsea art districts in NYC, and numerous examples of art in sometimes unexpected places throughout the region. Students will have opportunity to create and install their own artwork on the College campus. Students will learn about the history, politics, and economics of public art; surf the net for examples of internet art; and become part of the many art related events on campus, such as gallery receptions, meetings and activities of the Various Visual Artists, and presentations by major artists, filmmakers, curators, and art historians who regularly visit campus. Students will learn basic documentation methods including note taking, drawing, digital photography, and video. There will also be screenings of several film and video documentaries including Wild Style, a 1982 documentation of hiphop activities in New York City; Melehi, an introduction to the work and thoughts of an internationally known Moroccan artist; and Public Art in Rockland County, which includes interviews with regional artists and studies of the work they created through commissions from the local arts council. The professor for this seminar is the convener of the Visual Arts major. His artwork has been shown on giant screens in stadiums, dance clubs, parks, and churches, as well as galleries, museums, and on public television broadcast.

The international cultural and commerce center of the world is 28 miles east of Ramapo College: New York City. If you are coming to college not merely to accumulate a collection of credits, but to become a truly educated citizen of the world, then perhaps you'd like to start with this course. We'll be regularly in Manhattan to visit Ramapo faculty and staff in their lives as archaeologists, artists, scientists, advocates, and residents of "The Big Apple." Potential activities might include trips to museums and avant garde plays, adventurous dining, exploration of neighborhoods, and analyses of city architecture culminating in a rigorous but creative academic project that will forge an individual connection between you and New York.

Caveats:

• although efforts will be made to keep student costs down, you should expect to incur some extra expense with this course, for ex., some transportation, food
• if you're looking to do "classic" NYC tourist activities like big Broadway shows or visiting The Hard Rock Cafe, this is not the course for you
• we will meet every other Saturday for at least 6 hours each time
• there will be five weeks where you will be required to meet for class on campus during the week, on Wednesday afternoons.