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Eating in East Asia

Course description: How have the production and consumption of food such as rice and ramen shaped national, personal and gender identities? How did tea culture reflect East Asian aesthetics and religion and lead to wars between China and the United Kingdom? Why does traditional Chinese medicine believe that food is nature and harmony with nature leads to healthy and balanced lives? Why are French or Japanese restaurants so expensive, while Thai, Chinese or Korean restaurants much more affordable even if they are located in the same city/region? In this course, we will explore these questions and discuss various social and historical aspects of food culture in China, Japan, and Korea. We will also provide our own food for thought by presenting our pick of topics surrounding an East Asian dish and sharing our own experiences of researching and making it. Join us for delicious intellectual adventures. 

Professor Bio: Prof. Min Zhou (she/her) is a professor of modern languages and literatures and general education. She grew up in Wuhan, China, studied at Beijing University and die Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany, and received her Ph.D. in German Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is interested in a comparative approach to both Eastern and Western cultures and societies and centered her research and teaching around the East-West theme. She loved traveling (wrote her dissertation about German travel literature (1945-1990s), enjoys cooking (when she has time), trying different cuisines, jogging and other outdoor activities. Helping and watching students grow in a span of four years at college is one of the most rewarding experiences in her professional life.

From Mayhem to Meaning

Course Description: Our time can seem a challenging one, with daily headlines about the Loneliness Epidemic, Deaths of Despair, Climate Catastrophe, and the End of the American Dream. These challenges are sometimes collectively described as the “meaning crisis.” How can we best respond? How, that is, might we build community and cultivate a sense of belonging? Where might we find a sense of purpose to motivate our efforts? And what role might the stories we tell play in shaping our relationship to ourselves, others, and the world? Together, we’ll work to respond to the “meaning crisis” in both theoretical and practical ways, with an eye towards enhancing our own sense of connection, purpose, and resilience.

Professor Bio: John Madritch is Associate Professor of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition. At Roger Williams, Dr. Madritch’s work aims to cultivate confident and capable writers, readers, and thinkers who can use these abilities to improve both their own and other’s lives.

Echoes of Africa

Course description: Have you ever thought about the origins of Western civilization and the diverse cultural influences that shaped it? In this course, students explore the African influence on Western Civilization. This course focuses on the lives and works of key African thinkers who left an indelible mark on the Roman Empire and Western intellectual tradition. Lectures focus on three remarkable figures: Augustine, the theologian and philosopher whose ideas about God and morality continue to inspire scholars and thinkers today; Terence, the African playwright whose comedies have inspired writers for centuries including Shakespeare; and Apuleius whose novel “The Metamorphoses" contains the first fairy tale ever written and remains a classic of ancient literature. Students will engage with primary sources, including art and archaeological evidence, and participate in discussions that offer a deeper understanding of the complex cultural interactions of the ancient world.

Professor Bio: Prof. Anthony Hollingsworth is a professor of classical languages (Latin and Ancient Greek), Italian and German. Scholarly passions include ancient theater, classical mythology, and medieval philosophy. Prof. Hollingsworth studied Latin as an undergraduate in Texas and as a graduate student at Brown University and in Germany. He has won �鶹ɫ��Ƭ’s Excellence in Teaching award and has been recognized as the “professor of the semester”. Dr. Hollingsworth’s passion outside of the classroom includes playing the violin (he is a 2nd violinist for the Warwick Symphony Orchestra), woodworking, and leading students to Greece and Germany. Dr. Hollingsworth has published both books and articles on ancient theater, Roman mythology, and Latin grammar. Currently, he is working on a new commentary on a collection of medieval Latin stories that Shakespeare, Milton, and many other famous writers read when writing their own masterpieces.

Why Identity Matters

Course description: What an optimum time for college freshmen to study the importance of identity formation and development as they transition from adolescence to young adulthood. The seminar creates a laboratory for questioning and evaluating the complexity of their multiple identities through the lenses of culture, gender, social media, and race. Assigned readings, group exercises, classroom experiences, discussion forums, and self-reflections provide students with opportunities to examine the importance of identity to their way of being, understanding, and relating to the world. Additionally, the seminar integrates community engagement opportunities and �鶹ɫ��Ƭ campus resources to support students in exploring identity issues and challenges and to take actionable steps to address them.

Professor Bio: A lifelong educator, Professor Finch was the director of counseling for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Maryland, and an assistant professor at Loyola University of Maryland. Her research focused on the post-deployment adjustment of wounded warriors of the Afghanistan and Iraqi Wars. A licensed clinical counselor, she serves clients with substance abuse, depression, and complicated grief diagnoses. Before teaching in the CORE program at Roger Williams, Dr. Finch spent one year living and working with Lakota Sioux middle school girls in South Dakota. As a spouse of a retired U.S. Navy veteran, she lived in multiple states on the West and East Coasts and in Naples, Italy. In addition to teaching a ROG 101 seminar, Professor Finch is on the Board of Trustees at Framingham State University and the Advisory Board for the Danforth Museum of Art.                                                   

Language and the Good Life        

Course description: What can I do to become happier? How can I get along better with other people? Can I ever find the Good Life? This course examines these questions and many more as related to various aspects of language use – because words can destroy lives and save lives; words can hurt, and words can heal. One factor consistently associated with a happy and meaningful life is healthy inter-personal relationships. This course offers ways for people to improve their inter-personal relationships, thereby enriching not only their own lives but also that of others – through more thoughtful and empathetic use of language. Through readings/viewings, discussions, team presentations, and writing assignments, students will learn and share complex ideas and feelings about language use. Topics include body language, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), ethical living, language disorders, leadership, mental/emotional health, professional communication, romantic relationships, self-identity, social media, and more.

Professor Bio: Prof. Dong-Hoon “Don” Lee is an Associate Professor in the department of Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Classics. Currently, his main areas of academic interest are practical philosophy, sociolinguistics, TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and writing for academic purposes. He has extensive experience teaching at the college level in the United States and South Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from Ohio State University. He is a firm believer in living according to the Golden Rule: Striving to treat others the same way he would want others to treat him – with kindness, honesty, integrity, and other universal virtues.

The Italian American Experience 

Course description: The course examines literary, cinematic, and critical works on the experience of Italian Americans in order to investigate the many facets of their identity. The first part of the course includes readings on theories of race, ethnicity, and identity formation in the United States. The second part explores novels, films, and popular culture as evidence of the many forms of Italian-American cultural expression and their representation. Particular attention is given to the construction of internal and external stereotypes, interethnic relations between Italians and other minorities in the US, and religious, family, and gender identity.  

Can You Dig It? Exploring New England's Past

Course description: Want to combine forensic science and time travel?  Archaeology today is like having a modern Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson living in the real world and applying today's scientific methods, technologies, and deductive powers to decipher long-faded layers of times past.  Join our research team as we peel back and explore the fascinating subject of New England Archaeology. Archaeology is the scientific study of the past.  Artifacts, sites, and communities result from and reflect human cultures in time.  This class will explore 13,000 years of New England's peoples, places, and things, focusing on Indigenous “First Peoples”. This course will be temporally far-reaching.  Using archaeological and anthropological data, we’ll span between the initial peopling of the continent and the efforts of today’s indigenous peoples to preserve and protect their histories and heritage.

Professor Bio: Prof. Alan Leveillee is an Anthropologist, Archaeologist, and Educator with more than thirty years of experience in cultural resources management and teaching in New England.  He is Senior Archaeologist and Educational Programs Director Emeritus of The Public Archaeology Laboratory and has been Adjunct Faculty at �鶹ɫ��Ƭ for the past 18 years.   He has also taught at Bridgewater State, Rhode Island College, and the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of the book An Old Place, Safe and Quiet, and numerous publications in professional and academic journals. 

Guns Robots Sex in America

Course description: How many days can you go without hearing about another gun shooting? Will you find work when you graduate in 2027, or will robots take your job? If we live in a time of sexual freedom, why are young people fleeing relationships? In this seminar, we will examine three complex issues in contemporary America: gun violence, artificial intelligence, and sex. We will ask questions such as: Is gun ownership a basic American freedom protected by the Constitution? Is AI bringing progress or making people poorer, unhappier, and worse off? Why are Gen Z-ers having less sex and feeling more isolated in our age of social media and unprecedented sexual equality? By exploring these three big questions together, we will become more informed, engaged citizens and advocates in our shared and personal lives.

Professor Bio: Prof. Jiyoon Im teaches courses in political theory and general education. She grew up in South Korea and New Jersey and spent much of her youth studying music in NYC. As a college freshman, she became hooked on political theory because it challenged her assumptions and showed her more questions than answers. In her classes, she introduces different perspectives to provoke student thought and conversation. She especially enjoys teaching college freshmen, as they’re energetic and enthusiastic. Her classes consist of discussions and interactive lectures to promote student-centered active learning. Assignments include group projects so students can make friends and feel comfortable talking to each other openly. She is most proud of her students when they are discussing an issue they care about and do not notice that class is over (this has really happened!).

Pop, Icons, and Masterpieces: The Role of Art(ists) in Society

Course Description: This course will examine why some works of art have become popular, why some artists have become icons, why we consider some artworks to be masterpieces, and the power of art to influence humanity. Students will investigate visual, literary, and performing arts from around the world and throughout history considering questions such as: What makes a work of art a masterpiece? What works were considered masterpieces when they were created, and which have become famous (and why)? How has our regard for certain artists and their work evolved over time? How do works of art reflect the culture and society of the time and place created? How have the purposes of art changed over history? How have aesthetics influenced societies, and have been influenced by them, over time? The course will explore the role of art in our current socio-cultural environment to examine how artistic expression reflects, and affects, attitudes and beliefs. Students will also scrutinize why they are attracted to certain artists and their art (and why they might not be attracted to others).

Professor Bio: Prof. Robin Stone (he/him/his) is a Professor of Theatre at �鶹ɫ��Ƭ. Robin earned a B.T. from Willamette University, an M.F.A. from Minnesota State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. He has acted, directed, and designed around the country. Locally, he has appeared on stage for The Community Players, The Rhode Island Shakespeare Theater, and Lakeside Park Theatre. He has also appeared in the films Children of Providence and Nijinsky’s Dream. Robin teaches Directing, Theatre History, War Propaganda, and other courses, including those in the London Study Abroad Program.

Eating Humans          

Course description: If you would like to explore human diet beyond the biological necessity of eating and the popular logic of nutritional science, to get a glimpse of our primordial, ethical, symbolic, and aesthetic natures, then we will ALL benefit from your involvement in this course. Anthropological in essence, this course is an historical, multi-disciplinary, as well as cross cultural examination of such “banal” practices as planting, shopping, gleaning, cooking, sharing, hoarding, storing, tasting, wasting, plating, binging, and fasting from food. We critique the evolution, diversity, as well as the devolution of our species' phenomenal adaptive subsistence capabilities, from collective hunting to in-vitro meat production and back. We challenge the simplistic notions that you eat what tastes good or is good for you. In other words, yes, we grill vegans as well as cannibals to expose the meat of the matter.

Professor Bio: Prof. James Verinis is a cultural anthropologist with an M.A. from the New School for Social Research and a Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton. His early career fieldwork and publications were concerned with Greek rural life and identity in the aftermath of the post-socialist period when the first, mostly Albanian migrants arrived in Greece en masse. The resulting focus on agrarian values, which framed how Greek farmers as well as “their” Albanians tried to secure a future for themselves in the widening European Union and deepening global economy, set up his longstanding attention to cultural ecology and environmental anthropology. Current research interests include Indigenous American food sovereignty initiatives as well as multispecies ethnographic methods. He currently lives in Rhode Island with his family and other animals.

Capturing History

Course description: Have you ever wondered why some images stay with you and some do not? The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" is never more true than in the current social media age. This class will look closely at images to examine and discover: what they can and cannot tell us; if they are true to historical facts; why a different image of the same event or time can change how we understand history; and whether we need to change habits as we scroll through images. There is a wide range of images to choose from, not just from the usual sources, for example, posters, political cartoons, news cycles, art, portraits, and documentaries. Each class will decide the theme and collection to examine together, then dig deeper into the background, purpose, and accuracy of images. We will debate and write our findings.

Professor Bio: Prof. Beth Shinn has taught courses in History and General Education at �鶹ɫ��Ƭ for many years. After high school, she lived in Mexico (1 year), Japan (18 years), and Scotland (7 years) and traveled through Central America, across America, Singapore, Egypt and Israel, and China. The visual aspect of the landscape as well as historical and cultural images have always intrigued her, which is why she has always wanted to teach a class on how images create interpretations in understanding our own and world history.

What is Wellness?
Professor:Andrew Staroscik

Course description: This class will study current research topics in health and wellness as a practical and engaging context to delve into the practice and philosophy of science, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of how science as a way of knowing enriches our knowledge of the world.  

Revealing Power, Privilege, and Supremacy 

Course description: Society seems to be unsettled by culture wars, political polarization, and social upheaval. Are you? How do we understand this environment? Overall, this First Year Seminar (FYS) informs students about issues related to race relations, social justice, power, and privilege. We will investigate the historical roots of how we arrived at this flashpoint, examines the present indicators, and explores ideas about what we can do now and going forward. To accomplish this exploration, we will consult a wide range of sources including historical and contemporary case studies, cartoons, documentaries, commercials, film, music, and other visual arts. It is an active learning course rather than lecture, with presentations, projects, and short writing assignments rather than exams. 

Professor Bio: Professor Valletta has taught History and General Education courses at �鶹ɫ��Ƭ since 2014 after spending 25 years in the business industry, earning her BA and MA in History and online teaching certification. Her research focuses on social and cultural history because it is so interesting to study why people do what they do.  Her teaching strives to achieve academic excellence and add a dose of fun, intrigue, and revelation to learning. Outside the classroom, she has worked on local public history projects such as the North Burial Ground Project and the State House Tour Guide Program. In her spare time, she is a contributing writer for American National Biography and Schlager Publications, and loves gardening, cooking, binge streaming, and playing with her goldendoodle Beau. For more information, please feel free to look her up on LinkedIn. 

Out of This World

Course description: Why on earth do we read science fiction? To escape reality or (maybe) bring it into sharper focus? In this class Frank Herbert’s novel Dune will transport us across time and space to the desert planet Arrakis. We’ll explore its strangeness but also its vision of humans living in collaboration with harsh ecosystems. The cutthroat politics by which the powerful invade, colonize, and exploit Arrakis’s indigenous people will also draw our attention to questions about power, ethics, and different kinds of control. To better understand Dune, we’ll view film adaptations from 1984 and 2021 and we’ll compare the novel’s ecological vision and power struggles with those of New England as indigenous peoples discovered Europeans in their environment. Finally, we will examine a current environmental problem in New England, inquiring how our exploration of Dune can inform our response to it.

Professor Bio: Beazley Kanost, MFA, PhD, encourages students to develop their own thinking by making connections between diverse yet related written and visual texts. Her research focused on Coolness - a stillness in someone’s behavior that observers find surprising has led her to make connections between avant-garde films, fiction, and poetry from the 1950s and 1960s. She loves science fiction from Asimov to William Gibson, from The Matrix to The Expanse, from Philip K. Dick to Octavia Butler and she loves making books out of junk. Her teaching focuses on Literature, Film Studies, and Writing Studies (creative, academic, and professional), often with History and Philosophy mixed in.

Is There a Right Way? Does AI Know?

Course description: Can AI help us personally, and human society in general, to know right from wrong? Can AI help us with our decision-making, problem-solving, to fix the problems we create when we make the wrong choice? This seminar takes a multi-leveled dive into these ageless and elemental human questions. Our goals are to emerge more aware of the origins and influences on our personal values and behavioral principles, more aware of the relationship between our personal principles and local and global societal behavioral norms, and more confident in exploring, confirming or changing our answers. Participants will design your own original collaborative thought experiments to test the value of AI in assisting human decision-making, and work in teams in collaboration with ChatGPT AI to develop solutions to significant current problems.

Professor Bio: Prof. Christine Haverington holds a PhD and MA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a BA in English from Williams College. She is a specialist in Medieval Studies, the history and development of English language and literature, and Writing Studies. Prof. Haverington has taught at the university undergraduate and graduate levels, including interdisciplinary courses in Literature and Philosophy. She is certified in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) by the University of Toronto, Canada. She has published and lectured on a variety of topics and founded the Bioedumimicry Association for Biologically Inspired Educational Systems and Practices in 2017. Her teaching philosophy centers on education as a mutual teaching-learning experience based upon collaboration rather than competition. To further the collaborative approach, she employs her training in Marshall Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication method. Prof. Haverington believes in equal and open access to education, and in empowering students over and through technology.

Global Problems & Systems Solutions

Course description: The Earth is one big system—and we’re all a part of it. You might have noticed that our biggest problems, problems that affect everyone on the planet, come from complex interconnections that have gone awry. Scientists and scholars have noticed this, too, and they have realized that the solutions to these problems must be just as interconnected. The worldview that lets us see these problems and find solutions to them is called Systems Thinking. That’s what this course is about. We’ll study the basics of Systems Thinking, empowering you to apply it across university majors, throughout your college careers, and in community engagement. We’ll learn its core concepts and how it grew out of science, the arts, and the humanities. Most important, we’ll consider how systems work in everyday experience, with the goal of enriching our lives and making good decisions right now.

Professor Bio: Prof. Ray Huling’s scholarly work uses Systems Thinking to clarify problems in Food Sustainability and develop ways of communicating solutions to them, especially through creative communal expression, such as folklore. Ray has also written on these themes for popular audiences, as in his book Harvesting the Bay, which presents Rhode Island’s shellfishing industry as a model of sustainable food production. It's no coincidence that Ray wrote a book on this subject: his father and grandfather were both bullrakers on Narragansett Bay, and he started working on his father's skiff as a child. All of this means that a principle of Ray's courses is that it is worthwhile to bring together scholarship and personal experience of belonging to a community with the goal of solving the most difficult problems.                 

Monsters in Fiction, Film, Myth, and Fact: What do they do for us? 

Course Description: Coming soon! 

Professor Bio: Beazley Kanost, MFA, PhD, encourages students to develop their own thinking by making connections between diverse yet related written and visual texts. Her research focused on Coolness, a stillness in someone’s behavior that observers find surprising, has led her to make connections between avant-garde films, fiction, and poetry from the 1950s and 1960s. She loves science fiction, from Asimov to William Gibson, from The Matrix to The Expanse, from Philip K. Dick to Octavia Butler and she loves making books out of junk. Her teaching focuses on Literature, Film Studies, and Writing Studies (creative, academic, and professional), often with History and Philosophy mixed in.

Mama, I made it (to college)! What now? 
Professor: Shelia Almeida

Course Description: Congratulations! You made it to �鶹ɫ��Ƭ! Now what? This First-Year Seminar is a space to reflect on how college can transform your life. Together, we’ll explore how education, environment, and identity shape our futures. Using personal narrative, interviews, readings, and media, students will dive into the question: How does college shape one’s life trajectory—and what role do *you* play in that journey? This course is especially meaningful for first-generation college students. We will create a classroom community grounded in mutual respect, reflection, and honesty. We’ll celebrate the resilience that brought us here and explore how to thrive in and beyond college. 

Marvelous Women 
Professor: Laura D’Amore

Course Description: Do you like to explore the connections between comics, media, and their impact on individuals and our society? Have you noticed the rapidly changing demographic diversity of Marvel women in the past few years?  The Marvel Cinematic Universe has rapidly expanded since 2021, with Phases 4 and 5 introducing the most diverse cast of characters ever.  This course will center on the women of The Multiverse Saga films, and Marvel Studios television shows and their representations of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual identity, and gender, while looking at them alongside issues of equity and social justice. By the end of the course, you will be able to make connections between media and the world we live in, while considering how these films and tv shows call for social and cultural change. No prior comics knowledge or familiarity with Marvel is required.