Undergraduate Core Curriculum

First-Year Seminar Courses 2024-2025

You'll take a FYS within your first two semesters at Xavier. FYS is a rigorous, academic, 3-credit course. In the catalog, FYS is called CORE 100. Search under "Core Curriculum" to find these courses.

Spring 2025

Greek Myths and Being Human
Shannon Byrne-Cueva
How heroes in early Greek mythology behaved and reacted to life’s challenges conveyed important information about being human. The development of democratic institutions over time challenged later Greeks to reevaluate heroic behavior, which often emphasized individual glory over the common good. We will look at different versions of myths involving heroic figures like Helen, Odysseus, Penelope, Agamemnon, and Clytemnestra and discuss how their stories changed to reflect new ideas about societal expectations and human interactions.

Slow Food: We Are What We Eat
Kelly Blank
Slow Food is an international movement that began in Italy in 1986, emphasizing Good, Clean, and Fair food. In this First Year Seminar, we will discuss the history, philosophy, and influence of the Slow Food movement worldwide while examining the problems with the modern agricultural machine both in a local and in a global context. Topics of
discussion will include the importance of local and seasonal produce, the inherent connections between plate and planet, the water footprint of food, labeling of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), biodiversity, food deserts, and the ethics of meat production and consumption.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

What We Brought to the Jungle
Lara Dorger
This seminar also seeks to give students the time and space to develop the Jesuit value of magis, the more universal good. In discussions and/or assignments, seminarians will examine how their vocation contributes to the greater good, a concept we’ll explore through the lens of sacramentality and justice.

Great (and not so great) Expectations
Lara Dorger
We live in our own heads most of the time, but we often evaluate our wants mostly in terms of the outcomes rather than what makes the foundations of our wants. Often our sense of success is arbitrary and personal and may depend mostly on preconceived beliefs. Rather than focusing on solely an end result, a more-sound approach would involve understanding our expectations going forward. This seminar has you carefully reading 12 short stories to use as a springboard to foster the practice of asking questions about topics relevant to you at this time: school, career, and relationships, among other subjects. Some of the questions you will have the chance to discuss are "Can I be a good friend if I stop listening to my friend's problems?" "How much work am I willing to do to get an A?" or the age-old question "What is love?" While answers may not be forthcoming for all questions, you will have the chance to create the habit of examining your expectations prior to evaluating your success or failure, a key component to analysis, through the media of short stories and writing.

"You Can’t Say That!": Free Speech in the Digital Age
Randall Patnode
People will tell you, “It's a free country. I can say what I want.” But can you? Should you? This seminar will explore the tension between the desire for an orderly society and individual free speech in its many forms, including symbolic speech, political speech, and hate speech, and how access to digital communication complicates matters.

Growing Pains
Kelly Austin
Welcome to college, that space between adolescence and full-blown adulting. That means the freedoms and responsibilities of adulthood, without the experience. It's a time to explore who you want to be (identity) and what you want to do (vocation). Some psychologists call this developmental phase emerging adulthood. In this section of First-Year Seminar, we'll study theories of development, identity and belonging to see what makes this phase of life unique and interesting and challenging—and sometimes terrifying. After all, they're called "growing pains" for a reason. We'll examine literature that highlights adolescence and emerging adulthood and use those discussions to investigate your own journey on the path to adulthood.

Pursuit of Happiness
Rita Rozzi
The United States Declaration of Independence states that one of our “unalienable Rights” is the “pursuit of Happiness.” If we are guaranteed such an absolute freedom to obtain it, why aren’t we all happy? What does it even mean to be happy? Although we will work to define happiness and explore the latest research on this topic through reading and discussion, we will also be putting into practice what we discover. The hope is that by doing so, we will learn how to cultivate happiness in ourselves and in others.

Ireland, Culture, & Film
Timothy White
This course explores Irish culture since the late nineteenth century focusing on the development of Irish identity and how this identity has been challenged by those not included in the historic conception of Irish national identity.

Karl Marx and Communist Revolution
Gabriel Gottlieb
Why not communism? What's wrong with capitalism? Is one better? These questions are at the heart of Karl Marx’s philosophy, a figure vilified by both liberals and conservatives. This course will introduce students to Karl Marx’s philosophy through The Communist Manifesto, historically situating his thought, and wondering whether communism or some form of socialism could work in the United States.

A Jesuit, Catholic University: What’s the Point?
Daniel Dwyer
During a time in which many no longer believe in the value of any university, for us the more pressing concern is the question in the title of this seminar. To make sure everyone is ready to discuss contemporary philosophical, theological, scientific, and literary issues of “faith and reason,” we first attend to how a 20th c. author addresses the inescapable human need to believe in something rather than nothing: “At the foundation of well-founded belief lies belief that it is not founded.” (Wittgenstein, On Certainty §253) Along our journey we reflect upon the following questions: (1) Are you at a Jesuit, Catholic university merely to memorize and regurgitate facts, data, and information that will get you a “job”? (2) Are you here (also?) to learn something about yourself as a believing being that helps you process your unique contribution to the Xavier community?

Catholics and Slavery
Walker Gollar
Amidst the national debate over Confederate monuments, the killing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the assault on the Capitol, arguments over how to teach African American history, etc., where does the Catholic Church stand? What role has the Catholic Church played in race matters? And what connection did the Catholic Church have with the institution of slavery as it existed in the United States before the Civil War? This course explores all three questions, with particular emphasis on the past, especially connections to slavery, all the while hoping that an honest look into the historical record will call students to foster the greater good and build a more just society.

Uprising: Slave Rebellions in the Atlantic World
Randy Browne
From the early 1500s through the end of the nineteenth century, millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved throughout the Americas. In this seminar we will explore enslaved people's armed resistance to slavery, during the Middle Passage and in American slave societies.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

Addiction: Science and Society
Hanna Wetzel
Addiction has been a part of the human experience for thousands of years. In this seminar will explore addiction from all angles, including the science, historical perspectives, societal impacts, legal ramifications, first-hand accounts, and equity issues surrounding addiction. We will challenge each other to define “what is addiction?” and determine “how should it be treated?” through the course of the semester as we learn about this complex topic.

Conserving Nature
George Farnsworth
How should we view and manage endangered and threatened species and ecosystems? In this course we will explore what species we value and how we try to keep them from going extinct. We will examine these issues from a variety of perspectives including science, history, philosophy, and art.

Games and Virtues
Greg Braun
This course looks at games of all types, with a focus on board, card, and role playing games. What can games today and throughout history tell us about humanity? What virtues & skills are valued by games, and by society? What does the mathematical field of game theory tell us about how people make decisions, particularly important ethical decisions? How do probability and the mechanics of games affect what we take away from them? What is the nature of play itself? Students will design a game as a group project throughout the semester.

Exploring Wellness
Laura Carney
In this particular FYS we will focus on the foundational concepts of health and wellness that contribute to a healthy and fulfilling life. You will engage in personal, professional, and societal aspects of how we define “healthy” and what is means to have “well-being”. Central to well-being are the eight dimensions of wellness which asks us to explore the importance of physical, social, emotional, intellectual, occupational, environmental, financial, and spiritual aspects of life. These elements are considered from a variety of perspectives such as personal experiences, scholarly definitions, politics and policy, biology, psychology, physiology, and business pursuits. You will engage in a deep exploration of the dimensions of wellness in an attempt to address assessment of and definition of these abstract concepts.

Cura Personalis
Nathalie Towchik
Cura Personalis is a term describing focusing on the whole person, so in this course we will use readings and discussion-based learning to explore holistic approaches to caring for ourselves and others. We will spend time developing skills related to communication, leadership, identifying biases, self-awareness, and healthy workplace habits to prepare you for your collegiate and professional careers. There will be some focus on health and wellness, as well as developing critical thinking and research skills to be our best selves.

Fall 2024

Immigration and Exile
Mich Nyawalo

This course introduces students to the topic of migration and exile from a global perspective. Throughout the semester, students will engage the following questions: what are the permutations of exile, migration, and immigration policies across cultural and national contexts? What are the social, political, and economic conditions that lead to processes of migration and exile? How do experiences of exile and migration affect those who endure it (within one generation or across several generations)? How do the social dynamics of class, race, gender, and nationality inform experiences of exile and migration? How do people whose loved ones have left their homeland for foreign countries process their loss and transformed relationship with the departed? How are images and cultures of the homeland constructed, revised, and reinvented in the diaspora? What are the experiences of those who return to countries they had left behind for many years?
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

Origin Stories
Christian Mastilak

Who are we? How did we get here? Where are we going? Will anyone go with us? This seminar will help us ask these questions, begin to answer them, and find our place within Xavier. We'll look at how St. Ignatius and the Jesuit education story started, including Xavier's own beginnings. Students will explore their own origin stories, and will choose some other stories to examine including creation myths from around the world.

Immigration: Two Truths and a Lie
Irene Hodgson

In a polarized country, in an election year, this class will look at how to discern truth from lies or hyperbole about the immigration situation. We will particularly focus on the southern border and the roots of the situation in U.S. foreign policy, especially in Latin America, but also consider the implications of changing situations in other countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine. We will examine different narratives that respond to changing ideas of what the U.S. is and aspires to be. We will consider different perspectives on immigration and migration, including those of immigrants themselves as well as those of governments, groups and individuals on both sides of the border and in the interior, including in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. We will look at laws and treaties and seek insights from Jesuits and other religious and moral leaders as to what our obligation is as humans, as a nation, and as individuals, to seek the truth and promote the common good as well as to confront other ethical questions that come up.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

Pursuit of Happiness
Rita Rozzi

The United States Declaration of Independence states that one of our “unalienable Rights” is the “pursuit of Happiness.” If we are guaranteed such an absolute freedom to obtain it, why aren’t we all happy? What does it even mean to be happy? Although we will work to define happiness and explore the latest research on this topic through reading and discussion, we will also be putting into practice what we discover. The hope is that by doing so, we will learn how to cultivate happiness in ourselves and in others.

The Human Need for Narrative
Anne McCarty

Story? Who needs it? For a phenomenon that seems to serve little practical purpose for human survival, narrative plays a significant and ongoing role in our lives. In this class, we’ll explore various facets and functions of story and consider the following questions. How do we shape and how are we shaped by narrative? How do we employ narrative as we attempt to understand, cope with, and modify our past, present, and future both as individuals and as a society? How do the stories we currently produce and consume contribute to or detract from the greater good?

Difficult Women (for Honors students)
Niamh J. O’Leary

This seminar explores the concept of the "difficult woman," throughout history. Beginning with Medea and Eve, we consider these prototypes of difficult women--imperfect, vengeful, different visions of maternity, hypersexualized, and more. We will look at how stereotypes of the difficult woman operate differently for BIPOC women, and how they intersect with racism, classism, and more. We will trace these ideas about difficult women from literature, to film, to news media, to the criminal justice system. The course asks how a more nuanced notion of femininity, gender, and power can contribute to the greater good, and how humanity is ill-served by fixating on ideas of difficult women.
This course is for Honors students only.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

The Lives of Black Women and Girls
ShaDawn Battle

Incredulous reactions to Meg Thee Stallion’s accusation that a Black man shot her are a part of an epistemic framework in which Black women and girls are perceived to be unworthy of protection, their bodies disposable, and their truths undermined or deemed inconsequential to a racist, patriarchal, misogynoiristic, homo / transphobic, and ableist U.S. regime. This course will employ a Black Feminist framework to make legible the interdependent forces that imperil the lives of Black women and girls, including Black trans women. To examine the material and ideological realities of Black women and girls in the U.S. such as, Sha’Carri Richardson, Breonna Taylor, Dajerria Becton, the enslaved Anarcha, and Laverne Cox, we will take up the following topics: Black Women and Girls in Sports; Black Women and Girls in the Medical Industrial Complex; and Black Women and Girls and the Policing Apparatus.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

Great (and not so great) Expectations
Lara Dorger

We live in our own heads most of the time, but we often evaluate our wants mostly in terms of the outcomes rather than what makes the foundations of our wants. Often our sense of success is arbitrary and personal and may depend mostly on preconceived beliefs. Rather than focusing on solely an end result, a more-sound approach would involve understanding our expectations going forward. This seminar has you carefully reading 12 short stories to use as a springboard to foster the practice of asking questions about topics relevant to you at this time: school, career, and relationships, among other subjects. Some of the questions you will have the chance to discuss are "Can I be a good friend if I stop listening to my friend's problems?" "How much work am I willing to do to get an A?" or the age-old question "What is love?" While answers may not be forthcoming for all questions, you will have the chance to create the habit of examining your expectations prior to evaluating your success or failure, a key component to analysis, through the media of short stories and writing.

The Art of Expression
Madeleine Mitchell

Anyone can be an artist, but many people don't see themselves as one. This seminar explores how creative expression is an integral part of being human and how it contributes to personal and intellectual growth, meaningful life work, and stronger communities. In this course, we will examine various roles of artistic expression in society: healer, teller of hard truths, voice of solidarity, and catalyst for social change. Students will study and research examples of art movements, engage with local artists, and create individual works of art.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.

Good Vibes Only
Matthew Zurcher

Hot yoga. Mindfulness meditation apps. Corporate retreats. Goop. “Good vibes only.” In America, the last 25 years have produced a sharp decrease in religious affiliation and, simultaneously, an explosive increase in the popularity of spirituality. This course will focus on two questions: (1) What cultural, political, and intellectual movements account for this shift? and (2) How do contemporary approaches to spirituality and religion help and hinder our pursuit of the common good? Students will explore the philosophical and theological roots of our 21^st Century spiritual marketplace and use those tools to interpret the shapes and stakes of their own existential questions.

God on Trial
Martin Madar

This seminar will examine the religious dimension of human existence in relation to a number of problems and challenges: the problem of knowledge; the relation of faith and reason; various historical, social and existential critiques of belief; the challenge of atheism and humanism.

Catholics and Slavery
Walker Gollar

Amidst the national debate over Confederate monuments, the killing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the assault on the Capitol, arguments over how to teach African American history, etc., where does the Catholic Church stand? What role has the Catholic Church played in race matters? And what connection did the Catholic Church have with the institution of slavery as it existed in the United States before the Civil War? This course explores all three questions, with particular emphasis on the past, especially connections to slavery, all the while hoping that an honest look into the historical record will call students to foster the greater good and build a more just society.

Ethics and the Environment
Brent Blair

We all rely on the environment in both apparent and nuanced ways. However, our perceptions of nature and our choices in how we interact with it are shaped by various factors, such as the time period, culture, and one’s economic status. In this course, we delve into these concepts and examine how deteriorating environments can affect human well-being disparately based on individual characteristics (e.g., race, class, and gender) and geographical location. The curriculum encompasses an exploration of fundamental economic, ecological, and environmental science principles, alongside discussions on topics related to environmental ethics.

Art of Introspection
John Ray

This course involves detailed reading and discussion of Montaigne’s Essays. With the aid of Sara Bakewell’s How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer, we—each one of us—will attempt to answer this same question by writing our own introspective journal in response to what we find most compelling in Montaigne. In class, emphasis will be on student discussion of the Essays.

Ireland, Culture, & Film
Timothy White

This course explores Irish culture since the late nineteenth century focusing on the development of Irish identity and how this identity has been challenged by those not included in the historic conception of Irish national identity.

No Such Thing as a Stupid Question (in Business and Economics)
Jagan Jacob

In this seminar, we ask ourselves questions related to business organizations, economics, ethics, and (even) politics. We will read and discuss various case studies, participate in team debates, give group presentations, and write a term paper. Topics range from “should a tweet from a decade ago get you fired?” to “what are the misconceptions the US gets wrong about China and its economy?”

Sport at the Service of Humanity
Sr. Rose Ann Fleming

How can sport serve humanity? Selected readings show how sport brings humanity together across global boundaries to celebrate human talent, regardless of religion, race, culture, beliefs, gender and ability. Immersive experiences such as visits and interviews with members of professional teams and NCAA Division I teams, indicate how sport teaches men and women positive values of joy, respect, love, compassion, enlightenment and balance. Dialoguing with sport experts, and attendance at local sports games, enables the class participant to reflect, critique, and discuss, orally and in writing, the principles and values that sport offers humanity, as well as how to address the evils and scandals that can arise when the power of wealth and greed in sport corrupt the sport environment.
This course addresses issues of diversity and inclusion throughout the semester.