I’ve Got a Secret: Making & Breaking CodesThis FLC introduces students to encryption (code-making) and decryption (code-breaking). The science of cryptography will be presented within an historical context from the writing of lost civilizations through the role of Navajo code talkers in WWII to the current debate over individual privacy vs public security. Grounded in basic mathematical and computer science concepts, this FLC should appeal to a broad range of students from language and linguistics students who see language itself as a code to math students who like puzzle-solving and justice science students interested in electronic crime.
Your Freshman Seminar instructor is Dr. David Basilico, the 2006 winner of the School of Arts and Humanities’ President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching!
Body and Brain Power: Keeping Yourself Healthy
With its large medical center, UAB is the perfect place to investigate your own health and develop self-help strategies to promote those behaviors that will help you do your best at UAB and achieve your career goals. Topics range from “Managing Stress,” “Cold or Flu?”, and “Food for the Body, Mind, and Good Grades” to “Time Management” and “Personality Types and Learning Styles.” This FLC will help make your transition to college fun, successful, and healthy!
Exploring Birmingham
This FLC introduces students to the varied social, political and economic aspects of the largest city in Alabama through experiential learning. Even students who grew up in the Birmingham metropolitan area will be astonished by this exploration of the city they’ve taken for granted. Students will conduct empirical research doing field work in different areas of the Birmingham community and evaluating historical visual documents. This FLC will appeal to students who seek to integrate their academic interests with real world issues.
We are the People: The American Political Process
Beginning with an historical appreciation of political development at the local, state, national, and international levels, this FLC introduces students to interpreting and analyzing political ideas and the data used in the political process. By understanding such political phenomenon as insincere voting, apportionment, and weighted voting, students will be able to make more informed civic decisions. Field trips to relevant local and state government sites are included. Faculty include Dr. Colin Davis, winner of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/National Honor Society Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, Dr. John Mayer, winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Professor Rita Treutel, the 2006 recipient of the English department’s Core Teaching Award!
Global Communities
The events of 9/11 tragically highlight the fact that grievances and issues in distant lands can impact our daily lives in America. This FLC enlarges student awareness of the complexity of global problems, promotes cross-cultural and linguistic understanding, and encourages active, ethical, and responsible engagement in international affairs. Through writing, readings, movies, discussion, field trips, and food, students prepare themselves to promote good will and cross-cultural understanding in increasingly diverse environments. This FLC features two winners of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching—Dr. Nikos Zahariadis and Dr. Catherine Danielou!
Health without Borders
Issues of health are no longer concerns of single nations or communities. This FLC explores such health concerns as SARS, Avian flu, West Nile virus, and Mad Cow Disease, all challenges that transcend national boundaries. Students will learn how globalization, environmental changes, population dynamics, political systems, tradition, culture, natural resources, and economic development impact current and emerging public health issues around the world. This FLC has particular relevance for majors in international relations, pre-health, nursing, environmental science, anthropology, sociology, biology, and economics.Your Freshman Seminar instructor will be Dr. John Ehiri, the 2006 winner of the School of Public Health’s President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching!
Preparing for an Engineering Career
This FLC is for students interested in engineering but not yet ready for Calculus I. Working together with a cohort of like-minded peers, students will explore the engineering community and opportunities at UAB while getting a sound foundation in the academic skills, professional ethics, and teamwork necessary for success in the classroom and at work. This FLC will prepare students for the curriculum that will lead to a choice among multiple engineering specialties and exciting career opportunities. All students will complete an engineering design project as part of their Freshman Seminar.
Accepting the Engineering Challenge
This FLC introduces engineering majors to an integrated curriculum that prepares them for a choice among multiple engineering specialties and exciting career opportunities. Working with a cohort of fellow engineering majors, students will explore the engineering community and opportunities at UAB while getting a sound foundation in the academic skills, professional ethics, and teamwork necessary for success in the classroom and at work. All students will complete an engineering design project as part of their Freshman Seminar.Your math instructor is Dr. Gunter Stolz, winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics!