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LAC 100 and LAC 101: where your Eastern academic journey begins.
Your academic experience at Eastern begins with your selection of a Liberal Arts Seminar (LAC 100). You can choose from a range of immersive courses with relevant, thought-provoking themes, that break down barriers between disciplines, sparking your imagination in a dynamic environment.
Picture this: a tight-knit community led by dynamic faculty exploring a fascinating topic in your first semester. The discussion weaves together experiential and hands-on learning at the heart of every course you will take at Eastern.
But that's not all! LAC 101, a one-credit course taken together with LAC 100, will introduce you to Eastern’s five Learning Outcomes (communication, creativity, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and quantitative literacy), which are the values of a liberal arts education, and the skills required of you in whichever career path you might choose. Peer Mentors will help introduce you to campus life and help you navigate your academic, social, and co-curricular activities at Eastern.
Students may choose from a variety of LAC 100 course topics. Learn more about the offered course topics below.
First-Year Seminars
This course critically examines racism and antiracism in the world around us and within ourselves, as well as movements in health, education, the criminal justice system, and other institution.
*restricted to students admitted to the University Honors Program*
This course will use the subject of dinosaurs to explore connections among scientific thinking, creativity, ethics and communication in shaping the ways people have viewed dinosaurs over the past centuries. We will discuss topics including how science influenced our perception of dinosaur behavior, the ethics surrounding national scandals and black market sale of dinosaur bones, how conflicting personalities of America’s leading collectors both benefited and derailed our understanding of dinosaurs, and dinosaur portrayal in the popular media. Because this section of LAC 100 is designed for the first-year cohort of Honors Scholars, students will also learn what to expect and what is expected of them in the Honors Program and will grow together as a cohort of scholars who will support and challenge each other throughout the four years at the university.
Constructing ethical arguments includes learning to listen, summarize, analyze, and synthesize others opinions with our own. We will use public rhetorical acts such as speeches, debates, and dialogues and practice communicating in various multimodal genres. Culture For the cultural studies portion of the course, we will explore various cultures, subcultures, countercultures, and pop cultures discussing, rhetorically analyzing, and arguing topics important to these communities. Argument For the argument portion of this course, we will discuss and practice various approaches to contemporary argument, including dissoi logoi and the Toulim and Rogerian methods
Choice Architecture is the design of the context in which we make decisions. In this course we will examine Choice Architecture - it's use and misuse - in a variety of domains that will include the spaces we live and work in, the schedules we make and are prisoner to, the marketing we are subjected to, politics (which is all about choice and the presentation of choices), the design of the objects we interact with and their user interfaces (with their preset defaults). The common thread and the controlling ethic is what Thaler and Sunstein call “libertarian paternalism,” where freedom of choice is sacrosanct, but choices are designed to encourage people to choose what’s best for them as they define that, and when possible, what’s best for society.
Eager to advocate for a cause but don’t know where to start? Whether you are a talented artist or can’t even draw stick figures, you can create powerful poster designs to have your voices heard. Posters are a visual communication tool consisting of text and graphics that are displayed publicly for the consumption of the masses. When used effectively, posters can quickly capture the attention of a target audience, convey key information, and leave a lasting impression. In this course, we will focus on creating posters centered around public issues and exploring the importance of creative expression. You will learn basic principles of design and develop technical graphic design skills using Canva, a free-to-use online graphic design tool. You will advocate for a cause by producing a series of posters that will be printed, exhibited, and shared online.
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the learning objectives of Eastern's Liberal Arts Core (ELAC). We will explore college-level expectations and apply interdisciplinary perspectives to our work in this course. Disney is the road, feminism is the vehicle of this course; if you can’t operate the vehicle, it doesn’t matter how well you know the road. You will be expected to engage critically with the materials (yes, this includes the visual ones) and this may mean (read: almost certainly will mean) challenging long standing thoughts and opinions on “the Man with the Mouse” and its creations as we explore the context and commentary from different perspectives.
New technologies are emerging at an ever-increasing rate with applications being developed to utilize them in more aspects of our academic, personal, and professional lives and in society. This course looks at emerging tech trends, their potential applications, and how to effectively evaluate them for addressing problems and opportunities in our lives, careers, society, and the world. It looks at multiple tech and app streams, helping you to develop critical thinking frameworks for evaluating the new technologies, potential creative applications of them, and ethical reasoning for their use for benefiting you, your organizations, and/or broader society.
This course will delve into various environmental problems impacting the planet, examining their root causes and potential solutions through the lens of geological, atmospheric, and hydrological processes studied within Earth Science, including topics like climate change, sea level rise, coastal erosion, pollution, resource depletion, and natural disasters. These topics will be examined with a focus on scientific research, data analysis, and potential mitigation strategies. Topics will vary by semester based on relevant issues in the news today.
Friedrich Schiller once said that "the human being only plays when they are in the fullest sense of the word a human being, and they are only fully a human being when they play." In this course, we will explore the philosophical, ethical, educational, psychological, and cultural aspects of playing sports and games. Besides exploring several theories of both the capacities required for play and the benefits of it, we will explore the contrasts between play and work, competition and cooperation, the physical and the mental, reason and imagination, the individual and the team, and the real and the virtual. We will look a variety of issues that come up in play, sport, and gaming, including issues of gender and sexuality, technology, fairness and cheating, violence and safety, and freedom and rule-following. We will explore the value and purpose of play and sport across cultures and across time, looking at its religious and ritual origins to its economic and entertainment goals.
This LAC 100 seminar offers to ethically reflect on what it means to be exiled in our global age, where interconnectedness rules but where wars and natural disasters produce displaced persons, migrants, etc. We will investigate different facets of the exilic condition (immigration and exile in a foreign land, in one’s country, in oneself, in one's body/gender/sexuality). Through the discussion of the primary material (films, short stories, and a novel) and group activities, conjoined with the exchanges guest speakers will allow, students will develop sophisticated critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills to learn to both assess what caused an individual's or group's exilic status, as well as whether it was preventable and what its possible consequences may be, and also comprehend our (and our community's and government's) responsibility and propose solutions to remedy the situation. In addition to being exposed to non-US outlooks on the world, and gain awareness of global cultures and globalization, students will develop communication skills as they collaborate, partake in discussions, and present arguments to each other for criticism. This class will help develop ethical reasoning, critical thinking, and communication skills students will fine-tune in other Eastern classes and will use in their lives as privileged citizens of a wealthy country involved in the world's global workings.
This introductory seminar course on the relationship between film and culture examines the formal elements through which films tell stories and the kinds of stories they tell in response to audience needs and desires. It focuses on how audience interaction shapes narrative filmmaking and examines how the experience of watching films (theaters, screen size, sound, color, etc.) has changed in attempts to draw audiences to the theater. Students will gain a better understanding of American film in its cultural and historical context as well as the technical and economic factors involved in filmmaking. This course requires critical viewing, critical thinking, and writing to understand the pleasure and power of the movies. Students will get a better understanding of how films relate meaning and how to evaluate individual films.
Owen Arthur said, “for he who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” This comprehensive introductory course is designed to provide students with a foundational understanding of the multifaceted world of health and healthcare. Health Sciences is a diverse and evolving field that encompasses a wide range of disciplines, from biology and anatomy to exercise science and public health. This course will also introduce students to the scientific method and develop skills in analysis, evaluation, and critical thinking. We will emphasize the importance of communication, team building, and professionalism in the context of the healthcare industry. This course is relevant for students who are embarking on a career in healthcare or simply interested in gaining insights into the complex interplay of factors that contribute to human well-being.
Anyone can be more proactive and creative with an entrepreneurial perspective. "LAC 100: Getting started as an entrepreneur" is designed for future entrepreneurs who want to learn and explore entrepreneurial opportunities aimed at improving or benefiting economic, social, environmental, and cultural challenges that we face these days. This entry-level entrepreneurship course is open to students with all majors. This course is ideal for students who want to start a business but need help knowing where and how to start their entrepreneurial journey.
This is an entry-level business and law course and is open to students of all majors. This course is intended for students who want to understand the interplay between business and law as they learn and apply ethical principles across complex systems and industries. While engaging in case study work and team-based projects, students will examine the tenets of legal reasoning, contracts, business structure and legal authority.
This course examines marketing and media strategy as tools for communication, persuasion, and creative expression within entertainment and creative industries. Students explore how messages are designed, distributed, and interpreted, with particular attention to audience analysis, ethical representation, and storytelling. Emphasis is placed on critical evaluation and the creation of original, audience-centered media strategies.
Throughout this course students will be provided with the tools to balance self-care and their current academic and work expectations. Additionally, these tools can be applied to their future careers. Topics discussed throughout the semester will include stress, burnout, self-care strategies, resilience, working with others, time management, meditation , social supports and wellness. The course includes weekly journals, in-class activities to apply the material, a day-long service-learning experience, group project and a final vision board.
The purpose of this course is to investigate the origins and practices of creativity, both individually and from a global perspective. Students will test out a variety of creativity-boosting exercises, examine the creative process of individual artists, and evaluate published research on the subject of creativity. Throughout this process, students will strengthen their understanding of their own creativity and develop strategies for applying creativity to real-world problem solving across a spectrum of applications.
This first-year seminar introduces students to the fundamentals of investing and financial markets without requiring prior business or financial knowledge. The course focuses on how individuals make investment decisions under uncertainty, how markets function, and how ethical considerations shape financial outcomes. Students will learn to interpret financial information, evaluate risk, and communicate investment ideas clearly and responsibly.
This course examines how to be critical of data and information we encounter in everyday life. Students will learn the fundamentals of data types, data collection, data analysis and data visualization. They will critically reflect on how data is gathered and used in various personal and public domains such as news, elections, health, sports and big data algorithms.
A broad introduction to the roles communication and media plays in society. Focus is placed on understanding the interplay between communication and society. The nature, scope, and function of print, film, sound, and electronic media will be examined against social forces and social media's impact on communication. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of how media shapes public discourse, cultural narratives, and interpersonal communication, preparing them for critical engagement with media in both personal and professional contexts.
Political disinformation is everywhere in our new media environment. It can often be difficult to distinguish between fact and fabrication in our current disinformation environment. The result has been a kind of political chaos that is then used by political actors to convince people to endorse particular policy changes or particular candidates running for office. This course will deploy the study of disinformation and new media to enable students to develop sophisticated critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills to learn to both distinguish between fact and fabrication but also comprehend the impact on society. In addition, students will develop communication skills as they work together, present arguments to each other for criticism and partake in debates. This class will help in future classes deploy college level critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills, but also later in life as they partake in the civic life of their communities.
Philosophy of the Martial Arts addresses issues of character development in philosophy of sport and introduces students to the history and cultures of the martial arts through Uechiryu karate. Students will learn basic movements to promote health, longevity, and self-defense, as well as learn about the history of virtue-based ethics from global philosophical perspectives to explore their relevance to practical life in the present day.
What is a game? How does playing differ from the rest of human life? Friedrich Schiller once said that “man only plays when he is in the fullest sense of the word a human being, and he is only fully a human being when he plays.” In this First Year Course, we will explore the philosophical, ethical, educational, psychological, and cultural aspects of playing sports and games. Besides exploring several theories of both the capacities required for play and the benefits of it, we will explore the contrasts between play and work, competition and cooperation, the physical and the mental, reason and imagination, the individual and the team, and the real and the virtual. We will look a variety of issues that come up in play, sport, and gaming, including issues of gender and sexuality, fairness and cheating, violence and safety, and freedom and rule-following.
Do vaccines cause autism? Are genetically modified foods safe? Is climate change real? What is homeopathy? Questions like these illustrate the difficulty that arises when dealing with a surfeit of complicated issues which are pervasive in our society. We cannot be experts in every field, so how do we determine what is real and what is fake? How can we discern good science from pseudoscience? This course addresses these issues by focusing on the application of critical thinking and scientific skepticism to questions such as those posed above as well as several others. We shall discuss the cognitive biases and logical fallacies to which we often fall victim. We shall apply critical thinking concepts to various examples of pseudoscience. We will develop communication skills to discuss science and pseudoscience and to create and present a hoax.
Explore the wonders of studio art and express your creativity in this fun, hands-on course. You will make art using a variety of medium, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and mixed media in a beautiful studio space. You will be introduced to the art elements and principles of design, understand the function of the arts in society through history and in the present, and develop studio art techniques while developing a visual problem-solving skillset.
This course is designed for any first-year student who is interested in learning, teaching, participating and/or leading in pre-schools, elementary and/or secondary schools as future educators, parents, and concerned citizens. Through a 2-hour seminar focused on individual and group applications of how social scientists study schooling and a weekly 1-hour service-learning experience in local schools, students will actively investigate the dynamic and complex relationships of individuals and their communities around schooling. This section is designed to introduce the goals of Liberal Arts Learning Outcomes – Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, and Quantitative Literacy - and provide student-developed evidence of applications of the social sciences for the study of schooling. This course is paired as a co-requisite with LAC 101 – Is Teaching Right for You?
The Art Everyday Life: Speech, Symbol and Self’s primary emphasis is exploring and building upon written and verbal communication from the vantage point of each student’s existing manner of speech. In this regard, the form of improvisational creativity that is everyday speech will be our touchstone, and the tropes and schemes of recitation exercises optimizing enunciation and cadence, and hand percussion exercises utilizing verbal mnemonic devices will provide points of reference onto the performance and physicalization of language. To round out this multi-sensory approach to understanding how lived experience gets communicated and processed—and in counterpoint to the emphasis on embodied sound exploration—each student will also develop progressively more complex visual symbols to explore and communicate personal truths.
This course will focus on the premise that success in college and in life depends more on a positive attitude, motivation, resourcefulness, persistence, and commitment rather than on innate ability or intelligence. The course is inherently interdisciplinary where it will explore both internal (mindset, identity, motivation) and external (systems, environment, opportunity) factors that shape success. In order to do this, we will engage scholarships from psychology, sociology, education, counseling, leadership studies, and cultural studies to critically examine how identity, mindset, and lived experiences shape pathways to success. For example, while reading the book, “First Gen, A Memoir” by Alejandra Campoverdi and “Smart Girl: A First Gen Origin Story” by La’Tonya Rease Miles, Ph.D students will examine their own identity, background, goals, ambitions, motivations, and ultimate desire for success in college and beyond that will provide them with the insight on how to successfully navigate their college years as a college student and prepare them for lifelong success thereafter.
This course focuses on the connections between music and communication from a musical and social scientific perspective. This LAC 100 seminar considers the ways in which we treat music as a form of communication distinct from verbal and nonverbal communication. The Music of Communication also explores the social origins, functions, and effects of music, and how music interacts with other forms of communication such as through media and technology.
Students will learn critical thinking skills to assess the debates on current topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on campuses, in workplaces, and in broader society. Topics of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability will be addressed through interactive discussions of current events.
This course will survey the reciprocal interactions of war and society from the Middle Ages onward. We will examine the numerous ways in which societies shaped the nature of armies and of combat, the impact of these wars on the societies from which they emerged, as well as the ethical quandaries of human behavior in wartime. In order to assess the impact of wars across time and space, we will also develop and analyze a dataset of countries' involvements in wars.
Throughout the history of Western civilization, music has been defined by musicians, audiences, and thinkers in many different ways, each linked with the cultural, political, and philosophical values of its era. Despite the differences among eras, we can identify several recurring definitions of music in the history of ideas: music as a moral or spiritual force, as a reflection of the modern world and window into the future, as a reflection of the natural world, as a language, and as a symbol of national identity. This course will explore these themes as they have been expressed in historical documents (including philosophy, literature, poetry, and other music-history primary sources) and experienced in musical sound. Students will identify manifestations and implications of these ideas in their own world and assumptions about music. Through analysis of text and sound, debate, small and large-group discussion, writing, and presentation, students will expand their critical thinking, communication, and ethical reasoning skills, which can be applied beyond our course in a range of circumstances.
This seminar uses the cultural reality of “driving while black” as a metaphor to compare the oppressive reality that a lone black or brown driver (especially in a luxury car and a nice white neighborhood) is subject to with the alienation and estrangement students of color experience in the traditional creative writing classroom. In this seminar we will intentionally negate the pitfalls in which a diverse classroom with a traditional curriculum fails the students by insisting that those writers sublimate personal identity and cultural differences to white artistic expectations. In this course we will celebrate the home culture of our members to create a community of writers whose core artistic challenges will engage questions of equity and justice. This class is for students of all races and backgrounds that want to confront the gap between their lived-reality and the Eurocentric male-centered philosophies in most university creative writing classes. This course is an opportunity to begin your creative exploration with an aesthetic that puts you and your cultural reality at the core of this experience.