A Different Course

If you thought hell would freeze over before you saw a class
about J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the
Ring” offered at UCLA, consider hell a frosty place.

Starting last quarter, several eclectic classes are being
offered as one-unit seminars geared toward underclassmen as part of
the Fiat Lux seminar program.

Deriving their name from the University of California Latin
motto, meaning “let there be light,” these honors
collegium seminars are designed to stimulate interaction between
students and to make the university “more personable,”
said Judith Smith, vice provost of undergraduate education.

“(Fiat Lux seminars are intended) to engage students in
stimulating discussion that advances their knowledge and passion
for learning,” Smith said.

With no restriction on subject matter, topics range from
Chancellor Albert Carnesale’s seminar, “Rethinking
National Security,” to a course on Italian neorealism in
cinema, to the psychology of love.

Smith said prospective Fiat Lux seminar instructors present
their ideas to a faculty member committee that in turn fits the
topic to within the limits of a one-unit seminar.

“(The Fiat Lux seminar is) really a course designed around
a faculty member’s passion or research,” Smith
said.

Robert Rhoads, a professor in the department of education, is
teaching a course on the connection between contemporary student
activism and the student movements of the 1960s, a topic he has
been researching for almost a decade.

Daniel Weintraub, a second-year undeclared student, said he
signed up for Rhoads’ seminar because he has a family history
of activism and he knew Rhoads had written the book they would be
reading for the class.

Weintraub also said he likes the format of the class, which will
meet five times this quarter for two hours each.

“(The format) is a lot better; you can get a lot better
discussion,” Weintraub said.

Rhoads himself, who is a Faculty-in-Residence living in De Neve,
also taught a seminar on globalization last year, which he said was
a great experience. He said that the absence of letter grades
““ the seminars are graded on a pass/no-pass basis ““ was
beneficial to both students and professors.

“It was really nice to engage undergraduates in a more
conversational environment,” Rhoads said. “(One) can
really put grades aside and focus on learning.”

Professor Jules Zentner of Scandinavian languages came up with
the idea for his seminars on Tolkien’s “The
Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” when he
was re-reading the “The Hobbit” after the first
“Lord of the Rings” film hit theaters in 2001.

“It’s an important topic for students: what about
the values of good and evil?” Zentner said.

Zentner said he had previously taught a course that centered on
the theme of good versus evil and thought it would be interesting
to explore the ideas of an author with traditional values,
especially at a time when people are more interested in
Tolkien’s work.

“In a sense, the seminar sort of runs itself because the
people in the seminar usually are excited about Tolkien,”
Zentner said.

First-year religion student Vanessa Carter, who took
Zentner’s seminar on “The Hobbit” last quarter,
initially enjoyed the course but ultimately found it too
repetitive.

“If it were more broad, it would have been really good; I
really liked the concept,” Carter said.

Students who have taken other seminars mostly enjoyed their
classes, but found problems with the format of the course.

Brittan Scales, a first-year molecular genetics student, liked
the Fiat Lux seminar she took last quarter, “Serendipity in
Science,” but found it kind of slow and lacking in real
discussion.

“There was not much class participation,” Scales
said. “It was mostly the professor just lecturing.”

First-year undeclared student Jason Kaminsky agreed that class
participation was limited to about half the students in his
seminar, “Families Under Glass,” a class in which
students discussed family dynamics in various ancient dramas.

Despite this narrow participation, Kaminsky said he liked that
he didn’t have to focus on working towards getting a good
grade.

“It was laid-back. There was no pressure to get an A or
write papers,” he said.

Kaminsky said he enjoyed taking a class on a subject that he
wouldn’t ordinarily be exploring, though he didn’t find
the class all that insightful.

“You’re not expecting to come away with brilliant
epiphanies,” Kaminsky said.

Smith and other faculty members remain satisfied with the Fiat
Lux program, which has it roots in a seminar series started in Fall
2001 entitled “Perspectives on Sept. 11.”

The program was founded as an academic response to the attacks,
said Harlan Lebo, director of communications for the College of
Letters and Science.

After two successful quarters, a smaller seminar program
focusing on the Los Angeles riots in the early 1990s replaced the
Sept. 11 program.

“It was so successful from the viewpoint of both faculty
and students,” Smith said, adding that students seemed to
find this interaction with peers and faculty members exciting.

This year, faculty members involved with continuing the new
seminar program decided to widen these seminars’ focus based
on the success of previous seminars, thereby creating the Fiat Lux
program, Smith said.

Because of the success of one-unit seminars at UCLA and a
similar 10-year-old program at UC Berkeley, UC President Richard
Atkinson has asked the rest of the UC campuses to develop freshmen
seminar programs, Smith said, adding that the goal is to
accommodate every freshman who wants to take a seminar.

Smith said 120 seminars will be offered this year and 150 next
year, while the eventual goal is to reach 200 seminars.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *