Choosing the perfect schedule for the fall semester may seem daunting. There are a lot of classes. And a lot of majors.
Registering for a FIG, or a First-Year Interest Group, is one way for incoming first-year students to explore majors and disciplinary fields at UW-Madison. The FIGs program, based in the College of Letters & Science, gives incoming students the unique opportunity to enroll in three classes tied together by a common theme.
With offerings in almost every field of study — from science and technology, to health and literature — FIGs create a community of roughly 20 students who together explore one theme through two widely offered courses and one special course developed and taught by a faculty member.
“It’s really an opportunity to have a small class experience with the resources of a huge university,” says Professor of English Cherene Sherrard-Johnson who is teaching “Freedom and Slavery in the American Imagination” for the fourth time this fall.
FIGs also help students adjust to the academic rigors of courses at UW-Madison by creating a consistent group with which students can socialize, study and share ideas. Together, the students develop an understanding for the breadth and scope of the interdisciplinary underpinning of the FIG topic.
When choosing classes at SOAR this summer, consider these three FIGs to start off your UW-Madison academic experience. But the list doesn't end there; check out other FIGs here.
Japanese Pop Culture
Main instructor: Adam Kern, associate professor, East Asian Languages and Literature
Courses:
• Main course: Inter-L&S 102: Japan Pop! From Basho to Banana (Humanities)
• Linking course: East Asian Studies 103: First Semester Japanese (Language)
• Linking course: History 104: Introduction to East Asian History, Japan (Social Sciences, Humanities)
This FIG introduces Japanese civilization through language, history, and pop culture.
“Japan pop is like candy to undergraduates,” says Kern. “It conjures an occult of pop culture that is alternative to United States mainstream culture.”
Kern believes these classes are an effective way to educate students because they will get historical context of Japan’s language and culture. The intellectually-grappling content of this FIG will challenge students to think through what their own culture means — perhaps less about Japan and more about understanding themselves.
Using hip-hop, street fashion, short works of poetry, novellas, comic books, and animated series, Kern will encourage his students to think deeply about what being a member of a certain culture means.
Freedom and Slavery in the American Imagination
Main instructor: Cherene Sherrard-Johnson, professor, English
Courses:
• Main course: English 173: Freedom and Slavery in the American Literary Imagination (Literature, Ethnic Studies)
• Linking course: Afro-American Studies 231: Introduction to Afro-American History (Social Science)
• Linking course: Gender and Women’s Studies 101: Gender, Women, and Cultural Representation (Humanities)
If you’re interested in learning more about American literature and culture, this FIG is a good start. It explores how the aftermath of slavery and the reconstruction era affected literacy and cultural productions.
“This FIG is meant for students to find new interests,” says Sherrard-Johnson. “They need the heavy experience of knowing what is behind things that permeate our culture.”
Through a number of different books across three disciplines, students will explore a part of U.S. history that affects social connections today. Sherrard-Johnson emphasizes the separation from freedom and slavery, a concept that she hopes to help students better understand.
“Looking to popular culture will add diversity to students’ understanding of slavery,” she says. “It’s not just oppressors and the oppressed.”
Vision: From Biology to Culture
Main instructor: C. Shawn Green, professor, Psychology
Courses:
• Main course: Psychology 211: Vision: From Biology to Culture (Natural Science and Honors)
• Linking Course: Anthropology 105: The Principles of Biological Anthropology (Biological Science)
• Linking Course: Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy (Humanities or Social Science)
In this FIG, students will delve further into the workings of the human eye by actually going out and conducting experiments.
“The main thing that makes this FIG special is the opportunity to actually experience a lot of the vision psychology firsthand via demos,” Green says.
Some of the demos include: playing catch with a tennis ball in the dark while strobe lights are flashing, trying to complete scavenger hunts while wearing goggles that simulate various visual disorders and completing mazes in the dark.
Green also believes the combination of the three classes is a perfect starting place for students interested in a variety of scientific fields.
“We cover everything from basic physics and optics, to basic neuroanatomy and neuroscience … all the way to the influence of technology in vision,” he says. “Students can really get a feel for what areas they’re most interested in pursuing.”
Story by Nick Daniels and Aimee Katz