LAR Class Descriptions

LAR Class Descriptions

Doane University's First Year Liberal Arts Seminar is a course designed to introduce first-year students to college-level writing, discussion, critical thinking, and critical reading. Faculty will choose a theme for each seminar section in order to help students learn information research skills, to work collaboratively, and to gain an appreciation for interdisciplinary study and multiple perspectives.

Fall 2026

LAR 101-1 
M/W/F  2:00 – 2:50 p.m. 
J.L. Vertin 
Taking a Stance

This seminar will focus on developing habits and skills to improve argumentation by examining several contemporary and historical controversies in order to build compelling written and oral arguments for a specific stance. Students will engage in two intensive Reacting to the Past role playing games that place them in moments of historical controversy. In order to win these games, students will write position papers and participate in informal debates and negotiations. Students will also examine the current controversial social issues of immigration, death penalty, and marijuana legalization. The course will conclude with students working in teams in a mock trial debate of one of these current social issues.

LAR 101-2 
M/W/F  10:00 – 10:50 a.m. 
Kris Williams 
Eureka! Embracing Challenges with Change

Cars, computers, and vaccinations are all hailed as scientific innovations that have a large impact on human life. However, each of these breakthroughs faced pushback from their beginning and still face criticism. In this course we will study how historical scientific discoveries have impacted our world and how we can use those lessons as new scientific breakthroughs are made. This course will emphasize collaborative learning, interdisciplinary study, and appreciation of multiple perspectives in order to understand how we can approach change in a constructive way. Students will explore these ideas in intensive Reacting to the Past  role-playing games where they will take on historically inspired roles, deliver persuasive speeches, and debate controversial ideas.

LAR 101-3 
M/W/F  10:00am - 10:50am 
Sue Larkin 
Badly Behaved Women

This section is inspired by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s comment that “well-behaved women seldom make history.”  This line was originally part of a 1976 article about Puritan funeral sermons, but was yanked out of context and eventually became both a feminist catch phrase and fodder for t-shirts and coffee mugs. Despite popular interpretation that women need to behave badly, Ulrich’s point is more complex, arguing that we often don’t recognize or acknowledge the contributions or achievements of women because of patriarchal structures and expectations.  In this seminar, we are going to consider a number of women, real and fictional, who have somehow had an impact on an aspect of culture and/or society.  Some of these women will be household names and some you may have never heard of. Some will be considered to be “great,” while others may be labeled in more negative ways.  As we study these women, we will explore a number of questions about our larger society:  How does gender define roles and expectations within a culture?  How does being female empower and disempower?  What happens when you defy gendered expectations? 

LAR 101-4 
M/W/F 11:00am - 11:50am 
Brad Johnson 
Ethics of the Human Body

Students in this course will examine many of the diverse ethical issues related to the human body. Topics such as body modification (tattooing, piercing, etc.), pandemics, organ transplant lists, and artificial bodies/body parts will serve as material for our reading and writing about how we make ethical decisions. Moreover, in the spirit of the Liberal Arts Seminar, we will examine the human body as an interdisciplinary subject, applying concepts from art, biology, religion, philosophy, literature, economics, etc., in an effort to understand how we approach ethical choices from a wide range of perspectives.

LAR 101-5 
M/W/F 3:00pm - 3:50pm 
Mark Meysenburg 
Rejected Rebels

Why are some people “before their time?” Some pioneering thinkers are accepted and hailed in their time, while others are mocked and marginalized. Why have experts rejected some ideas that we recognize today as correct in the past? What factors led to the right ideas being rejected, and what can we learn from history so we do not repeat it? In this course, we will explore these questions through two specific historical events: Galileo Galilei’s idea of a sun-centered universe in the 1630s and Charles Babbage’s design of a working computer in the 1830s.

We will attempt to answer these questions through intense Reacting to the Past role-playing games. You will take on historically-based roles, work with your faction, delve deeply into critical historical texts, write and make speeches, debate controversial issues (while staying in character!), participate in laboratory sessions, and try to win the game. Your performance in the game could change the course of history!

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose, a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye." – Mary Shelley

What is the purpose of a liberal arts education?  What does it mean to be free?  A wide range of topics will be covered in this course using the lenses of literature, philosophy, history, religion, science, and politics.  At Doane, it is our stated mission to create leaders, but what needs to be in place in one’s life before one can responsibly lead others?  With help from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Plato, Campbell, and many more great minds, these questions will be explored further in order to equip students with a more refined understanding of self in order to move forward with an open, alert, and truth-seeking mind. 

LAR 101-8 
T/Th 11:00am - 12:15pm 
TBD 
 

LAR 101-9 
M/W/F 11:00am-11:50am 
Carlos Rivera-Morales 
Sports in the US and Around the World

Should NCAA athletes be paid? Should trans athletes be allowed to compete in NCAA competitions and the Olympics? What are the consequences of allowing countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar to own football clubs in the English Premier League? What is the future of baseball in the US given waning interest? Do international competitions like the FIFA World Cup lead to waste, fraud, and abuse, especially in developing countries? This course seeks to open discussion on these questions and others for students to engage in informed debate and conduct their own research. The course emphasizes interdisciplinary discussion and research with a focus on the broader social, economic, and cultural dynamics of sports industries, especially in the context of increasing tension between globalization and nationalism.  By the end of the course students will: (1) gain a greater appreciation of the global nature of sports, (2) see sports as part of a wider societal context, and (3) develop research and writing skills.

LAR 101-10 
T/Th 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. 
Josh Pope 
American Experiences

We have all heard talk of the United States being "one nation under God." Does this quote from the Pledge of Allegiance truly reflect the reality of the country we live in? How does the meaning of the term “American” differ in various communities? In this course, we consider aspects of these broad questions while practicing critical thinking, reading, writing, and discussion skills. Specifically, we will use a variety of media to analyze and discuss what it means to have an American experience. How are American experiences different with regard to race, gender, military service, and other factors? In addition, attention will be given to American experiences people have in and around Crete and to the importance of local elections. By the end of this course, students should have a heightened sense of the diversity present in this country and that there is not just one American experience but many.

LAR 101-11 
M/W/F 1:00pm - 1:50pm 
TBD

LAR 101-12 
M/W/F  9:00 – 9:50 a.m. 
Kimberly Jarvis 
Journeys

People’s perceptions of the world around them are influenced and affected by their environment and experiences. In this course, students read and discuss memoirs about their authors’ experiences with, and reflections on, identity, history, and oppression in China, Iran, Argentina, and during the Holocaust. Students explore and interpret the life experiences of someone they know through the course’s oral history research project. Throughout this course, students examine and reflect upon their own transition from high school to college as they develop the skills they need for a successful college experience.

LAR 101-13 
M/W 8:30am – 9:45 a.m. 
Karla Cooper 
Climb Upward, Inward, & Outward

From Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb and Don Ziegler’s The College on the Hill, students will imagine and integrate a Doane University’s collegiate experience into a practical framework for engaging in the world.  This seminar will be an experience that stretches, encourages and creates space for open discussion as well as reflective writing on the challenges of balancing student life and social change.

LAR 101-16 
M/W/F 9:00am - 9:50am 
Amanda Reichert 
Psychology of Religion & Cults

The Psychology of Religion and Cults addresses several key aspects to liberal arts education. 1) Students will learn critical psychology topics specifically addressing group mentalities, power, and manipulation. The psychology topics are backed by communication methods and philosophical writings. 2) Students will be put in a situation in which they must critically analyze the conjunction of these factors and how it can be applied to their lives and/or the lives of our community. 3) Students will be asked to confront bias from a multidisciplinary 
 

*FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND CONDITIONALLY ADMITTED STUDENT ONLY*

This seminar section is designed to help students examine the attitudes and behaviors that impact success in college and help them build the skills, habits, and mindset necessary for success at Doane University and beyond. Students are pushed to consider how each mindset, perception, and attitude connects with their skill sets, and how one influences the other. Students will examine themes of identity, belonging, cultural expectations, social class, and the challenges of navigating college. The course emphasizes active participation and meaningful engagement within a supportive learning community. Course activities include engaging discussions, collaborative group work, writing labs, guest speakers, and short presentations that encourage critical thinking and effective communication.

*FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS, INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS*

LAR 101-19
T/Th 9:30am - 10:45am
Sarah Begay
Education, Learning, and Transition

LAR 101: Education, Learning & Transition is designed specifically for transfer students as they transition into the liberal arts environment at Doane University. The course explores the value of liberal education while helping students strengthen critical thinking, academic inquiry, and reflective learning practices. Through engagement with current events, debates, simulations, and interdisciplinary texts, students will examine ideas from multiple perspectives, analyze arguments and evidence, and connect liberal arts learning to their own academic, personal, and professional goals. Activities include discussions, reflective writing, collaborative exercises, and participation in the Reacting to the Past simulation Chicago, 1968.