First-Year Seminar 8
Formerly: Introduction to Liberal Studies (ILS) 7
History
This course was originally created in 1989 by Prof. Carl N. Schmalz, Jr, of the Amherst College, Fine Arts Department, and Thomas Looker, Visiting Lecturer in American Studies. It was designed as part of Amherst College's Introduction to Liberal Studies (ILS) program -- a series of seminars on a variety of subjects offered to first-year students during the fall semester. In 1990, Prof. Jan Dizard (Sociology and American Studies) taught the course with Looker and the syllabus for that year established the general framework which has been sustained ever since, even though there has been considerable variety in readings and content.
In addition to Thomas Looker, Jan Dizard, and Dick Schmalz, a variety of other faculty have taught the course since 1989 and made significant contributions to its evolution: Tekla Harms, Geology; Kevin Sweeney, American Studies; Richard Todd, editor and visitor in American Studies; Joel Upton, Fine Arts; and Arthur Zajonc, Physics.
In 1997, ILS was reconstituted as the First-Year Seminar program. The Imagined Landscape continues under the new rubric.
Syllabus
The Imagined Landscape changes each year, depending upon the composition of its faculty. Certain broad themes have remained constant. We are interested in the extent to which our imaginations figure in our understanding of the current "environmental crisis" and in the policies we pursue to correct what we see as ecological destruction, habitat pollution, and so forth. We study older images of nature and the landscape in an attempt to understand the extent to which long-cherished myths lie at the basis of even our most "scientific" perceptions of the world around us. We then try to apply insights derived from this study to contemporary issues.
(See the Amherst Course Catalogue link for the descriptions of the seminar.)
Go to the 1999
syllabus for FYS 8, The Imagined LandscapeThe Sound and the Story home page | Top of Looker's page
Send e-mail to Thomas Looker | Send e-mail to Jan Dizard
