Shenandoah University students always begin their Shenandoah experience with a Going Global First-Year Seminar (FYS) course, and even in 2020, a year in which everything seems different, FYS remains. Students chose from one of more than two dozen courses, this fall, all of which creatively explore a topic from a global point of view – topics range from the arts, ghost stories and alternative therapies to issues of leadership, racial justice and defining race, and just about anything else you can imagine.
For example, the semester’s courses include not only “The Uses, Abuses, and Purpose of History,” with Shenandoah’s McCormick Civil War Institute Director Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., but also “Taco Tuesdays,” from Professor of Hispanic Studies Bryan R. Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D.
Both Noyalas and Dr. Pearce-Gonzales find great value in FYS, because it provides students with a unique and meaningful introduction to Shenandoah University life.
It helps students establish a sense of community and transition from life in high school to life at a university. Additionally, it offers an opportunity for students to explore things that they might not otherwise explore as a result of their major. FYS provides an opportunity for students to have a diverse learning experience.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.
In all FYS classes, you have students taking a class with a professor who they likely will not see again in future classes because their academic goals have taken them in a different direction. For a humanities professor like me, this is one of the coolest things about teaching an FYS course. I will get conservatory or business school students who I might never see in my class if it were not for FYS. Having students from different disciplines across the university fosters really interesting class discussions, as the students each bring their varied perspectives to the class.”
Bryan R. Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D.
The professors designed their courses to address the interests of first-year students and be relevant to the contemporary world.
I wanted to create a course to help students understand the value of history, to understand why people fight about the past, to comprehend the ways that historic reality is manipulated to advance a particular agenda, and how students can apply historical perspectives to their daily lives. Finally, I created this course to help students (and the majority of students in this course are not history majors) understand how they can utilize history to bring perspective to difficult times, whether it be in a global or national crisis, or in an individual crisis. While history does not repeat itself, it at times seems to rhyme. I always tell my students that when crises happen historians rarely freak out because one can always find a parallel to an event in the past. Instilling that perspective in my students helps them understand that history can in fact teach us to hope in times of great turmoil and strife.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.
In further describing the course, Noyalas invoked the words of the writer William Faulkner, noting that:
‘The past isn’t dead, it isn’t even past.’ Everything that we experience today is a product of the past. Nothing that happens ever occurs in a vacuum. Racial tensions and debates over the Civil War era’s commemorative landscape are all rooted in the past. Understanding the nuances and complexities of that history are so critical to moving forward. Additionally, my FYS course offers perspective on another crisis confronting the nation right now – the COVID-19 pandemic. The manner in which individuals are reacting to certain measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, namely masks, is the same way that individuals reacted over a century ago during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Ask any historian about the manner in which people today have reacted to the mask mandate and they’ll probably tell you that they’re not surprised at all.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.
For FYS courses, I always try to get into the headspace of our students. I created this course because I thought that one of the most interesting and creative ways to learn about another culture is through their food. And who doesn’t like tacos?”
Bryan R. Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D.
Pearce-Gonzales’ course also includes not only food and culture, but also history and even a streaming service.
I’m attempting to utilize a beloved food as a gateway of sorts to examine Mexican and Mexican-American culture and history more broadly. And since Mexican culture and history are tightly intertwined with American culture and history, I’m hopeful that the students will gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for their own culture as well. I am also utilizing a Netflix account as my ‘textbook’ for this semester, requiring students to watch several documentaries on the history, preparation, and cultural significance of tacos. Students also love Netflix!”
Bryan R. Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D.
Both instructors did have to make some changes to their courses, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The FYS classes are offered in the ShenFlex format, which allows students or instructors to participate virtually, if necessary.
My course meets simultaneously in-person in our appointed classrooms and synchronously remote. Since the ShenFlex model offers a great degree of flexibility, students have a choice as to how they wish to participate. One of my classrooms has enough space for physical distancing and students in that section customarily attend exclusively in person, but there have been occasions where I’ve had a few students attend remotely. My other section only has enough seats to accommodate 13 students, so my (student) mentor has developed a rotational system. Of course, every class session has an asynchronous mechanism put in place in case a student is unable, due to health reasons, to attend in person or synchronously remote. I’m using all of the tools SU has provided within the ShenFlex model to make certain my students are receiving the best learning experience possible, but doing so in a manner that makes them feel safe and comfortable.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.
As for Pearce-Gonzales, he had to figure out how to make taco tastings work in a socially distanced, usually masked environment. While he’s conducting his course via ShenFlex, combining face-to-face and Zoom learning, he said he has also built in some “distance learning” days in which students watch a documentary and answer some questions on Flipgrid as well.
I have about 20 students in my course, so the trickiest part are the taco tastings (of which there will be six throughout the semester). I will have to find a room big enough for everyone to be able to attend face to face on those days. I’ve had success reserving Stimpson Auditorium for all of our tastings except one, so I’m still trying to locate a space for that one — perhaps outside?”
Bryan R. Pearce-Gonzales, Ph.D.
Shenandoah has set up large tents to be used as outdoor classrooms this fall.
While FYS is operating a little bit differently than in years past, one thing hasn’t changed for Noyalas. He continues to be delighted by the students.
I will say that students in both of my sections have been WONDERFUL. They’re following all the guidelines and pitching in to disinfect the classroom. It is clear to me, through their behavior, that they value education and understand what’s at stake.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.
FYS does more than inspire happiness for Noyalas – it also brings back memories.
I have always loved teaching FYS – I love building a sense of community/family with my students. I take great joy in watching these first-year students evolve over a 15-week period – the transformation is always something rewarding for me to observe. Watching students grow, learn, and mature is quite satisfying. Finally, I still remember what it was like for me when I came to SU as an undergraduate in 1997 – it was the first time I was away from home – and it gives me an opportunity to help at least a portion of our future SU Hornet alumni become acclimated, understand what it means to be a Hornet, and ease their transition into this new environment.”
Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A.