Every Fall, All First-Time Shenandoah Students Register For One Of The Many Going Global Offerings.
Fall 2025 Classes: Please click the course title below for descriptions and class videos.
Fall 2025 course requests are open May 9 – June 30, 2025.
Faculty: Pam Ghanem
In this class, we will dive into the rich and diverse culinary traditions of the Middle East, exploring the history, ingredients, and techniques that make this cuisine so unique and beloved worldwide. The students will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural significance behind each dish. We can cover a wide range of topics, including the influence of geography and climate on Middle Eastern cuisine, the role of food in social gatherings and celebrations, and the cultural significance of specific ingredients and spices. We can also explore the various regional cuisines within the Middle East, such as Lebanese, Moroccan, Turkish, and Persian, to name just a few. By the end of the semester, students will not only have expanded their culinary skills but also gained a deeper appreciation for the cultural diversity and traditions of the Middle East. This class will provide a unique opportunity to explore a fascinating aspect of culture while enjoying delicious food along the way.
Faculty: Courtney Reilly
Beyond enjoyment and entertainment, the arts broaden our perspective and bring meaning to our lives — they give voice to human struggle, tackle challenging questions, provide space for reflection, and connect us to our own humanity. This course will explore how the arts impact and connect us on an individual and global level. Through active participation and reflection, we will experience the arts — participating in, observing, and discussing a broad range of artistic responses to global issues. We will explore how the arts have been used globally as a tool for social justice, and reflect on how we experience the arts and how those experiences are shaped by our own world view.
Faculty: Tracy Fitzsimmons & Bethany Galipeau-Konate
This course explores how food shapes politics, culture, and identity at global, national, and personal levels. How has food scarcity fueled conflict? How does cuisine reflect migration, gentrification, and power? Through readings, discussions, and shared meals, we’ll examine these questions while engaging with chefs, historians, and food producers. A fall break trip to New Orleans will immerse us in Creole and Cajun traditions, while a short visit to New York City will highlight food’s role in urban identity. From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, we’ll uncover the deep connections between food, place, and power. (Additional fee for this course to cover the travel experiences.)
Faculty: Yolanda Gibson
In Communicating in a Global Society, students will learn how to communicate with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and various settings. Students will examine their own cultural identity as well as cultures around the globe as it pertains to values, beliefs, language, media, and traditions. Utilizing various aspects of intercultural communication theory, students will address how these cultural indicators manifest through communication and how societies use communication in different ways.
Faculty: Scott King
Did you get enough sleep last night? About a third of Americans don’t, and in our current age of anxiety, this number is surely rising. In this course we will examine science-based causes, correlates, and consequences of changing sleep patterns across the world, paying special attention to connections with lost sleep among marginalized persons, and discuss empirically supported strategies for students to improve their own sleep habits.
Faculty: Sherie Sam
This course will explore the phenomenon of serial killings through a gendered lens, examining patterns, motivations, and societal influences across different cultures. Students will analyze case studies of male and female serial killers, comparing psychological profiles, crime methodologies, and media portrayals. The course will also investigate global variations in serial homicide rates, legal responses, and cultural perceptions of gendered violence. We would employ movies, web-series, docuseries from across the world to critically examine the phenomenon of serial killing.
Faculty: Beth Jones
Sci-fi films often begin with a foundational scientific premise; however, the accuracy of these narratives varies greatly. This course will examine films from various countries and time periods to explore how they depict science and influence scientific inquiry. We will investigate questions such as: How accurately is science represented? Are there cultural differences in depictions of science? Have depictions of science changed over time? Did this narrative help inspire scientific discovery or is it inspired by science? Guest speakers from diverse disciplines will be invited to help students assess the plausibility of narratives. Together we will discuss and analyze whether the science portrayed is cast in a positive or negative light, whether it plays a central role in storytelling,
Faculty: Mannie Brown
For the past 100 years, we’ve seen fashion trends go through substantial changes as a result of the culture of the particular time period said fashion trends fall within. Additionally, these adjustments in expression have allowed us to examine gender expression and how fashion has influenced our understanding of the concept of Gender. This course seeks to answer the following questions: How has fashion influenced the understanding of both gender identity and expression from the 1920s to now? What are some similarities and differences of the United States and Global fashion influences?
Faculty: Bryan Pearce-Gonzales
This course will take a deep dive into one of the most popular forms of storytelling – the ghost story. Students will analyze some of the unifying elements and tropes of ghost stories, such as motherhood, the mentally/criminally ill, and “evil” as perceived in Christianity, among others. Guest presenters will be invited to class, either in person or via Zoom, to recount their experiences with otherworldly, supernatural and spectral figures like La Llorona, the Bunnyman, the Mothman, and the demons known on the US/Mexico border as lechuzas. We will watch films, documentaries, and read excerpts from The Routledge Introduction to the American Ghost Story to frame our approach to these folk tales and legends.
Faculty: Chase Neukam
The ‘Gaming at Shenandoah’ course offers students to a global introduction to gaming cultures around the world, including the community-driven aspects of ‘gaming’ on SU’s campus, which includes everything from the innovative, award-winning esports program to our ‘Dieverse’ Tabletop club to the new cutting-edge AR/VR clubs. Students will study and analyze the impact gaming has on communities, including our own. Additionally this course will expose students to the world of esports live events, broadcasts, cultures, community offerings and organizations. Guest speakers will offer insights into various aspects of gaming around the world.
Faculty: Maurice Fraga & Kat Zukeri
This course delves into the origins and evolution of modern street and club dance forms in the United States, examining their cultural impact and significance. Students will explore the historical development of these dance styles, their role in urban communities, and their influence on popular culture. Styles covered will include Popping, Locking, Breaking, Wh/aacking, Vogue, Hip Hop Party Styles, and Krumping. Through lectures, discussions, and analysis of key performances in American media, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how these dance forms have shaped and been shaped by American society. They will also have the opportunity to experience this culture through an immersive experience hosted on campus.
Faculty: Rebecca Gibson
Together we will explore voter registration, engagement and advocacy and how to share our knowledge and experience with our peers and the broader community through events and activities on campus that relate to the November 2025 election. We will learn everything about registering and voting in our Voting 101 segment. Then, with help from Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and other hilarious late night talk show hosts, we will explore, discuss and reflect on global social justice issues and how they correspond to those of the current election campaigns locally and across the country. We will learn to make the connections between issues we care about and ways to advocate for them in the community and in the world, through activism and through our legislators. Videos, readings and real-world experiences will give us opportunities for dialogue and reflection, group presentations and other ways to increase our understanding of global issues.
Faculty: Amy Sarch
What does your coffee say about you? From espresso in an Italian café to a pumpkin spice latte on Instagram, coffee is more than just a drink—it’s a powerful symbol of culture, identity, and meaning. This course explores the history and semiotics of coffee, examining how advertising, globalization, gender, and class have shaped coffee culture in the United States. Through media analysis, coffee tastings, and international coffee making demonstrations, students will uncover how coffee connects communities and constructs identity. Whether you’re a casual coffee drinker or a devoted aficionado, this engaging seminar will change the way you see your daily brew.
Faculty: Younus Mirza
A study of the various marriage and sexual practices in Islamic history beginning with pre-Islamic Arabia and ending with the modern Muslim world. We examine how Muslims understood sex, arranged sexual relationships, and structured marriage contracts. Special attention is paid to how Muslim women were placed within sexual relationships and how they navigated different cultural and religious rules to their advantage. Attention is also paid to modern attempts to reform Islamic law in an effort to seek greater gender equality.
Faculty: DeLyn Celec & Sarah Celec
Have you ever been in a social, academic, or professional situation and not known how to strike up a conversation with someone you want to talk to? Have you ever been stuck talking to someone after your mutual friend left, and didn’t know what to say? Have you ever looked around and thought, “I have nothing in common with anyone here but can’t leave for over an hour?” This course uses the professors’ collective backgrounds in theatre, activism, higher education, music, and community service to help you find connection across differences – and sometimes awkwardness.
Faculty: Fritz Polite
This FYS course focuses on developing and understanding individual traits and principles of global leadership/awareness. Students will engage in a variety of exercises that will explore global topics such as economics, politics, technology, cultures, and the dimensions of global leadership. They will explore the concepts of globalization and the need for educating themselves to be able to effectively operate in a truly global economy.
Faculty: Sarah Canfield
Science fiction developed out of a desire to understand the effects of science and technology and to anticipate the futures we might be creating as we learn and innovate. In recent years, the future we have so long anticipated has now become a regular part of our present experience. This class will explore specific examples and multiple perspectives of where our fictions and our science intersect in our global reality, such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, climate change, or space exploration.
Faculty: DeLyn Celec, Sarah Celec
Have you ever been in a social, academic, or professional situation and not known how to strike up a conversation with someone you want to talk to? Have you ever been stuck talking to someone after your mutual friend left, and didn’t know what to say? Have you ever looked around and thought, “I have nothing in common with anyone here but can’t leave for over an hour?” This course uses the professors’ collective backgrounds in theatre, activism, higher education, music, and community service to help you find connection across difference – and sometimes awkwardness.
Faculty: Jess Clawson
Ever wonder why a show like The Bachelor prevails on American television, a reality television show where the winner receives a rose and a marriage proposal? How is gender, sexual orientation, and American culture constructed and constrained in such a snapshot of “reality”? This course asks you to closely examine how you experience gender and sexuality in your everyday life and then challenges you to broaden that experience to exploring how cultures outside the U.S. construct gender identity and sexual orientation. Why are only some kinds of sex legitimated and institutionalized as the proper form of sexuality? Why are only some partnerships considered legitimate or normal? This course provides a framework for addressing questions such as these; together we will look globally to find answers, question those answers, and question our own perceptions of what is “normal.”
Faculty: Karen Abraham
This seminar will examine the major health problems affecting women globally and explore the underlying sociocultural factors that prevent women and girls from accessing quality health services. Gender-based health disparities are evident throughout the world but are particularly prevalent in resource-poor countries. Some of the factors we will explore include: poverty, power relationships between men and women, access to education and employment, potential for physical, sexual, and emotional violence, and an emphasis on reproductive health.
Faculty: Abi Gomez
This seminar, The Power of Public Art, focuses on visual art applications as extensions of individuals and communities. What does it mean to have a voice? How does voice transcend language and culture? Can someone have a voice without uttering a word? What is community? Where do communities exist? What is art? What is public art? Where and how does public art exist? Can public art create community? Can public art affect social change and accelerate social justice? In this seminar we will explore these questions and others by looking at visual art in the public sphere created in response to local, national, and global social justice issues. Students will engage in a variety of experiential opportunities including, but not limited to: public art site visits, public art critiques, and the creation of public art projects.
Faculty: Jonathan Noyales
The World Through a Hornet’s Eyes will utilize 150 years of Shenandoah University’s history to explore various issues and moments that have impacted the world over the past century and a half, including global conflicts, integration, equality, the evolving landscape of higher education, health crises, leadership, and political upheaval. Additionally, the course will feature guests related to Shenandoah’s history since its relocation to Winchester in 1960 and include a class visit to the original Shenandoah campus in Dayton, Virginia.
Faculty: Lisa Wood
It has been said that horror fiction allows for the exploration of social contexts. In essence, it acts like a mirror through which society can see itself. This course will encourage students to explore concepts such as gender bias, racial disparity, and ageism through horror subgenres, tropes, and imagery. Students will analyze written and visual works to identify societal concerns, dive deeper to uncover constructs related to the frameworks presented, and discover connections to their own perspectives. By the end of the course, students will understand how to use the craft of storytelling to impart broader views.
Faculty: Marco Pflanzen
What does it mean to be Indigenous? How do we make sense of our relationship to the history of the land surrounding us and everyone who has lived, loved, and taken care of it? How does how we understand our roots affect our understanding of those who are Native to the areas we live in, visit, or explore? From the lush rainforests of South America to the vast expanses of the Arctic, this course invites you to explore the rich history of traditions, languages, and worldviews that define Indigenous communities across the globe. Join us as we celebrate the resilience, creativity, and wisdom of Indigenous cultures, and discover how they continue to shape our shared humanity in profound ways.
Faculty: Audra Gollenberg
Have you ever wondered how the ancient art of storytelling can be used in powerful ways to advocate for issues you care about? Would you like to put your creative energies towards a call to action? This class may be for you! Digital storytelling can be an effective medium for communication, building empathy and connection around issues that affect humanity. Through analyzing others’ stories, and creating our own, we will build community and momentum for action around health/healthcare issues that affect us locally and globally. No prior experience with fancy technology required!
Faculty: Jennifer Coleman
This course will explore valuable contributors who have impacted the world and how they are (or might be) recognized for their efforts. Students will explore individuals or events, from home and abroad, who have contributed to the greater good of their communities and identify what makes someone or something “worthy” of recognition. Additionally, students will analyze how and where these individuals/events have been acknowledged. Guest presenters will share about the artistic process of creating statues, how locations are chosen, and the approval process of erecting a statue. Students will then put their learning into action by researching an individual, event, or concept, and designing a statue based on the information they uncover.
Faculty: Adela Borrallo-Solis
Why do some people get rewarded for speaking two languages while others are encouraged to be monolingual? This course aims to explore the connection between language, inequality and identity. It will analyze how the Latinx identity model has been constructed in the US so that we can challenge inequity by learning how our identity will be an asset professionally. In other words, the course will also attempt to level the professional plain field and give those who are bicultural; and/or those who speak or want to speak Spanish; and/or those who are interested in other cultures the knowledge and skills to be professionally successful thanks to their language and cultural understanding. Once the course is completed, students will have all the resources necessary to find, apply and interview for a professional position and use their language and cultural baggage as professional advantages. Note: while this course will use Latinx as the model to be explored, it is not restricted to Latinx students. Anybody interested in the topic is welcome to join
Faculty: Mady Rodriguez
What is culture? Do I have a culture? Or is culture something that others have? How do I feel when I am the different one? What can I do to have better interactions in situations where differences exist? This highly interactive class, You Mean I Have Culture?, will address these questions. Through the use of experiential training activities, movie clips and intercultural readings students will explore behavior through the lens of values. Students will be guided in developing their own cultural self-awareness, discover ways to increase effectiveness interacting with those different from themselves and explore how cultural differences play into conflict. We will explore differences found throughout the world, but also differences that exist in our own neighborhood. Join us on this multicultural adventure!
Course requests will be open May 9 – June 30, 2025.
Shenandoah University’s Going Global Initiative Is A Series Of Building Blocks That Begin With Our Going Global First Year Seminar.
Virtually Going Global
Virtually Going Global and FYS bring together American and Jordanian undergraduate students for dialogue focused on designated common experiences or joint projects, led by student leaders trained in dialogue facilitation. This virtual exchange creates a space for students to engage in a shared experience ranging from a common event (i.e. speaker, performance, documentary), cultural artifact project, or individually designed assignment. Binational groups develop projects based on their shared experiences that promote intercultural competencies and multiple perspectives. Each year, projects will be showcased at a culminating event in both regions.
Meet the Director of First Year Seminar
Bryan Pearce-Gonzales
Department Chair & Professor of Hispanic Studies
540-542-6202 | fys@su.edu | Henkel Hall 217
I look forward to meeting all of you!
Please feel free to call me, e-mail me, or stop by my office.
FYS brought me to not only friends but a family! My class encouraged me to find the most important parts of curriculum, the city of Winchester and most importantly myself! It brought a sense of purpose that encouraged me to evaluate and establish my most important values in a way that supported my most true self.
Camryn Roberts ’23
Public Health, BS
Business Administration in Healthcare Management, BBA
My FYS class created so many opportunities to make new connections and learn from my fellow peers. Starting a new chapter in life can be a little intimidating but through the support of my fellow FYS peers and mentor, Shenandoah quickly began to feel like home.
Rachel Taylor ’24
Psychology, BS EA-OT
When I first got to Shenandoah, it was my FYS class that really made me feel at home. My professor, my classmates, and the class itself was a warm welcome and I still utilize intercultural skills from that class every day! I’m forever thankful to my FYS family, because that class has shaped who I am as a student, an artist, and a leader.
Maya Bhatnagar ’22
Theatre Design and Production- Stage Management, BFA
Spanish, BA