Themes are not automatically assigned for EN 102 Courses, but teachers may choose a unifying theme for the semester to help engage students and guide their essay topics. Teachers should think about themes that would appeal to the freshman student audience and help students achieve the course outcomes.
In the past, EN 102 courses were assigned one of five broad themes. These themes and associated resources are provided below as a resource for teachers.
Some textbook publishers offer small, themed readers that might be helpful.
- Pearson Themed Readers
- Oxford Themed Readers
- Fountainhead Themed Readers
- National Geographic Themed Readers
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[bs_citem title=”Advancing Mind and Body” id=”citem_8852-9d5a” parent=”collapse_3454-3574″]
Potential Approaches
• Future of health care (national or global)
• America’s hunger/obesity dichotomy
• Medical ethics
• Parenting techniques
• Professional sports (injury, recovery, health issues, medical treatments, etc.)
• Michelle Obama’s new childhood obesity plan
• Food (slow food movement, organic eating, school lunch programs, food pantries, etc.)
• Biology subtheme (animal extinction, preservation, evolutions, etc.)
• Psychology subtheme (talk versus drug therapy)
• Sociology subtheme (class consciousness, etc.)
• Kinesiology subtheme (various healing techniques, etc.)
Websites
• CNN.com’s blog Eatocracy
• Huffington Post’s Gastrolab: The Latest in Food Science
Films / TV Series
• The Future of Food
• Food Inc.
• Super Size Me
• Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
• Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat
• What the #%$* do we know?
• Wordplay
• The Beautiful Truth
• Richard Linklater films: Slacker; Waking Life
• Charlie Kauffman films: Adaptation; Being John Malkovich; Synecdoche, New York
• The Botany of Desire
Newspapers / Magazines
• The Science Section of The New York Times
Articles / Essays
• “The Carnivore’s Dilemma,” Nicolette Hahn Niman
• “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable,” Gary Steiner
• “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers,” Robert Paarlberg. Foreign Policy magazine.
• “Vegans and the Quest for Purity,” Harold Fromm. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• “Fear Factories: The case for compassionate conservatism-for animals,” Matthew Scully. The American Conservative.
• “A Healthy Constitution,” Alice Waters. The Nation.
• “Beyond Organic,” Eliot Coleman.
• “Suburban Foraging: Two Families Eat Only Local,” Renee Brooks Catacalos and Kristi Bahrenburg Janzen. Mother Earth News.
• “Organic Foods: Do Eco-Friendly Attitudes Predict Eco-Friendly Behaviors?” Molly J. Dahm, Aurelia V. Samonte, and Amy R. Shows (Academic Search Premier-library database)
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[bs_citem title=”Engaging Southern Culture and Diversity” id=”citem_a5df-e43c” parent=”collapse_3454-3574″]
Potential Approaches
• Cultural geography
• Southern food ways (barbeque, soul food, etc.)
• Southern folk ways
• Sports in the south
• Southern pop culture in the mass media (film or TV or music–one or all)
• Southern coastal economy (oil, fishing, tourism)
• Southern identity (through education, history, economy, sports, pop culture, etc.)
• Political history
Websites
• Southern Spaces: An Interdisciplinary about regions, places, and cultures of the American South and their global connections (essays, short films, photo essays about contemporary Southern issues)
• Tuscaloosa Area Virtual Museum (historic photos of Tuscaloosa, campus, etc.)
Films / TV Series
• America Beyond the Color Line
• Little Girls
• Kill a Mockingbird
• Mississippi Burning
• Prom Night in Mississippi
• Junebug
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• David Gordon Green films: George Washington; Undertow; All the Real Girls
Newspapers / Magazines
• Oxford American magazine (physical copies available at Gorgas soon; no library database access)
• Birmingham News, weekly regional issue
• Southern Living magazine
• Garden & Gun: Soul of the New South magazine
Articles / Essays
• “Postmodern Southern Vacation: Vacation Advertising, Globalization, and Southern Living”, Amy Elias
• “The Secret South.” Rosecrans Baldwin, Nic Brown, Mike Grudowski, Elizabeth Hutchison and Hanna Raskin. Garden & Gun.
• “Cussing the Spill” Roy Blount, Jr. Garden & Gun.
• “‘You’re Dixie’s Football Pride’: American College Football and the Resurgence of Southern Identity”, Wes Borucki
• “Anthrology” by Andrea Lee (full text of article included in the online preview of New Stories from the South: the year’s best, 2002
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[bs_citem title=”Enterprising America and the World” id=”citem_ecf1-58ad” parent=”collapse_3454-3574″]
Potential Approaches
• Globalization issues
• Entertainment industry
• Business ethics
• Dealing with international disasters (like BP, Dupont disaster in India, etc.)
• Economic policies
• The Business of Higher Education
Films / TV Series / Radio
• The Apprentice series
• Mad Men series
• Into the Wild
• NPR series: Low-Wage America
• Inside Job
• Waiting for Superman
Newspapers / Magazines
• Harvard Business Review
• Business section of New York Times
Articles / Essays
• “Dehumanized: when math and science rule the school” by Mark Slouka
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[bs_citem title=”Imagining the 22nd Century” id=”citem_7946-e56c” parent=”collapse_3454-3574″]
Potential Approaches
• Urban challenges (infrastructure, architecture, poverty)
• Improving cyberspace
• Digital/visual rhetoric
• Educational technologies
• Generational distinctions
• Future of communication (text, skype, blogs, technology)
• Future of advertisement
• Future of jobs/job security
• Effects of global economy
Newspapers / Magazines
• Wired magazine (wired.com)
• New Yorker magazine
Articles / Essays
• From Diversity to Sustainability: How Campus Ideology Is Born,” Peter Wood
• Philip Hensher: Why handwriting matters
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[bs_citem title=”Sustaining Planet Earth” id=”citem_6573-4ba9″ parent=”collapse_3454-3574″]
Potential Approaches
• Arguments for peace
• Urban challenges (recycling, green building, green space, traffic/pollution, noise pollution, etc.)
• Future of water
• Modes of transportation
• Arguments for green living/eating
• Green businesses
Films / TV Series
• Planet Earth documentary series
• Life documentary series
• The 11th Hour
• Food Inc.
• The Cove
• Water: The Great Mystery
• No Impact Man: The Documentary
• American Experience: Earth Days
• Ken Burns: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
• The Yes Men Fix the World
• Winged Migration
• Blue Planet: Seas of Life
• Flow
Newspapers / Magazines
• Seed Magazine
• Mother Earth News
Articles / Essays
• “The Sustainability Imperative,” David A. Lubin and Daniel C. Esty, Harvard Business Review
• To Really Save the Planet, Stop Going Green,” Mike Tidwell. Washington Post op-ed.
• “Earth Without People.” Alan Wiesman. Discover Magazine.
• “The American Forests.” John Muir. The Atlantic Monthly Group.
• “Sounding the Alarm.” Bruce Watson. Biophile Magazine.
• “A Manifesto for the Planet: an Interview with Stewart Brand.” Maywa Montenegro. Seed Magazine.
• “Brown Pelican Long a Symbol of Survival.” Wayne Drash. CNN.com.
• “Climate and Energy Truths: Our Common Future.” Eco-America. Ecoamerica.net
• “The Great Turtle Rescue.” Monte Burke. Garden & Gun.
• “The Lost Gulf.” Rick Bragg. Garden & Gun.
• “Meet the Radical Homemakers.” Shannon Hayes. Yes! magazine.
• “From Diversity to Sustainability: How Campus Ideology is Born.” Peter Wood. The Chronicle.
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