First-Year Seminars
Spring 2026
First-Year Seminars, Spring 2026
First-year seminars are small classes – limited to 19 students – that fulfill general education (distribution) requirements. Many of the seminars involve activities in New York City. Seminars are an excellent way to connect with peers and faculty in a relaxed and friendly setting. Seminar course descriptions begin on the next page of this document.
Note: As long as you started taking classes at Hofstra in the Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 semesters, you are eligible to register for a spring 2026 first-year seminar, even if you will reach sophomore class standing (30 or more credits) upon completion of the Fall 2025 semester.
You can prepare for Spring 2026 registration by signing up for a group advising session in October. First-year students will be sent information about signing up for a Fall group advising session via Pathway to Pride, located in Canvas. Check your Hofstra email for more information about this process. Attendees will receive the alternate PIN for Spring registration.
First-year students with an alternate PIN may register for a Spring 2025 first-year seminar or any other course on or after Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.
If you have questions about this process, please contact your advising dean. You can find your advising dean’s name on the Hofstra portal in several locations:
•Log in to my.hofstra.edu.
•Go to Menu, click on Student Services, then click on Your Success Team.
•Select the Student Success Navigate icon on the homepage to view Your Success Team on the bottom right of the home screen.
•Click on the Degree Works icon to view your degree audit. Your advising dean’s name will appear at the top of the audit.
You can also contact the Center for University Advising (CUA) and ask, “ Who is my advising dean?” Please email or call the CUA office for any assistance you may need. The CUA Office is located in:
Center for University Advising Room 101 Memorial Hall, South Campus. 516-463-6770
mailto:advising@hofstra.edu
ANTHROPOLOGY
1. ANTH 14S, sec. 1: Gender, Race, and Muslim Identity (BH, CC), 3 s.h.
T/TH, 11:20 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Hafza Girdap
CRN 23673
This course looks at how gender, race, and religion shape identity, with a focus on Muslim women’s experiences. We’ll explore how belonging, exclusion, privilege, and oppression affect people’s lives and sense of self. Rather than seeing Muslim women as one single group, we’ll study their diverse experiences in different cultural and political settings. We’ll also learn how ideas about race, migration, and global inequalities influence identity. Through readings and discussions, we’ll explore how Muslim women’s stories challenge stereotypes and open up more complex ways of thinking about identity and power across the world.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences or Cross-Cultural category.
ART HISTORY
2. AH 14S, sec. 1: Art as Food/Food as Art (AA) 3 s.h.
M/W, 9:40-11:05 a.m., Anna Novakov
CRN 21459
This course explores the dynamic relationship between art and food, examining how food has been represented, transformed, and conceptualized in art throughout history. Students will investigate the role of food in cultural expression, ritual, identity, and politics, as well as explore how artists have used food as both material and metaphor. Through readings, discussions, and hands-on creative projects, students will be encouraged to analyze food’s aesthetic qualities and engage with contemporary art practices that use food to address broader social, environmental, and philosophical issues. By the end of the course, students will have developed a deeper understanding of the interplay between consumption and creativity, producing their own food-inspired art and written reflections. No prior art experience is required.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category, and may be used to satisfy a requirement in the Food Studies minor.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
3. CLL 14S, sec. 1: Demons, Devils, Self-Destruction (LT), 3 s.h.
T/TH, 1:00-2:25 p.m., John Krapp
CRN 21684
Human beings are complicated. Capable of profound kindness, compassion, and generosity, humans cooperate to transform the environment in ways that make their lives easier, more satisfying, and fulfilling, both personally and collectively. They also consistently do stunning harm to themselves, to others, and to the world around them. Why? Is there something wrong with us? Is this the natural condition of who we are as human beings? For as long as there has been literature, literature has endeavored to understand and to explain these contradictory impulses in us. In this course, we read a variety of literary texts that look at our most inexplicable behavior and account for it as the result of the work of evil spirits, of the failure of moral and academic education, and of who we are as human beings. As we discuss the implications of all of these possibilities, we look particularly at the risks and rewards of religious faith in explaining, and overcoming, the harm that humans bring to the world.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.
FINE ARTS
4. FA 14S, sec. 1: Off the Wall Painting (CP), 3 s.h.
M/W, 9:40-11:05 a.m., James Lee
CRN 21460
This experimental painting course combines aspects of painting and sculpture to produce hybrid artworks that are mounted on the wall. Cave paintings, among the earliest surviving works of art, incorporated the natural irregularities of the walls with two-dimensional images. Throughout art history, painting has extended into the third dimension in a great variety of applications, including the traditions of mosaic and the modern invention of collage. Students learn formal aspects of painting such as color, shape, and composition, while being encouraged to experiment with new materials, paints, and adhesives. Prior experience with painting and sculpture is not expected.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.
HISTORY
5. HIST 14S, sec. 2: Thomas Jefferson Revisited (HP), 3 s.h.
T/TH, 2:40-4:05 p.m., Carolyn Eisenberg
CRN 22210
Two hundred and fifty years after the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s principles still resonate: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights…” And yet
over the course of his lifetime, Jefferson owned 600 slaves. The contradictions in his personal biography, reflect some of the deepest inconsistencies in US history. In this class we will focus on Jefferson’s fascinating life and role as a Founding Founder. We will draw upon this personal story to reflect on larger themes in the evolution of American society and governance.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.
LINGUISTICS
6. LING 14S, sec. 1: The Language Detective (LT), 3 s.h.
M/W, 9:40-11:05 a.m., Marlon Hurt CRN 23327
Forensic linguistics applies the science of linguistics to issues of law. This course thus investigates how the fundamental areas of linguistics such as syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics are used in real-world cases, often with life-or-death consequences for the people caught up in our legal system. The class will feature discussions of authentic language evidence from Dr. Marlon Hurt’s own work as a forensic analyst and expert witness having given testimony under oath in murder trials in Missouri and California as well as from a wealth of other sources. No prior familiarity with linguistics is needed.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.
MUSIC
7. MUS 14S, sec. 1: Songs of Ecstasy and Emancipation: Sikh Music and Thought (AA, CC), 4 s.h.
T/TH, 3:50-5:45 p.m., Francesca Cassio and Balbinder Bhogal CRN 23580
This interdisciplinary and introductory course offers an experiential approach to Sikhism, one of the world religions originating in Panjab, Northwest India. Students will explore its musical history and thoughts through songs taken from its sacred writings, which were composed during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Students will hear from experts in their fields, learning not only what the songs of ecstasy mean but also engaging with them musically. The poetic songs cover a variety of themes: the ecstasy of love and mystical emancipation as well as the pain of loss and separation, how to lead a spiritual life amidst the challenges each day brings, how to integrate mind and body, and how to manage the gift and curse of time. As part of this course, the class will visit a local Gurdwara to experience in context how music is an integral part of Sikh education and community engagement. This course is co-taught by the Chair in Sikh Musicology (Department of Music) and the Chair in Sikh Studies (Department of Religion).
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities or Cross-Cultural category. This course is cross-listed with RELI 14S.
PHILOSOPHY
8. PHIL 14S, sec. 1: Philosophy and Stories: Harry Potter, Kafka, and Beyond (HP), 4 s.h. T/TH, 2:40-4:35 p.m., Mark McEvoy
CRN 22561
What do Harry Potter, giant beetles, and village lotteries have to do with philosophy? A lot more than you might think. In this course, we’ll think about how stories from classics like The Metamorphosis to favorites like Harry Potter lead us to ask big questions: What makes you you if your body changes completely? Is it ever fair for one person to be sacrificed for the good of many? Why do we cry over the death of a character who isn’t even real? Can a story with harmful ideas (like defending slavery) still count as “good” literature? Fiction doesn’t just entertain us it gives us a way to explore some of the deepest puzzles about identity, morality, and meaning. Together we’ll read, watch, and discuss how stories shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
9. PSC 14S, sec. 2: Law, Politics, & Society (BH), 4 s.h.
AVAILABLE ONLY TO STUDENTS REGISTERED IN THE LEAP PROGRAM
M/W, 9:10-11:05 a.m., Celeste Kaufman
CRN 22737
Every year, tens of thousands of young people enter law school and begin the study of legal rules. Most do so because they see the legal profession as a noble calling, and they enter it with a desire to promote justice. In their three years of full-time study of the law, however, these future lawyers spend little time thinking critically about legal rules and about the place of the lawyer in a just society. In this course we explore how our legal rules and constitutional norms have developed; how the American legal system interacts with the rest of our political institutions; how the American legal system reflects the cultural norms, class distinctions, and idiosyncrasies of our society; and how legal rules and the role of the lawyer relate to larger ideals of a just society.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.
RELIGION
10. RELI 14S, sec. 1: Songs of Ecstasy and Emancipation: Sikh Music and Thought (CC, HP), 4 s.h.
T/TH, 3:50-5:45 p.m., Balbinder Bhogal and Francesca Cassio
CRN 23394
This interdisciplinary and introductory course offers an experiential approach to Sikhism, one of the world religions originating in Panjab, Northwest India. Students will explore its musical history and thoughts through songs taken from its sacred writings, which were composed during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Students will hear from experts in their fields, learning not only what the songs of ecstasy mean but also engaging with them musically. The poetic songs cover a variety of themes: the ecstasy of love and mystical emancipation as well as the pain of loss and separation, how to lead a spiritual life amidst the challenges each day brings, how to integrate mind and body, and how to manage the gift and curse of time. As part of this course, the class will visit a local Gurdwara to experience in context how music is an integral part of Sikh education and community engagement. This course is co-taught by the Chair in Sikh Musicology (Department of Music) and the Chair in Sikh Studies (Department of Religion).
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities or Cross-Cultural category. This course is cross-listed with MUS 14S.
SOCIOLOGY
11. SOC 14S, sec. 1: The Sociology of Opportunity: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? (BH), 3 s.h.
T/TH, 1-2:25 p.m., William Mangino
CRN 23760
Even just a few hundred years ago, for most people, the question above would not make sense; for they would expect to "be" whatever their kind had always been hunters, gatherers, farmers, peasants, etc. This choice of one's future is a product of profound sociohistorical shifts that gave rise to the modern concepts of individuality, freedom, and opportunity. The first part of this course will take an intellectual tour of human evolution from humble origins to spacefaring species to show that social organization is the first arbiter of what is possible, of what opportunities are available. The next portion of the course will explore how and why opportunity, and its equality, have come to be paired with formal education. We will seek an explicit definition of “opportunity,” and then systematically assess how opportunities flow to individuals and categories of people, both through the educational system and outside it. Students will come to understand the organizational structure that they currently inhabit (college), and how it can empower and/or impede choice and individuality.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.