Seminars are stand-alone courses – limited to 19 students – that fulfill graduation requirements. They allow you to interact in a small setting and connect with a faculty member who may become your major advisor, depending on the major you choose. We’ve tried to design seminars to fit every interest, from astronomy to psychology and philosophy.

To reserve your spot, log in to the Hofstra portal (my.hofstra.edu) any day after April 6, 2023 and indicate your preferences. Provide your top three choices in any combination (for example, two clusters and a seminar, or two seminars and a cluster). We can't guarantee your first choice, but we can generally enroll you in one of the top three you indicate. When you attend one of the orientation sessions this summer, you'll meet with an advisor and complete the rest of your fall schedule. At that time, you're welcome to select a different seminar or cluster.

For more information, please contact:
Center for University Advising
101 Memorial Hall, South Campus
Phone: 516-463-6770 or 516-463-7222
Email: Advising@hofstra.edu

ANTHROPOLOGY

1.
ANTH 14F, sec. 01: Myths Cross-Culturally (BH, CC), 3 s.h. 91862
M/W, 8-9:25 a.m., Anne Buddenhagen

All over the world, humans have told stories in attempts to explain perplexing elements of their existence – mountains that unexpectedly spewed lava, rains that didn’t stop and flooded the landscape, relatives who betrayed them, and strange behaviors of their spouses. These stories, filled with horror, humor, and (sometimes) wisdom, were told around nighttime fires as part education and part entertainment. This course examines Viking stories of long, strange journeys; Navajo stories of monsters; and Maya stories of how to win wars.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in either the Social Sciences or Cross-Cultural category.

2.
ANTH 14F, sec. 02: Bones, Bodies, and Burials (BH), 3 s.h. 91461
T/TH, 9:40-11:05 a.m., Kristen Hartnett-McCann

This course evaluates popular depictions of forensic science and forensic anthropology and explores the diverse roles of a forensic anthropologist in a modern, medicolegal setting. Students participate in hands-on skeletal analyses, case studies, and mock crime scene investigations. Topics such as human rights, serial killers, mass fatalities, and ethics of human subject research are investigated through readings and discussions.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


ART HISTORY

3.
AH 14F, sec. 01: Exploring New York City’s Art Museums (AA), 3 s.h. 91468
M/W,11:20 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Susan Schafer

This course will be an introduction to art history through virtual tours of the great art museums of New York City.  We will begin with the extraordinary collections of Egyptian art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, and continue through Ancient Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages.  Next, we will focus on the great artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods -- for example Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Vermeer -- in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Frick Collection. We will continue our exploration with the art of the 18th and 19th centuries including Impressionist painters Monet and Degas and Post-Impressionists Van Gogh and Gauguin and will end our semester-long virtual journey in the rich collections of 20th and 21st-century art in the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. 

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.


ASTRONOMY

4.
ASTR 14F, sec. QR1 & Q1L: Cosmic Explosions: The Cataclysmic Lives of Stars & Galaxies (NS,QR), 3 s.h. 92181 & 92182
Lecture, T, 2:40-4:35 p.m.; Lab, TH, 4:50-6:45 p.m.; Christina Lacey

This course investigates the birth and lives of stars, including stars like our sun. We study how stars produce energy and how some stars die with a whimper and some die spectacularly in massive supernova explosions. From there we talk about galaxies that are composed of these stars and the supermassive black holes that lurk at the hearts of most galaxies.

Please note: This course satisfies University graduation requirements in both the Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning categories.


COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

5.
CLL 14F, sec. 01: The Perils of Love in Literature (LT), 3 s.h. 93031
T/TH, 1-2:25 p.m., John Krapp

There are few things people desire more than love. We revel in it when we feel it. We fear the loss of it. We lament it when it is gone. But what is love? Is it anything more than an idea and a feeling associated with biochemical and neurological responses to our own bodies and the world around us? Would such knowledge help us negotiate love any more successfully? One of the places we can look for understanding and appreciation of love is literature, which represents characters with the same desires, appetites, and needs as we have. In this course, we will look at a variety of literary texts to prompt a conversation about the meaning and value of love both historically and in contemporary American culture. Along the way, we will discuss whether unconditional love is possible, how social circumstances may color our understanding of love, whether or not love may have a spiritual component, whether we should separate love from sexual desire, and what may happen if we confuse the two.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.


CREATIVE WRITING

6.
CRWR 14F, sec. 01: Keeping a Journal (CP), 3 s.h. 93343
M/W, 2:40- 4:05 p.m., Martha McPhee

Using Lynda Barry’s book Syllabus as an inspiration this class will be an exploration of the artistic benefits of keeping a journal. Students will be required to keep a daily journal, using exercises as prompts for noticing the world, for becoming aware of how to be present with our own selves and our inner lives while also coming to understand the importance of observation and seeing what’s there right in front of us. Prompts will come in many forms and generally engage questions that writers are constantly asking either indirectly or directly: What makes good art? Where does imagination come from? How do we learn from books we love? Can creativity be contagious? Why do details matter? How does writer’s block get broken? What is bad writing? Why does art exist? In addition to Lynda Barry we will also look at journal excerpts from Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Ann Frank, Susan Sontag, Vladimir Nabokov and others. 

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.


CRIMINOLOGY

7.
CRM 14F, sec. 01: Mass Incarceration: A Health and Safety Issue (IS), 3 s.h. 93383
M/W, 2:40- 4:05 p.m., Lior Gideon

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, increased interest in public health has led many students and scholars to examine the nexus between public health and other disciplines. This course will examine the potential public health consequences of mass incarceration and its effects on specific communities. Through exploration of public health, sociology and theories of prison and punishment, students will examine and discuss articles and research on the nexus between health and incarceration. Students will be exposed to principles of scientific research and learn how to critically evaluate write-ups of research.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Interdisciplinary Studies category.


DRAMA

8.
DRAM 14F, sec. 01: Broadway Goes Hollywood (AA), 3 s.h. 91118
T/TH, 1:00-2:25 p.m., Edward Elefterion

This course focuses on plays that have been adapted to film. By comparing videotaped performances and play texts to their finished film version counterparts, the class will explore the process of adaptation. Students will learn to identify the kinds of changes that need to be made when translating a play to film, what makes a successful adaptation, and why certain kinds of plays seem to resist the transfer to the big screen, while others flourish there.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category; it does not satisfy the DRAM 3 requirement for drama majors.


ECONOMICS

9.
ECO 14F, sec. 01: The Future of Capitalism: Economics and Politics in Our Times (BH), 4 s.h. 90512
M/W, 9:10-11:05 a.m., Massoud Fazeli

Globalization and technological change are potent forces that offer prosperity to many and yet are also causing deep rifts, anxiety, and anger in considerable segments of our society. Many observers have referred to rising inequality and the erosion of economic security as defining characteristics of our evolving capitalist economy. Is it feasible to generate sustainable economic growth that is more equitably distributed? Do populism and nationalism merely signify a passing backlash against the new global order? Has the U.S. lost its economic and political dominance permanently? And is it possible to envision a new and qualitatively different global order?

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


ENGLISH

10.
ENGL 14F, sec. 01: The Imaginary Museum: Art in Literature (LT), 3 s.h. 91871
M/W, 11:20 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Irene Fizer

In this course artworks make their appearance in works of literature in both expected and unexpected ways.  Our course readings will take us into grand museums located in the art capitals of the world—the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the National Gallery in London, and the Louvre in Paris--as well as off the beaten path to micro-museums consisting of a single artwork or of a solitary cabinet of curiosity filled with an eclectic array of art and artifacts.  With W.H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux-Arts” serving as a point of departure, we will read a series of novels and novellas that cover a sweeping span of time, from the late nineteenth century up through the present day, and then further into an imagined, post-apocalyptic future.
Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.

11.
ENGL 14F, sec. 02: Representing Labor and Leisure: Working & Playing in Literature and Culture (LT), 3 s.h. 93694
M/W, 9:40-11:05 a.m., Vimala Pasupathi

As you start your first year at Hofstra, the thought of future employment no doubt brings excitement and dread. These mixed emotions have much to do with the stories you’ve been told. The line mis-attributed to Mark Twain, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life," is only one of many narratives in circulation for people your age, persisting alongside think-pieces valorizing the liberating potential of “the gig economy,” and the more recently coined term “Quiet Quitting.” Is this what you have to look forward to in four years? This course invites you to think about such questions through fictional depictions of labor (and its more elusive counterpart, leisure) in poetry, prose, drama, songs, television, and film. From Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915) and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906), from Metropolis (1920) and Office Space (1999) to Severance (2022)––with “Take this job and Shove it” (1977) and “9 to 5” (1980) in between––it is clear that our current employment dramas have deep historical roots and literary pre-cursors. How have narratives about work changed over time? What does it mean to work for a living now?

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.


FINE ARTS

12.
FA 14F, sec. 01: Curious Stranger: Experimental Drawing (CP), 3 s.h. 93117
M/W 9:40 -11:05 a.m.; James Lee

This course is devoted to the exploration of alternative techniques, methods and concepts in contemporary art. Students will develop individual artworks and experiment with materials and processes that contribute to a broadened understanding of drawing as a discipline. Selected readings may be required, along with virtual/actual field trips to galleries and museums in New York City. During the semester each student will develop a small series of drawings (approximately 8–12) of a body of work that incorporates some form of experimentation or the use of a specific technique or alternative material that we have discussed and worked on during class.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Humanities category.


GEOLOGY

13.
GEOL 14F, sec. QR & QRL: Science of Gemstones and Crystals (NS,QR), 3 s.h. 92176
 & 92177
Lecture, M/F, 10:10-11:05 a.m.; Lab, F, 12:30-2:25 p.m.; Steven Okulewicz

This course explores the world of precious and semiprecious gems, metals, and crystals. Students learn about the variety of precious materials that come out of the Earth, how precious stones form, and where we find them. We also explore how to identify precious stones, how to tell real stones from fakes, and how raw gems are turned into jewelry. This course includes a laboratory component where students work with a variety of precious stones.

Please note: This course satisfies University graduation requirements in both the Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning categories.


HISTORY

14.
HIST 14F, sec. A: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Historical Perspective (HP), 3 s.h. 92683
T/TH, 4:20-5:45 p.m., Carolyn Eisenberg

For twelve days in October 1962, it seemed possible that a nuclear war was about to start. This was the most frightening international crisis in modern US history. Ever since people have been fascinated by the Cuban Missile Crisis and the character of President John F. Kennedy. In this seminar we will use film, newspapers, memoirs, and transcripts to consider diverse perspectives on this conflict and the American role.  Who was responsible for the crisis? And how was disaster averted? Does the Cuban Missile Crisis have any relevance for us today, and are nuclear weapons still a problem?

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

15.
LACS 14F, sec. A: Latin American Cities on Film (IS, CC), 3 s.h. 93373
M/W, 4:20-5:45 p.m., Benita Sampedro

Some of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the world–such as Mexico City, São Paolo, Río de Janeiro, Lima, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires—are all located in the vast, diverse region we know as Latin America. All have long histories, dating back to the Spanish colonial period and even earlier; each of them is older than the United States itself. But every one of these cities has undergone a spectacular transformation in the modern period, facing new challenges and new opportunities. Students will engage with some of the key historical and political moments in their development, as well as looking at deeper social and cultural dynamics, as they are represented in film and in other visual materials. We will look closely at urbanization, human mobility, migration and displacement, and gender, racial, and class struggles, to immerse ourselves in these major urban centers. We will also ask: is New York a Latin American city? Students in this course will have the chance to visit neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights and Washington Heights, and to discuss the way that they have been represented (and misrepresented) by the film industry.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in either the Interdisciplinary Studies or Cross-Cultural category.


LEGAL EDUCATION ACCELERATED PROGRAM (LEAP)

Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Hofstra’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law offer a selective, accelerated program in which students earn both the Bachelor of Arts and the Juris Doctor in six years (one year less than if each degree were pursued separately). LEAP students can choose from among a wide variety of liberal arts majors. For a full program description, please visit hofstra.edu/leap. LEAP students are strongly encouraged to registerfor one of the following first-year seminars:

16.
PSC 14F, sec. 01: Law, Politics, and Society (BH), 4 s.h. 91530
T/TH 9:10-11:05 a.m., Celeste Kaufman

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.

17.
PHI 14F, sec. 02: Law, Politics, and Society (HP), 4 s.h. 92770
M/W 9:10-11:05 a.m., Ashira Ostrow

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.


PHILOSOPHY

18.
PHI 14F, sec. 01: The Meaning of Life (HP), 4 s.h. 91127
T/TH, 12:30-2:25 p.m., Mark McEvoy

For us to have a chance of finding the meaning of life, human life must have meaning, or at least the lives of individual human beings must have meaning. But perhaps these claims aren’t true, or don’t even make sense. Further, if claims about life having meaning aren’t true, or don’t even make sense, would that horrify or at least disappoint you? If so, does that reaction itself show that life has some kind of meaning after all? We pursue these questions through class discussions and readings.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


POLITICAL SCIENCE

19.
PSC 14F, sec. 02: Juvenile Justice and Law (BH), 4 s.h. 91144
T/TH, 11:20 a.m.-1:15 p.m., Celeste Kaufman

This course will examine the law and practice of juvenile justice in the United States. We will explore the historical reasons for a separate juvenile justice system, one that holds children legally accountable for criminal acts, and the role of the US Supreme Court in limiting and expanding the constitutional rights of juveniles. In this course, students will learn to analyze the ways that legal, political, and historical factors have influenced the development of the American juvenile justice system, describe the legal and philosophical reasons for the existence of two distinct courts for crimes committed by juveniles, and identify landmark US Supreme Court cases that have established criminal procedures dealing with issues ranging from apprehension and prosecution to detention of juveniles.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


PSYCHOLOGY

20.
PSY 14F, sec. 01: CSI: Psychology (or, What Psychologists Could Teach Lawyers) (BH), 3 s.h. 91652
M/W, 9:40-11:05 a.m., Robin Flaton

In several recent high-profile cases, jury decisions have left people stunned and angry. What were those jurors thinking? How could a reasonable person have come to that decision? In this course we seek to make sense of these issues. Our focus is not on what jurors might be thinking, but on how jurors might be thinking — about the evidence they are presented, about the witnesses, the accused, the lawyers involved, and about each other. Can psychological research increase the likelihood of a “just” outcome in the courtroom? To answer this question, we examine several areas, including the validity of eyewitness identifications; the effect of institutional racism within the criminal justice system; the efficacy of psychological jury selection; and some cognitive and social dynamics of juror deliberation.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Social Sciences category.


RELIGION

21.
RELI 14F, sec. 01: TikTok Spirituality (CC, HP), 4 s.h. 93090
M/W, 9:10-11:05 a.m., Balbinder Bhogal

This course will explore a range of themes tied to spirituality that humans face in an ever-expanding, digitally-simulated world. It asks three basic questions: what came before TikTok spirituality, what is TikTok spirituality, and what comes after? Along the way we will explore: how revelation and story differ from logic and algorithm; how human intelligence differs from Artificial Intelligence; whether we are souls or data-sets; and how to think outside the binary of technology being a tool or a curse, providing utopic or dystopic futures. Bring your favorite social media sites and apps and let’s discuss some of the issues.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in either the Cross-Cultural or Social Sciences category.


SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES

22.
SBLY 14F, sec. 01: Sustainability and Food (IS), 3 s.h. 93417
T/TH, 1-2:25 p.m., Gail Bennington

This course will examine the sustainability of our present-day food systems from a global perspective to the local level.  We will explore how food production has evolved over the centuries and the direction it is headed today.  After a brief history of agriculture we will examine the environmental impacts of feeding a growing global population and discuss food and sustainability issues related to conventional agriculture and aquaculture, irrigation and water use, food security, growing food for energy use, and food politics. In addition, we will consider alternative food production models promoted by the sustainable food movement.

Please note: This course satisfies a University graduation requirement in the Interdisciplinary Studies category.


STUDENT SUCCESS

23-25
University 101 is designed to assist first-year students in making a positive adjustment to University life. Students will discuss topics that have an impact on their college experience, and they will learn about important resources and support services available at the University. Through discussions, readings, and assignments, students will develop the skills and awareness that will support their academic success and engagement with the Hofstra community.

Please note: This course is an elective. The semester hour counts toward graduation. Three sections are being offered. One is geared toward students interested in pre-health disciplines, and meets for one hour each week throughout the Fall semester. The other two sections are appropriate for students interested in any discipline for a major, and for students who are undecided. These latter two sections meet only during the first half of the Fall semester, for two hours each week.

23.
UNIV 101, sec. F01: Pre-Health, 1 s.h. 93075
TH, 9:55-11:05 a.m., Ellen Miller and Monica Schauss

24.
UNIV 101, sec. F02: All disciplines, 1 s.h. 93076
T/TH, 9:55-11:05 a.m., Christina Cacioppo Bertsch
This section ends on 10/20/23

25.
UNIV 101, sec. F03: All disciplines, 1 s.h. 93077
T/TH, 9:55-11:05 a.m., Brittany Rhoden
This section ends on 10/20/23