Urgent Challenges Seminar (UCS)

UCS 10101: FIRST-YEAR ENDURING QUESTIONS ~ First-Year Enduring Questions Seminar: The Enduring Questions Seminar is designed to provide an exposure to college-level intellectual inquiry through critical reading, in-depth discussion, oral presentations, and informal and formal writing. Each course is centered on a fundamental enduring question, theme, or topic such as “What is Justice?” or “What is a Life Well-Lived?” Through the careful and considerate examination of the course topic, students will develop their ability to write well; to think critically; to communicate clearly; to read, interpret, and engage with relevant texts; and to identify, evaluate, and use research appropriately. As a part of their Enduring Questions Seminar, students will also participate in the Common Questions Hour, a common intellectual experience with all first-year students. Grounded in the common reading and the ethics theme, the Common Questions Hour will consist of lectures, discussions, reflections, and group activities engaging everything from the curricular, the co-curricular, and the practical. Furthermore, presenters and discussions will introduce the five Cs of Hiram Connect: Curriculum, Career, Calling, Character and Community. Students in all sections will be required to complete and be prepared to thoughtfully discuss all course readings, to give at least one oral presentation, to maintain and develop an ePortfolio, to reflect on their learning regularly, and to write at least three projects or essays—culminating in a signature assignment—totaling at least 5,000 words of formal, revised written work. This course aligns with the Ohio Transfer Module (OTM) requirements for English Composition: First Writing Course (TME 001).

UCS 20201: ADDRESSING URGENT QUESTIONS ~ Addressing Urgent Questions Seminar: The Addressing Urgent Questions seminar prepares students for Hiram’s curriculum and the team-taught Urgent Challenges Seminar by introducing them to collaborative problem-solving and project-based learning. Each course focuses on an Urgent Question such as “The Environment: How do we address climate change?” or “Inequality: How do we address the effects of economic inequality in Ohio?” Students will be asked to consider relevant literature on a topic, to analyze and propose solutions in written and oral discourse—both individually and collaboratively—and to develop research skills that permit them to investigate important questions and hypotheses. Reflective learning integrates these ideas into various spheres of students’ own lives—coursework, career, calling, character, and community. Students in all sections will be required to complete and be prepared to thoughtfully discuss all course readings, to responsibly engage with outside research, to give at least one oral presentation, to participate in a group presentation, to maintain and develop an ePortfolio, to reflect on their learning regularly, and to write at least two projects or essays—culminating in a multi-modal signature assignment. This course aligns with the Ohio Transfer Module (OTM) requirements for English Composition: Second Writing Course (TME 002).

UCS 30301: URGENT CHALLENGE SEMINAR ~

UCS 30302: PREQUEL:URGENT CHALLENGE SEMINAR ~

UCS 30303: URGENT CHALLENGE SEMINAR ~