Discoveries Day 2, Th 9/3, 1:45-3:15 in Knudson 100

• Read and discuss: To Professor at Univ, Expectations and Concerns
• Burning Qs
• Advising 101 overview.
• The Goal: Earning your degree.
• Email advice
• Advising Resources and Advising Overview
• Common Curriculum: completed by all DU undergraduates
• DU 2026-27 Undergraduate Bulletin answers your questions about requirements, course descriptions, DU policies.
• Solo Activity: Using my.du.edu

1. Open the Common Curriculum Handout
2. In another browser window, open the Undergraduate Bulletin
3. Find your Autumn course schedule. Check the buildings, rooms, times. Ensure you’re registered for 12 credits minimum, and not more than 18 credits. Check for course numbers in the 3000/4000 range (junior/senior level)
4. In my.du.edu – Search for Degree Audit in Search Bar
5. Run a Degree Audit
6. Check your current classes for Common Curriculum course “attributes” (AI Society, etc) (hint: cross-reference using the Undergraduate Bulletin)
7. Check your AP, IB, and transfer credits on Degree Audit – if you have any
8. Fill-in the Common Curriculum Handout based on your schedule and any transfer credits (Canvas/Files)
9. If you know your major, visit that Department’s homepage on the du.edu and find their undergraduate degree program and any advising guides

• FERPA (your rights to privacy as an 18 year old).
• Free live music off campus: Levitt Pavilion (through October + close to DU)

Fri 9/6

• 11:15 bring your lunch to the 4th floor patio of Community Commons. Eat with the class.
• 12:00 walk to Mary Reed for Sweet Cow ice cream and games
• 10:45-11:15 If you want to discuss your autumn schedule or other pressing matters, please sign up for an optional conference with me. I’ll be on the top floor rooftop patio of the Community Commons building.

Discoveries Day #1, W 9/2 in Knudson 100

1. Welcome!
2. 4D Peer Mentors: Phoebe Bono and Aaron Stoa
3. Introductions, Overview of Discoveries Week orientation, Phone policy.
4. FSEM.
5. General Ground Rules: phones, breaks, bathroom, speaking (louder than usual) and listening, laptops
6. Pairs and Small Group Intros

• Get to know your partner and be ready to introduce them. Discuss:
• Hometown, Dorm (or living arrangements), Time Commitments beyond school, Languages
• Why DU?
• Why did you choose your FSEM?
• What burning question do you have about DU, Denver, academics and/or campus life?
• What are the differences between professors and HS teachers in terms of job responsibilities?

Homework for Th 9/3: Read: To Professor at University To Professor at Univ

Rest of Week:

Th 9/3, 1:45-3:15

FSEM meeting with Prof. Benz and 4D Peer Mentors  

1. 1. Meet in Knudson 100. Bring laptops. We’ll answer more burning questions, we’ll discuss the To Professor reading, your schedules, and begin advising, degree audits, etc.

Fri, 9/4

• • 10:45-11:15 – drop-in advising w/Benz on roof of Community Commons
  • 11:15 am – lunch (get your lunch and meet on the 4th floor patio of Community Commons – on the westside).
  • 12:00 – Lawn games and Sweet Cow ice cream on campus from 12-3 by Mary Reed Hall.

Ecocriticism, 2013 definition

In the last 20 years, ecocriticism has developed from its early incarnation as the relatively under-theorised preserve of nature writing enthusiasts to its current vibrant state as a sophisticated array of ‘earth-centred’ approaches to cultural criticism that mobilise and reframe theories drawn from a range of disciplines including ecology, philosophy, sociology and biology. Ecocriticism’s diversity also extends to engaging with a variety of literary forms as well as, increasingly, film, TV, digital environments and music, and to an interest in representations of the urban. At its heart is the conviction both that we are living in a time of ecological crisis that requires us to reassess with some urgency our modes of being in the world and that our cultural perceptions of ‘nature’ and the ‘human’, and the relationship between the two, have to a large degree been responsible for these damaging modes of being. Its role is to interrogate and critique these perceptions, even within environmentalism itself, with some ecocritics also committed to exploring alternative ways of conceptualising our relationship with the non-human world.

Marland, Pippa. “Ecocriticism.” Literary Compass Vol 10 Issue 11, Nov. 2013.

Welcome to With and Without Nature!

This site contains course materials for Brad Benz‘s First Year Seminar at the University of Denver.