For Students

Come "find your fit" and enroll in ECPY 302: Personal and Academic Inquiry

This three-credit, small seminar is for students who might be asking themselves one or more of these questions:

• How can I make my learning experiencing more meaningful to me?
• Am I in the right major for me?
• What do I want to do with my life?
• How do I figure out what my career goals are?

This seminar is designed for, but not limited to, students who:

• Have earned 30-59 credit hours
• Have completed ENGL 101 and 102 or the equivalent
• Have a GPA of 2.0 – 3.49*
• Have not yet decided on a major, or
• Have not yet been admitted to their unit of choice and are open to considering other options, or
• Are questioning their major fit, or
• Are already transitioning between majors.

*this is a flexible requirement

To learn more, contact the Student Success Center,
Exploratory and Transitioning Advising.

Email: succeed@louisville.edu
Phone: (502) 852-7969

For a list of past seminar and themes offered, click here

ECPY 302: Personal and Academic Inquiry

Spring 2021 Seminar Sections

The section themes for spring 21 listed below connect to UofL’s new Grand Challenges, a new initiative which will promote research and scholarship around empowering communities through promoting equity, eliminating disparities and strengthening the ability of all individuals and communities to achieve well-bring and prosperity. The themes below align with the Grand Challenge focused on advancing human health and helping people live lives that are not just longer, but healthier and more resilient.

Section 01:
Resilience in Uncertain Times

Time:	Tuesday & Thursday, 2:30-3:45pm
Modality:	Remote Synchronous
Instructor:	David Johnson
Advisor:	Jessica Newton
Librarian:	Latisha Reynolds

How do you react in times of stress or crisis? Are you prepared to withstand a huge life challenge? Do our communities have the resources and expertise to bounce back from disasters? Are we even able to meet the mundane demands of daily life? An appropriate answer to any of these questions is… “Maybe.”

How we deal with adversity, both as individuals and as a community, is directly related to our capacity to be resilient. Some communities demonstrate more resiliency than others due to various social and economic conditions, while our life experiences, personalities, and habits affect our resiliency at the individual level. From the future effects of climate change, to the next global pandemic – resilience is critical to preparedness, survival and recovery.

This seminar will help you explore concepts related to becoming a more resilient individual, and what it means to build and be a part of more resilient communities. We will do so through an interdisciplinary lens, which includes public health, social work, anthropology, and others.

• How do we improve resiliency for individuals and communities, and why is it important?
• What is the relationship of resiliency to mental health, and vice versa?
• How is resiliency understood in the U.S. and across cultures?

This seminar will provide you with a structured opportunity to carry out an academic inquiry project that interests you and is connected to the central concepts of the course theme.

Section 02:
Reality Check in the Age of Disruption: Exploring What You Know, How You Know It, and Why It Matters

Time:	Monday & Wednesday, 11:00am-12:15pm
Modality:	Hybrid
Instructor:	Nisha Gupta
Advisor:	Jessy Rosenberg
Librarian:	Rob Detmering

When we wake in the morning, we typically function within a world that is largely the same as when we went to sleep. You were still you; the room was the same one you went to sleep in.

Then, you read the headlines, hear the news, or open your newsapp.

And it seems that the outside world has changed while you slept. New events and reports disrupt what you thought was real. We are experiencing an “age of disruption”. Some of these disruptions include: rapid climate change, conversations about race and anti-racism, the COVID pandemic, and political discourse.

In other words, you woke up to reality. Is your reality the same as my reality? The more you look into this question the harder it becomes to understand it. This seminar will help you grapple with some age-old questions about life as you perceive it and the slippery nature of knowledge, with attention to the ways that “disruptions” operate.

This seminar will help you explore basic concepts and tools for exploring how we understand the world around us. Some questions we will consider in this course (please bullet questions below):

• How do you know what you know?
• How do you know what is real?
• What does “disruption” mean for you and how you navigate what you know?
• How do concepts such as implicit bias, fake news, and “social constructions” work in your understanding of yourself and how you see reality?

As you become more aware of how to understand reality, you can better use this knowledge to understand yourself. This seminar will provide you with a structured opportunity to carry out an academic inquiry project that interests you and is connected to the central concepts of the course theme.

Section 03:
Failing Forward: Turning Setbacks into Opportunities for Personal Growth

Time:	N/A
Modality:	Asynchronous Online
Instructor:	Jennifer Bobo
Advisor:	Marissa Williams
Librarian:	Amber Willenborg

Failure and setbacks are inevitable. Everyone fails. When we experience failure, do we freeze and try to avoid future choices and failures altogether? Or do we learn from our mistakes and use this new information to handle challenges more wisely in the future? Failure isn’t fun, but there are ways to see failure as a growth opportunity, rather than a setback.

We can talk to ourselves about these experiences, make meaning, and learn lessons that lead to more personal growth. This, essentially, is “failing forward.”

In this seminar, we will explore the concept of failure and learn to identify the self talk that takes place when life doesn’t go as planned. We will cultivate new attitudes, knowledge and skills about coping with failure and using these difficult experiences to grow and move forward. This course will help you explore questions including:

• Where do I feel stuck or confused when things haven’t gone well academically or personally?
• What have I learned from previous failures in my life?
• What are some new ways I can gain insight from my setbacks and failures and navigate future experiences?
• What gets “in the way” for me?

Some of the tools and concepts we will learn about and use in this seminar are: cognitive distortions (thinking errors), reframing experiences and thoughts, and drawing on perseverance and self-compassion during challenging times. We will explore how culture and society impact our beliefs and understanding of failure, and learn to deconstruct these beliefs. We will look at theories about failure and persistence, and learn how to adopt healthier and more resilient attitudes. We will examine examples from others who have pushed forward in the face of failure and achieved successful outcomes. This seminar will provide you with a structured opportunity to carry out an academic inquiry project that interests you and is connected to the central concepts of the course theme.

Get Involved

Interested in getting involved? Find Your Fit is actively seeking FYF Alumni Advocates who have already taken the course. These students will help enhance the future direction of the initiative for future students who enroll in FYF.

We are always looking for students to spread the word about this initiative. If you would like to become a social media ambassador for the program, please contact us.

Additionally, recent graduates from the university and alumni are also encouraged to reach out for potential participation in career panels for current students.