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:
a
- 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?
View the fall 2021 section descriptions with an online option available
This seminar is designed for undergraduate students who are undeclared, are pre-unit majors, or are in transition between majors.
By exploring an academic topic or theme of personal interest, students will develop skills that will assist them in the exploration
of a major and/or career. Students will document their journeys and produce a personal academic plan, which can be refined (or modified, adjusted)
beyond the course, by the end of the semester. An instructional team made up of a faculty member, an advisor, and librarian will lead the course.
"I think this class is great for people who are feeling 'stuck'. Like they are 'stuck' in their major, what they really want to do, and just choices about school in general."
- ECPY 302 Student
ECPY 302: Personal and Academic Inquiry
Fall 2021 Seminar Sections
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Section 01: Exploring Your Digital Identity: Popping Your Online “Filter Bubble”
| Time: |
MW, 2:00-3:15pm |
| Modality: |
Face to Face |
| Location: |
BAB 410A |
| Instructor: |
Abby Koenig, Department of Management, College of Business
|
| Advisor: |
Daniel Darland
|
| Librarian: |
Amber Willenborg
|
In the 21st century, we have become more and more isolated in our own online worlds. As our digital interactions with others and the apps and websites we engage with create and recreate our digital identities, we can quickly end up in an echo chamber of our own preferences and likes. Every time we make choices online, or interact on social media, unseen algorithms are customizing a world for us based on every click. The algorithms online create a world for us that Eli Pariser, an Internet activist, calls a “filter bubble;” a state of intellectual isolation based on information about you including your location, past click-behavior, and search history.
As a result, you become separated from information that disagrees with your viewpoints, effectively isolating you in your own cultural or ideological bubbles. As Pariser has said, the algorithmic platforms we engage with have created a world for each one of us.
In this course we will consider questions such as:
- Do I live in a digital filter bubble of my own making? How do I find out?
- Does my filter bubble represent my digital identity and is that my true identity?
- Do the algorithmic platforms that I engage with challenge, reinforce or conflict with my true identity?
- How do concepts such as digital identity, algorithmic literacy, and the filter bubble create and recreate my digital world every day?
This seminar will help you understand the unseen forces that are creating your own online word and “pop” the insulated, filter bubble you live in. 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.
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Section 02: College Life: Looking Backward to Move Forward
| Time: |
TTh, 1:00pm-2:15pm |
| Modality: |
Face to Face |
| Location: |
BAB 410A |
| Instructor: |
Amy Hirschy, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development
|
| Advisor: |
Jessy Rosenberg
|
| Librarian: |
Rob Detmering
|
Are you looking to get the most out of your college experience? In this seminar, you will reflect on who and what has influenced your views on college life (like family, friends, and popular culture) and compare those images to your own realities as a college student. We will explore student experiences at colleges and universities throughout history and examine ways that higher education can be improved for future students. By the end of this course, you will develop a strategic map to help you navigate your path and get the most out of your time in college. 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.
Central questions of this seminar include: What traditions and rituals make higher education unique? How has the role of college changed over time? What new innovations are emerging? Additionally, you will complete an inquiry project on a current issue in higher education that relates to your particular interests. Examples of possible inquiry topics include: higher education and politics, the role of college athletics, why college costs so much, student mental health issues, role of student organizations, free speech, diversity and inclusion on campus, and campus architecture and design.
Other questions central to this course:
- How did you decide to attend college?
- In what ways has your college experiences matched your expectations? In what ways is it different?
- How have you been challenged and supported while in college? (both in and outside the classroom)
- What individuals contributed most significantly to your growth during college and why?
- How can colleges do better?
- What’s wrong with colleges?
- What are ways that we can better support student success?
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.
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Section 03: Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Mastering Happiness and Challenges, and Channeling Resilience and Hope, on the Journey of Life
| Time: |
N/A |
| Modality: |
Distance Education |
| Instructor: |
Sharon Sanders, Kent School of Social Work
|
| Advisor: |
Marissa Williams
|
| Librarian: |
Amber Willenborg
|
We are all on a life journey. Sometimes we know where we are headed, and sometimes we feel lost. There are lots of questions around our individual journeys that we will revisit again and again: Where are we headed? What do we want out of life? What makes for true happiness? How do we respond effectively to setbacks or life crises on our journey? Where do we find hope? How do we become resilient travelers?
In this seminar, you will explore themes, research and practical strategies for managing your journey. We will explore what research shows really makes individuals happy. We will look at life challenges that individuals typically encounter on the journey, and strategies we can adopt for responding to challenges with resilience. We will cultivate new attitudes, knowledge and skills for dealing with the ups and downs in the life journey. We will explore how culture and society impact our beliefs and attitudes toward concepts such as journey, happiness, and arrival. We will experience using technology that can support us in our journeys. We will learn how to adopt healthier and more resilient attitudes and skills as routes to hold on to hope when we lose our way.
Some questions we will explore in the seminar include:
- What can we learn from the journeys of others?
- What does the research tell us about finding happiness and purpose in life?
- What are tools that I can adopt to help me cope and navigate with life challenges, such as , monitoring and adjusting thinking and self-talk, self-acceptance, deciding when to hold on and when to move on?
- What is resilience and what is it not?
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.
The section themes listed above 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-being 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.
Register for ECPY 302 in ULink
Read what students are saying about this course:
“I was in (this) small class with students who shared the same struggles as me. After a while, I felt comfortable with them and learned
that my confusion as a college student was a shared emotion. It made me feel less lonely knowing that lots of other students shared the same feelings of uncertainty and confusion.”
“I think this class is great for people who are feeling 'stuck'. Like they are 'stuck' in their major, what they really want to do, and just choices about school in general.”
“If I was going to share my experiences with this class with a peer, it would be that the course helps you know more about yourself, values, beliefs and also helps you use inquiry effectively.”
“This semester I have learned a lot about my career path as well as path of studying and my major. I have done research which I have gained many skills from and I have done activities which
showed me the skills I already had. I learned a lot about who I am as a person and a student and how I can thrive in the upcoming years of my life. This class has taught me both educationally and personally.”
“Researching a topic you’re interested in changes the way you see research. The information seems more compelling, more relevant, and I found myself personally more driven to find more good sources.”
Questions?
To learn more, contact the Student Success Center,
Exploratory and Transitioning Advising.
Email: succeed@louisville.edu
Phone: (502) 852-7969
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.
