JSU has selected a new theme for the Explore Seminars to be offered in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. Explore Seminars, a program that launched in Fall 2020, are themed one-hour courses that allow students and faculty to engage with current events from a disciplinary perspective. The new theme is Resilience and Grit, and departments across campus, from English to kinesiology, from music to education, are offering these courses. If you are a student needing just one hour, check out the options on the Fall schedule; most Explore Seminars are numbered 195. A few other departments still plan to add to this list.

EED 195 Boxes, Bags, and Brilliance: Gritty Women in Children’s Nonfiction

How would you get to Grandma’s house if it were too far to walk? What if someone took credit for your creation? What if the odds are stacked against you? This course provides a forum to explore girls/women, especially those in areas of STEM, within children’s nonfiction with themes of grit, fortitude, and resilience.

Andrea Beerwinkle, Wednesday, 3-4pm

EH 195 Hogwarts School of Resilience

J.K. Rowling’s 1998 blockbuster Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone launched the world’s most popular book and film series, making the resilient main characters–Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley–household names. In this course, we will read the first novel and film closely and apply their lessons of grit to today’s challenges as we discuss how fantastical works can impact real survival strategies.

Staci Stone, Wednesday, 3:30-4:30pm

EH 195 The Resilience of Voice in Underrepresented Writers

In this course, students will seek out writers from underrepresented communities. As they research these writers, students will also create a repository of teaching and learning activities to share the works of these writers with educators and students both at JSU and in the larger community.

Jennie Vaughn, TBA

EH 195 The Resilience of Native American Voices
This course will explore how contemporary indigenous peoples are using the arts and social media to retain their tribal heritage and reclaim their identities, voice, and visibility within American culture.

Tanya Sasser, TBA

HPE 185 Resilience in Sport

Being resilient is important in sport and physical activity. We often her terms like overcoming adversity, bouncing back, mental toughness, or gritty to describe resilient athletes. How does resilience impact success and beyond? Using examples from sport, we will explore how resilience impacts performance on and off the field.

Tracey Matthews, Wednesday 12:30-1:30pm, SH 116B

RDG 195 Trains, Mice, and Unusual Friendships: Grit in Children’s Literature

How did the little engine know that it could? What happens when mice decide to take matters into their own hands? What makes unusual friendships so special? This course provides a forum to explore children’s literature with themes of grit, perseverance, and determination. 

Janet Bavonese, Monday, 3-4pm, RW 218

MU 195 Defying GRavITy: Broadway and Grit

This course explores how Broadway musicals use song and plot to rise above the challenges faced in everyday life. Shows such as Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, RENT, and Dear Evan Hansen, among others, present characters overcoming teen depression and suicide, political persecution, inequality, etc.Can grit, or at the very least persistence, be taught? How can children and adults develop it? We will explore Broadway’s answers to these questions.

Jeremy Benson, TBA