First-Year Seminar Faculty Resources



As a fellow Pioneer, I'm delighted to welcome you to the University of Denver!My name is Kateri McRae, and I’m an associate professor in the Psychology Department. I’m writing to introduce myself and to express my anticipation for the course I’ll be teaching this fall called “Exploring Psychology Through Theater.” I hope you’re having a great summer, and that you’re as excited as I am about the start of your academic experiences at DU.Throughout the fall quarter, we’ll use plays and musicals as a jumping off point to discuss several current topics in psychology, including stereotypes and biases towards members of social groups, social anxiety, mind-body dualism, intergenerational differences, and self-reflection. This will prepare you for the level of discussion to expect in your college courses, as well as introduce you to college-level writing expectations, and result in the start of an electronic Portfolio that you may continue to use and edit throughout your time at DU.Before we begin with that class, we’ll spend some time together during Discoveries Week. We’ll meet in person on Tuesday, September 4th?– and you’ll get the full schedule for the week when you arrive on campus. Our sessions during Discoveries will include Dialogues sessions, in which we’ll discuss the transition to college, academic policies at DU, etiquette for interacting with faculty and staff at the University, as well as start to discuss some of the themes of our course.?We’ll also spend time planning which courses you will take during your fall quarter, so that you’re ready to register for classes on Wednesday, September 5. Your student Orientation Leader,?Hannah Fox,?Hannah.Fox@du.edu,?will be around during the entire week to provide the perspective and advice of a current student. Hannah is?cc:ed?on this email if you have any questions for her before we meet for the first time.In addition to being your professor for this course, and your guide through Discoveries Week, I will also act as your mentor and academic advisor over the coming academic year. Thus, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at?Kateri.McRae@du.edu. I am happy to help, and if I don’t know the answer, I know who to ask to find out what you need to know. Hannah and I are here to make your transition to university life as enjoyable and productive as possible, so please feel free to ask any questions you might have. If you don’t wish to ask beforehand, write them down and ask them when we meet as a group during Discoveries Week.During Discoveries, we’ll also take a Destinations trip on Thursday, September 6. We will take a tour of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts during the day. That evening, we will see a production of a brand-new play called?The Cake?at Curious Theater. You should be dressed appropriately for the theater during this trip (no need to wear a 3-piece suit or a ball gown, but ripped or stained clothing, athletic wear, or flip-flops are generally to be avoided). The playwright, Bekah?Brunstetter, is a writer on NBC’s?This is Us, and the play was inspired by the Masterpiece?Cakeshop?case, which originated in Colorado and has garnered recent attention when it was before the Supreme Court this year.A few weeks into the quarter, as a class we will go to see the national tour of the musical?Dear Evan Hansen, which debuted at the highest position on the Billboard charts of any musical since 1961. Before we go see it, I’d like to give you an opportunity to become familiar with the Original Broadway Cast recording. It is available for free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. If you do not have Amazon Prime (and do not already own a copy of the recording), please let me know. I can gift a copy of the recording to you on iTunes (just provide me with an email address linked to your iTunes account) or I can send a physical copy of the CD to you (please provide me with a full mailing address).Once the quarter begins, our course will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:00 pm – 1:50 pm, and focus on psychology and theater. As part of the course, we will be seeing productions at three different theater companies in Denver throughout the quarter.?Your attendance is?required?at these performances,?so keep this in mind if you have any other hobbies or activities that you might become committed to during the quarter, and make sure that you have permission to see these productions with the class. Because you will be?required?to attend these performances, for each of the three performances below, we will not meet for one class session during the same week as the performance. On the days of these performances, we will need to leave DU around 6:00 or 6:30 pm, and depending on the length of the production, may return as late as 10:30 or 11:00 pm.These days are (although they may change with ticket?availability):?Wednesday, September 26Thursday, October 4Friday, November 9If you cannot commit to attending these performances, please let me know ASAP and we can request your transfer to another?FSEM. It is VERY difficult to get transferred to another?FSEM?once you are on campus, so if you are unsure about being able to commit to this course, please let me know now!There are a few things I need you to do in the last month of your summer! Over the summer, you’ll be reading your copy of this year’s selection for the One Book, One DU program,?Season to Taste.??Please email Leah O’Grady (leah.ogrady@du.edu) if you haven’t already gotten your book.??Take your time to thoughtfully approach the reflection (the One Prompt) that came with the book.??We will be reading and revising this piece of writing during our first week on campus.??If you have other questions, you may email Leah or consult the website,?du.edu/onebook.??You’ll be submitting your response online prior to arriving on campus, and you’ll be hearing more with specifics on how to do this.Finally, I have a few questions for you that I’d love to know the answers to before we meet.?Please respond to this email with the answers to the following questions by Thursday, August 30, 2018 at the latest:1. What excites you most about starting at DU in September?2. What are you most nervous or apprehensive about when you think about starting at DU in September?3. Have you taken your language placement test?If yes, please let me know which level you placed into.?If not, please let me know if you are planning to do it before you come to campus or if you need to wait to take one of the placement tests that is not available online?4. Are you thinking of majoring in Engineering or Business??5. Are there any considerations or accommodations you will need? These include considerations for our trips, like accessibility for the transportation, food allergies or?intolerances, or propensity for motion sickness. Also,?please let me know if you would like more information on the university’s disability services (for physical, psychological and learning disabilities) or need any accommodations for religious holidays during Discoveries or Autumn Quarter.6. Self-expression and self-identification is one of my professional and personal values. One way to practice these values is to share preferred gender pronounces. I use she/her pronouns. What pronouns do you use?7. Are you planning on participating in any activities or other classes that will prevent you from attending the performance dates mentioned above? Athletics and theater come to mind, but anything else that meets at night or travels on weekends might interfere.8. (Only answer if you do not already have access to the?Dear Evan Hansen?cast recording, which is free for Amazon Prime members.) What is the best email for you to send you the album via iTunes (or if you do not have an iTunes account, what is the best mailing address for me to send you the CD)?I may have one or two more questions for you before we meet one another in September, but I’ll try to leave you to enjoy your summer (and I’ll continue to enjoy mine)!I take pride in honoring, respecting and celebrating the diverse background and experiences that make up our community. As members of this community, it is our responsibility to uphold the expectations outlined in the Honor Code. Make sure that you have read the expectations and completed everything else on the check-list found at? prepare for your time at DU.?Warmly,?Kateri :)?Kateri McRae, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorCo-host of?The Actor’s Mind?podcast ................
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