Self and Other Course Pairing
Pre Calculus: Explorations in Mathematical Thinking (MA 109)
How do we learn mathematics on our own? From others? How do our experiences shape our perspectives about learning mathematics? In this course, we develop a community of active learners using a framework of experience, action, communication, and reflection
Faculty biography
Dr. Ethan Duckworth has been teaching at Loyola since 2004 and part of many First Year Student programs including Messina. Dr. Duckworth loves how Messina courses combine regular content with co-curricular enrichment and activities in Baltimore. Our course will cover the standard Calculus material, but will also have some examples and discussions that relate to the Messina theme.
The Philosophy of Happiness (PL 201)
Is there any question more central to individuals and societies than what is "happiness" and how to find it? Our culture spoon-feeds us many, sometimes conflicting, answers to what will bring us happiness (money, success, good looks, friends, consumer goods, entertainment, popularity, power, etc.) If we are not careful we may pursue happiness in the wrong places and pay for it with our life. Together we will look at what great philosophical thinkers and systems had to say about how to find fulfillment. Unlike some intro to philosophy courses, we will be deliberately cross-cultural, drawing not only from Western (Aristotle, Stoicism) but Eastern traditions (Buddhism, Taoism). As such, the course counts as a Diversity-Justice (D-J) designated class.
Faculty biography
Dr. Drew Leder does work on the philosophy of the body, and philosophy of medicine. He also has written a number of books on cross-cultural spirituality in everyday life, and done work with and about maximum security prisoners. He is a "public philosopher" who is internationally known and whose work has been featured in many magazines and newspapers. He lives in Baltimore (happily) with his beloved wife and dog, visited by their two adult daughters.
Mentor biography
Bern Smith is the Associate Director of Housing Operations. Before starting at Loyola, Bern worked with First Year students in ResLife positions for eight years and is excited to be connecting with First Years though Messina. Bern is originally from outside of Philly (Upper Darby to be exact) and attended Villanova for a Bachelors in Science and a Masters in Public Administration. While working at Boston College she completed an MBA. In her free time, Bern enjoys reading, cooking, listening to true crime podcasts, and travelling.
Virtual Advisor
MA1 09 fulfills the math core requirement for some majors (i.e. communication, humanities majors) and serves as a pre-requisite for MA151: Applied Calculus or MA251: Calculus I for other majors that require calculus (i.e. Sellinger School or Business, Natural and Applied Sciences) PL 201 satisfies the Philosophy core requirement for all students.
