Survival Skills

How would you survive a zombie outbreak on a college campus?

Just ask the students in Julie Douberly’s class “The Living Dead in Film,” a popular First-Year Experience (FYE) seminar in which they designed and presented zombie preparedness plans along with a short film for their final exam.

The course title is unconventional, but it’s just one of more than 180 sections offered in 2011 that are designed to teach Georgia Southern’s first-year students important skills and help them successfully transition to college life. Douberly’s class focuses on building information literacy skills. “Those skills – learning to interact with academic texts, knowing where to look for resources – are absolutely essential to succeeding in any class at Georgia Southern,” she said.

Other FYE course objectives include learning the specifics of college research, time management and plagiarism, which are made more interesting through an eclectic mix of themes. Students may select from unique titles such as “Rap and American Culture,” “Think Like a Nurse,” and Don Berecz’s “Strategy and Backgammon.”

Berecz, director of the University’s fraud and forensic accounting program, has brought his longtime gaming experience to the classroom, linking the strategies of the board game to the business world. “Experienced successful business professionals develop a winning game plan. This doesn’t happen suddenly or by chance, and is the result of good-short term and long-term decision making based on past experiences, the current environment, future predictions and the need for changing strategies,” he said.

In addition to teaching the basics of backgammon play, Berecz introduces his students to different areas of the University – the RAC, Student Employment, the Wildlife Center and the first football game of the season – to acclimate them to campus life.

Berecz’s students keep a log of every match, play fellow students at least once during the semester, and write a required paper on “How to Become a Better Backgammon Player.” One highlight of Berecz’s class is the mid-term exam, another hands-on activity. “We meet in the Russell Union ballroom for a backgammon tournament,” he said.

In the past two years, Douberly – a writing and linguistics professor – has taught six FYE seminars, including Harry Potter/Twilight. This fall, she will explore “Superheroes in Pop Culture.” “I like to change up the topics after teaching one a couple of times. It keeps me from getting bored with any particular subject, plus I get to discover new resources along with my students,” she explained.

Chris Caplinger, director of Georgia Southern’s FYE program says that the classes are frequently referred to as a professor’s “passion” course – a topic or subject of interest that they love. “The classes are also a way for students to connect with other people who share an interest in the subject,” he said.

“I try to pick a topic that I’m particularly interested in and passionate about at the time — but also one that I think students will be into as well,” said Douberly. “I hope that it’s a little easier for them to read academic articles about and do research on topics that they are genuinely interested in.” Caplinger agreed. “Everybody likes to do research when they like a certain topic.”

Mike Czech has shared his passion with students for the past two years. Czech’s “The History of Rock-n-Roll” not only explores rock music from the 1950s to the present, but Czech also reveals his experiences onstage as a guitarist and vocalist in the band “The ‘80s Academy.” Czech, the assistant director and tutorial coordinator of the University’s Academic Student Success Center, believes that in order for students to grow and succeed, it’s all about putting pen to paper.

“I feel that students need to read and write as much as they can to gain the confidence to find their own voices as people who will have to interpret various experiences in their college career and beyond,” he said. Students have the opportunity to do just that by keeping a daily ‘Rock and Roll’ journal. “I also have my students write a paper analyzing every track from start to finish on their favorite CD to get a holistic listening experience – as opposed to the fragmented one-song digital download from the artist – and complete a group project at the end of the semester, where they teach the class over a specific genre of rock and roll,” said Czech. This summer, the musician/instructor is teaching FYE’s first online class, in response to the University’s growing online degree programs. “I am interested in seeing the similarities and differences between the face-to-face and online versions of this class,” he said.

This fall, FYE will expand its program to include a second required course, called FYE 1410 Global Citizens. “This course is for second semester freshmen,” said Caplinger, “and essentially the theme is ‘think global, act local.’ ” According to Caplinger, University students from other countries – global ambassadors, so to speak – will visit classes to share their experiences, providing students with information about Georgia Southern’s Study Abroad and Alternative Spring Break programs.

“It is energizing working with freshmen,” said Caplinger. At the same time, he says that students have to be actively involved and also willing to ask for help when they need it. “A student’s success is based on what a student does,” he said.