Course Details

This seminar will engage in intense discussion about student life and encompass key aspects of health and wellbeing. The framework is the controversial novel, I am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe, that chronicles the world view of an 18 year-old undergraduate female, Charlotte Simmons, and her first year at a northeastern college. The highly readable work addresses college campus issues including self esteem, sexual risk-taking, cultures of drinking, date-rape, pathological narcissism, depression, disclosure, student-athletes, elitism, sororicide and fraternities, social support, and family-ties. These social dynamics are reflected in brutal, outrageous and stylistic formats in Charlotte’s Alice in Wonderland initiation into year-one of undergraduate life. A chronology of events builds in the 34 chapter novel to inform a deeper understanding of the human condition. In this course/seminar, health education theories serve are frameworks; such as Social Learning or Cognitive Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Stages of Change or Trans-theoretical Model, and the Health Belief Model.

The Socratic approach is employed to give students a voice. Students must bring the maturity and intellect to critically examine both the summit and the pitfalls of campus life.