2013 Themester to 'connect' students

The College of Arts and Sciences has announced the theme for the 2013 fall semester to be “Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World."

“Themester is a themed semester,” said Tracy Bee, coordinator of Themester and director of academic initiatives for the College of Arts and Sciences. “It’s not a word in the dictionary. It’s something that is only at IU.”

Themester runs just through the fall semester, with courses and other events related to the theme, Bee said.

“We want to connect what’s going on in classes to what’s going on outside,” Bee said. “These are issues that students will face their whole lives.”

The 2013 Themester theme is very relevant to students’ lives, according to the Themester website.

“I think the Themester will give students a good idea of networks,” political science professor Armando Razo said. “We’re connected to people in ways that we don’t realize.”

The classes students can elect to take as a part of Themester range from general introductory courses to specific courses for majors, Bee said.

“There are a variety of classes, and every year they’re different,” she said. “The goal is to attract undergraduates.”

These courses will include apparel merchandising, statistics, English, honors courses and others.

Although the courses have been chosen, Themester is still in its planning phase.  
“We’re organizing and planning right now,” Razo said. “We’re still finalizing. We’ll have speakers, lectures, movies, classes ... It’s a whole package.”

The Themester project has three goals, according to the website.

The first is to advance the teachings of the College of Arts and Sciences, providing students a liberal education informed from across the disciplines in the sciences.

The second is to encourage educational programs that extend from the campus to the community and state.

The final goal is to promote undergraduate research on a topic of socio-cultural, historical or scientific importance.

The “Connectedness” Themester was chosen because of its relevancy to today’s students, Razo said.

“There’s social media, but it’s more than that,” he said. “There are very similar structures of connectedness in very different places. There are networks everywhere, in the body, in nature, in space."