Our College Connections class will be used as a way to find connections between your two general education courses, HIST 104 and REL 233. In addition to this, we will introduce you to resources around campus that will help you throughout your entire academic career. We want to help you build relationships with faculty and peers that will make your transition to the UO an enjoyable one. Throughout the term we will do a number of activities in class that explore the place of Islam and world history, both in the medieval period and today. We will also be able to do some activities that are not so academic, we will get a chance to go out for pizza, we will have a movie night, and we may even get an opportunity to spend some time at the local mosque. We are very excited for all of the possibilities that fall term holds for us as a FIG.
College Connections Faculty: Michael Furtado
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
Favorite Class to Teach: I love them all, but probably anything to do with knights and chivalry.
What excites you about being a FIG Instructor? I enjoy seeing new students go from being disoriented and uncomfortable fledglings to being veteran members of the UO flock – all in one term!
Favorite childhood toy? My army set. I played with it for hours.
I am Professor Michael Furtado, a Medieval Europeanist specializing in mentalité in the late-medieval (1250-1500) period, which broadly means the study of how people experienced various things in the historical past. I am an Iberian specialist, and I have conducted research on perception of the sea in the kingdom of Castile-Leon, which was the largest of the medieval Iberian kingdoms. I am now focusing my research energies on the subject of knighthood and chivalry throughout Europe. I teach courses ranging from the full year of World History (Ancient to Present) to Medieval Warfare, Medieval Knighthood, the Crusades, Early Modern Spain, the Age of Exploration, Late Medieval Europe, and many others. Our College Connections course will link Prof. Hollenberg’s course on the development of Islam as a civilization from ancient to modern times with the broader history of world civilizations you will experience in my world history survey. I think you will find the combination interesting and that the FIG and College Connections experience will be pivotal in getting you off to a great start here at the University of Oregon. On a personal note, I enjoy spending most of my time with my wife of 31 years and my Welsh Cardigan Corgi, Boycie. You may also see me flashing past you at some point in a gorgeous Kona Blue Mustang GT. If it has a bull hanging in the rear window, it’s me. I am looking forward to meeting you all and I know you will be glad you signed up for a FIG!
FIG Assistant: Brennan Duff
Hometown: San Anselmo, CA
Favorite class at the UO and why? There are several but my favorite so far is Japanese Art History because the art was beautiful and the professor was great.
What excites you about being a FIG Assistant? I’m excited to be a guide and help to incoming freshmen, to help them connect more to the University and the people in it.
Favorite childhood toy? Star Wars and Ninja/Samurai LEGOs together on boats
み んな、こんにちは!!Welcome to the University of Oregon and more importantly welcome to the Roots of Civilization FIG! My name is Brennan Duff and I’m a senior here at the University of Oregon majoring in History with a minor in Asian Art History. I was born in Los Angeles and later raised in northern California in the small town of San Anselmo only a few miles to the north of San Francisco. I came to Oregon for fairly superfluous reasons, but have found my place on campus through First Year Programs, Japanese Student Organization Club, Club Rowing, and so much more. I am currently studying abroad in Japan and enjoying my amazing adventures as I travel mostly around my area of Tokyo, but also venturing to the outskirts and even beyond. Rather than continue with a long introduction, here are some photos of myself and things that define me.
Next Steps: Summer Assignment and Information
Summer Assignment: Please read Station Eleven, which you will receive at IntroDUCKtion and come prepared to discuss it.
I ask that as a fun way to get to know you, please introduce yourself how I did, by sending some photos of you doing what you love to do with some context. Until we formally meet at our Week of Welcome meeting, you can reach me atduff@uoregon.edu. I’m very excited to meet you all! よろしくおねがいします
First Meeting: We look forward to our first mandatory meeting, which will take place during the Week of Welcome on Friday, September 25, 2015. We will meet in Straub 156 at 11:00 a.m.
Are you looking for future classes related to your FIG?
The courses below are related to the focus of your FIG and are a great way to keep exploring the subject matter that you dove into your first term at the UO. Many of these courses satisfy general education requirements.