Release date: March 28, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Learning About Love Involves More Than Romance

Students in the Emory University freshman seminar "(First) Love" have learned to check their romantic notions at the door when it comes to examining this complex subject.

"Love obviously does not make for clear-cut subject matter, and I challenge the students to talk about it in an academically rigorous way." says instructor Erdmann Waniek, a German studies associate professor. "I also get a great kick out of upsetting their expectations about love and surprising them with viewpoints and ideas they may not have encountered before."

As a ubiquitous topic in literature, film, music and art, students are exploring the varieties, customs and portrayals of love, from conservative Christian "betrothals" and Hindu arranged marriages to famous couples and the idea of soul mates.

Using a selection of German masterpiece works as a foundation, the writing-intensive course incorporates a mixture of classical literature as well as contemporary musings and analysis in word, art and song—for example, both Frank Sinatra and Wagner will get a listen by the class. Students also will check what other academic fields such as theology, anthropology, psychology and sociology may have to say about the topic.

For Waniek, the focus on love is an avenue to get students to expand their world-views and critical thinking abilities.

"I want students to walk away from the class with not only stronger critical writing and thinking skills, but with a more questioning attitude toward their own world and experiences, as well as an acknowledgement that something as seemingly simple as love is socially and historically different around the world," he says.

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