Ignite Seminars
The Saint Louis University Undergraduate Core begins with the Ignite Seminar (CORE 1000), which introduces students to what makes teaching and learning at SLU distinctive and transformative.
In these small-group seminars, SLU faculty members invite students to join them in exploring the ideas and questions that have sustained and continue to fuel their passion and commitment as individuals and teachers. Each instructor’s distinct expression of disciplinary or interdisciplinary inquiry provides the lens through which students practice the Ignatian learning process — an integrative and personal approach to learning rooted in context, experience, reflection, action and evaluation. Ignite Seminars, therefore, model how individual scholarly commitments are necessarily forged in dialogue with the complex personal and social worlds we inhabit.
These courses make visible for students the rich interplay of intellect and identity, wonder and certainty, rigor and play that characterizes academic inquiry rooted in the Ignatian ideal of care for the whole person, cura personalis. In partnership with SLU Libraries, Ignite Seminar leaders also guide students as they identify and explore the subjects, questions, and scholarly pursuits that ignite their own sense of wonder and urgency.
Every Billiken will take an Ignite Seminar during their first year at SLU. For most students, that will be during the first semester. Students in certain majors will take a seminar that is specifically designed for their program. Other students will choose from any of the CORE 1000 sections available.
Spring 2026 Ignite Seminar Offerings
Fall 2025 Ignite Seminar Offerings
This course makes math personal. What should we do (or not) in a day or a lifetime? What amount of new and familiar is most fulfilling? How much mess is ok? This isn't a class for math majors, it's a course for everyone on thinking algorithmically, on learning about the fundamental structures of the problems we face, and ultimately on discovering something about ourselves.
This course will examine fringe forms of art, performance, fandom, social rebellion, and political protest. We will reflect on what it means to conform or deviate from the norm in our social environments. How have subcultures and countercultures changed our world? And how have changes in the world, including changes in capitalism and the rise of digital media, affected the conditions under which undergrounds can survive?
Since the dawn of time human beings have created images--drawings, paintings, etchings, photographs, digital pictures, etc. This class focuses on two questions: What is an image? And what makes an image beautiful? To tackle these questions, we will read texts on aesthetics from contemporary philosophy and the history of philosophy. The authors that we will read include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Arthur Danto, and John Hyman. Additionally, we will apply the various philosophical theories that we'll discuss to specific works of art, both traditional and modern. A visit to an art museum will also be part of this class.
Black women are often subjected to mediated stereotypes. The use of digital technologies challenges those marginalizing discourses. In this class, students will interrogate the relationship between Black women and popular/digital culture using frameworks such as intersectional, hip-hop, and digital feminisms. Students will use also academic and non-academic sources to gain information and research literacy.
Knowledge can come from examining more closely what you already think you know. Understanding the history and cultural influences of subjects that you may take for granted can provide perspective and an eagerness to learn more. We will start with what you know about being a customer of many businesses - online and brick-and-mortar - and what you have experienced in part-time and summer employment. From there we will explore what you know about business from popular culture, especially film and TV.
This course approaches the contemporary urban environment as a communicative and rhetorical artifact that affords opportunities for civic and community engagement. Students in this course will explore the fabric of cities through a communication and rhetorical studies lens and develop skills to address public problems. We will explore public space and public problems by analyzing topics such as unhoused populations, accessibility, and racism. In this course, students will learn the myriad approaches to civic engagement and communication's role in addressing public problems in an urban context.
Data are everywhere! As technology has taken over our lives, data has now become a part of everyday life. To be a global citizen in the 21st century, it's crucial to understand where data come from, how data are used, and how to interpret data. In this seminar, we will explore the use of data in a variety of fields, learning about how everyone from social scientists to medical researchers to journalists to educators - and beyond - uses data, as well as discuss how data are a part of every day life. Even when we don't know it.
This course examines the history of anatomy as a discipline. At times uniquely personal for the practitioner, patient, and cadaver alike, the study of anatomy also developed on the public stage with dissections and medical procedures performed before packed amphitheaters. Anatomy thus developed at the intersection of sociopolitical factors that impacted who and how one became anatomized, notions about what happens to the body after death, and the growth of biological and scientific inquiry. While anatomy seeks simply to understand the human body and how it is put together, by taking human beings as its subject the field and its practitioners are forced to reckon with issues of life and death, race and ethnicity, gender and sex, growth and aging, socioeconomic status, and cultural mores regarding health and wellbeing. It is intimate yet benefits many. By examining how the field of anatomy developed, we will uncover deeper themes about what it means to be human, how humans have treated one another throughout history, and the impact of sociopolitical factors on human lives, health, and death. With historical foundations developed in this course, students will be better prepared to be leaders in the future of patient-centered modern healthcare.
This course explores early Christianity through the objects Christians left behind, from splendid works of art to common household objects. We will find these artifacts across the early Christian world, from the western shores of Europe to the ends of the Silk Road in China. Some can still be seen where they were left, while others are scattered in museums around the world (including here in Saint Louis!). A few are under the sea. These artifacts tell gripping stories, sometimes even of forgery and fraud.
In this course, students will read (in translation) the entirety of the Qur?an and engage with its many facets, including its structure, content, and translation. We will consider the Qur?an as an historical text, as a recitation, as the sacred and revealed word of God (according to Muslims), and as a physical object (from ancient manuscripts to modern editions and translations). This is not a "theology" course but encourages students from all backgrounds to engage with the Qur?an as a "Transformative Text"; no previous knowledge of Islam or Arabic is required.
This Ignite Seminar invites students to think about their intellectual development and professional ambitions in light of the opportunities and challenges that face all inhabitants of our planet. The course takes as its premise that the world is a global community of peoples and engages the question, what does it mean to be a responsible citizen? We will break down the rights and responsibilities of global citizens in three segments in the course. First, we will examine "epistemologies of ignorance, " i.e. the ways in which injustices, such as racial or gender oppression, are avoided through willful or cultivated ignorance. In this unit, we will explore the way peoples in the past and the present (and perhaps even we ourselves) nurture ignorance to evade taking action. The second segment will use the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development that calls for countries to achieve 17 sustainable development goals for world societies by 2030 to construct a concept of global citizenship. The last segment of the class will identify local manifestations of these global problems and invite students to come to some preliminary conclusions about their plans to act as global citizens. Throughout, the course will help students recognize the linkages between specific modes of analysis and knowledge production, analyze primary sources and secondary interpretations, and contextualize their lives and the influences on them.
Storytelling is what makes us human. Let's read, view, write, and reflect on stories about our common humanity!
If you are interested in being a pre-med major or a major in a health care field, this seminar will allow you to explore the history and culture of medicine and health care in relation to your own personal experiences. You will read a variety of selections, as well as view some films and examine examples of other arts, reflecting on how these can help you to better understand your field of study and your future profession. At the end, you should better understand not only the field you hope to study and practice but also your own personal sense of commitment to this field.
Americans today are deeply divided over immigration, and this class explores the nation's long history of immigrants' rights and protections. Some of those rights are rooted in law, health care, education, just to name a few. Many are equal to those possessed by citizens; more are not. The first half of the course concentrates on how immigrant rights and protections in the U.S. have been built up, changed, and undermined. In the second half, you investigate immigrant rights and protections whenever and wherever they interest you. Along the way, you will build knowledge, intellectual skills, networks, and experiences that will serve you throughout your time at SLU and beyond.
Yogi Berra, famous baseball player, philosopher, and St. Louisan said: "The future ain't what it used to be". I'd add that it isn't yet what it will be. Why not become aware of trends and future possibilities to do everything you can to make the future the best it can be?
Social action is foundational to SLU's Catholic, Jesuit mission - this course provides students with the knowledge, skills and tools to become effective leaders for social change, whether on campus as a student or in their communities as an active citizen.
Students will learn about a variety paradigmatic theories and approaches to leadership (including failed leadership) and explore examples of leadership found in movies.
How do we effectively engage in cross-cultural communication in order to build bridges and create belonging? How do we truly thrive in the diverse communities within which we live? This seminar will ask you to consider how the concepts of belonging, crossing cultural boundaries, and intercultural communication, viewed through the lens of short stories written and told by international authors, help us answer these important questions for our lives now and in the future.
Why is our world in tumult right now? Is it worse than before? Will liberal democracies around the world survive?
In an earlier time, philosophical ideas were encountered either in books or through word of mouth. Today more and more people are being exposed to the humanity's greatest insights through the medium of film. Whereas early critics used to be skeptical about it by dismissing movies as simply a form of entertainment or escapism, today cinema has rapidly become the way in which a great number of people encounter many of the world's deepest thoughts. This course will serve as an introduction to the fast-growing field of film-philosophy that explores the relation between philosophical concepts and the medium of film by examining how cinematic representation is uniquely able to convey abstract content, raise philosophical questions, and illustrate thought experiments.
Stories about monsters and the monstrous inspire both fear and curiosity. One way to define the monstrous is that which defies description and the categories we use to make meaning. This course will explore representations of monsters across cultures and time periods, considering what these cultural products tell us about social change, scientific inquiry, and changing ideas of what it means to be human. Course materials will include films, plays, short fiction, poetry, and new media.
Ignite seminar: Owning the Awkward explores the multifaceted concept of awkwardness and its impact on social interactions. Through discussions, experiential activities, and self-reflection, students will better understand this shared human experience of awkwardness and identify strategies for mitigating it. Together, we explore how "owning the awkward" can lead to personal development, improved communication skills, and stronger communities.
Science fiction explores distinctly philosophical questions. In this class, we will read contemporary works of science fiction that explore issues of the nature of human persons, identity, and persistence over time; the nature of time and paradoxes of time travel; the possibility of free will; and machine consciousness and artificial intelligence among other topics. We will read science fiction and works of philosophy that involve careful, systematic discussion of the philosophical themes raised in those works of science fiction.
This course examines the structure and demographics of neighborhoods, cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas, and how these places evolve over time. Suburban St. Louis is our "outdoor laboratory" to see how physical, social, political, and economic forces interact to shape and reshape cities. A chief goal is to appreciate the power of observation when identifying how cities actually work and what might be done to enable them to work better. A number of measurement and comparative tools will also be learned. Toward the end of the class, student teams will plan the redevelopment of a hypothetical urban neighborhood using Lego blocks and an Excel-based financial model. Readings, lectures and discussions will be supplemented by videos, guest speakers, a scavenger hunt, and library research.
Why do people write poetry? Why do people read it? What is poetry trying to do in the world? If a poem focuses on politics, society and history, does that mean it isn't engaging with personal issues? If a poem focuses on individual experience, does that mean that it isn't engaging with a larger world beyond the poem? This seminar introduces everyone -- even people who think that they don't "get" poetry -- to the idea of a poem as an intricate machine. By learning how poems work and why they work, we will explore poetry as a vehicle for complex thought, surprising beauty, and social change.
What can a sci-fi thriller teach us about the nature of truth and reality? How might a romantic comedy illuminate questions about the nature of personal identity? While we often use screens to take a break from our coursework and our studies, the guiding idea that shapes this Ignite seminar is that cinema can be a valuable way to exercise our critical thinking skills in investigating important, perennial philosophical questions. In Reel Wisdom, we will explore the interplay between film and philosophy, exploring how cinematic storytelling can frame, challenge, and deepen our understanding of enduring human questions. Over the course the semester, we'll grapple with important philosophical questions such as the nature of truth, free will, personal identity, and faith in two different mediums: (1) texts that introduce us to these questions and (2) films that, through a visual and narrative lens, invite us to consider more deeply the bearing of these questions on our lives.
Texts have transformative power. This Ignite Seminar considers how and why certain texts have been personally, politically, and historically transformative. We read and discuss some of these texts, with a focus on those that use religion and theology to engage questions of politics, race, gender, class, and struggles for justice in the U.S./global context. Reading such texts is a formational exercise, even a spiritual practice, that can help us to reflect on our own lives, vocations, and commitments, to understand different perspectives and experiences, to expand our view of self and others, and to imagine and work for social transformation.
Most students attend SLU because of the university's mission to educate young people to be more compassionate, knowledgeable global citizens who advocate for social justice around the world. Human rights issues in our own communities and abroad have never been more visible and meaningful change more attainable than they are now. This course helps students understand the rhetorical history of human rights and how they can become more effective communicators about social justice issues they care about.
This course explores the unique relationship between humans and the animals we call pets. It includes the history of animal welfare in the United States; the legal status of pets; the connections between pet shelters and social problems like homelessness, domestic violence, and natural disaster, the sentimentalization and personification of pets, and how pets relate to common racist, gendered, and xenophobic stereotypes, among other ways that our "best friends" teach us about ourselves and our stewardship. Drawing from culture studies, history, and sociology, the course will involve presentations from and visits to local animal welfare organizations as well as service opportunities at the Humane Society of Eastern Missouri and/or CareStL.
We all constantly tell and take in stories about the world. In this course, we'll reflect on our own stories and how the experiences we have had shape our relationship to a range of social justice issues, including feminism, anti-racism, and LGBTQIA+ liberation. We will also explore the stories that are told about these movements in media ranging from music to movies, textbooks to TikTok. How can the stories we tell--and the ways that we tell them--contribute to positive social change?
We all experience loss at some point in our lives, in large ways and small. This class will consider how poets have dealt with the experience of loss, and how we might come to understand our own experiences of loss and mourning through what we read. We will use Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art," a poem that is both beautiful and witty (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art), as a jumping off point, and we will seek to understand loss and the emotions associated with it through many different literary works.
For as long as humans have told stories and studied nature, they've looked to the heavens for inspiration, meaning, and knowledge. This course investigates how premodern peoples in Europe imagined the universe, the moon in particular. According to Aristotelian understandings of the universe, earth (and humanity with it) occupied the center of the world while the moon functioned as a dividing line between the changeable terrestrial sphere and the perfect realm of the heavens. Other theories, in contrast, positioned Earth's luminous satellite as but one of many moons, as a home for extraterrestrial life, or even as a mass made entirely of cheese. As these divergent views indicate, to study premodern perceptions of the cosmos is to study science, culture, philosophy, religion, and exploration. Join this class if you are interested in exploring these subjects, their fascinating entanglements, and the history of how past cultures answered fundamental questions like "where do we come from?" "What is the universe made of?" And "how do we know things?"
The Ignatian City will introduce students to contemporary theories of American cities. This class is designed for students that have a desire to learn about the faces of urban oppression, social suffering, and urban marginality with a focus on action for justice that provides students with an opportunity to develop a sociological imagination to create a Just City - An Ignatian City.
The Christian tradition has a long history of experiencing the outdoors and wilderness as a means of finding God, Christ, and inner peace. This course will lead students through that tradition, while also exposing them to the history of wilderness in America, and offer students the chance to experience wilderness through outdoor activities like hikes and camping. No outdoor experience is required or expected.
You should be interested in The Power of Communication Ignite Seminar because you will learn about yourself, you will learn about communication and its disorders, and you will learn how powerful communication is in our world. It just might change your professional path!
How do we help? Can we help people we don't know, or more importantly can we help people we are close to? Can we do it on our own? How do we know what the people who need our help want? Or need? The purpose of this Ignite Seminar is to struggle with these questions and try, through empirical science, to find how best to maximize support and minimize harm.
The Star Trek universe provides a rich collection of episodes to explore many management concepts such as conflict resolution, identity management, leadership, mentoring, and selection. Classes will focus on specific episodes and concepts which will be enriched by an introduction to management theories. Through this introduction we will distinguish between what is entertaining fiction and what are good examples of social science.
"Think Like an Entrepreneur" equips students with the skills and mindset to succeed in any work environment. Focusing on team-building, problem-solving, and leadership, the course covers key entrepreneurial mindset indicators, preparing students to thrive as entrepreneurs or in leadership roles within established companies, with an emphasis on servant leadership and social entrepreneurship.
This Ignite Seminar explores being a "self" from an ancient, medieval, and modern theological points of view. It focuses on reading classic Greek tragedies and Western medieval fool literature, and how they deal differently with who people are, and with how their identity relates to God or the gods. In this class, we study two opposite kinds of heroes, characters in tragedies and characters who are fools, and learn how both can be helpful as we examine our own decision-making and being-ourselves today.
We are blasted and bombarded with information everyday. How do we know if this information is true or false? Are we good at telling the difference? Are we prone to believing conspiracy theories or other myths and misinformation? This course will take a high level look at the psychology of misinformation, gullibility, and other cognitive processing biases, to help us better understand how and when it becomes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.
Where are we? What was here before us? Why do we know so little of that story? How do our own life stories shape how we approach this larger story? How does the Jesuit, Catholic tradition inform this quest to learn our place? And how does the history of this place influence its present, and future? This course will take on these questions in conversation with ancient texts, urban studies, maps, stories of indigenous peoples, and much more.
Before Instagram, the humble postcard was the way we advertised ideals, communicated in both a personal and universal way, and documented what was happening in the world. In this course, explore postcards as a means of communication, history, memory, and art.
What did it mean to be female before the dawn of the modern age? Did historical women contribute to the production of knowledge? The practice of science? If we look to the textbooks and popular media of the last century as a guide, the intellectual landscape of the past often appears to be the exclusive domain of men. However, women have always participated in mathematics, medicine, and the natural sciences, though in lesser numbers. This class aims to illuminate their stories while introducing students to the exciting fields of the history of science and the history of women and gender. From the schools of ancient Alexandria to the laboratories of Renaissance convents, the dark quiet of astronomical observatories to the visceral spaces of the birthing chamber, premodern women participated in the scientific culture of their times: teaching, experimenting, practitioning and developing new scientia or knowledge. We will draw on primary and secondary sources to access these spaces and their occupants, and we will study the contemporary beliefs that shaped women's lives and led to phenomena like the European witch craze. Take this class to immerse yourself in this fascinating history and to seek answers to the enduring question of how we can recover voices that have been marginalized or lost through time.
Communication and Comprehension is formed with understanding words. Words of the Greek and Latin language are fundamental to not only English but many languages and disciplines of the world. Cultures, myths, perspectives are created by the Greek and Latin language. We will study words, the words in English from Greek and Latin that formed cultures, histories, philosophies and disciplines.