The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to fifteen freshmen.

Drugs are everywhere. They overflow our pharmacies and over-the-counter retail shelves. They are sold online and on the street, and advertised on TV. They are in our most popular beverages. We rely on them to maintain our health and to ease our pains. Many are powerful, for good or ill. This course will give you a chance to think and talk about drugs and some of the issues they raise. Topics include, but are not limited to, drug discovery and development, the pharmaceutical industry, the ethics of drug research, recreational and lifestyle drugs, the opioid epidemic, and prospects for the future. Discussions will be based on article-length weekly readings, and a short paper on a topic chosen by the student will be due at the end of the course. John Lesch is Professor Emeritus of History. He is a historian of science with special research interest in the discovery, development, and use of medicinal drugs. His publications include The First Miracle Drugs: How the Sulfa Drugs Transformed Medicine.

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