By definition, TIDES is an interdisciplinary experience, driven by intellectual curiosity, active learning, and experiential education. Discover the exciting topics of this year’s TIDES below. Each class also has an accompanying peer mentor, an upperclass student paired with each section to offer academic and social support as you transition to campus.
TIDES courses marked with an asterisk (*) are Service Learning courses. Students in these courses must also register for the corresponding Service Learning component.
TIDR 1725 Black Culture, Power, Politics, and Leadership
T 3:30-4:45p
This one credit course complements the experience of students living in the 1963 Collective Residential Learning Community (RLC) through providing them with an equity-oriented interpretative framework grounded in Black thought, experience, and history. The modular survey course was designed for first year students interested in exploring Black history, culture, and knowledge across the African diaspora. Through this first-year seminar students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the contributions of Black people in a globalized context.
Cara Guilbeau, Director, Multicultural Affairs | BIO
TIDR 1925 Natural History of Louisiana
R 5:00-6:15p
This course examines the origin and evolution of Louisiana’s ecosystems. Students will learn about living and prehistoric plants and animals and their physical surroundings while exploring Louisiana’s coastal marshes, bottomland hardwood forests, longleaf pine savannahs, and tallgrass prairies. Course includes multiple field trips.
Jeff Agnew, Professor of Practice, Earth and Environmental Sciences | BIO
TIDR 1016 New Orleans' Global Identity
W 3:00-4:15p
In this course we will delve into the rich tapestry of New Orleans' cultural geography and its profound multicultural existence. Students will explore the historical roots and global influences that have shaped the city's unique identity. Through engaging lectures, seminar discussions, and experiential learning, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the city's multicultural history and its ongoing impact on contemporary society. Students will gain an appreciation for the global influences in New Orleans' music, cuisine, environment, and traditions while addressing social justice issues rooted in the city's unique history. The course aims to foster cultural competence, inclusivity, global awareness, civic engagement, and leadership skills, providing students with the tools to navigate an increasingly interconnected world.
Annie Gibson, Director of Study Abroad, Center for Global Education | BIO
TIDR 1500 The Entrepreneurial Landscape of New Orleans and How the City’s Diverse Culture Influences It**
R 3:30-4:45p
In this course, students will be given a behind the scenes look at the entrepreneurial ecosystem in New Orleans – the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and what needs to happen to have a vibrant startup community that is equitable, accessible, and collaborative. From local entrepreneurs to community partners to support organizations to investors and more, this course will bring together some of the most important stakeholders in the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem. We will also leverage our data from the Greater New Orleans Startup Report, hearing from our very own Lepage Center to present an in-depth overview of the current state of the early stage business economy in New Orleans.
Optional Service Learning: This course offers an optional service-learning component, to be completed in the spring semester 2023. Students participating in service learning will compile into teams. In partnership with The Idea Village, these student teams will be paired with companies participating in their VILLAGEx Accelerator program during the spring semester. Students will provide support to these ventures based on their respective backgrounds and company needs, utilizing the business model canvas to identify, analyze, and implement respective strategies. Students are expected to meet in person with their companies at least 4 times a year, completing company point of contact reports and self-reflections in this process. In addition, students are expected to volunteer for New Orleans Restaurant Week.
Rob Lalka, Professor of Practice, Albert Lepage Center | BIO
Evan Nicoll, Senior Development Officer, A.B. Freeman School of Business | BIO
TIDR 1043 LGBTQ+ New Orleans
T 2:00-3:15p
This seminar explores LGBTQ+ life in New Orleans from an interdisciplinary perspective. It focuses on the LGBTQ+ history of the city, narratives of personal experiences, cultural representations and expressions, and current research on discrimination and on social and health programs. The main objective of this seminar is to introduce students to New Orleans LGBTQ+ community not only through its history, culture, and challenges, but also through meeting some of its members and leaders. The first part of the seminar will focus on the LGBTQ+ history of the city, from the 1920s to nowadays, in order to understand both the challenges the community has had to face throughout the 20th century and its particular contemporary context. The second part of the seminar will focus on interdisciplinary issues including the ways the community dealt with post-disaster traumas, the discrimination trans individuals and people of color face, and approaches to improve health programs geared toward the community. A mandatory part of the seminar will be a field trip to the LGBT Community Center of New Orleans to meet some of the leaders and members of the community and to the French quarter to visit one of the oldest LGBTQ+ bookstores in the US, Frenchmen Art and Books. **This course includes an optional service-learning component**
Charles Mignot, Senior Professor of Practice, French | BIO
