First-Year Seminars

While not required, first-year seminars are an excellent introduction to academic life in the College and are highly recommended for first- or second-semester students. The primary goal of the first-year seminar program is to provide every first-year student with the opportunity for a direct personal encounter with a faculty member in a small class setting devoted to a significant intellectual endeavor. First-year seminars also fulfill one of the College General Education Requirements. Below is the list of the first-year seminars offered. Previously offered first-year seminars can be found in the first-year seminar archive.

 

Course Title Instructor Fulfills (Sectors | Foundational Approaches)
ANTH 0058/SAST 0058: Doing Research: First-Year Seminar Lisa Mitchell Sector 1: Society
ARTH 0501/ENGL 0365: Spiegel-Wilks First-Year Seminar: The Art of Care Aaron Levy Sector 3: Arts & Letters
CHEM 0250: Structural Biology Jeffery Saven Sector 7: Natural Science Across Disciplines (formerly Natural Sciences & Mathematics)
CIMS 0201: Sci-Fi Cinema Christopher Donovan Sector 3: Arts & Letters
CLST 0021: Percy Jackson and Friends: Ancient Greece and Rome in Children's and Young Adult Culture Sheila Murnaghan Sector 3: Arts & Letters
COML 0087/GSWS 0087/ITAL 0087: Desire and Deception in Medieval Erotic Literature Francesco Aresu Sector 3: Arts & Letters
COML 0090/FREN 0090: The Fantastic Voyage from Homer to Science Fiction Scott Francis Sector 3: Arts & Letters
COML 0310/ENGL 0310: Reading the City (First-Year Seminar) Emily Steinlight Sector 3: Arts & Letters
ENGL 0391: First Year Seminar: Dark Academia Caroline Batten Sector 3: Arts & Letters
LING 0054: Bilingualism in History Marlyse Baptista Sector 2: History & Tradition
MATH 2030: Proving Things: Algebra Varies by section  
MATH 2100: Mathematics in the Age of Information Staff Sector 7: Natural Science Across Disciplines (formerly Natural Sciences & Mathematics)
MUSC 0160: South Asia: Music, Politics, Aesthetics James Sykes Sector 3: Arts & Letters
MUSC 0180B/URBS 0180B: Music in Urban Spaces Molly Mcglone Sector 4: Humanities and Social Sciences
NRSC 0060: Music and the Brain Michael Kaplan Sector 5: Living World
PHYS 0171: Honors Physics II: Electromagnetism and Radiation Varies by Section Sector 6: Physical World
PSCI 0010: Making the Modern State Melissa Lee Sector 1: Society
STSC 0668: River History John Kanbayashi Sector 2: History & Tradition
VLST 1060: Virtual Reality Storytelling Gregory Vershbow Sector 4: Humanities and Social Sciences