This course constitutes an exciting new opportunity for entering Year 1 Arts students to join in a small-group format with an outstanding senior professor of the Arts Faculty for investigation and exploration of a challenging topic in Arts scholarship. It is directed toward students in all Year 1 Arts programs. The Seminar will be offered on a pilot basis during the 2000-2001 academic year, with three sections of the course being presented in Fall Term and three in Winter Term. The First Year Seminar offers the excitement and challenge of working in a small group with a senior professor and fellow students on a topic of special interest. The seminars provide a unique opportunity to explore ideas and cutting-edge topics in depth, while collaborating with other students and working closely with a faculty member in formal and informal settings.
Emphasis is on discussion, papers, and in-class presentations rather than on quizzes and exams.
No prior knowledge or advanced placement in the subject is required. These include the ability to read critically, to write well, to make good oral presentations, to do basic research in the library and on the internet, and to exercise critical thinking. The individual sections of the Seminar, however, all have distinct and different subject topics, with each section professor having defined and developed his or her individual topic from some aspect of the research interests in which he or she specializes. Students make their selection of a section for registration according to their own leanings and interests. Each section of the Seminar meets once a week, for a period of two or three hours.