First-year seminars grow in popularity

The number of first-year seminars has grown from 20 to 150 in past five years

More than half of all first-year students are taking a first-year seminar this fall - and those who aren't may come to regret it.

"It was the only class I went to every day," said LSA junior Drake Kohn of his first-year seminar on Slavic folk tales back in fall '96.

Kohn said his first semester here was difficult and the seminar helped him adjust to the University.

"I probably wouldn't be here today without that class," he said.

The popularity of the seminars is no accident, for much planning and deliberation went into their creation.

KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily This first-year student is participating in a first-year seminar this semester. More than half of first-year students are enrolled in a seminar.

In the late '80s, the University administration commissioned studies on how to improve undergraduate instruction, and a far-reaching plan called the Undergraduate Initiative resulted.

This led to a number of new programs, but none took off like the first-year seminars.

During the past five years, the number of seminars has grown from 20 to 150. While the seminars were originally taught by emeritus faculty only, now they are taught by all members of the University's senior faculty

The seminars' topics range from the natural sciences to the social sciences to the humanities, and are as diverse as the incoming students that enroll in them. Students can learn about dreams or about the seven wonders of the world.

New students can take courses such as "The Evolution of Consciousness and Cognition" or "Explorations in Number Theory." And, for those more keen on literature than science, there are even seminars on Ernest Hemingway and William Shakespeare.

One of the program's backers is David Schoem, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs.

The seminars, Schoem said, "promote critical thinking and writing," as well as offer students the opportunity to study in a small setting with a senior faculty member, since enrollment is held to 25 students.

This semester, Italian assistant Prof. Alison Cornish is teaching a seminar on Italian literature.

The class will read its way backward through 700 years, beginning with the 20th-Century writer Leonardo Sciasca, a Sicilian who wrote about the mafia, and move on to authors such as Machiavelli and Dante. The students will read nine full books and write six, two- or three-page papers.

Shannon O'Sullivan, an LSA first-year student, is one of the 17 students enrolled in the course. She said she likes literature and plans to concentrate in English, so this course was an easy choice.

Plus, she added, "All my advisers said (the seminars) were good because they're so small."

09-17-98