The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces students to Dickinson as a "community of inquiry" by developing habits of mind essential to liberal learning. Through the study of a compelling issue or broad topic chosen by their faculty member, students will:
-Critically analyze information and ideas
-Examine issues from multiple perspectives
-Discuss, debate and defend ideas, including one's own views, with clarity and reason
-Develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information, and
-Create clear academic writing
The small group seminar format of this course promotes discussion and interaction among students and between students and their professor. In addition, the professor serves as students' initial academic advisor. This course does not duplicate in content any other course in the curriculum and may not be used to fulfill any other graduation requirement.
All Dickinson first-year students arrive on campus for orientation knowing which seminar they will join.
The following First-Year Seminars are offered in the Fall of 2024:
Humans & Nature:Fighting for Green in a Gray World
HIP, HIP, Hooray! Crafting Your Future Through Transformative Learning Experiences
Small Screen, Big Picture: Religion on Television
Introduction to Community
The Multiverse of Mythology
Do Stories Make Us Human?
Neither chimp nor computer: What, if anything, makes us human?
Race in Brazil: Challenging Discourses
Ideas that have Shaped the World
Marginalized Science: The Discoveries of Underrepresented People in STEM
You Contain Multitudes: The Microbiome in Human Health and Disease
Reading on the Edge of Your Seat: The Art of the Short Story
The Uses and Abuses of Photography
Good and Evil in the Human Imagination: Ethics in Fiction
Civil Disobedience in History
Fear Factor: A Multi-Disciplinary Exploration
The 2024 US Presidential Election: Is Dialogue across Difference Possible?
I'm the Universe
Collaborative Visual Story Telling
Exploring conflict: Events big and small that affect daily life for us all
Bizarrchaeolgoy: Evaluating What We Believe About the Past
War...What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing!
Prophet and Philosopher: Scirnce Fiction in Multimedia
Contested Campus: Key Issues in Higher Education
African American Food and Identity in American Popular Culture
The Art of the Detective in Fiction and Film
28 N College Street: Political Geography and the Power of Place
How the US Institutionalized Racism
Machines Among Us: The Social Life of AI, Algorithms, and Digital Automation
Sex and Sexuality in the Italian Middle Ages
The Not so Beautiful Game? Thinking about Football (Soccer) Culture in Britain
American Cool
Villians Unveiled: The Narrative Journey of Literary and Cinematic Antagonists
The Search for Life in the Solar System and Beyond: What are we looking for, and what do we do if we find it?!?!?
Video Explorations in Physics: Sharing the Beauty of Science with the World
Bioethics and Bioissues
Polyphemus to Pikachu: Making Sense of Monsters