2024-2025 Catalog

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First-Year Seminars

The First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses are the centerpiece of the Core Program. These are small first-year writing seminars, each designed by a faculty member around a topic in their field of expertise, emphasizing discussion, critical analysis, and intensive instruction in writing. Incoming first-year students are required to take one seminar in the fall and one in the spring, for a minimum of eight units. FYS courses do not satisfy any other Core Program requirement and are graded on a S/U basis only.

In addition to the primary goals of all FYS courses to develop effective college-level writing and enhance critical thinking, Fall FYS courses pay attention to and provide assistance with navigating the transition to college life; the writing focus is the creation of thesis-driven essays. Spring FYS courses center scholarly inquiry and research, information literacy, and experiential learning; the writing focus is the production and presentation of a research project.

 
Passing both FYS courses is required to partially satisfy the College’s First Stage Writing Proficiency Requirement. Exactly how to satisfy College’s First Stage Writing Proficiency Requirement is described in detail here. Students may not drop or withdraw from an FYS course unless they withdraw from the College for that semester. A student who earns a grade of U in one or both FYS course will be required to take CWP 201 to complete their First-Stage Writing Proficiency requirement.

Course Objectives

Primary

  1. Effective College-Level Writing. Students will demonstrate proficiency in expository essay writing as they gain and refine their knowledge of the conventions of academic discourse.
  2. Critical Thinking. Students will be provided with opportunities to develop, strengthen, and demonstrate their ability to think critically and engage in academic discourse.
  3. Scholarly Inquiry. Students will demonstrate understanding of the practices of scholarly inquiry by identifying research questions; collecting, evaluating, and interpreting evidence; and communicating the findings.

Secondary

  1. Transition to College. Students will become familiar with the norms of college academic life and demonstrate knowledge of the curricular and co-curricular resources available to promote their academic success.
  2. Information Literacy. Students will be introduced to the concept of information literacy and be expected to understand how to find and evaluate academic sources. They will also learn about scholarly citation methods and purposes, and become aware of the importance of academic honesty.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Effective College-Level Writing Outcome 1.1: Students will develop writing that responds with insight and originality to the criteria and requirements of the assignment, demonstrating their understanding of the course materials and topics through the use of specific examples and evidence from scholarly sources. (Fall and Spring)
  • Effective College-Level Writing Outcome 1.2: Students will develop writing using features appropriate for college-level expository papers including: thesis or main idea, clarity of focus, organization, and conventions of grammar, style, mechanics, and usage. (Fall and Spring)
  • Critical Thinking Outcome 2.1: Students will have the ability to clearly and accurately represent the precise question, problem, or issue under discussion. (Fall and Spring)
  • Critical Thinking Outcome 2.2: Students will have the ability to identify assumptions, implications, and practical consequences of the question, problem or issue under discussion. (Fall and Spring)
  • Scholarly Inquiry Outcome 3.1: Students will gain experience in crafting research questions, locating and evaluating sources, deploying evidence and situating their scholarly inquiry within scholarly conversations. (Spring) 
  • Scholarly Inquiry Outcome 3.2: Students will construct well-reasoned conclusions or solutions with regard to the question, problem or issue under discussion, and test these conclusions or solutions against relevant criteria and standards. (Spring) 
  • Transition to College Outcome 4.1: Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge about academic and co-curricular resources and support services. (Fall)
  • Transition to College Outcome 4.2: Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge about academic support services that aid in the transition to college from high school. (Fall)
  • Information Literacy 5.1: Students will be able to identify their information needs and match them with appropriate search strategies and tools.  (Spring)