First Year Seminar
The University’s First-Year Seminar (FYS) program connects new students with the liberal arts values and practices that are the heart of undergraduate education at U of R. FYS serves as a home base where students have space to confront increased responsibility, learn from setbacks and mistakes, and develop personal strategies to succeed. FYS professors and peer advisors collaborate to connect students with resources and skills for success and demystify college expectations during the transition from high school to college.
FYS professors are the initial academic advisors at the University, and help students choose courses and chart an academic path. Peer advisors are nominated by faculty and are trained in academic peer mentoring. As current students, they help new students navigate the university from a student perspective.
Students meet their FYS professor and peer advisor during New Student Orientation. Each FYS continues throughout the fall semester, creating a uniting and unique experience for incoming students.
First Year Seminar List
A complete list of first year seminars are shown below. Please follow these four tips when selecting seminars of interest:
- The title doesn’t tell the whole story. Click on the seminar title for a full seminar description.
- Keep an open mind. None of these seminars require prior knowledge of the subject, and they are not gateway courses to particular majors or minors. This is a great opportunity to try something new!
- Pay close attention to unique course requirements, such as unusual meeting times and special requirements.
- Choose 10 seminars. Please note that we are not asking you to rank your choices; simply choose the ten seminars that intrigue you the most.