First Year Seminars

It's a fact that students are far more likely to succeed and feel satisfied with their college experience if they make a strong connection with a faculty or staff member. 

First Year Seminars are an ideal way to make that connection, and are designed to encourage the kind of active, collaborative learning and open dialogue that makes your undergraduate career come alive!

About First Year Seminars

What's in it for me?
This is a chance to take an interdisciplinary course in your first year. These course combine studies in more than one subject area and also involve a lively and exciting exchange of ideas.

Can such a course make a difference to my educational experience at JSC?
Absolutely! A First Year Seminar course can help you develop and enhance skills that you can use for the rest of your life. These include critical thinking, effective communication, informed evaluation and improved writing skills.

The First Year Seminar courses seem rather advanced; will I really be able to take them with my background?
Yes! By virtue of being small and taught by experienced faculty, the pace and material can easily be tailored to the background and abilities of the participants. These courses are intended as collaborative learning environments where students and faculty can learn easily from one another.

First Year Seminar Choices for Spring 2009

  • Nuclear Power and Society
  • The Long Emergency and the Coming War
  • If I Can't Dance - Keep Your Revolution
  • Culture, Heritage, and the Public
  • Think Globally, Eat Locally
  • Music and Culture in New Orelans
  • All Grown Up! Exploring Your Quarter Life Crisis through Psychology and Literature
  • Pretty or Nasty: The World of Cosmetics
  • Art of the Social Imagination

You can view descriptions of these courses by downloading a pdf version of the First Year Seminar flyer. You will need Adobe Reader to view this file.)

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