College seminars

The College Seminars are reading- and writing-intensive courses for first-year students. Topics vary from year to year, but all the seminars are discussion-oriented and strive to engage students in examining questions and debates that are of general concern both within and outside the framework of any particular field or profession. As such, they are likely to address fundamental issues that exceed as well as establish the boundaries of any department or group of disciplines. The seminars require and support careful reading of texts and critical engagement with ideas and emphasize the need to write clear and cogent prose as a necessary condition for good interpretive essays. Course materials include books and essays but also films, material objects, social practices, scientific observations and experiments.

All students are required to take a College Seminar during the fall semester of their first year. For more information about the College Seminar Program, click on “What are the College Seminars?” on the navigation bar to the left. Course descriptions for this year’s CSems can be found by clicking on “For Students,” and then on “Courses.”

Overview
The College Seminar is a unique one-semester course experience shared by all sophomores majoring in the College of Arts and Letters. The course offers students an introduction to the diversity and distinctive focus of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame. Specific sections of the College Seminar vary in their topics and texts (i.e., there will not be a shared reading list across sections), but all feature an interdisciplinary approach, commitment to engaging important questions, employment of major works, and emphasis on the development of oral skills. Every College Seminar syllabus will include works that approach the topic from the perspective of each of the three divisions of the College: the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Acting on their own or in groups, faculty are encouraged to develop new versions of the College Seminar or to choose from among an ever-expanding bank of existing versions.

One advantage of the flexibility in both topic and text allowed by the College Seminar is that it allows faculty to develop and teach courses consistent with their own interests and expertise. At the same time, faculty will stretch beyond disciplinary boundaries by developing courses that employ works from fields outside of their own. Resources will be available to assist faculty in this task, as well as to encourage and support the development of new courses, collaboration between faculty across divisions, and the enhancement of specific pedagogical skills.

Principles and Learning Goals

This document represents an initial attempt to identify the basic components that might characterize and define the College Seminar. Important details remain to be fleshed out. We envision classes of no more than 18, and ideally 15, students. The course format should focus on discussion and oral communication. In this section we identify some of the major principles and goals that would guide the development of the College Seminar

College Seminar Director / Resource Person / Advisory and Support Committee.

The College Seminar will be further supported by a director, a resource person, and an advisory board. These individuals will ensure that courses offered as College Seminars meet the articulated learning goals, provide support and guidance to faculty as they develop and revise their courses, distribute grants, and facilitate the development and provision of summer workshops and the resource bank.