One unique feature of Yale’s academic system is the First Year Seminar program; a unique set of classes open only to first-year students. These classes are intentionally capped at around 18 students. My first year seminar has been one of my favorite parts of my first semester so I decided to talk to a few of my friends about their first year seminars.
Name: Rhayna
Major: Psychology
First-Year Seminar: Education and Life Worth Living
What Was It About: My first year seminar was about different philosophical approaches to education and how education fits into life as a whole. We looked at texts from ancient and modern philosophers as well as educators and our final assignment was to write an essay about our ideal vision of education and how our Yale education would help us become the person we want to be.
Favorite Thing About It: The discussions we had in class were incredible. Even though it’s not related to my major, the class gave me such a good perspective on education and on life. The class even piqued my interest in the Education Studies certificate because I found the perspectives on education so interesting. I also learned how to read, write about, and discuss philosophy on a much deeper level which was really eye-opening.
Name: Esteban
Major: Electrical Engineering
First-Year Seminar: Current Research in Astrophysics
What Was It About: My first year seminar was about what research current professors, scientists, and observers are conducting within the field of astrophysics and astronomy. This ranges from the research in the evolution of galaxies from the Big Bang, existence of black holes and dark matter, and the existence of planets and possible life outside of our solar system.
Favorite Thing About It: My favorite part of the course was the final project where we chose or were assigned a question from the Astro2020 Decadal Report (the decadal report outlining the next 10 years of astrophysics and astronomy), and researched the science behind our question where we then presented our findings. This was my favorite because I was truly able to learn more about the science within astrophysics in an applicable way as opposed to basic lectures of a math or science class.
Name: Karla
Major: Architecture
First-Year Seminar: Architectures of Urbanism
What Was It About: My first seminar was about exploring what a “just” city is like. We explored the history and architectural context of New Haven, Los Angeles, Berlin, Tokyo, New Oreleans, and much more. We also discussed critical urban theory.
Favorite Thing About It: The style was the most engaging and unique thing about the seminar. The entire time we discussed long slideshows of images, we discussed the historical and architectural context of the image and how it may or may not affect the experience of a person in the building. I liked that it wasn’t super stressful and that we got to explore so much architecture and history.
Name: Annie
Major: Music
First-Year Seminar: Medicine and Society in American History
What Was It About: We read from a textbook and we read lots of novels on different topics in medicine. We read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a book about a doctor taking care of AIDS patients in a rural town in Tennessee, and a book called The Healer’s Calling which was about the woman’s role as a healer in society.
Favorite Thing About It: I loved my professor, she really did the class in a way so that the class felt very conversational. I feel like I know all the people in the class so I loved how conversational it was and I loved the discussions we had around the table. Everyone had such interesting perspectives because we’ve all been impacted by the medical system in America.
First year seminars can be a great way to get an introduction to your field or study, to branch out and try a new subject, or just get to experience a smaller more discussion-based class where you can really get to know your classmates and professor. The First-Year Seminar Program was one of my favorite parts of my first semester here and I think it’s one of Yale’s best programs.
