First-year seminar is a yearlong course that introduces
you to some foundational texts and genres of world culture from across Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia. Focusing on literary, philosophical, religious and
historical works, it explores various ways in which different civilizations,
from antiquity to the contemporary era, have imagined and responded to the
relationship between self and community. Topics to be considered include human
existence, truth, love, authority, reason and religion as they have been
explored by individuals and societies throughout history. In the first
semester, you will engage with texts that primarily address notions of selfhood
and individuality and in the second semester you will engage with texts that
primarily address notions of community and collective identity.
- Facilitators: Nicholas Walmsley