F I R S T Y E A R S E M I N A R S

What are First-Year Seminars?
If you are a first-year student, you will find a complete listing of First-Year Seminars online. As you will see, these seminars are intensive, stimulating and challenging courses designed for first-year students only. With a group of no more than 15 of your peers who share your interests in this topic, you will engage in active dialogue with each other and with your professor.

The faculty instructor for this course will serve as your academic adviser until you declare your major in your sophomore year. Your adviser will get to know what you are capable of doing academically, and you will get to know your adviser both in and outside the classroom. If you do not wish to select a seminar, you will be assigned a faculty adviser who has volunteered to work with first-year students. This adviser also will work with you until you declare your major, advising you on your academic choices at Clark.

How do I select a First-Year Seminar?
Read the First-Year Seminar descriptions carefully. Remember, if you are enrolled in a First-Year Seminar, the seminar professor will become your academic adviser. All faculty advisers are trained to advise first-year students, regardless of your area of interest. Therefore, you do not need to pick a seminar/adviser based only on your intended area of academic study. Choose from among the seminars that interest you and you will choose a faculty adviser who shares some of your interests.

Several seminars are writing intensive and require that a student be capable of advanced college-level writing within a discipline. Read about the Program of Liberal Studies and Clark's Verbal Expression (VE) requirement to better understand the levels of writing at Clark. Your writing placement will be based on the writing sample you submit.

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