Since 2002, first-year students at Brown have had the opportunity to take first-year seminars — small courses, capped at about 20 undergraduates, that are designed to build community and introduce new Brunonians to seminar-style learning.
This semester, Brown offered 41 first-year seminar courses. In the spring, there will be 24. The Herald spoke with students and faculty who shared how they learn and design in their first-year seminars.
COLT 0711T: ‘Writing and Censorship’
COLT 0711T: “Writing and Censorship” is a first-year seminar centered on the past and present censorship of literature and other forms of writing.
Students in the course are assigned George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” a common subject of censorship, and embark on a field trip to the John Hay Library to view the original manuscript of Orwell’s novel “1984.”
“I’ve taught lots of professional seminars over the years, and I’m really appreciating this one,” said Esther Whitfield, a professor of comparative literature and Hispanic studies, who teaches COLT 0711T. “Everybody’s new here, and I think there’s a real sense of camaraderie.”
Most of the students in COLT 0711T are not planning to concentrate in comparative literature or humanities-related fields, Whitfield said. “It’s really good to have people with these very diverse interests.”
Nini Li ’29, a student in the seminar, said her fellow classmates are very “proactive.”
“Everyone (has) very amazing thoughts, and we build on each other’s arguments,” she added.
Abrianna Dumel ’29 wrote in an email to The Herald that COLT 0711T has “grounded” her outside of the classroom.
“I don’t think we get a lot of time to talk about outstanding social or literary issues because they simply aren’t relevant to normal, everyday conversations,” Dumel added. “However, having a class that is so interactive and willing to analyze these niche topics feels very refreshing and inspiring.”
EAST 0152: ‘Worlds of Korean Cinema’
EAST 0152: “Worlds of Korean Cinema” is an exploration of South Korean film in historical, aesthetic and political contexts, taught by Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies Hieyoon Kim.
“It’s as much about learning how to analyze films critically as it is about understanding South Korea’s modern history and its place in the world,” Kim wrote in an email to The Herald.
The course welcomes students from all backgrounds, Kim added.
“Some have never taken a film class or studied Korea before,” she wrote. “So the class encourages them to experiment with new ways of thinking, interpreting and writing.”
Alex Ophardt ’29, who is a student in the course, highlighted the student interaction that a small seminar provides. In a larger course, “you’re taking it, you’re absorbing the information, and then you’re thinking about what’s going to be on the exam,” he said.
“But the community in seminar classes prompts discussion outside of class,” Ophardt added. “It’s genuine.”
Ben Yoo ’29 said he enrolled in EAST 0152 because “it felt like what I would imagine a Brown class to be,” he said.
Ophardt and Yoo both chose to take the course, despite intending to concentrate in STEM fields. Because of the seminar, Ophardt plans to take more film classes during his time at Brown.
As a Korean-American student, Yoo also said that learning about Korean history through film has helped him consider some of his older family members’ experiences in Korea through a new lens.
EEPS 0160N: ‘Monsters of Abyss’
Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Baylor Fox-Kemper teaches EEPS 0160N: “Monsters of the Abyss: Oceanography and Sea Tales,” a first-year seminar aimed at approaching oceanography through an interdisciplinary lens.
To Fox-Kemper, first-year seminars are “an advising conversation as well as an educational conversation. And that’s the only time that could really happen in a university context,” he said.
Ben McLanahan ’29 said the course is currently his favorite, writing in an email to The Herald that “both the content and delivery (are) very interesting and engaging.”
“I thought this class would help me look at the ocean from a different perspective while improving my language skills,” McLanahan wrote.
Ellie Wolgemuth ’30, who is a first-year student in the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program, is not planning to concentrate in EEPS, but still found the class to be “valuable.”
“It acknowledges that all of the students have different levels of background knowledge coming into it. I never thought I would be learning about different historic sea expeditions or how to write in a journal, but here I am,” they wrote in an email to The Herald.
