First-year courses that get people talking.
When Sarah Colmer registered for "Nature and Narrative," she wasn't sure what to expect. The course description didn't give much away, but she knew she loved to write and enjoyed the outdoors.
What she couldn't have predicted was how deeply the course's design—a small, intimate group of about a dozen students—would draw her into the subject matter. "More than anything, it's a conversation. Pretty much everyone participates, and we agree and disagree," says Colmer, a 19-year-old science major from Belmar, N.J., who aims to be a veterinarian. "It's stimulating."
Colmer is describing a College Seminar, a required two-credit course intended to introduce entering students to college-level inquiry, thought and discussion. Students are urged to select one they find intellectually appealing from a list of more than 30. Colmer's pick—"Nature and Narrative," created and taught by Jonathan Levin, dean of the College of Liberal Arts—explores writers' treatment of the natural world in fiction, poetry and nonfiction. Readings have included excerpts from Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman.
"They're all pretty interesting, which surprised me. I thought it was going to be informational reading, but the reading isn't textbook style," says Colmer. For her, what makes the seminar provocative is that students have differing interpretations of writers' work. "There is plenty of room for opposing ideas. I'm discussing things with people who actually care about what I have to say. I want to hear what they have to say," she explains. "It's self-discovery."
Drew instituted the first-year seminar concept 25 years ago and found it eased the transition from high school to college, says Edye Lawler, dean of educational services. The seminars were revamped last year to emphasize conversation, intellectual engagement and short "writing to learn" papers. Enrollment is capped at 17.
"We wanted to assure an exciting, small-class environment for each first-year student," Lawler says. "It will develop the tools they need to engage in an academic conversation."—By Mary Jo Patterson
To learn more about our general education curriculum and other seminars, take a look at the following pages:
