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First-Year Seminars

Each year, Brown offers over 80 special seminars just for first-year students.  These first-year seminars (FYS) are taught by Brown faculty in all areas of the curriculum, from Anthropology to Physics to Nonfiction Writing.  First-year seminars enroll a maximum of twenty students each, and students receive regular feedback on the work they produce for the class.  Seminar faculty often serve as informal mentors for their students long after the class has ended. Click on the links at right to read course descriptions for all 2008-2009 first-year seminars.

Incoming first-year students are enrolled in first-year seminars by lottery the summer before they matriculate at Brown.  If you are entering Brown as a first-year student this fall, be sure to enter the first-year seminar placement lottery sometime between June 16 and June 30.  A link for entering the lottery will appear on this page on June 16.  You will need an active Brown email account to participate in the lottery, so be sure to activate your electronic services at http://activate.brown.edu.