CMC Freshman Humanities Seminar Program

Freshman Humanities Seminar courses aim to give first-year students an introduction to some of the questions fundamental to individuals in their relationship to society and the world.  FHS courses will also aim to provide students with the analytical skills necessary to engage critically with issues, texts, and arguments and to express their ideas clearly, both orally and in writing.  As such, these classes will be intensely participatory and writing-intensive.  They are meant to allow for a variety of opinions based on reasoned argumentation and grounded in the reading and interpretation of texts.

All FHS courses will be chronologically and/or thematically broad.  While there will be no expectation of shared texts across sections, all FHS courses will examine some of the texts that have been significant to the shaping of our world.  Each section engages one or more critical theme such as the notion of the self, the community, individual and communal values, modes of understanding, and creative expression, and the relationships each one has with the others.

Although these courses are not intended to be introductions to any of the particular disciplines in the humanities, different sections of these courses might nonetheless have disciplinary “flavors.” The course materials typically include a diversity of media, among which are readings, music, film, and the various visual arts.

Courses will appear on students’ transcripts and in the Schedule of Classes under their individualized titles (e.g., FHS 10: Myth, Modernity, and Beyond or FHS 10: War and Society). Incoming students are encouraged to identify their preferred sections before fall registration and should familiarize themselves with the FHS offerings both semesters. Each incoming student is required to take one FHS course.