First Year Seminars 2005-2006
Active Learning Experiences for First Year Students

After considering best practices across the country and at UMBC, one of the recommendations of the Honors Task Force was to develop an opportunity for new UMBC students, first-year and transfer, to participate in a First-Year Academic Seminar during one of their first two semesters at UMBC. This initiative supports UMBC's mission of "an Honor's University" by providing new students with an opportunity to be taught by a full-time professor in a small group setting while exploring a topic that is of particular interest to the faculty member. The goal for this program as outlined by the Task Force in their report is:

"….to establish distinctive communities of scholars and to challenge students to hone their critical and interpretive skills by exploring themes spanning several disciplines, East and West, present and past. The analytical and communication skills, interdisciplinary focus, in-depth understanding of a major theme, and the advantages of shared learning that they will experience in the first-year seminar sets them on their way to becoming the graduates that we envisage for an Honors University" (p. 23).

Under the leadership of Provost Johnson and Vice Provost Lee, the campus initiated this program during the 2002-2003 academic year with faculty offering eleven seminars. The goal is to increase the number of offerings so that every new student entering UMBC, who wants such an experience, will have an opportunity to do so. Click here to see what the opportunities are for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Diane M. Lee
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Click here to view what past participants say about First-Year Seminars.