The RC First-Year Writing Seminar Program encourages students to build their skills for college-level writing while exploring exciting and thought-provoking topics. These small, discussion-based classes are tailored for first-year Residential College students and offer a unique blend of academic rigor and creative freedom.
In the RC, we believe writing is more than just an assignment - it’s a way to express your ideas, reflect on your experiences, and engage with the world around you.
That’s why our First-Year Writing Seminars are designed to help you build your skills and confidence as a writer, thinker, and learner.
The RC First-Year Writing Seminar is more than a way to fulfill a requirement. It’s your first step in becoming a confident communicator, a critical thinker, and an engaged member of the RC’s vibrant intellectual community.
In these seminars, writing is a tool for discovery. You’ll reflect on your own experiences, connect ideas across disciplines, and engage deeply with your peers, faculty, and the world around you. Along the way, you’ll sharpen your analytical and creative skills—preparing you for success in whatever academic and career path you choose.
Whether you’re passionate about storytelling, eager to analyze contemporary issues, or simply want to hone your writing skills, RC First-Year Writing Seminars are the perfect place to begin your journey.
We believe a sense of community can reinforce learning.
The First-Year Seminar introduces first-year students to the Residential College—its faculty, its resources, and its culture. Some have described the course as being a kind of home room, a space to come together twice a week and freely ask questions and explore ideas. First-Year Seminars are intentionally small, and instructors work with students both in groups and individually to improve their writing. The seminars serve as a bridge to college life and to forming a learning community. Friendships and intellectual connections made in the FYS often last through college and beyond.
We believe writing is central to all disciplines and that being a better writer will help students excel in college and throughout their careers.
First-Year Seminars teach students how to write in different genres; critique the work of peers; construct rigorous, evidence-based arguments; and write in clear, organized, and engaging prose. Students also learn to examine texts closely and present their ideas in class. These skills provide a foundation for future work across all academic fields, including the physical and social sciences, the arts, engineering, law, and business.
We believe writing is best learned and practiced in the context of a particular idea or goal.
RC First-Year Seminars are taught by RC faculty on a range of topics, drawing on the intellectual expertise of instructors. As a result, students not only become more sophisticated writers, they emerge with a deeper understanding of a specific discipline; topics range from Islamic art to horror stories to experiences of confinement and liberation to the science of creativity.
First-Year Seminar courses vary from year to year depending on the faculty instructors. Past seminar topics include:
- Science of Creativity and the Arts
- The City as Text
- To Comfort and Disturb: Writing Emotions
- Presidential Elections Then & Now
- RESIST! Theory for the Revolution
- Narratives of Confinement, Narratives of Liberation
- Language, Culture, and Identity
- Turtles All the Way Down
- The City as Text
- Write Like an Artist
- Race, Gender, & Meaning in American Popular Music
- Contemporary Sports Literature
We believe clear writing both requires and leads to clear thinking.
Clear thinking can arise from reading widely, observing situations closely, and debating ideas. But taking that understanding and communicating it effectively through writing is a critical further step. In fact, the act of writing can be crucial to honing ideas. Our goal is to help students refine and integrate their processes of thinking and writing. The clarity this can bring to an essay or paper is a victory worth celebrating.
RC First-Year Seminar courses satisfy the LSA First-Year Writing Requirement.
“Susan’s class is in-depth and interesting, but she also makes it intuitive and manageable. While reading narrative journalistic pieces to get a better understanding of how the style works, you also write and edit your own pieces, working with peers and Susan to polish your writing!”
Ethan Magley, class of 2024
First-Year Seminar "Truth Through Story: the Art and Craft of Narrative Journalism" taught by Susan Rosegrant, Fall 2020
