Our Seminars

All students in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences (KSAS) must complete one First-Year Seminar (FYS) in their fall semester of their first year. Students work with their academic advisor in the summer to register.

The Whiting School of Engineering and the Peabody Institute do not currently require FYS. However, WSE is offering a number of optional First-Year Seminars to students listed in SIS under the department “EN First Year Seminars.”

The seminars listed below are provided by the JHU Public Course Search. Please be sure to look at the “Special Notes” section for FYS courses to confirm any restrictions.

How to Choose

  • Know that our FYS faculty hail from almost every department, program, and division of the university! You’ll want to prepare a list of five to ten (5-10) First-Year Seminars that spark your intellectual curiosity and will be offered at a time you can attend.
  • Try thinking in questions, not departments. FYS cut across subjects, so many of them reach beyond–or even ignore–traditional academic categories. The spirit of FYS is intellectual exploration — as the seminars themselves suggest.
  • Hunt for field trips, excursions, and other unique opportunities. Want to handle rare books, contribute to a research database, present at a conference, or see Hamilton? Here’s your chance!
Course # (Section) Title Day/Times Instructor Location Term Course Details
AS.001.104 (01)FYS: The Science of ColorMW 4:30PM - 5:45PMYoung, JamieGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.105 (01)FYS: The Science Behind the FictionMW 12:00PM - 1:15PMMcQueen, TyrelBloomberg 259Fall 2023
AS.001.109 (01)FYS: Why'd Your Brain Sign You up for This?MW 10:30AM - 11:45AMTrageser, JasonGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.110 (01)FYS: How We ReadTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMBarry, Kelly LBLC 4040Fall 2023
AS.001.111 (01)FYS: What's Music Do?TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMFoster, Daniel HarmonKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.111 (02)FYS: What's Music Do?MW 3:00PM - 4:15PMFoster, Daniel HarmonGilman 219Fall 2023
AS.001.115 (01)FYS: Illusions, Delusions, and Other ConfusionsT 1:30PM - 4:00PMEgeth, Howard EKrieger 308Fall 2023
AS.001.117 (01)FYS: Composer Biographies in FilmTTh 4:30PM - 5:45PMAhn, SuhnneShaffer 202Fall 2023
AS.001.120 (01)FYS: U.S. History of the PresentTTh 4:30PM - 5:45PMBrann, Allon YagodaBLC 4040Fall 2023
AS.001.132 (01)FYS: Exploring Economic InequalityW 9:00AM - 11:30AMMorgan, Barbara AnneGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.133 (01)FYS: Hot Topics in EducationTTh 10:30AM - 11:45AMBurdick-Will, Julia BurdickGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.135 (01)FYS: Free Speech and Its LimitsMW 1:30PM - 2:45PMKatz, Richard StephenGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.136 (01)FYS: Cults, Communes, and ConspiraciesT 10:00AM - 12:30PMMorgan, Stephen LMergenthaler 526Fall 2023
AS.001.143 (01)FYS: Poets, Physicists, Philosophers, and the Ultimate Nature of RealityTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMEgginton, WilliamMergenthaler 431Fall 2023
AS.001.144 (01)FYS: Literary MultilingualismMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMHaubenreich, JacobGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.145 (01)FYS: The Haitian RevolutionTTh 4:30PM - 5:45PMKwass, MichaelGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.149 (01)FYS: What Is Poverty? A View from Economics and the Social SciencesTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMMoffitt, Robert AGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.152 (01)FYS: When Chemistry Changed HistoryM 1:30PM - 4:00PMHill, EricKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.154 (01)FYS: Phage Hunters - Discovering novel bacteriophagesW 1:30PM - 4:00PMFisher, Emily JUG Teaching Lab (UTL) G72Fall 2023
AS.001.155 (01)FYS: Is a Corporation a Person?T 10:30AM - 1:00PMO'Connor, Marisa TGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.158 (01)FYS: Love, Anger, Fear, and HopeTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMKoullas, Sandy GillianGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.161 (01)FYS: Books, Authenticity, and TruthT 2:00PM - 4:30PMCelenza, ChrisBLC MackseyFall 2023
AS.001.162 (01)FYS: From Shakespeare to BaltimoreMW 10:30AM - 11:45AMStoll, Abraham DKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.166 (01)FYS: The Pleasures of the Imagination - British culture in the eighteenth centuryTh 9:00AM - 11:30AMMarshall, John WGilman 308Fall 2023
AS.001.167 (01)FYS: The Natural History of the Homewood CampusMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMSzlavecz, KatalinGilman 413Fall 2023
AS.001.168 (01)FYS: The Psychology of Mass Politics in the U.S.M 4:00PM - 6:30PMMason, Lily HallWyman Park N325FFall 2023
AS.001.173 (01)FYS: Taking TV Seriously - Analysis and InterpretationTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMJewiss, Virginia CMergenthaler 431Fall 2023
AS.001.174 (01)FYS: Women and Family in Chinese FilmT 3:00PM - 5:30PMJiang, JinGilman 413Fall 2023
AS.001.175 (01)FYS: Music and ShakespeareF 11:00AM - 1:30PMKass, Lily TShriver Hall 028GFall 2023
AS.001.176 (01)FYS: Microbe Hunters - Student-sourcing Antibiotic DiscoveryT 1:30PM - 4:00PMBroderick, NicholeUG Teaching Lab (UTL) G72Fall 2023
AS.001.179 (01)FYS: Race Before Race - Difference and Diversity in the Ancient MediterraneanMW 12:00PM - 1:15PMPandey, NandiniGilman 108Fall 2023
AS.001.181 (01)FYS: Introduction to Lives in Medicine - Exploring the Experience of Patients and PractitionersT 9:00AM - 11:30AMMostwin, Jacek LechJenkins 102Fall 2023
AS.001.182 (01)FYS: Seeing ThingsTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMPhillips, Ian BGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.184 (01)FYS: The Mathematics of Politics, Democracy, and Social ChoiceTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMCutrone, Joseph WGilman 217Fall 2023
AS.001.185 (01)FYS: Why We Science?W 1:30PM - 4:00PMBah, IbouBloomberg 259Fall 2023
AS.001.186 (01)FYS: TuberculosisMW 4:30PM - 5:45PMHorner, Robert DUG Teaching Lab (UTL) 189Fall 2023
AS.001.192 (01)FYS: How Not to be Afraid of PoetryT 3:00PM - 5:30PMAchinstein, SharonGilman 388Fall 2023
AS.001.194 (01)FYS: The Arrow of TimeMW 9:00AM - 10:15AMCarroll, Sean MichaelBloomberg 259Fall 2023
AS.001.195 (01)FYS: Chemistry and Everyday LivingTh 10:30AM - 1:00PMD'Souza, Larissa NUG Teaching Lab (UTL) 186Fall 2023
AS.001.196 (01)FYS: Love and its Maladies: A Short HistoryT 4:15PM - 6:45PMEnder, EvelyneGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.197 (01)FYS: Doctors and Patients: A Few Case StudiesMW 10:30AM - 11:45AMEnder, EvelyneGilman 208Fall 2023
AS.001.198 (01)FYS: Secret ScienceMW 9:00AM - 10:15AMMcManus, Alison LGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.199 (01)FYS: Technology and GlobalizationT 1:30PM - 4:00PMMercelis, Joris Hans AngeleGilman 300Fall 2023
AS.001.200 (01)FYS: Great Adaptations in the Animal KingdomTh 4:00PM - 6:30PMMoss, Cynthia; Russell, Arthur JAmes 217Fall 2023
AS.001.201 (01)FYS: The Four Great Cosmic Questions: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Black Holes and the Origin of LifeTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMNorman, Colin Fall 2023
AS.001.202 (01)FYS: The Human Face of AddictionT 1:15PM - 3:45PMPickard, HannaGilman 288Fall 2023
AS.001.203 (01)FYS: Eataly: Constructing Identity through FoodMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMProietti, LeonardoGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.204 (01)FYS: French Identities: Race, Gender, Religion, and Sexual Orientation in Contemporary FranceMW 1:30PM - 2:45PMRoos, Suzanne LoisGilman 413Fall 2023
AS.001.205 (01)FYS: Games: History, Theory, and PracticeMW 10:30AM - 11:45AMRosenthal, Jesse KarlGilman 130DFall 2023
AS.001.208 (01)FYS: Imagining WarTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMStahl, NetaKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.209 (01)FYS: Feminism and MediaTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMWegenstein, BernadetteGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.210 (01)FYS: Democratic ErosionM 4:15PM - 6:45PMWarren, Scott LKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.211 (01)FYS: Getting a LifeMW 10:00AM - 11:15AMVelleman, James DavidGilman 413Fall 2023
AS.001.212 (01)FYS: Democracy, Diversity and IdentityTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMMounk, Yascha BGilman 413Fall 2023
AS.001.213 (01)FYS: Explorations in Contemporary PoetryTh 10:30AM - 1:00PMArthur, James PGilman 138DFall 2023
AS.001.214 (01)FYS: Doing Things With MapsW 3:00PM - 5:30PMPatton, ElizabethKrieger LavertyFall 2023
AS.001.215 (01)FYS: Mosques, Museums, and the Mind’s Eye: Discovering Islamic Art in PersonW 1:30PM - 4:00PMRustem, UnverGilman 177Fall 2023
AS.001.216 (01)FYS: The Literature of FoodT 10:30AM - 1:00PMSnider, Bruce HGilman 138DFall 2023
AS.001.217 (01)FYS: From Cell Phones to Hydrogen Cars: Are the Needed Metals Sustainable?MW 9:00AM - 10:15AMSverjensky, DimitriOlin 204Fall 2023
AS.001.218 (01)FYS: Means of Persuasion: Language, Culture, and SocietyW 10:30AM - 1:00PMHaeri, NiloofarMergenthaler 426Fall 2023
AS.001.220 (01)FYS: Reproduction in the 21st Century: Biology and PoliticsM 3:00PM - 5:30PMZirkin, Barry RJenkins 107Fall 2023
AS.001.221 (01)FYS: Music, Religion and HealingT 1:30PM - 4:00PMZiad, Homayra3003 N. Charles OMA LoungeFall 2023
AS.001.222 (01)FYS: Exploring Intellectual Property from Marvel to Zombies to Ed Sheeren and BeyondTh 12:00PM - 2:30PMLibowitz, SigSmokler Center 213Fall 2023
AS.001.223 (01)FYS: Automating Care: Digital Technology and the Future of MedicineMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMPuglionesi, Alicia GladysMaryland 202Fall 2023
AS.001.224 (01)FYS: Critical Playlists: 1961-1989T 1:30PM - 4:00PMRhee, SharlynGilman 134Fall 2023
AS.001.225 (01)FYS: Figures of Thought: Dangerous WomenTh 10:30AM - 1:00PMRhee, SharlynGreenhouse 113Fall 2023
AS.001.226 (01)FYS: Science FictionTTh 10:30AM - 11:45AMStaffKrieger LavertyFall 2023