First-year Seminar Program
Fall Quarter 2025 Enrollment Information
First-year Seminars are open first to all first-year students including first-year freshman with sophomore standing during the first-year student enrollment period. Incoming first-year students with sophomore standing should use the campus Course Pre-Authorization system to be cleared to enroll in a seminar and then use WebReg to enroll in seminars during your enrollment time.
Early enrollment is encouraged due to the small class size.
Visit the Schedule of Classes to see enrollments (select all departments and 87.) Use WebReg to enroll in seminars during your enrollment period.
Sophomores may enroll directly in first-year seminars by using WebReg after the freshman enrollment period and if seats are available.
Please use the campus Course Pre-Authorization system if you have an enrollment question.
Please use the Virtual Advising Center, VAC to contact the advisor of the department or program offering the seminar for all non-enrollment questions.
Department of Anthropology
Esperanto & the Anthropology of Language
ANTH 87 B00
Section ID: 911392
Jordan, David (
dkjordan@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 102
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
As the only artificial language in widespread spoken use, Esperanto can provide a window into linguistic, social, and cultural aspects of language in general. This class provides an overview both of Esperanto and of the anthropology of language.
India and the US: from democracy to authoritarianism
ANTH 87 C00
Section ID: 911404
Varma, Saiba (
s2varma@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 269
Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This course will explore contemporary struggles for social justice in South Asia, one of the world's most important geopolitical regions. We will examine unfolding crises, from the farmers' protests to struggles for gender justice to the protests around the new citizenship act, to the militarization of Kashmir, to understand what South Asian futures will look like.
The Aztecs
ANTH 87 A00
Section ID: 911153
Jordan, David (
dkjordan@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 102
Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Origins and evolution of pre-Columbian Aztec society and culture. Sources are a mix of archaeological findings and early colonial writings.
Department of Asian American & Pacific Islander Studies Program
Introduction to Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies
AAPI 87 A00
Section ID: 911745
Solomon Amorao, Amanda (
alsolomon@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCGIL 2126
Tuesdays, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Students will be introduced to the critical concepts and practices of Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, centering the study of race, power, and inequality in contemporary AAPI life. Key concepts include: diaspora, community building, intersectionality, worldmaking, demilitarization, and decolonization. Students will also learn the long history of student activism that resulted in the creation of the AAPI Studies Program at UCSD in 2020 and meet program faculty.
Division of Biological Sciences
Mighty Microbes: Their Lives and Times
BILD 87 B00
Section ID: 942060
Saier, Milton (
msaier@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 3880
Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This freshman seminar will focus on many aspect of microbiology including: how they communicate, how they swim, how they signal, how they respond to pain and pleasure, and many other topics. Students will be asked to organize a short presentation or a class discussion on a topic of interest to them.
The Philosophy of Science and the Science of the Supernatural
BILD 87 A00
Section ID: 942047
Saier, Milton (
msaier@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 3880
Tuesdays, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will consider the philosophy of science and the science of faith. Topics to be included are:
1. The Creation Story 2. The Ptolemaic Universe 3. How to explain the supernatural 4. Copernicus and Galileo 5. Kepler's analyses 6. Sir Isaac Newton 7. Darwin and Evolution 8. Koch's Postulates 9. Mental illness 10. The Scientific Method.
Department of Chicanx and Latinx Studies
What is a Chicano? And why should we care anyway?
CLX 87 B00
Section ID: 984565
Castro, Robert (
r1castro@ucsd.edu)
Location: EBU3B 4140
Thusdays, 3:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
These questions are the springboard for our seminar. The answers will be discovered through discussions of important social, political, economic, cultural, and historical aspects of the Chicano experience. Join the conversation and share your voice!
Cinematic Arts and Film Studies
Banned Films
FILM 87 B00
Section ID: 980482
Rahimi, Babak (
brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 221
Mondays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar examines the relationship between law, politics and cinema and why governments have banned certain films throughout history. We will examine films such as This is Not a Film, Sweetness of Spirit, Battleship Potemkin, LAge dOr, The Bohemian Girl, Clockwork Orange, Goldfinger and others.
What Film Can Teach Us About Life
FILM 87 A00
Section ID: 980481
Rahimi, Babak (
brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 221
Monday, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar is about how film can reflect and change our lives. We will discuss movies such as: I Love you, Beth Cooper,American Beauty, Sliding doors, Seventh Seal, Happiness, La Dolce Vita, Taste of Cherry, Do the Right Thing, Christmas Story and others.
Department of Classical Studies
Jesus in Word and Deed
CLAS 87 A00
Section ID: 975431
Herbst, Matthew (
mtherbst@ucsd.edu)
Location: ERCA 201
Wednesdays, 3:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
The life of Jesus of Nazareth has had a profound influence on world history over the past two millennia. Explanations and conceptions of Jesus have been essential to community formation and definition. These images have inspired artists, authors, and advocates across the globe, from past to present. Yet, these explanations and conceptions have also greatly differed. This seminar explores diverse (and competing) ways that Jesus has been explained and portrayed (in history, theology, community expression, etc.) as well as how these conceptions have influenced action, from early Christian martyrs to modern civil rights leaders.
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
A Technical History of Video Games
CSE 87 A00
Section ID: 914904
Moshiri, Niema (
a1moshiri@ucsd.edu)
Location: EBU3B 140
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Spanning their primitive origins in the 1950s, their rise in mainstream popularity in the 1970s, their crash in the 1980s, their revival in the 1990s, and their explosion in the modern era, video games have dramatically evolved over the past century. This seminar will explore this evolution from a technical perspective, discussing lower-level details of video games over the ages.
Neural Networks as Models of the Mind
CSE 87 B00
Section ID:
Cottrell, Garrison (
gcottrell@ucsd.edu)
Location: EBU3B B240
Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
We investigate how neural networks can be used to model how we see, read, remember, and learn. We use simple demonstration programs that implement these models. We teach a neural network to recognize faces, facial expressions, and gender. We also get some insight into the latest trends in neural networks, Deep Learning.
Department of History
Pandemics, Panics, and Plagues: Human Responses to Inhuman Catastrophes
HITO 87 D00
Section ID: 984555
Patterson, Patrick (
p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0935
Mondays, 4:00 p.m. to 5:50
Seminar will meet Weeks 2-6 (5 meetings)
An exploration of the role that pandemic and epidemic illness has played in human history, focusing on the different ways in which people have responded to their fears, their mortality, their uncertainty about the causes of contagion, and their disastrous losses. We will study contemporaneous accounts from the distant and recent past, coupled with historical analyses and fictional depictions, to understand the struggle to survive, control, and recover from the onslaught of deadly infections.
What Is Socialism? (And What Isn't)
HITO 87 C00
Section ID: 984554
Patterson, Patrick (
p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0935
Monday, 2:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 2-6 (5 meetings)
Socialism has recently become a very hot topic in American politics -- something that people are fighting for and fighting against. Conservatives, libertarians, and others on the political "right" continue their long tradition of rejecting as "socialism" a wide range of policies they do not like. But many progressives and others on the "left," inspired by Bernie Sanders and like-minded activists, have recently started to embrace this label (after running away from it in the past).
Department of Literature
El español y la gente latina en los Estados Unidos
LTSP 87 A00
Section ID: 925357
Bessett, Ryan (
rbessett@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0374
Mondays, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
En este seminario analizaremos la experiencia de la gente latina en los Estados Unidos, el papel del lenguaje y la cultura en dicha experiencia y la reproducción de las ideologías lingüísticas y culturales en la sociedad estadounidense.
In this seminar we will discuss the experiences of Latinxs in the USA, the role of language and culture in their experiences, and the production of language and cultural ideologies in US society.
Department of Mathematics
Fibonacci Numbers and Beyond
MATH 87 B00
Section ID: 970803
Meyer, David (
dmeyer@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 6402
Thursdays, 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1 and 3-8
This seminar explores the sequence of Fibonacci numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ... and its connections with topics in higher math. The goal is to provide participants with glimpses of the concepts taught in several upper division math courses they may take in the future, including combinatorics, number theory, abstract algebra, analysis, logic, and topology. While there are no prerequisites beyond a good understanding of high school math, students who are concurrently enrolled in Math 18, 20 or 31H are the most likely to enjoy it.
Teaching Math: The Challenge
MATH 87 A00
Section ID: 970775
Harel, Guershon (
gharel@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 7321
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 2,3,4,and 5
Why do so many students seem unable or unwilling to learn mathematics? Which of the difficulties students have in mathematics are due to ineffective instruction and which are inevitable? How can teaching make mathematics stimulating for all students? How can a teaching career be fulfilling?
Department of Physics
Introduction to LaTeX: typeset your own science/engineering papers
PHYS 87 A00
Section ID: 936641
Ben, Grinstein (
bgrinstein@ucsd.ed)
Location: MYR-A 4623
Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1-10
LaTeX is the standard mark-up language for professional typesetting of scientific and engineering documents (from papers to books). This is a hands on seminar, covering from LaTeX and editor installation to producing a document with tables, figures and equations. Students have a choice to work on their laptops or use computers in the computer lab.
Department of Scripps Institution of Oceanography
An Introduction to Volcanoes
SIO 87 B00
Section ID: 939306
Cook, Geoffrey (
gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location: VAUGN 100
Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1-5
Students will be introduced to the fascinating world of volcanoes using a combination of hands-on activities, analogue demonstrations, and a wide variety of multimedia including videos, photos, and computer simulations.
Treasures of the Earth: Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
SIO 87 C00
Section ID: 939327
Cook, Geoffrey (
gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location: YORK 3030
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1-5
Spectacular specimens and multimedia presentations will introduce students to nature's geologic treasures. Using the mineral kingdom as a platform, students will learn about the fascinating processes and products of the Earth and will gain awareness of their societal importance.
Weather in San Diego
SIO 87 A00
Section ID: 939242
Norris, Joel (
jnorris@ucsd.edu)
Location: ECKRT 236
Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will discuss types of weather in the San Diego region, their causes, and how to read weather maps and satellite images. Topics include Santa Ana winds, marine layer clouds, winter rain, summer thunderstorms, high wave events, and others. A weather balloon will be launched from the SIO pier.