First-year Seminar Program

Winter Quarter 2026 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

India and the US: from democracy to authoritarianism
ANTH 87 A00
Section ID: 991915
Varma, Saiba (s2varma@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 269
Tuesdays, 3:00 p.m. to 3:50 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.

Division of Biological Sciences

Mighty Microbes: Their Lives and Times
BILD 87 B00
Section ID:
Saier, Milton (msaier@ucsd.edu)

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.

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Teaching Science: The Challenge
CHEM 87 A00
Section ID: 1487
Bussey, Thomas (tbussey@ucsd.edu)
Location: TATA 3301
Tuesdays, 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

Why do so many students seem unable or unwilling to learn science? Is this due to ineffective instruction, or are the difficulties inevitable? How can teaching make science intrinsically stimulating for all students? How can a teaching career be fulfilling and rewarding?

Cinematic Arts and Film Studies

Banned Films
FILM 87 A00
Section ID: 63799
Rahimi, Babak (brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 221
Tuesdays, 3:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.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 B00
Section ID: 63803
Rahimi, Babak (brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 221
Tuesdays, 4:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.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: 63702
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 Cognitive Science

How Minds & Cultures Make Religion & Superstition
COGS 87 A00
Section ID: 27981
Deak, Gedeon (gdeak@ucsd.edu)
Location: CSB 180
Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

Why do humans, individually and in groups, attribute natural events to supernatural agents? How does the human brain accept religious beliefs, even in the face of contradictory evidence? We will examine how cognitive, developmental, and cultural factors work together to cause humans to believe in the supernatural.

Department of Communication

Listening Critically to Popular Music
COMM 87 A00
Section ID: 993264
Serlin, David (dserlin@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 133
Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

In this first-year seminar, we will listen to and discuss the development of popular music since the early 20th century to show how music can be both a cultural and technological phenomenon. We will develop critical tools for not only listening to music but thinking about popular recordings in terms of changing ideas about recording, production, distribution, and consumption, including how different formats--from early vinyl records to radio to the latest digital forms on the internet--have made

Department of History

What Is Socialism? (And What Isn't)
HITO 87 B00
Section ID: 990019
Patterson, Patrick (p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0846
Thursdays, 2:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 2-6

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).

Why Do Europeans Love and Hate America?
HITO 87 A00
Section ID: 990018
Patterson, Patrick (p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0915
Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 2-6

"Americanization" and "McDonaldization" in Europe spark controversy and even violent protests. Many treat imports of American culture with disgust. Yet the US is also admired, even loved, and demand for American things remains strong. We will study key forms of and resistance to Americanization.

Department of Mathematics

Math's Unsung Trailblazers
MATH 87 A00
Section ID: 63914
Bowers, Adam (abowers@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 6402
Fridays, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1-9

Histories of mathematics often focus on European men, but there are many other interesting stories to be told. In "The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Math's Unsung Trailblazers", Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell tell some of these stories. We will read and discuss this unique history of mathematics text. No specialized mathematical knowledge is required.

Department of Music

Music Co-creativity with Generative AI
MUS 87 A00
Section ID: 18926
Dubnov, Shlomo (sdubnov@ucsd.edu)
Location: CPMC 151
Tuesdays, 12:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 3-6

In the seminar I will review SOTA generative AI methods for music, such as deep neural language and diffusion models, viewing it from the perspective or music improvisation and composition. The basic notion of generating structure from noise as a defining factor for interaction with computers will provide a unique perspective into understanding musical expression and meaning. Students will also gain a broad knowledge of current research challenges in the field of music and AI.

Department of Physics

Estimates and Dimensions: a Physicist Toolkit
PHYS 87 A00
Section ID:
Koslover, Elena (ekoslover@ucsd.edu)
Location: TBA
Date and Time: TBA
Meeting Dates: TBA

This course will focus on tips and tricks for analyzing quantitative problems in your physics classes and beyond. How do you deal with a problem that seems so complex that it's hard to get started? Can you make any progress even if you don't know the relevant equations involved? We'll explore how far you can get with approximations and how to leverage a physicist's tool-kit to analyze a variety of everyday scenarios. Specific topics covered will include order-of-magnitude estimates, dimensional

Department of Political Science

Data literacy: how not to be fooled by data
POLI 87 A00
Section ID: 67450
Mignozzetti, Umberto (uguarniermignozzetti@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 104
Tuesdays, 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 2-10

Data Literacy will equip participants with essential skills to navigate data-rich environments. It encompassing understand data fundamentals, sourcing, management, and ethics. It will teach descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, exploratory data analysis, and definitions of causal effect. All these skills will be taught only using intuitive thinking, without the need for math or software. This seminar aims at empowering first-year students to analyze, interpret, and make informed de

Department of Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Treasures of the Earth: Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
SIO 87 B00
Section ID: 38398
Cook, Geoffrey (gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location: VAUGN 100
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.

Underwater photography as a tool for science communication
SIO 87 A00
Section ID: 38397
Aburto Oropeza, Marco (maburto@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCTF 210
Tuesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

This course will introduce you to a wide variety of topics related with how photography is used as a tool for marine sciences research, but also as a tool for science communication projects. There will be a review of marine conservation topics, the history of equipment, but also discussions related with successful projects that are using this technology around the world.

Sixth College

"It’s the End of the World as we Know It:” Technology, Film, and the Politics of Disaster
CAT 87 A00
Section ID: 67336
Bronstein, Phoebe (pbronstein@ucsd.edu)
Location: CTL B112
Mondays, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

This Freshman Seminar will examine disaster and post-apocalyptic films from Creature From the Black Lagoon and King Kong to Wall-E and The Hunger Games. Each week, we will use a different film to tackle how disaster is narrated, with special attention to how anxieties about the intersections of technology--i.e. like the atomic bomb--and politics are articulated on-screen.

Byte-Sized Stories: Exploring the World of Podcasting
CAT 87 B00
Section ID: 67337
Delaville, Romain (rdelaville@ucsd.edu)
Location: CTL B112
Wednesdays, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

This first-year seminar explores how podcasting has reshaped the way we tell, hear, and think about stories. As traditional narrative forms transition into digital spaces, they encounter both exciting possibilities and new challenges: shifting dynamics between creators and audiences, the amplification of diverse voices, and the democratization–and commodification–of narrative content. We will examine how podcasting draws on, but also disrupts, established storytelling conventions. Along the way,

Department of Theatre & Dance

Architecture and Design of UCSD campus
TDGE 87 A00
Section ID: 39258
Guirguis, Mark (mguirguis@ucsd.edu)
Location: GH 102
Mondays, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates: TBA

This seminar will introduce concepts and ideas of architecture and design. This class is intended as an introductory glimpse into the history and future vision of the built environment at UCSD.