First-year Seminar Program
Spring 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
Echoes of Our Origins: baboons, humans and nature
ANTH 87 A00
Section ID: 71447
Strum, Shirley (
sstrum@ucsd.edu)
Location: SSB 269
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar explores how models for the origins of early humans have changed in the last 50 years based on long-term field research on baboons. In the process, ideas about what is science, what is nature, and the role of women scientists also changed. An historical perspective highlights how important it is to situate even scientific ideas in their cultural and social context because facts don’t speak for themselves—humans circulate scientific facts. There is always an interaction between sc
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
Effective Scientific Outreach
ASTR 87 B00
Section ID:
Burgasser, Adam (
aburgasser@ucsd.edu) &
Perera, Saavi (
)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar focuses on how future scientists can share and communicate their research and passion for science with the general public. We will examine the role of outreach in science and society, and how it benefits both scientists and the communities they serve. Through hands-on activities and discussions, we will learn how to use storytelling, visuals and interactive demonstrations to spark curiosity and challenge common stereotypes about science and scientists. We will practice tailoring content and language for different audiences and gain experience in presenting ideas clearly and confidently. The seminar encourages creativity and teamwork and aims to build practical skills, from crafting short talks and media content to designing outreach activities for classrooms and community events. This seminar is particularly suited for lower-division students who are interested in learning about ways to foster public curiosity and excitement for science.
How to Read the Scientific Literature
ASTR 87 A00
Section ID: 72473
Burgasser, Adam (
aburgasser@ucsd.edu)
Location: SERF 329
Tuesdays, 4:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
One of the most important skills to develop as a new researcher in a scientific discipline is reading the scientific literature. Publications are the "currency" of science, yet they can also be hard to read and understand with their terse language, jargon, and confusing structure. In this seminar, we will deconstruct scientific articles, and learn how to find, read, and understand the primary literature, We will examine the structure of scientific papers and discuss why these remain the primary means of disseminating research results; explore the ecosystem of scientific literature through journals, peer-review, and citations; learn a research-validated approach called CERIC to critically read and evaluate scientific articles; and practice methods of going from reading articles to reporting on them in papers, presentations, and discussions. This seminar is particularly suited for undergraduates who are considering their first research experience.
Department of Bioengineering
Introduction to Research in Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine
BENG 87 A00
Section ID:
Sailor, Michael (
msailor@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This series is for students who are interested in getting involved in nanomaterials-related research projects on campus. It will provide an introduction to current themes in nanotechnology research: nanomedicine, biomaterials, quantum dots, photonic crystals, sensors, and materials for energy storage. It is intended to prepare students for entry into one of the laboratories of the UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (https://mrsec.ucsd.edu/), either during subsequent a
Division of Biological Sciences
Mighty Microbes: Their Lives and Times
BILD 87 B00
Section ID: 94532
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: 94520
Saier, Milton (
msaier@ucsd.edu)
Location: APM 4882
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 Chemistry & Biochemistry
Introduction to Research in Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine
CHEM 87 A00
Section ID: 75307
Sailor, Michael (
msailor@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This series is for students who are interested in getting involved in nanomaterials-related research projects on campus. It will provide an introduction to current themes in nanotechnology research: nanomedicine, biomaterials, quantum dots, photonic crystals, sensors, and materials for energy storage. It is intended to prepare students for entry into one of the laboratories of the UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (https://mrsec.ucsd.edu/), either during subsequent a
Department of Cognitive Science
How Minds & Cultures Make Religion & Superstition
COGS 87 A00
Section ID: 74387
Deak, Gedeon (
gdeak@ucsd.edu)
Location: CSB 180
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 9:50 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: 251819
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
Critical Gender Studies
Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture
CGS 87 A00
Section ID:
Wesling, Megan (
mwesling@ucsd.edu)
Location: STCTR E209
Tuesdays, 1:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
We will talk about how sexuality is constructed in television, film, and advertising. Students will have opportunities to propose shows or films for discussion.
Department of History
Books of Nature: an introduction to art and early modern science
HITO 87 C00
Section ID:
Pineda de Avila, Nydia (
npinedadeavila@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar is for students interested in the relationship between art and science from a historical perspective. We will study how nature was understood and represented through magnificent works of book-art made between 1550 and 1800, pertaining to the disciplines that we now identify with astronomy, botany, anatomy, and zoology. The seminar will give students hands on experience with historical materials and will teach them how to analyze them through history of the book and art history methodolgies.
Sun, Sea, Sand & Sex: What Do Tourism and Tourists Really Do?
HITO 87 A00
Section ID: 115023
Patterson, Patrick (
p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0846
Mondays, 4:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 2-6
Tourism is big fun -- and big business. It has changed the world in enormous ways, and it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. We will look at major issues and hot topics relating to the impact of tourism and tourists in the contemporary world, including environmental impacts, sex tourism, economic development and underdevelopment, "cultural imperialism," and sustainability.
What Is Socialism? (And What Isn't)
HITO 87 B00
Section ID: 115024
Patterson, Patrick (
p1patterson@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0846
Mondays, 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).
Jewish Studies
Reel Identity: Jews, Film, and Antisemitism. (over 80 years)
JWSP 87 A00
Section ID: 121670
Havis, Allan (
ahavis@ucsd.edu)
Location: MCC 221
Fridays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar explores how antisemitism, Jewish identity, and moral courage are represented across international cinema. Through films such as "Gentleman’s Agreement", "Jojo Rabbit,", " Ida", " Denial", and "The Fabelmans", students will analyze how filmmakers confront prejudice, memory, and the ethics of representation. Discussions and short readings will consider how these works illuminate both historical and contemporary struggles for understanding and empathy.
Latin American Studies
Arte y Fronteras en America Latina / Art and Borders in Latin America
LATI 87 A00
Section ID:
Pineda de Avila, Nydia (
npinedadeavila@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will explore the works of contemporary Latin American artists who investigate the experience of borders across different media, languages, sensibilities, and disciplines. We will discuss the concepts and materialities of selected artworks in conversation with the artists. The seminar will be held in Spanish and bilingual participation is encouraged.
Department of Literature
El español y la gente latina en los Estados Unidos
LTSP 87 A00
Section ID: 134450
Bessett, Ryan (
rbessett@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0371
Tuesdays, 5:00 p.m. to 7:50 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.
Marx's Capital I
LTWL 87 A00
Section ID: 134554
Sanchez Cruz, Jorge (
jsanchezcruz@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0372
Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar offers textual analysis of Karl Marx's Capital, Volume I (1867). Along close readings, we will also touch on the historical. political, and economic contexts in which Marx wrote.
The Pleasure of Poetry
LTEN 87 A00
Section ID: 130201
Dhar, Amrita (
amdhar@ucsd.edu)
Location: RWAC 0373
Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will discuss ten short poems over ten weeks. As a group, we will discuss the pleasure of language, and of poetic language in particular, as we close-read ten outstanding poems from a range of periods and cultures in the English language. For this seminar, students should expect to read poems (and perhaps write some); make friends in a journey of intellectual discovery and pleasure; contribute to robust seminar discussion; and inculcate the life-skill of enjoying one of our most fund
Department of Mathematics
Pathway to Calculus
MATH 87 A00
Section ID:
Hammock, Frances (
fhammock@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This class will be an overview of many of the essential algebra techniques and concepts needed for success Calculus. Topics may include:
-Fractions and rational expressions
-Exponents, radicals, absolute values
-Factoring-Solving equations (linear, absolute, quadratic, polynomial, radical, rational)
-Solving inequalities (linear, absolute value, polynomial, rational)
-Completing the square, polynomial long division, other techniques-Graphing (basic graphs, transformations)
-Solving systems
Department of Political Science
Data literacy: how not to be fooled by data
POLI 87 A00
Section ID:
Mignozzetti, Umberto (
uguarniermignozzetti@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
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
Revelle College
Is a River Alive?
REV 87 A00
Section ID: 179710
Lyon, Antony (
alyon@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
We will read Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? Part travelogue and part urgent call for ecological restoration, the book explores the ways in which we’ve lost connection with the rivers that run through our land and each of us. Macfarlane explores a constellation of questions about our relationship with nature, its politicization, and the way that language succeeds and fails in capturing what we think to be alive.
Department of Scripps Institution of Oceanography
An Introduction to Volcanoes
SIO 87 B00
Section ID: 99895
Cook, Geoffrey (
gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location: York 3030
Tuesdays, 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.
Physics of Surfing
SIO 87 C00
Section ID: 99900
Morzfeld, Matthias (
mmorzfeld@ucsd.edu)
Location: IGPP 303
Tuesdays, 4:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will cover three topics in physics related to surfing: 1) generation, propagation, and breaking of waves; 2) the energetics of a surfer riding a wave; and 3) the fluid mechanics of a surfboard. There will be at least one lab on the SIO pier. Students will present their lab results at the end of the quarter.
Rocks that Rock! An exploration of exciting, unique and otherwise fascinating Earth materials
SIO 87 A00
Section ID: 99894
Cook, Geoffrey (
gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location: YORK 3030
Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 1-5
Students will learn about rocks, the rock cycle, and the myriad of Earth materials that make up the planet and solar system. Exciting hand-specimens and multimedia presentations will enhance and augment the presentation.
The Gray Whale Skeleton
SIO 87 D00
Section ID: 99902
Hildebrand, John (
jahildebrand@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Tuesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
A Gray Whale skeleton will be studied, with the goal of making a 3-D scaled replica. Techniques of photogrammetry, image analysis and 3-D printing will be an integral part of the class.
Sixth College
Televising the American Family
CAT 87 A00
Section ID: 77914
Bronstein, Phoebe (
pbronstein@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Fridays, 10:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will examine the idea of the American home, family, and domesticity as these concepts and ideologies developed in and around mid-century television programming. Not only was television physically integrated into the new post-war domestic space (literally built into the structure of suburban homes) but its programming defined new--white, middle class, and suburban--ideas of the home and asserted raced and gendered roles within that space. As television rose to the status of national
Thurgood Marshall College
Unlearning Common Sense: Citizenship, Knowledge, and Power
TMC 87 B00
Section ID: 249703
Villegas, Karen (
k1villegas@ucsd.edu)
Location: COA 269
Wednesdays, 11:00 p.m. to 11:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will invite students to critically examine how “common sense” shapes ideas of belonging and citizenship in the United States. Using the U.S. citizenship exam as our entry point, we will explore how everyday notions of common sense are learned to uphold systems of power. In doing so, we will examine whose histories are validated, erased, and co-opted. Together, we will unlearn taken-for-granted assumptions about Empire to
question how knowledge is produced and how we might imagine m
Women of Color Activism: Pinayism
TMC 87 A00
Section ID: 249702
Solomon Amorao, Amanda (
alsolomon@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
In this first-year seminar, students will engage with the critical theory and social activism that emerges from the lived experiences of those who identify as Filipina American women. The course will emphasize connecting with Pinayist and Pinxyist activists, artists, and thinkers; the final assignment will be a collaborative community project inspired by the readings and conversations of the course and designed by students. Email alsolomon@ucsd.edu for more info.