First-Year Seminars

You're in a small class of 15 to 18 students, and you know your professor. The class is discussion-based, so your opinion counts. You're studying a provocative, intriguing subject that makes you think through some of life's most basic questions in a way you might never have done before.

This is your University Seminar (USEM), taken during your first year on campus. The seminar introduces you to what's special about a Brandeis education: intimate classes with personal attention from faculty, in an atmosphere focused on critical thinking.

Here are some examples of recent USEMs:

• Conceptions of the "Good Life"
• Risk: What Is It and How Do We Deal With It?
• Latinos in the United States: Constructing Transitional Identities
• Art and the Asian City: Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong
• On the Road from Homer to Ridley Scott
• Children's Literature and the Construction of Childhood