Registration for First-Year Seminars is limited to students in their first year of study at McGill, i.e., newly admitted students in U0 or U1. These courses are designed to provide closer interaction with professors and peers than is available in large introductory courses. These seminars focus on the latest scholarly developments in the field and expose students to advanced research methods. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. The maximum number of students in any seminar is 25, although some have lower enrolment caps.
Arts students may take only one First-Year Seminar, from either the Faculty of Arts or the Faculty of Science listings. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one.
Below is a complete listing of Arts courses for 2012-2013.
Arts FYS
ECON 199
FYS: Aspects of Globalization
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Economics (Arts): A guided discussion of the many and varied aspects of economic globalization.
Offered by: Economics
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Maximum 25
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
FREN 198
FYS:Intro to French&Québec Lit
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
French (Arts): Introduction to French and Québec literature in English translation.
Offered by: French Language & Literature
- Course given in English. Students may take only one First Year Seminar. Students who register for more than one will be removed from all but one of them.
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1.
Introduction to French and Quebec literature in English translation.
FREN 199
FYS: Littérature française
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
French (Arts): Étude d'une problématique littéraire à travers quelques textes importants de la francophonie.
Offered by: French Language & Literature
- Restriction: Ouvert aux seuls nouveaux étudiants de U0 ou de U1, qui ne peuvent s'inscrire qu'à un seul séminaire de première année (FYS). Les étudiants qui s'inscriraient à plus d'un de ces séminaires devront se retirer pour n'en conserver qu'un seul.
- Maximum de 25 étudiants
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
GERM 197
FYS: Images of Otherness
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
German (Arts): The seminar examines images and narratives of the foreign, alien, and uncanny Other in major works of German literature, film, music, and art from Romanticism to the present. Works discussed include Wagner's Lohengrin, expressionist art, and texts by authors such as ETA Hoffmann, Kleist, Freud, Nietzsche, Kafka, and Thomas Mann.
Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures
- Winter
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Maximum 25
- Given in English
HIST 195
FYS: Sources of World History
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
History: An introduction to the constitutive intellectual traditions of world history.
Offered by: History and Classical Studies
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Maximum 25 students
- Restriction: For first year students only
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
Sources of World History.
ITAL 199
FYS:Italy's Lit in Context
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Italian (Arts): The purpose of this seminar is to re-visit, problematically, the commonsense notion that literature "reflects" reality (or society). Classics of twentieth-century Italian writing shall be analyzed as the response of that nation's literary imagination to the contradictions of its turbulent political and social history.
Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures
- Fall
- Given in English
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Maximum 25
Through an examination of some of the master works of 20th century Italian fiction, students will come to understand how historical context shapes a literary text and how literature can, in turn, contribute to our understanding of the past.
JWST 199
FYS:Images-Jewish Identities
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Jewish Studies: A seminar devoted to literary portrayals of Jews by Jews and non-Jews from Biblical times to the present. Both positive and negative understandings of Jewish identity and Judaism will be studied.
Offered by: Jewish Studies
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Maximum enrolment 25
Images: Jewish Identities
LLCU 199
FYS: Literary Animals
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Languages, Literatures&Culture: Study of the representation of animals in different European literary texts from both a thematic and a theoretical perspective. Questions about narrative voice, alternate worlds, and the human/animal binary will be raised within the larger political context of animals as Other in today's contemporary society.
Offered by: Languages,Literatures,Cultures
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1 who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
Study of the representation of animals in different European literary texts from both a thematic and a theoretical perspective. Questions about narrative voice, alternate worlds, and the human/animal binary will be raised within the larger political context of animals as Other in today's contemporary society.
Science FYS
CHEM 199
FYS: Why Chemistry?
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemistry: A lecture/seminar course dealing with scientific publishing and ethics, science and the media, the world of plastics and cosmetics as well as talking with several professors about their careers and research, usually involving DNA and nanoscience.
Offered by: Chemistry
- Fall
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
- Terms
- Instructors
- David Noble Harpp, Joseph A Schwarcz, Ariel Fenster
EPSC 199
FYS: Earth & Planetary Explor.
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Earth & Planetary Sciences: An exploration of how earth and planetary scientists reconstruct the current state, past progress, and initial conditions of the continuously evolving Earth experiment.
Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences
- Fall
- Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
PSYC 199
FYS: Mind-Body Medicine
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Psychology: Health is influenced by biological, psychological and social factors. The interaction between these determinants in the onset, course and recovery from a variety of diseases (e.g. AIDS) will be highlighted. Students will select one phase of a particular illness (e.g. remission following breast cancer treatment) and explore the related biopsychosocial factors.
Offered by: Psychology
- Winter
- Limit 25 students
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken SSMD 199. Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.