Freshman & Sophomore Seminars at UC Berkeley

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Freshman & Sophomore Seminars at Berkeley

Fall 2008 Seminars!
Download the brochure (PDF).

L&S Discovery Courses
not seminars--just a great way
to satisfy breadth!

Faculty & Staff Information
(inc. Faculty Participation Form)

Success, Seminars, and You

Food for Thought Series

UC Berkeley’s Freshman and Sophomore Seminars provide an unparalleled opportunity for faculty members and small groups of lower-division students to explore a scholarly topic of mutual interest together, following an often spontaneous flow of dialogue and interchange in the spirit of learning for its own sake. By taking a seminar a student becomes an active member of Berkeley’s intellectual community. The faculty benefit too: interacting directly with a handful of bright and talented new students can be inspiring and energizing.

Faculty members from every campus department come together to offer approximately one hundred seminars each semester, on an astonishing range of topics. They are encouraged to design seminars on topics they don’t typically have a chance to teach, including an emerging research area or an outside interest. Students are encouraged to choose their seminars based on the pull of intellectual curiosity, a desire to explore enticing and even unfamiliar realms.

You can browse all of our current seminars for freshmen and seminars for sophomores here. For recently added seminars and other timely information, check the news and updates.

Some of our seminars enroll only freshmen, some enroll only sophomores, and some enroll both. We offer one-unit seminars as well as seminars that carry more units. If you are not sure which kind of seminar is right for you, Seminars at a Glance should help answer your questions.

Faculty members and students who are interested in becoming better acquainted in an informal setting are encouraged to consider our Food for Thought series. Food for Thought Seminars are marked with a .

Students who want to make the most of their time at Cal are invited to check out Success, Seminars, and You, featuring good ideas to try before, during and after taking a seminar.