Freshman and Sophomore Seminar deadline extended

March 8, 2021

Sent on behalf of the Freshman and Sophomore Seminars Program

Dear Colleagues,

There is still time to teach a Freshman or Sophomore Seminar next semester. The deadline to submit a seminar for Fall 2021 has been extended to Monday, March 22.

If you have it in you to sit with a small group of freshmen for one hour a week to discuss any topic of interest that interests you and is appropriate for first-year students, please consider signing up to teach a seminar. To meet even a large fraction of the student demand, we try to offer at least 80 seminars each term, but there are presently only 40 seminars for next semester.

As for the students themselves, it would be hard to overstate how precious face time with faculty will be in the fall. You can give students the intellectual intimacy that they crave, and—if the freshmen I have met are typical—their optimism and enthusiasm will lift your spirits when you need it most. Senate faculty members who teach a seminar as an overload will receive a $2000 $3000 grant to use on anything teaching or research related.

If you are ready to sign up, please submit a Faculty Participation Form and let your departmental chair and scheduler know. If you need additional time to apply or would just like to brainstorm ideas, contact Alix Schwartz directly (alix@berkeley.edu) and we will work out the details.

Finally, if you are a regular participant in the Freshman and Sophomore Seminars, please talk to your colleagues about how rewarding your participation has been--you are our best ambassadors!

Thank you,

Alix Schwartz
Director of Academic Planning
Undergraduate Division, College of Letters & Science


This message was sent to UC Berkeley Academic Senate Faculty and Emeriti.