Being a first-year student at SNU comes with many benefits. Attending the First-year Seminar is definitely one of them.
“First-year Seminar: Creativity and Challenge” enables students to explore various research topics according to their interests with professors and peers. The seminar consists of lectures, small-group discussions, and field trips. Each class is limited to 10-20 students to foster effective discussion, and grades are given as S(satisfactory)/U(unsatisfactory) in order to release students from the stress of relative evaluation.
“First-year students have spent their entire academic careers learning how to choose the right answers for multiple-choice questions,” says Jae Jun Yu (Dean of Faculty of Liberal Education). “We wanted to offer a class in which they can freely voice their opinions without worrying about getting something wrong.”
Through exploring fascinating, cross-disciplinary topics in seminar courses, students realize that the things they learn in college are closely linked to solving real-life problems. Sang-Woo Kim (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences), who in his class discusses various scientific and societal issues related to particulate matter, said that that he wanted the students to know that we are all responsible for the particulate matter issue, and that we should all work together toward a possible solution.
In search of new knowledge, students conduct surveys and experiments on their own, frequently challenging previous assumptions. As they explore new ideas, they also realize that failure is not something to be afraid of, but something to learn from. First-year Seminar is a perfect chance for first-years to explore various ideas with their peers and prepare themselves for their future studies.
2019-2 First-year Seminar “Creativity and Challenge” Course List
| Course | Instructor | Department | Class Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humanities Meets Computer Science: Mapping the Chosun Dynasty |
Kuentae Kim | Department of Korean History | 12 |
| World of Data: Topological Characteristics | Seonhee Lim | Department of Mathematical Sciences | 12 |
| Tales of Numbers and Equations | Jae-Hoon Kwon | College of Natural Sciences | 15 |
| Nature in the Eyes of a Scientist | Seonho Choi | College of Natural Sciences | 12 |
| Scientific Solutions to Particulate Matter Pollution | Sang-Woo Kim Rokjin J. Park |
College of Natural Sciences | 15 |
| Alchemists Pioneering the Future | Eun Soo Park | Department of Materials Science and Engineering | 12 |
| Art: By the Public For the Public | Je Sung Park | Department of Sculpture | 15 |
| The Future of Mathematics Education | Oh Nam Kwon | Department of Mathematics Education | 15 |
| Metalwork for Engineers* | Insuk Choi | Department of Materials Science and Engineering | 7 |
| Understanding Genetically Modified Animals* | Goo Jang |
College of Veterinary Medicine | 5 |
*Winter Session
Written by Chae Hyun Kim, SNU English Editor, michelle25@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr