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On a warm autumn afternoon, six U of M students are gathering in Anderson Hall for “Public History and ‘U,’” a freshman seminar offered by the College of Liberal Arts. After just four weeks of classes, these first-year students chat and laugh like old friends: greeting each other by name, sharing stories about their days, and looking at photographs from the previous week’s fieldtrip. The
cheerful, laid-back mood persists throughout the afternoon.
In this hands-on history course, students Amanda, Stephanie, Michelle, Steve, Gary, and Megan are each conducting research on an aspect of the University of Minnesota. At the end of the semester, they must create an exhibit, documentary video, or performance on their chosen topics, which range from the evolution of Goldy Gopher to the Vietnam War protests on campus.
While their main project involves researching the historic roots of the University, the students will also chart their personal histories by creating scrapbooks of their first-semester experiences. Today, instructor Tim Hoogland is distributing disposable “Gopher Cameras” so they can document their activities.
Freshman seminars such as Hoogland’s provide unique and exciting opportunities for first-year students. Freshmen in these courses can build friendships, adjust to college life, and experience new challenges as a group. This fall, incoming students were able to choose from
more than 125 seminars, ranging from “Physics for Game Developers” to “Monarch Butterfly Biology” or “How to Win a Nobel Prize.” A maximum of 15 students participate in each seminar.
“The seminar allows me to set up a course where students can engage in self-discovery while they take on a challenging academic project,” says Hoogland, an outreach coordinator for the Minnesota Historical Society. He hopes that in addition to research and presentation skills, his students will gain “a deeper appreciation for the University -- and their place in it.”
Looking back to high school
While Hoogland’s students study 153 years of U of M history, Professor Michael Baizerman’s students focus on four very special years in their freshman seminar, “High School Moments, Memories, and Meanings,” offered by the College of Human Ecology.
It’s a beautiful October afternoon, and several freshmen are sitting in a sun-soaked room of Sanford Hall. Over Fritos and Diet Coke, the students are discussing the volunteering component of their course. They’ve been asked to volunteer at high schools as a way of expanding their horizons and learning more about their new community.
For his service-learning experience, freshman Khong Xiong volunteers with first-generation
Americans at a local high school. So far, he’s enjoyed the exciting challenges and friendly atmosphere of Baizerman’s class.
“[Seminars] are a great opportunity for freshmen to get involved, get to know campus, increase maturity, and explore diversity,” says Xiong, a psychology and sociology major.
Baizerman, the professor of social work who created the class, designs his courses to provide students with experiences, rather than mere textbook content. “This class is a chance for them to ‘touch’ something,” he says. “The setting is much more intimate.”
Freshman Emily Hennen appreciates that sense of intimacy. “With a university as big as the ‘U,’ it is nice to have that smaller setting,” says Hennen, a freshman who’s undecided for a major, but who has selected minors in leadership and management. “[Your classmates] are facing a new and challenging world right along with you.”
More about freshman seminars
Last year, 37 percent of first-year students participated in a freshman seminar. Freshman seminars are offered by each of the eight freshman-admitting colleges, and are coordinated by
Orientation & First-Year Programs
(OFYP), a department designed to engage new students in campus life.
Like
New Student Convocation, freshman seminars help students get connected and experience the excitement of the University of Minnesota.
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