First-Year Seminar

Make the Most of Your First Year

Wichita State's First-Year Seminar offers students unique, small classes taught by fantastic faculty and instructors from across the university.

Fall 2020 is going to be exciting at WSU--we have a bunch of new classes, aimed at all kinds of interesting topics for first-year students to select from. Choose between learning about movie monsters, world cuisine, superheroes, or rock and roll. If you want to be in a class that follows the 2020 election, as it unfolds, we have a class for you. Want to learn about climate change? We have two classes for you. Want to get busy making, building, or taking apart stuff? We have you covered. Would you rather get philosophical and tackle issues of community, diversity, and family? We have that as well. These courses are taught by faculty and instructors with specific expertise that students usually do not get exposed to until later in their college career. Take advantage and sign up for a First-Year Seminar course before they fill up!

Take a Look at FYS courses for the fall of 2020:

WSUA 102D: Cross Cultural Communication, Rebecca Nordyke (Elliot School of Communication)
WSUA 102E: World Cultures and Popular Media, Jennifer Musaji (Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures)
WSUA 102F: Cooking Communities: Food and Culture in the Hispanic World, Rocio del Aguila (Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures)
WSUA 102G: Latinos in the US and the Midwest, Enrique Navarro (Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures)
WSUA 102J: Fundamentals of Diversity, Chinyere Okafor (Center for Women's Studies)
WSUA 102M: History of Rock and Roll, Jeff Hayton (History)
WSUA 102O: Career, Life and the Humanities Geek!, Jay Price (History)
WSUA 102P: Imagining Climate Change, Mary Waters (English)
WSUA 102Q: Criminalistic Methods: What Would Sherlock Holmes Do?, David Klamm (Forensic Science, Criminal Justice)
WSUA 102T: This is Us, Who Are You? Family in Modern America, Amy Kalb and Breann Gilkey (School of Social Work)
WSUA 102U: Building a Sustainable Planet, Toni Jackman (Geology)
WSUB 102B: The Business of You, Pattie Bradley (Center for Economic Development and Business Research)
WSUD 102A: Superheroes Go to School, Daniel Bergman (School of Education)
WSUD 102B: Race and Ethnicity in Modern America, Aaron Rife (School of Education)
WSUD 102C: Creativity and Problem Solving, Jim Granada (School of Education)
WSUD 102D: Finding Fitness, Fun and Food as a WSU Freshman, Michelle Adler (School of Education)
WSUD 102E: Monsters in Movies: Disability in the Horror Genre, Jennifer Stone (School of Education)
WSUD 102A: Introduction to Technology an Innovation, Samantha Corcoran, Hadley Perkins, Chris Wyant, Tania Jareen (Engineering)
WSUE 102B: Innovations of World War II, Samantha Corcoran (Engineering)
WSUE 102C: Community Connection: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, Cindi Mason (Engineering)
WSUF 102C: Seminar in Creativity and Play: Yes, Really!!!, Ed Baker (School of Performing Arts)
WSUH 102A: Food, Culture, and Privilege, Amy Drassen Ham (Public Health Sciences)
WSUH 102B: Leadership and Self-Discovery, Peter Cohen and Kennedy Rogers (Public Health Sciences, Office of Student Involvement)

Honors FYS:

WSUN 102A: Election 2020, Neal Allen (Political Science)
WSUN 102C: Creative Discovery, Elaine Bernstorf (School of Music)
WSUN 102D: Discovering Humanity, Kimberly Engber (English)
WSUN 102E: Me and My Place in the World, Carolyn Shaw (Political Science)

Instructor Resources

Courses will be taught by full-time tenured, tenure track, non-tenure track faculty and emeritus faculty.

Instructor Checklist - This provides a list of steps needed to develop and seek approval for a new FYS course.
Sample CIM form for FYS. Use this as a template to complete the online CIM (curriculum change form) Login in to MyWSU, Faculty/Staff tab > Quick Links box (on left side of page) > CIM course form > Propose New Course.
- Attach your syllabus and the learning outcomes table to your CIM course change submission.
FYS Instructor Guide - This provides guidelines for required and optional course components, and tips from current FYS instructors
WSU Reads Guide - The common read for Fall 2020 is Some Were Paupers, Some Were Kings by Mark McCormick.
Success Coaches
The Faculty Coordinator for FYS is Aaron Rife, who will work with you at any step in the process of creating and teaching a First-Year Seminar Course