First Year Seminars

Thinking Critically, Acting Justly

The First-Year Experience program is anchored in small academic seminars taught by leading teacher-scholars. The seminars introduce you to college-level thinking and learning and to Loyola’s Jesuit tradition under the overarching theme “thinking critically, acting justly.” The courses are interdisciplinary and focus on questions of enduring value in the context of subject matter ranging from medieval monsters to protest and pop music, from violence in the media to American dreams.

First-Year Seminars and the Common Curriculum

The seminars are the gateway courses to the Common Curriculum, the broad range of courses in the liberal arts and sciences. The Common Curriculum teaches important foundational subject matter for your major study, gives you a broad education outside your major, preparing you for the demands of a complex world, and develops your understanding of human values and social justice. It offers you an educational experience you will not find at a state institution or other private schools. It is a large part of the “Loyola difference”—that is, it defines what makes our university and the education you receive here distinctive.

Common Curriculum »

All first-year students take a first-year seminar, in either the fall or spring semester. When you enroll at Loyola, you will be asked to select several seminars you would like to take and send your preferences to us in priority order. We then pre-register you for your seminar, making every effort to place you in your top choice.

First-Year Seminar Library Liaison

Seminar classes are small to promote lively interaction. In addition to the professor, each seminar is assigned a liaison from our award-winning J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library. This librarian is available to help you, one-on-one or in a group, learn to navigate our print and electronic collections and to conduct research.