Each fall term, all first-year students must enroll in an A&I Seminar, which are required courses designed specifically with first-year students in mind. All these seminars are numbered 100 (e.g. PHIL 100, ENGL 100, HIST 100), and you may only register for one of these courses. You tell us the five seminars you’re most interested in, in no particular order of interest, by completing the A&I Pre-Registration Form on your Checklist by August 1st. The Registrar’s Office receives your choices in alphabetical order and will do their best to place you into one of your choices about one week after the August 1st deadline.
A&I seminars introduce students to a liberal arts approach to learning and the critical and creative skills they will need to thrive in academic work at Carleton. The A&I explicitly introduces the ways that scholars ask questions, as well as find, use, and evaluate information effectively and ethically in constructing arguments. These seminars give students opportunities for critical reading, thinking, discussion, and college-level writing on a variety of topics and are designed to enhance students’ abilities to collaborate effectively with their peers and professors.
While all the A&I seminars available for fall are listed on the form, one of the options, the FOCUS course, merits additional explanation:
FOCUS, which stands for “Focusing on Cultivating Scientists,” was started in 2007. FOCUS is designed for students interested in science and promoting diversity in the sciences. FOCUS supports students through their entry into the study of science/math at Carleton and as they continue in the curriculum by creating a cohort which enrolls in classes together (in so far as this makes sense), meets regularly in a colloquium throughout the first two years, and is offered the opportunity for work study in the sciences. Cohort activities continue throughout a student’s four years at Carleton. There are two opportunities to join FOCUS in the academic year: in the fall through the FOCUS A&I seminar, and in the winter, based on applications that will be invited during Fall term.