Welcome to Freshman Seminar!

This course will introduce students to academic life at the university and help them become a part of our community at St. Edward’s. Although the seminars are focused on very different topics, they all share a common goal: students join a community of learners and actively engage in academic and co-curricular exploration. As they do so, they will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to become successful students and lifelong learners by meaningfully confronting questions of social justice through the course materials and co-curricular experiences.

What is Freshman Seminar? 

Freshman Seminars are not lecture courses, but are instead classes where students and faculty actively engage with one another as they discuss course materials. In addition, students and faculty will participate in a variety of co-curricular experiences over the course of the semester where they leave the classroom. For example, a seminar might go to an art opening, attend a book festival, or work on a service project with a local non-profit organization.

Common Theme book Disability Visibility

What is unique about Freshman Seminar? 

Something that makes these seminars different from other classes you will take at St. Edward’s is that they are each part of a group of seminars clustered around a particular topic; for example, Sustainability, Social Justice, or Global Engagement. Students will attend co-curricular events with others from these Learning Communities. 

What is the Common Theme?

Every year, St. Edward’s chooses a Common Theme that guides programming and discussions across campus. You will discuss the theme in your Freshman Seminars and some of the events you and your classmates attend will be related to the theme.For fall 2023 we're excited to announce that the theme is Accessibility and our incoming students will read Disability Visibility by Alice Wong. You will receive a copy of the book at Orientation.

Director of Freshman Seminar: Alex Barron
alexb@stedwards.edu