FIRST YEAR STUDIES@Rensselaer

Rensselaer attracts world-class students to its outstanding programs in science and engineering. Yet in today’s global economy leadership, innovation, and satisfying careers requires our students to possess a broad foundation for understanding the social, economic, and political contexts in which they work. Our students must also have the power to think critically and creatively about themselves and the diversity of worldviews and possibilities. The First Year Studies Program, as administered out of our School of Humanities and Social Sciences, is committed to developing skills and talents, including those of effective communication and intellectual engagement, necessary for the successful technical professional of the 21st Century.

At the heart of the program is a transdisciplinary approach that allows students to examine social phenomena such as world religions, economic globalization, human identity, and the culture of technology from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students are given the opportunity to interact closely with their instructors in seminar-style discussion sections limited to twenty-five students, and to participate in forums for dialogue and debate such as the annual FYE/FYS Lecture Series co-sponsored by the Office of the First-Year Experience and the H&SS First Year Studies Program. Central to our curriculum is a teaching philosophy that utilizes engaged learning strategies to add depth to a student’s awareness about themselves and the world. Our primary areas of pedagogic focus include the following:

• Critical Thinking
• Writing and Communications
• Personal Instructional Attention
• Teamwork and Group Work
• Community Building and Awareness
• Diversity
• Effective Use of Instructional Technology

All First Year Studies courses foster a student’s ability to examine fundamental issues in a clear, comprehensive, and critical fashion, and to relate their knowledge to their everyday experience and subsequent academic career at Rensselaer.

Courses offerings for Fall 2004 are as follows: (click here for details)

IHSS-1961 Global Economy In the Information Age
IHSS-1962 Living in Cyberspace
IHSS-1963 Science, Technology and Society
IHSS-1964 Minds and Machines
IHSS-1966 Introduction to Communication Theory
IHSS-1967 Growing Up in America
IHSS-1968 Theater as Culture
IHSS-1969 Communications and Information Technology
IHSS-1970 Design, History and Society
IHSS-1971 Revolutions in Thought
IHSS-1972 Life Writing
IHSS-1973 Drugs, Sex and Crime in Historical Perspective
IHSS-1974 Gender, Sexuality and Popular Culture
IHSS-1975 Collective Memory
IHSS-1976 American Politics and Elections

Course offerings for Spring 2004 are as follows: (click here for details)

IHSS-1960 Science, Technology and Society
IHSS-1961 Seeing and Creativity
IHSS-1962 Living Metaphors--Art, Text and the Body
IHSS-1963 Understanding the Sixties

The innovative pedagogic mission of the First Year Studies program is implemented and enhanced through activities designed to stimulate and foster curricular renewal. Examples of such activities include:

In addition, our program is actively involved in constructing accurate performance measurements and metrics so that we can continually improve the quality of instructional programs offered to our first year students.

Student participation in First Year Studies is voluntary. However, annually, over 700 students, or nearly 3/5th of the entering class choose to participate in the program, demonstrating student interest and engagement in the program. Rensselaer is committed to sustaining and building on this innovative program. We hope you find the opportunity to benefit from it.

For further information: Atsushi Akera, Director Julie Gutmann, Director of Pedagogy .or. Elizabeth Large, Director of Student Services & Core Curriculum Advisor First Year Studies Program School of Humanities and Social Science Sage 5304 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 110 8th St. Troy, NY 12180 518.276.2576 // largee@rpi.edu