First-Year Seminars are focused on a professor’s personal interest, presented in a way that invites discussion.
These seminars offer the benefits of an experience often reserved for college seniors to students beginning their college career.
These courses, designed for and offered only to students in their first semester at Gettysburg College, provide an opportunity to work closely with a faculty member and a small cohort of peers to explore a topic that they all find interesting. First-Year Seminars employ and develop a variety of skills including writing, speaking, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and the use of technology or instrumentation.
First-Year Seminars may include field trips, films, guest speakers, workshops, and community service projects. Many of these opportunities are designed for a specific seminar or group of related seminars.

Did you know...
- Class size is limited to 16 students.
- Seminars emphasize the active participation of students.
- Seminars introduce students to opportunities like community engagement, career development, and independent research projects.

FYS 187-4 – Games and Computation
First-Year Seminar Course Descriptions
Listed below are the Fall 2024 First-Year Seminars. The precise selection for seminars changes every year, but includes a lot of great courses like these. New course descriptions are available at the start of each academic year.