Program lets frosh explore humanities

The program offers the opportunity to read many texts that one is "supposed" to read in college. Seminars led almost exclusively by full professors and attended by an average of only 18 students give DS freshmen the benefit of learning in the small classroom atmosphere usually enjoyed only by upperclassmen.

The three seminars cover literature, philosophy, history and politics. Each begins in ancient Greece, with readings from Herodotus, Plato, and Homer, and travels through the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century works of Nietzsche and Virginia Woolf. Every subject class has two seminar meetings per week, as well as one lecture, attended by all DS students.

Directed Studies naturally becomes a significant part of freshman year for all those enrolled. Seeing familiar faces in small lectures and seminars allows students to develop ties with people from their classes. However, don't be fooled into believing that because of the weekly papers and heavy reading load it is impossible to get involved in extracurricular activities.

Although you may trudge through some of the slower parts of the course, and every week will be marked by that rapid progression to late Thursday night paper writing, you will appreciate the program even more in retrospect. While the work seems daunting, it is difficult to imagine a set of classes for freshman year that could prove as interesting, comprehensive, and challenging.

--Andrew Krause

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