In order to give all first-year students the opportunity to share a common academic experience in their first term at Hollins, we have developed 15 seminars, all of which are designed around a set of common goals. Whether you take “Junk Food Media,” “The Nature and Culture of Water,” or any of the other seminars, you will have an opportunity to demonstrate a passion for learning, participate in collaborative and active learning, and hone your critical thinking, creative problem solving, research, writing, and oral communication skills (see Seminar Descriptions to the right).
The seminars are limited to 15 students, all of whom are first-time, first-year students like you. Over the course of your first term, you will work with students from your seminar and also students from other seminars, thus building a community of first-year scholars who share a common interest in academic excellence and intellectual curiosity.
The instructor of your seminar will serve as your first-year academic advisor. This individual will help you with both course selection and academic goal setting. All advisors will be able to answer questions about any academic discipline, but they will also introduce you to faculty members in other departments so that you can begin to build an academic network in your first term at Hollins. Please fill out the Advising Questionnaire (link to the right) as soon as possible to provide your advisor with information about your academic interests and also to select four first-year seminars that interest you (We guarantee placement in one of your four choices). See Seminar Instructors to the right for a list of faculty who are teaching seminars this year.
In addition to the instructor/academic advisor, each seminar will have an upper-class peer mentor called a Student Success Leader (SSL). This individual will attend your seminar, help you with advising, and answer academic questions. Your SSL will be in contact with you over the summer. Please click on the Student Success Leaders link to the right to find out more about the SSLs for this year.
Once you have completed your Advising Questionnaire, you will be notified through your Hollins e-mail account of which seminar you will attend in the fall. Students will be assigned to seminars in three waves depending on when they complete their questionnaires: June 20, July 20, and August 20. Please click on Seminar Descriptions to the right for a complete list of seminars this fall.
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