Make the Most of Your First Year

Wichita State's First-Year Seminar offers students unique, small classes taught by fantastic faculty and instructors from across the university.

A First-Year Seminar lets you take a class in a specialized topic, taught by an expert in the field, while also learning about campus resources to help you have a more successful experience at WSU. 

All new-to-university students are required to take an FYS class.*  But no worries, we have something to fit your interest!

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Recently in FYS...

students sitting with seniors

Jacie Green and students at Larksfield Place

In Connecting Generations FYS class, students work with senior citizens to create printed biographies of their lives.  https://connectinggen.weebly.com/ 
WWII class meet vet

World War II veteran Richard Martin visits Sam Corcoran's FYS on technologies created during the 1930s and 40s.

 First-Year Seminar Learning Objectives: 
General Education Outcomes
  • Have acquired knowledge in the arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences
  • Think critically and independently
  • Write and speak effectively
  • Employ analytical reasoning and problem solving techniques
Student Success Outcomes
  • Understand the expectations of higher education and how they differ from secondary education
  • Develop skills and habits that promote deep learning and long-term retention of knowledge
  • Develop life and study skills in areas including time management, note taking, test taking, and personal finance
  • Capitalize on university resources and extracurricular experiences designed to promote your success

FYS Classes for Fall 2026:

FYMG 102B – Uncommon Sense

This course helps students to build the necessary aptitude and knowledge to persevere through college expectations and make intentional positive career choices. Students are introduced to knowledge and skills needed for adulting including identity and cultural self-awareness, financial literacy, business etiquette, and basic negotiation techniques.

FYST 102A – Superheroes Go to School

This course includes examinations of common superhero attributes and narratives, specifically in school or educational settings. Content is applied to projects related to personal development, synergetic collaboration, service outreach, and strategic preparation for ongoing learning and growth.

FYSP 102A – My Community and I

This course encourages students to carefully analyze their leadership styles, develop their sense of community, and recognize their responsibilities and commitments in the context of leadership for the common good and for purposeful change. Students will come to understand the concept of relational leadership in their community.

FYSP 102B – The Shocker Way

This course studies the university as a resource for personal development and academic success. Framed specifically through the lens of intercollegiate athletics, this course also assists students in developing personal, academic, and professional skillsets needed for success within intercollegiate athletics, professional sport, and beyond.

FYAP 102A – Introduction to Technology and Innovation

This course uses instruction and hands-on projects to guide first-year freshman through the design thinking process to develop innovative and creative problem-solving skills. The design thinking process is a methodology for innovation that combines creative and analytical approaches and requires collaboration across disciplines and diverse backgrounds.

FYMU 102A – Music Really Does Make You Smarter

This course provides students with an opportunity to articulate a current music advocacy philosophy while developing leadership skills for a variety of music activities and scenarios.

FYMS 102F – Medical Laboratory Scientists: Healthcare Detectives

This course provides an overview of the role that the medical laboratory plays as a vital member of the healthcare team. In this course, students focus on the role that the medical laboratory plays in healthcare, the personnel who work in the laboratory, and the different areas of the medical laboratory.

FYPH 102B – Leadership and Self Discovery

This course explores leadership through self-discovery, using Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Inventory. As students prepare their college journey, and ultimately the working world, this course helps them identify and embrace their leadership potential.

FYPH 102G – Connecting Generations: Sharing Life Stories with Shockers

This course introduces basic knowledge and concepts of aging through engaging activities with peers designed with older adults in mind. Students gain new insight on the importance of connecting with each other and the older population through interactive activity both in the classroom and beyond.

FYHN 102E – Me and My Place in the World

This course invites students to explore their own roots and the experiences that have shaped who they are today. Students engage with others who have different stories from their own and examine shared interests and concerns about issues facing the world today. Students will consider how they can make a difference locally and globally.

FYHN 102I – Community and Cultural Connections

This course assists students in becoming acclimated to the college environment socially and academically, while also providing information on university policies and resources. Students will explore the city of Wichita, the campus, and the surrounding communities to assist them with gaining a better understanding of the community-at-large.

FYCJ 102Q – Criminalistic Methods: What Would Sherlock Holmes Do?

This course encourages students to explore the use of analytical thought and scientific methods in their daily lives. Students examine how bias affects perceptions, decisions, and outcomes of events. Using the concept that “every contact leaves a trace,” students learn to assess, perceive, and base philosophical decisions with an open mind.

FYML 102E – World Cultures in Popular Media

This course examines ways in which various cultures are depicted in popular media and how stereotypical depictions may contrast with reality in areas such as East Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe.

FYML 102N – World Food and Foodways

This course analyzes food and foodways of the world, paying attention to how cultural components work for each society and how they influence our perception of others. Students will analyze literature, films, art, and overall food representation.

FYSW 102T – This Is Us, Who Are You? Family in Modern America

 This course helps students critically examine how family is a fundamental part of American life and society. Students look at the diversity of families in America. Family is defined broadly to include, but not limited to, blood, marriage, adoption, and the desired connection among people to form a close familial bond.

FYSO 102Y – The Sociology of Harry Potter

The Harry Potter series has captured the love and imagination of youth and adults across the world. This course considers what a sociological view of the Wizarding World can teach students about their own culture. Students will explore the role of social interactions, institutions, and inequalities in the lives of Harry and other characters.

FYMU 102C – The Creative Impulse

This course helps students discover through the great Marcussen pipe organ in Wiedemann Hall the ultimate example of creativity with its multiplicity of tools and skills needed to make this giant instrument/machine function on multiple levels. Students will learn what went into its construction, what professions were used, and more.

FYAN 102AC – Culture, Health & Medicine  

This course provides an overview of the intersection where health, culture, and political-economic power meet. Medical anthropology analyzes the relations among health, illness, social institutions, and cultural representations. Students pay particular attention to the ways that medical knowledge is created, disseminated, and practices in everyday life.

FYFA 102A  – Finding Success as a Teacher through Mentoring & Self-Care

This course guides future teachers by creating a successful academic and social transition to a virtual campus while fostering a sense of belonging and engagement in the virtual experience. Students will engage in meaningful relationships with peers, faculty, and the virtual campus community, all while making an immediate impact on the local school district.

FYEN 102J – Fundamentals of Diversity

This course is designed to facilitate students’ success particularly in understanding the basics of diversity: its construction, perception, and possibilities. Students learn the meaning of diversity in terms of being different and special according to societal norms. The course focuses on gender and race, but issues of class, sexuality, and ability are also included.

FYEN 102S – Facing It: Confronting American History Though Story, Song & Film

This course proposes that people are most empowered to live authentically and to realize their values when they first face the truth of their personal, cultural, and national stories. This course invites students to become fully present in their lives, while studying the underbelly of American history through poetry, story, music, and film.

FYHS 102M – History & Rock ‘n’ Roll

This course investigates the emergence and development of rock ‘n’ roll in the Anglo-American world through a variety of different lenses and disciplinary perspectives by examining how political, economic, social, and cultural trends have informed the production and consumption of popular music-making from its origins in the 19th century until the present day.

FYPS 102AD – Plugging into Politics

This course examines the attitudes and behaviors of individual participants in the political system and, in particular, how varying levels of social trust and trust in government affect the ability to sustain civic voluntarism and a robust democracy. Particular attention is paid to individual motivations for participation in a full array of civic and political activities.

*As a member of Kansas Public Institutions of Higher Learning, Wichita State University is dedicated to helping students graduate within four years while still maintaining rigorous career preparation and academic standards.  Therefore, students who have earned an Associate Degree or 30 credit hours prior to high school graduation and before starting classes at WSU as a degree-bound student, may be exempt from taking a First-Year Seminar course.

Contact Us

1845 Fairmount St.
Wichita, Kansas 67260

brett.bruner@wichita.edu