Current First-Year Seminar Courses

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.

This course introduces students to the world of global business while focusing on several recent trends and current events, such as the rise of emerging economies, the aging of societies, and moves towards protectionism, and their effects on individuals, organizations, and society. Students will examine some of the key trends in global business.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Discover through the great Marcussen pipe organ in Wiedemann Hall the multiplicity of tools and skills needed to make this giant instrument/machine function on multiple levels. This course compares the instrument itself and the person who operates/plays this complicated instrument along with other professions in today’s world, including those in art.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Welcome to WUtopia! Working in teams, and in collaboration with international industry experts, students will design a human-scale 15-minute city that has all the basic needs within a short walk or bike ride. This course is an opportunity to think critically about a large complex issue impacting the planet.

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.

This course is for everyone who has dreamed of being an author and getting their ideas in print. Students will talk about how to think through a writing project from first thinking about the audience to the signing party. Along the way students will learn that writing the text is the easy part. The next steps are where the real challenges and opportunities lie.

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.

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.

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.

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.