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First-Year Seminars

First-Year Seminars (199 courses) are open only to newly admitted, Faculty of Arts and Science students. They are full-credit or half-credit courses that focus on discussion of issues, questions and controversies surrounding a particular discipline (or several disciplines) in a small-group setting that encourages the development of critical thinking, writing skills, oral presentation and research methods. 199 seminars are as rigorous and demanding as any other first-year course and require in addition the acquisition of those skills expected of successful undergraduate students. With a maximum enrolment of 24 students each, they are an ideal way to have an enjoyable and challenging small-class experience in your first year.

First-Year Seminars:

  • Count as 1.0 or 0.5 of the 20 credits required for an Hon. B.A., Hon B.Sc. or B. Com.
  • Do not count towards a subject POSt. For example if you intend to enrol in a Major program in Mathematics, a 199Y1 or 199H1 course offered by the Mathematics Department do not count as one of the courses required for that program.
  • Can be counted towards breadth requirement. Each 199 course is categorized according to the five breadth categories as follows:
    • CCR 199 courses count as Category 1 Creative and Cultural Representations;
    • TBB 199 courses count as Category 2 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour;
    • SII 199 courses count as Category 3 Society and Its Institutions;
    • LTE 199 courses count as Category 4 Living Things and Their Environment;
    • PMU 199 courses count as Category 5 The Physical and Mathematical Universes;
    • XBC 199 courses are Y courses that count as half in each of two breadth categories. These two categories are indicated, within brackets, at the end of the course title (e.g., (1 & 3) for a course that counts as half in 1 and half in 3, (4 & 5) for a course that counts as half in 4 and half in 5).

Please Note: Newly Admitted First-Year Students may enrol in only ONE 199Y1 course or TWO 199H1 courses.

Students planning to enrol in two 199H1 half-courses with the same section code (e.g. two F sections or two S sections) with the same designator (e.g., two CCR 199H1F or two LTE 199H1S) will not be able to register in both on ROSI. Students should contact Ms. Deborah Shaw at the First Year Seminars Program Office, 416-978-0359, deb.shaw.utoronto.ca immediately after enrolling into one 199H1 course on ROSI to be enrolled into the second 199H1 course.

For further information and advice about First-Year Seminars, contact the First-Year Seminars Program Office, located in Room 1067, Sidney Smith Hall, 416 978-0359, deb.shaw.utoronto.ca deb.shaw.utoronto.ca.

2011-2012 First-Year Seminars