All seven colleges in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy offer distinctive first-year programs that build community, foster critical thinking and writing skills and develop intellectual independence. First-Year Foundations Ones Programs enable you to explore your interests, engage with community and experience the extraordinary in a small seminar setting.
The Ones typically combine one or more small-group, theme-based courses with co-curricular events (e.g. guest lectures) and experiential learning opportunities. Newly admitted first-year students in the Faculty of Arts & Science, regardless of college affiliation, are eligible for admission to these programs. Visit the Academic Calendar to see a list of the First-Year Foundations Ones courses.
Please note: Munk One, Trinity One and Vic One require an application, while students enrol in Innis One, New One, SMC One, Woodsworth One and UC One during July course selection. See below for application deadlines and to learn more about the Ones program that interests you.
Develop your creative and critical thinking skills by exploring your urban environment. Drawing from Cinema Studies, Urban Studies and Writing and Rhetoric, Innis One will challenge you to venture beyond the academy walls and engage in an imaginative, inquiry-based and civic-minded learning experience.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Enrol during July course selection
- Contact: programs.innis@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit Innis One: The Creative City
In Munk One, you’ll work closely with your peers, professors and experts to create innovative solutions to real-life global issues.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Application procedure: Apply in your JOIN U of T portal with a statement on a global problem and an innovation
- Contact: munk.one@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit Munk One
Application Deadline:
- Round 1: March 25, 2024
- Round 2: May 6, 2024
Application Instructions:
- Log in to the JOIN U of T portal
- Navigate to the "Your Application Choices" section and click on the Arts & Science admission category you were admitted to
- On the following screen, navigate to the "Your Admissions Checklist." The third item on the list is the link to the Ones Programs application portal
Explore, question and deepen your understanding of aspects of your daily life – food, language, digital technology and science – that can easily be taken for granted. Together with your peers, professors and community leaders, you’ll participate in conversations about what it means to be a responsible global citizen in the 21st century.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Enrol during July course selection
- Contact: new.one@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit New One: Learning Without Borders
Two seminars are offered through the SMC One:
-
SMC One: The McLuhan Seminar in Creativity and Technology: Inspired by Marshall McLuhan’s innovative thinking, this seminar explores the relationship between creativity and technology and includes creative classroom experiences designed around innovative technology.
-
SMC One: The Gilson Seminar in Faith and Ideas: Explore the intersection of faith with today’s most important questions. The Gilson Seminar consists of two half-courses and includes an international learning experience in Rome.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Enrol during July course selection
- Contact Michael Czobit: michael.czobit@utoronto.ca
Trinity One students choose from one of six academic streams where they’ll explore major issues and ideas pertaining to human life and world affairs. You’ll benefit from academically rigorous courses and connections to a number of undergraduate programs, providing an excellent foundation for the rest of your undergraduate career.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students. Biomedical Health is limited to science students. All others are open to any entering student.
- Application procedure: online application with brief essay; applications open February 2023
- Contact: trinityone@trinity.utoronto.ca
For more information, visit Trinity One.
Application Deadlines:
- Round 1: Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 11:59pm ET
- Round 2: Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 11:59pm ET
- Round 3: Sunday, June 2, 2024 at 11:59pm ET
Engage with Toronto and its diverse communities by exploring concepts like citizenship and belonging; the connection between performing arts, urban spaces and cultural diversity; access to health care; and the city’s sexual politics. This program will not only prepare you for academic success, but also teach you to apply learning to the world around you.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Enrol during July course selection
- Contact: uc.academicservices@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit UC One: Engaging Toronto
Featuring weekly guest lectures with professors, visiting artists, writers and other public figures, Vic One has eight academic streams to choose from, each offering a unique, interdisciplinary perspective and designed to help you build your critical thinking, research and writing skills.
- Eligibility: All prospective first-year students who have applied to the St. George campus in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Architecture or Music
- Application Procedure: Extracurricular activity history, a brief essay and a brief personal statement
- Contact: Carol Beattie vic.one@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit Vic One
Application Deadline:
- Round 1: March 18, 2024, 11:59pm ET
- Round 2: May 5, 2024, 11:59pm ET
- Round 3: June 16, 2024, 11:59pm ET
Woodsworth One offers Order and Disorder: How do we balance our need for freedom and society’s need for order? Learn to develop, test and debate possible solutions to the problems of social order and disorder with courses that focus on law, crime, war, justice and government policies. Woodsworth One programming includes workshops, field trips, films and guest lecturers.
- Eligibility: Faculty of Arts & Science (St. George) newly admitted first-year, full-time students
- Enrol during July course selection
- For questions, contact: one.wdw@utoronto.ca
For more information, visit Woodsworth One
Meet Ones Instructors and Former Students
Hui Wen Zheng, Munk One Student
One of the best things about Munk One is that you get to learn research methods in your first semester of university because you can then take advantage of U of T's amazing travel and research grants. I had the opportunity to go to Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the summer of my second year.
Rebekah Robinson, New One Student
Most of my classes were 500 plus people in larger venues. So it was really cool to be able to work with students one-on-one and to know my professor as well. I was able to talk to her in office hours, and I felt like she actually knew who I was.
Camilla, SMC One Student
I’m very connected to the people who wrote manuscripts in the medieval times. Writing a manuscript was a whole process, preparing the parchments and then the quills; it’s very good to learn the process... When you study the past, you think more about the future.
Priscilla Layarda, Trinity One Student
Trinity One taught me beyond looking at history and international relations with a more critical and nuanced lens. It has challenged me to frame my opinions and communicate them with friends from different backgrounds.
Marienka Bishop Kovac, UC One Student
This course made me fall in love with the city. Although I have lived in Toronto all my life, I feel like this course has changed my perspective and understanding of the city -- its social structures and historical past.
Julia Trojanowski, Vic One Student
I look back at Vic One and I feel very lucky to have been part of such a wonderful program. Years later, I find myself being continuously inspired by ideas we discussed, and I continue to find connections between Vic One and what I learn year to year.
Abena Somiah, Woodsworth Ones Student
I would definitely recommend this program to other students. Not only is the course material incredibly relevant for Humanities and Social Sciences students, you also get the information and resources you need as a first year student, and you make unforgettable friendships.
Simon Lewson, Innis One Instructor
I don’t really believe in the distinction between good writers versus bad writers; I think the distinction that really matters is between writers who put time into their craft, and writers who don’t… I hope that, for you, my course is the beginning of a lifelong passion for writing.
