Residential College Seminar Program
Purpose and GoalsIn 1969 Yale University implemented the Residential College Seminar Program as part of a broad-based plan to enlarge and enhance the educational life of the Colleges. Since its inception, the program has augmented the Yale College curriculum with innovative and experimental courses in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Residential College Seminars seek to expose undergraduates to topics and modes of inquiry not available within Yale's departmental framework. Number of Seminars Offered and Meeting TimesThe Residential College Seminar Program currently funds 36 seminars each academic year (18 per term). College Seminars meet weekly for 2 hours in the afternoon or evening for 13 weeks. |
Enrollment
Enrollment is limited to 18 undergraduates (15 for creative writing seminars). In cases where applications exceed the enrollment maximum, 6 students are admitted from the sponsoring college, 6 from the cosponsoring college, and 6 from all other colleges combined.
Seminar Selection
The Residential College Seminar Program educates undergraduates both inside and outside the classroom by involving them in the seminar selection process. Undergraduates in the residential colleges are actively encouraged to generate new seminar ideas and solicit course proposals from prospective instructors. They are given the further opportunity to help shape the Yale College curriculum by serving on their residential college's seminar committee, which evaluates seminar proposals, interviews the candidates, and selects the courses that their college sponsors. Once students have chosen their college's seminars, the selected proposals undergo three levels of faculty review, following the normal channels of approval for all Yale College courses. Instructors are appointed Lecturers in Yale College (or in the case of registered graduate students, Part-Time Acting Instructors).
Contact Information
Yale College Seminar Office
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 208241
New Haven, CT 06520-8241
Campus address:
1 Prospect St, SSS 20 (lower level)
New Haven, CT 06510
Note: The College Seminar Office is closed June 15 - Aug 15.
Catherine Suttle
Program Coordinator
Phone: (203) 432-1147
Fax: (203) 432-7369
E-mail: college.seminar@yale.edu
Harvey Goldblatt
Chair
Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Master, Pierson College
Hugh Flick
Associate Chair
Dean, Silliman College
Lecturer, Religious Studies
