Imagination for the 21st century starts here!
See beyond what is to what might be. Our first-year sequence is designed to challenge you to understand yourself and find a sense of purpose.
In the Human Experience course and in the First-Year Experience seminar, you will think deeply about the most important issues of our time and will learn about the ideas, texts, and works of art that have shaped the world we live in.
Citizenship
To be liberally educated means to understand the world from different points of view. Find your purpose and find your place in our democracy.
Direct from the source
Every year we sponsor a summer reading series, and we bring the author to campus to talk with you and your classmates. Ask your own questions! Talk to contemporary writers and activists who are making a difference!
Human Experience (HE) Course
Begin your Eckerd career by learning what it means to read immersively and in community with others!
From Plato’s The Republic to our nation’s Declaration of Independence, read works that have touched millions, inspired revolutions, and instructed the leaders of our world.
- Cultivate openness to new ideas, imagination for the future, and curiosity across disciplines.
- Learn what great leaders and thinkers had to say about the issues of freedom, justice and the common good.
- Investigate what it means to live a meaningful life.
First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminar
Your second semester settles you into a small, discussion-based, topically oriented class that takes innovative, problem-oriented approaches to the big unsettling questions of our time.
- ”Think outside” the major and discover how a liberal arts education is more relevant and necessary than ever.
- Benefit from student-focused learning that is hands-on and experiential. (Field trips may be involved!)
- Come to understand the relationship between the breadth of a liberal arts education and depth of knowledge in a particular field or major.
“The skills that matter to employers are not developed within a single course or even within a single major. General education provides the entry point and foundational pathway for developing the skills, mindsets, and aptitudes that matter for workplace success. But that pathway must be aligned with majors to promote ongoing skill development, from cornerstone to capstone.”
—AAC&U study
Faculty mentor
Your Autumn Term and Human Experience professor will be your mentor throughout your first year. You’ll consult with this trusted adviser several times a week, both formally and informally. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to get help when you need it.
