Courses

On this page:
Discovery Seminars
Preparing for College Writing
Exploration Seminars

Listed below are the courses being offered in the Early Fall Start program. As Early Fall Start approaches, please check the appropriate website for last minute changes in course meeting times or location. All courses are offered for 5 credits.

Courses for new freshmen

Discovery Seminars
Below is a list of Discovery Seminars. Additional details, registration instructions, and course descriptions can be found on the Discovery Seminar website.

  • Bad Love
  • Comparative Animal Behavior   CLOSED
  • Contracts of the Heart: Gift and Sacrifice
  • CSI: Seattle   CLOSED
  • Digital Expression   CLOSED
  • Digital Improvisation
  • Exploring Cultural Diversity Through the Performing Arts   CLOSED
  • Fictionalizing Autobiography: A Writing Studio   CLOSED
  • Food for thought: An Ethics for Living   CLOSED
  • Fossils, Evolution, and Creationism
  • From Jerusalem to Seattle: Discovering the Middle East in Our Midst   CLOSED
  • From Quarks to the Cosmos
  • Global Warming: Introduction to the Science
  • Indistinguishable from Magic: New Technologies, Science Fiction, and Us   CLOSED
  • Last Stands: Little Big Horn or the Battle of Greasy Grass
  • Learning from Ants and Bees: The Science of Biological Swarms
  • Modeling the Universe
  • Modern Topics in Astronomy for Non-Science Students
  • Negotiating the City: Studies in Fiction
  • Numbers and Reason
  • Oceans and the Global Environment: Taking Physics and Chemistry Outdoors
  • Perception and the Arts
  • Slavery and Slave Trading in the 21st Century
  • The Creative Process
  • The Tourist Gaze: Understanding Global Communication   CLOSED
  • When Politics, Religion, and Biology Meet: The Controversy over Stem
    Cell Research   CLOSED
  • Why Lance Always Wins: The Physiology of Exercise   CLOSED

Registration for the writing courses is now closed.

Preparing for College Writing

If you would like to register for one of these specially designed courses to help new freshmen who are unsure about their writing get off to a good start with college writing, click on the course title. You may register for any of the five classes. They are all taught in the same way and none of the classes are reserved for a special group of students. Additional registration information, including instructions on how to drop these courses, can be found on the Registration page of this website. There is a $995.00 fee for the courses. The courses meet during Early Fall Start, August 25 through September 19.

GIS 140 A Writing Ready: Getting a Start on Writing in College (5 credits)

Class meeting time: MTWTh 9:30 - 12:00
Class meets in Loew 115
Instructor: Jennifer Halpin

GIS 140 B Writing Ready: Getting a Start on Writing in College (5 credits)
Class meeting time: MTWTh 9:30 - 12:00
Class meets in Loew 116
Instructor: Shawna Shapiro

GIS 140 C Writing Ready: Getting a Start on Writing in College (5 credits)

Class meeting time: MTWTh 9:30 - 12:00
Class meets in Loew 118
Instructor: Angela Rounsaville

GIS 140 D Writing Ready: Getting a Start on Writing in College (5 credits)

Class meeting time: MTWTh 9:30 - 12:00
Class meets in Loew 111
Instructor: Cathryn Cabral

GIS 140 E Writing Ready: Getting a Start on Writing in College (5 credits)

Class meeting time: MTWTh 9:30 - 12:00
Class meets in Loew 112
Instructor: Michelle LaFrance


Courses for currently enrolled UW students

 Exploration Seminars
There are 46 Exploration Seminars offered during Early Fall Start. These month-long study abroad programs provide a unique out-of-the-classroom and "outside-the-box" cohort-based learning experience. Many have closed but some are still open. For a complete list, additional details, registration instructions, and course descriptions please visit the Exploration Seminar website.