The First-Year Seminar introduces important intellectual, cultural, and artistic ideas that serve as a basis for the liberal arts education. These ideas are presented in the context of a historic tradition and on as broad a scale as feasible within a framework that emphasizes precise, analytical thinking through class discussions and frequent writing assignments. The heart of the yearlong course is a series of core texts that focus on the theme "Quaestio mihi factus sum: Self and Society in the Liberal Arts."