First-Year Experience - FAQs

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How does this course count?

The course counts for a general education credit in nursing, biology, ECET, and any major within the College of Liberal Arts.

• In Biology the course replaces the current departmental first-year experience requirement, and substitutes for Sociology 100 or for Psychology 120 (one of the “Group B” Humanities and Social Sciences requirements).
• In Nursing, the course counts as a Humanities credit.
• In ECET, the course counts in place of ECET 196 (Exploring ECET).
• In majors within the College of Liberal Arts, the course will fulfill a general education requirement, substituting for Sociology 100 or for Psychology 120 (although you may still be required to take one of those courses as a specific degree requirement, e.g., for the BABS major).

 

How is the FYE “interdisciplinary,” and what does that mean?

The FYE takes up several large questions facing twenty-first century Americans, and examines them from a number of disciplinary points of view. This allows students to be introduced to a wide variety of disciplines, including history, economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, biology, genetics, engineering, architecture, and medicine. At the same time, by focusing on central questions, students see what disciplines have in common and how they differ, and are encouraged to “integrate” their thinking about them. As opposed to introductory courses in specific disciplines, an interdisciplinary course allows a student more quickly to learn the geography of academic study, and to learn what the disciplines hold in common.

 

Who teaches “interdisciplinary” courses?

The First-Year Experience curriculum has been developed by a team of faculty in a variety of disciplines, but each section is taught by a single professor whose background is primarily in one. The course emphasizes skills that academic disciplines have in common, including critical inquiry, research and argumentation, and information literacy. And it embraces a sense of common purpose between professors and students. University professors who teach in the course view it as an exciting opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues, and to extend the love of learning and intellectual curiosity which brought them into the profession in the first place.

The value of interdisciplinary teaching has been recognized around the country, and is a component of PNC's new Strategic Plan.