Cornerstone Seminar Programs
The Cornerstone Seminar Programs at Boston College offer first-year students unique courses for which the instructor in the course is also the academic advisor to the students in that course until they are assigned a major advising sometime in their sophomore year. Students may register for only one Cornerstone option.
Elizabeth Bracher
Director, Courage To Know
Stokes South 141
Academic Advising Suite
617-552-1749
elizabeth.bracher@tamilfolksongs.com
Cornerstone
Course-based Advising Opportunities for First-Year Students
The Courage to Know (UNCS2201)
A cornerstone elective for first-year students
The college experience can be seen as a puzzle, a myriad of pieces that fit together to create a picture- a road map per se- of what the Good Life ought to be and how to live it. During your time at Boston College, it is your challenge to put these pieces together in a way that makes sense for the person you are becoming. The Courage to Know is a first-year elective designed to confront students with the most fundamental formational questions that will guide your years at Boston College and beyond:
Who am I?
What am I good at?
Who am I called to become?
In this seminar, the instructor will lead the class through a semester-long examination of identity development, asking the question of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose. This course will call on contemporary literature, current research, and social commentary as you discuss the impact of race, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, intimacy, faith, and vocational discernment in our lives. CTK sections also incorporate outside-of-the-classroom activities in and around campus and the City of Boston into the course curriculum.
This three-credit seminar is offered to first-year undergraduates who may chose to take it in either the fall or spring semester. For those taking this course in the fall semester, the course instructor will serve as your academic advisor until you move into major advising sometime in your sophomore year. Instructors are faculty and administrators from across the University.
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Fall 2024
First-Year Topic Seminar
The First-Year Topic Seminar (FTS) is the 12-week, one-credit Cornerstone option for students in the Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences. These seminars are taught by faculty who lead the discussion on a research topic within their academic discipline and their specific area of expertise. First-year Topic Seminars offer students the opportunity to explore academic areas of interest without having to commit to a major just yet. Enrolling in a FTS is a unique opportunity to test the waters in such disciplines as Economics, Theatre, Political Science, History, Communication, etc. The faculty instructor for your FTS will also be your academic advisor for your first year and until you are assigned an academic advisor in your major program sometime in your sophomore year. FTS sections also incorporate outside-of-the-classroom activities in and around campus and the City of Boston into the course curriculum.
Graded on the scale of Pass/Fail, this course ends the week before Thanksgiving Break.
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Fall 2024
First-year Writing Seminar (Cornerstone Advising Sections)
ENGL1009 & ENGL1010
The First-Year Writing Seminar fulfills the core requirement in Writing. Designed as a workshop in which each student develops a portfolio of personal and academic writing, the writing seminar features regular individual conferences with the instructor. Students write and rewrite essays continuously, discuss their works-in-progress in class, and read a wide range of texts, including various forms of nonfiction prose.
In the sections of FWS that are Cornerstone Advising Sections (designated in Eagle Apps), the instructor of the course will be the academic advisor to all Morrissey College students in that section.
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Fall 2024
Perspectives on Western Culture (Cornerstone Advising Sections)
PHIL/THEO1090
This is a two-semester, twelve-credit course that fulfills all the Core requirements in Philosophy and Theology. The course will introduce students to the philosophical and religious heritage of the West through a study of the major thinkers who have formed Western cultural traditions.
In the sections of Perspectives I that are Cornerstone Advising Sections (designated in Eagle Apps), the instructor of the course will be the academic advisor to all Morrissey College students in that section.
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Fall 2024
FTS Learning Outcomes
As a result of taking a First-Year Topic Seminar, students will:Demonstrate responsibility for one’s own learningDevelop a positive and effective mentoring relationship with one’s pre-major, academic advisorDevelop intentional friendships/relationships with classmates Identify both academic and co-curricular opportunities through which to engage in the Jesuit identity of the University.
CTK Learning Outcomes
As a result of taking CTK, students will be able to:Use reading to explore and examine the characteristics and values of their own and other cultures; to imagine other ways of experiencing the world; to develop insights into historical as well as contemporary issuesUse writing to reflect on and clearly articulate one’s own understanding and experiences of identity developmentDemonstrate responsibility for one’s own learningDevelop a positive and effective mentoring relationship with one’s pre-major, academic advisorDevelop intentional friendships/relationships with classmates and/or mentoring relationships with senior TAs.Identify both academic and co-curricular opportunities through which to engage in the Jesuit identity of the University.--