L&S First-Year Pathways

This course is intended for STEM majors. An introduction to differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable, with applications and an introduction to transcendental functions. Prior to Fall 2025, this course was offered as Math 1A.

This course is an introduction to European history from around 1500 to the present. The central questions that it addresses are how and why Europe—a small, relatively poor, and politically fragmented place—became the motor of globalization and a world civilization in its own right. Put differently, how did “western” become an adjective that, for better and often for worse, stands in place of “modern”.

This writing seminar satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement. The course is designed to offer students structured, sustained, and highly articulated practice in the recursive processes entailed in reading, critical analysis, and composing. Students will read five thematically related book-length texts, or the equivalent, drawn from a range of genres, in addition to various non-print sources. In response to these materials, they will craft several short pieces leading up to three longer essays–works of exposition and argumentation.

A lecture/seminar satisfying the second half of the Reading & Composition requirement, R4B offers structured and sustained practice in the processes used in reading, critical analysis, and writing. Students engage with thematically-related materials from a range of genres and media. In response, they craft short pieces leading to longer expository and/or argumentative essays. Students develop a research question, draft a research essay, gather, evaluate, and synthesize information from various sources. Elements of the research process–a proposal, an annotated bibliography, an abstract, a works cited list, etc.–are submitted with the final report in a research portfolio. Students write a minimum of 32 pages of prose.