Senior mini-courses offer Class of 2001 new learning opportunities

Members of the Class of 2001 have spent the past several months in Firestone Library carrels and in chemistry labs, poring over books and data and producing page after page of thesis work. Now that the rigor of independent work is over for most seniors, they will have the first-ever opportunity to take "senior mini-courses," one-time classes that cover topics ranging from practical life-application skills, to fun, to more serious academic issues.

Class of 2001 president Justin Browne said the program will give seniors a final opportunity to take advantage of the University's many resources.

"The main reason I like the program is because it gives seniors the chance to learn about additional subjects of interest to them at a time when they're already done with most of their academic work," Browne said.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Tom Dunne agreed that now is the opportune time to offer the mini-courses. "There is this window of time where [seniors] have gone through the intense academic experience of a thesis and afterward they feel free enough that they have time to explore and continue to grow."

Browne said several of the seminars will be taught by University faculty in order to give seniors a final chance to hear from well-known professors that they might not already have had the chance to take a class with. "Someone might be an engineer or a molecular biology major so they never got the chance to sit in on one of [English professor John] Fleming's lectures, and now they will," he said.

Economics professor Uwe Reinhardt, who said he would like to give a mini-course, said he thinks both the seniors and the faculty members will enjoy the extra-curricular academic interaction.

"This is the last chance for seniors to talk to professors outside of the confines of what the curriculum and the text book require, and there's plenty of material I would like to talk about," Reinhardt said.

Students will also be conducting some of the seminars, teaching on areas of interest to them. "I also like that seniors themselves can teach the courses to other seniors, like dance classes and on the things they wrote their theses on," Reinhardt said.

Browne said one of his visions for the future of the mini-seminar program is to include alumni in the seminars. "There is enormous potential to work with the alumni," Browne said. "I know how interested they are in the undergraduate community and how much they want to give back. We could even use the Princeton Club of New York and have classes there so that people who are working in the city can pop in during a break and give a lecture. There is enormous potential."

By incorporating faculty, students and alumni, Browne said the program should continue to draw the University community together through a passion for learning. "This really has the ability to bring in all facets of university life," he said.

Classes will begin meeting tomorrow and will cover a large variety of topics. "There is a very big variety, such as how to find an apartment, what the Bible is all about, global ethics, even a three-on-three basketball tournament," Browne said.

"Also, professor [Lee] Silver will give a bioethics lecture, there are Yoga and dance classes, classes on schmoozing and on how to design a webpage. There will also be roundtables with Vice President [and Secretary Thomas] Wright '62 and President Shapiro."

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Dunne said he thinks the variety of topics is well-balanced and suited to the seniors. "This is one last opportunity for seniors to have some experiences after their theses are finished, to both reflect back on Princeton experience through faculty lectures, conversations and roundtables and also to develop skills that will be beneficial after students graduate."

According to Lewis Cook '01, who plans to attend at least one of the mini-courses, "a lot of people are planning on attending the one-time presentation on how to find an apartment [in New York City] to figure out how to go about this task for next year. The wine-tasting class also appears very popular and filled up very fast."

Jen Cannistra '01, who said she thinks the mini-courses are a great idea, said, "the best part is the variety; from car-maintenance to wine-tasting, you can easily find something that interests you."

Registration for the classes took place online, Browne said. "There has been enormous interest," he said. "Registration started at 12:30 p.m. Friday and by about 4:30 p.m. we already had 10 classes filled."

Though several of the classes are full, Browne said all undergraduates are welcome to participate in the lectures and classes as long as space permits.

"My vision is to make senior mini-courses what freshman seminars currently are," Browne said, "so that this doesn't just happen for the Class of 2001 but will continue to be available for senior classes in the future."