First-Year Foundation Seminars
Woodsworth College's First-Year Foundation Seminars are open only to newly-admitted, Faculty of Arts & Science students (students who have completed 3.5 credits or less). They are half-credit courses that focus on discussion of issues, questions and controversies surrounding a particular discipline (or several disciplines), taught in a small-group setting that encourages participation and engagement with faculty and fellow students. FYF seminars are as rigorous and demanding as any other first-year course, but with a special focus on preparing students for success by developing their critical thinking, research, writing, and oral presentation skills. With a maximum enrolment of 30 students each, they are an ideal way to have an enjoyable and challenging small-class experience in your first year.
First-Year Foundation Seminars:
- Count as 1.0 or 0.5 of the 20 credits required for an HBA, HBSc or BCom degree.
- First-Year Foundation Seminars are not required to get into any Program of Study. However, they may count towards your Program. Please check with your college Registrar for further details.
- Can be counted towards the Breadth Requirement.
- Course enrolment instructions can be found on the Faculty of Arts & Science website.
Courses for 2025-2026
WDW199H1-F Indigenous Knowledge and Story-Telling in Toronto
The land now known as Toronto has a 13,000+ year history of Indigenous presence that is still unfolding. This history is inscribed in the land – it is visible in the geographical features, place names, and contemporary urban form of the city and is represented through stories (oral and written) told by diverse members of Toronto’s Indigenous community. This course engages with stories of Indigenous history and presence in Toronto through a selection of Indigenous literary works about Toronto, Indigenous guest speakers, and a series of experiential Indigenous storytelling tours of significant locations across the city. Students will be introduced to Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing and will learn why storytelling remains a significant and culturally-appropriate means for keeping and sharing land-based Indigenous Knowledge. Students will gain a deeper appreciation of the city as a traditional Indigenous territory and will reflect on their own relationships and responsibilities within these lands. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations
WDW198H1-S There and Back Again: Exploring Tolkien
Since the mid-twentieth century, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have become classics of children’s and fantasy literature. In this course, we read Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and investigate the world-building and imagined history that lies behind the books. We trace how Tolkien’s own life experience informed his work—his experience as a soldier of the Great War and a civilian during World War Two; as a scholar of medieval language and literature, and of fairy tales; as a Catholic thinker; and as a lover of nature and the past. We also survey the afterlife of the novels in fantasy, film, and the popular imagination. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations
WDW194H1-S Freedom, Coercion and Ethics
We understand freedom as a basic human need and an inalienable right. Yet, as individuals and citizens, we face complex barriers to exercising our freedoms, especially in the Digital Age. This interdisciplinary course explores classic and contemporary arguments about freedom with an emphasis on feminist and decolonial perspectives. What does it mean to engage in ethical decision-making in the twenty-first century? How do gender, race, class, and ability shape our range of choices? Are some limitations on our freedom of expression necessary and legitimate? How do algorithms and artificial intelligence technologies allow governments and corporations to shape our needs and wants? Students will have the opportunity to address these and other questions through specific case studies and to work with multimedia and digital methods. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief, and Behaviour