Learning Patterns: A Look Into Freshman Seminars | Daily Nexus

"The announcement of the 2016 Nobel Prize awards will be broadcast this week internationally to an audience of billions. The discussion of its history will be presented to a much smaller audience in one of UC Santa Barbara’s many freshman seminars: courses dedicated to promoting active learning and creative thinking." continues Daily Nexus.

In the picture above, a Pentium 4 processor under a microscope is shown. Science and the humanities are often seen as two subjects with no overlap; however, this processor shows the interconnectedness of science and the humanities with its design. 
Photo: Courtesy of deskpicture.com

Just as Alfred Nobel endowed prizes to those deemed to “have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind,” the UCSB faculty have prepared their own insightful teachings to the entering class of 2020 in belief that each will provide their own outstanding contributions for humanity.

First-year seminars are unique one to three unit classes that provide students with interdisciplinary inquiries and insight as they adjust to the college lifestyle. These small courses, with a maximum capacity of 20 students, are designed by experienced faculty professors to foster intellectual discourse and promote individual passions.

Students are encouraged to explore fields completely beyond the scope of their intended majors, with leeway to their time as well as their grades with the pass/no pass grading system. These opportunities are markedly valuable experiences as freshmen get the chance to meet like-minded individuals and establish meaningful connections with their peers and faculty.

From ancient to contemporary and abstract to concrete, topics range anywhere from exploring ideals in Greco-Roman antiquity to examining the physics and properties of our universe. The science, history and philosophy of complicated subject matter allows for students with little prior knowledge to gain both an understanding and appreciation for new fields.

Abstract artist Pablo Picasso once stated: “Everything you can imagine is real.”

UC Santa Barbara mathematics professor Daryl Cooper shares this poetic sentiment through his 10-week lecture series titled The Beauty of Mathematics.
Cooper affirms that even if you’re not a mathematician, there’s a lot of beautiful ideas to be found in math.

“Just like how you can appreciate a painting but you can’t paint and music but you can’t sing, you can appreciate ideas in mathematics without being a mathematician,” Cooper said.
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Source: Daily Nexus