First-Year Offerings
The Humanities Program is proud to sponsor several exceptional courses of study exclusively for first years. Apart from Directed Studies, an intensive introduction to the Western tradition of arts and letters, and Six Pretty Good Ideas, a less conventional introduction to the humanities at Yale, we also offer a range of more specialized first year seminars.
All first year courses require preregistration. This year preregistration opens August 9 and closes August 15.
Directed Studies
The Directed Studies program consists of three integrated full-year courses in Western Philosophy, Literature, and Historical and Political Thought. Each of the three courses meets weekly for one lecture and two discussion seminars, where small groups of students work closely with a professor to texts in depth. Regular classes are complemented by a series of colloquia, in addition to sessions at the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Interested students must apply or petition for interest before the beginning of the Fall Semester of freshman year.
Six Pretty Good Ideas
Six Pretty Good Ideas (6PGX) is a suite of courses that introduces first-year students to the study of humanities at Yale. Each course examines cultural objects from various times and places around the globe. By viewing these highly significant objects as “pretty good,” we promote a spirit of play as we encourage students to ask: who has valued these objects? What makes them good? Why do they matter?
Participants in the program will also join a vibrant intellectual and social community. All students will meet together for a weekly Friday lab, where their writing will receive personalized attention. They will be introduced to the expansive archives, libraries, and special collections of Yale—including the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Yale Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, and specialist world-class holdings such as the Babylonian collection, and they will also participate in a variety of social events.
6PGX offers an excellent foundation for studying any subject at Yale and a path into several humanities majors. Seminar and lab, 1.5 credits (HU, WR). Fall semester only.