First Year Seminars
As an incoming Bloodhound, we know that John Jay is the right fit for you because you care about a variety of justice issues. Your first step in becoming Advocates for Justice is to select an Academic Community and a First Year Seminar at your Advisement session.
What are the Academic Communities?
Each Academic Community captures a broad, initial interest and blends a wide range of disciplines— social sciences, sciences, humanities, and creative fields—to help you build foundational skills, discover new perspectives, and prepare for a range of academic and career fields. Regardless of which one you join, you’ll build the skills to think deeply, express yourself clearly, and make an impact in the world around you.
Across every Community, you’ll explore justice through storytelling, understand people and systems through culture, tackle scientific challenges with ethical awareness, and lead with empathy and creativity. And whether you're working with data or with people, your ideas and voice will shape the experience.
Are you interested in protecting people, responding to urgent situations, or helping ensure safety in everyday life? Join this Academic Community if you are drawn to hands-on problem-solving, ethical decision-making, and applying rules and procedures in real time. You will learn to think critically about the criminal justice system and public safety challenges—including criminal justice, fires, medical emergencies, extreme weather, and environmental disasters—informed by cultural and historical context, building a foundation for ethical action in service of safer environments. You'll also develop strong communication skills and a deep understanding of how language, history, culture, and media shape public trust and perceptions of safety.
Are you drawn to big questions about justice, power, and how societies are governed? Join this Academic Community if you want to explore the ideas, systems, and debates that shape our world—from legal traditions and political theory to global issues like human rights, national and international environmental governance, equity, and the impact of leadership grounded in values and vision. You might enjoy analyzing texts and arguments, tracing the history of social change, or thinking critically about how laws and policies reflect (or challenge) cultural values. This option is ideal for those who want to understand how the world works—and imagine how it could work better. You’ll develop skills in critical reading, persuasive writing, ethical analysis, and public speaking—while engaging with the humanities to explore how stories, symbols, and cultural traditions influence legal and political systems.
Are you interested in exploring fundamental questions of the human experience, creative expression and storytelling, and how culture shapes the world? Join this Academic Community if you’re drawn to the power of ideas, the ways we express those ideas, and the potential of creative approaches to uplift humanity. You will study other cultures past and present, develop critical thinking skills, engage in creative expression, and examine human values and norms through literature, history, philosophy, languages, and the arts, establishing a foundation for creative problem solving, policy innovation, environmental advocacy, legal analysis, writing, media, education, art, public service, and advocacy. This option centers on innovative thinking, creative expression, cultural analysis and textual critique – all in service of a more just and vibrant society.
Are you curious about why people behave the way they do, and how that knowledge can be used to support individuals and improve systems? Join this Academic Community if you want to explore the fundamentals of human behavior with real-world applications. You might be drawn to roles that involve helping others through counseling, crisis response, or social change—or to research that examines how behavior connects to systems like the courts, corrections, or public health. This option invites you to explore connections between mind, behavior, society, nature, culture and humanity—whether you're investigating patterns through research or making a difference through direct support and care or creativity. You’ll have the chance to learn and use a variety of different research methods, including textual, cultural, quantitative, and qualitative analysis, to better understand identity, emotion, and human connection.
Are you curious about how things work—from the human body to digital systems—and interested in using math and science to solve problems? Join this Academic Community if you want to explore science, cybersecurity, environmental science, AI, or health-related fields. You might enjoy analyzing data, working in labs, investigating evidence, studying the relationship between science and society, exploring health and human biology, or examining the ethical use of science and technology. This area invites you to apply scientific thinking to challenges that impact safety, health, sustainability, and justice—whether you're solving crimes, ensuring the safety of the built environment, protecting digital systems, or supporting public health. You’ll also learn to communicate scientific ideas clearly, consider ethical and cultural perspectives, and use creative thinking to design solutions that meet real-world needs.
What are First Year Seminars (FYS)?
Your First Year Seminar (FYS) broadly aligns with your AC and is a small, hands-on class in which you work closely with your professor and classmates to explore justice issues and what it means to be a fierce advocate for justice. You’ll have the opportunity to conduct research guided by your professor and share it at the end-of-semester First Year Student Showcase. To ensure you have what you need to succeed in this course and your first year at John Jay, you will be supported by a Student Success Team comprised of your FYS professor, peer success coach, staff mentor, and academic advisor. This team will provide ongoing guidance, answer your questions about college, connect you with a ton of resources, and keep you informed about upcoming deadlines, events, and opportunities.
Choose an Academic Community and then a First Year Seminar
- Choose an Academic Community. Check out the Academic Communities below and consider what you’d like to explore in your first semester. No need to worry too much about this choice! During the fall semester, you’ll dive deeper into your initial area of interest AND have the opportunity to explore many other options.
- Choose your First Year Seminar. Read through the course descriptions of the First Year Seminars in your selected Academic Community and consider three or more that interest you. Register for one of these at your Advisement session.
Programs with Additional Requirements
- ACE (application required)
- MBK ACE (application required)
- ¡Adelante! (application required)
- APPLE Corps (application required)
- Interdisciplinary Studies Program (ISP)