AMPERSAND & FIRST-YEAR programs in ARTS & SCIENCES
Welcome to the College of Arts & Sciences!
We’re thrilled that you are joining us this fall to start your Arts & Sciences journey. The next four years will take you down pathways of academic inquiry to encounter new concepts, compelling ideas, and experiences that will surprise you. You are encouraged to embrace your own unique intellectual trajectory, knowing there is no prescribed path towards an enriching Arts & Sciences education. Whatever steps you choose to take in your first semester of college will lead you in the right direction!
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Choosing a path in your first year
Start thinking about where you want to go and what you want to learn by asking yourself: What am I curious about? How do I want to impact the world? What areas would I like to develop skills and knowledge in? What subjects am I eager to learn about that haven’t yet been part of my academic path?
To begin your journey, we invite you to explore First-Year Programs, courses specifically designed for first-year students. These classes will give you a starting point to design your first year. You can choose between:
• Ampersand Programs: interdisciplinary, small classes that span two or more semesters. These classes give you a chance to immediately jump into sustained academic inquiry into a particular topic and can involve fieldwork, research, or international or domestic study travel.
• First-Year Seminars and First-Year Opportunities: onesemester classes reserved for first-year students. These topic-based courses give you the opportunity to explore a new idea in depth in your first or second semester.
• Beyond Boundaries Courses: mid-sized, interdisciplinary courses team-taught by faculty from across the university.
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Join a First-Year Program
The sign-up process with priority review begins Thursday, May 16, at 4 p.m. (CT). To participate in priority review, please submit your application in the first 24 hours after applications open or by Friday, May 17, at 4 p.m. (CT).
Our goal in this sign-up process is to match you with a program you are excited about. Because these classes are unique and tailored for smaller groups, many will fill during the priority review period. More information about the sign-up process is available on our website at artsci.wustl.edu/fyp. Ampersand Programs will include a unique application question, which is available on the first-year programs website, so make sure you review and explore the website for more information before the sign-up process starts.
You will need your WUSTL Key to apply, so please make sure to sign up for your WUSTL Key. You should have received an email from the University Registrar with instructions on how to set up your WUSTL Key.
One of the most common questions we get is: How do I choose my other first- year courses? You’ll hear more about this from the College and your four-year advisor during the summer, but the short answer is that all our First-Year Programs are designed to work with your schedule in your first year, regardless of what other classes you eventually register for. We encourage you to be bold and choose a First- Year Program that excites you. We’ll help you figure out the rest!
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Plan Your Next Step
Use this space to make notes about the five programs or courses that most stand out to you. Each Ampersand Program will include a unique application question, which is available on the First-Year Programs website, so make sure you review and explore the website for more information at artsci.wustl.edu/fyp.
As you explore, look for the following symbols:
Includes international travel
Includes domestic travel
Includes research
Includes fieldwork Explores
region
Includes community engagement
STEM focused
Humanities focused
Social Sciences focused
the St. Louis
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Ampersand Programs
American Stories: Place, Power, & Imagination
If an American landscape could tell a story, what would it say? American Stories is an interdisciplinary approach to reading landscapes from the 19th century to today, uncovering untold stories of American places and the people, politics, and power that shaped them.
Bed Time: Knowing the World Through Objects
Design, build, and travel as you explore intimacy, domesticity, and politics through the physical and digital world of an antique Chinese wedding bed.
Biotech Explorers Pathway
Build connections between science, business, technology, and engineering through the science of biotechnology.
Democracy & Myth in Ancient Greece
Discover the stories and politics of Classical Athens and how they inform our world.
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Gateway Expeditions into Exoplanets & Black Holes
Bend your mind with key questions in contemporary astrophysics as you explore the universe’s most fascinating questions: Is there life elsewhere in the universe? What are black holes and how do matter and space behave close to them?
Global Citizenship Program
Join a community of students dedicated to discovering our role in the global world by exploring identity, environment, migration, intercultural exchange, and community engagement.
History, Memory, & Representation of the Holocaust
Analyze the history of the Nazi genocide of European Jews and other groups between 1933 and 1945 as well as its representation in a variety of media.
Literary Culture of Modern Ireland
Delve into the rich literary history of Ireland by exploring political movements that informed and inspired some of the greatest literary works of the 20th century.
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Ampersand Programs cont.
Medicine & Society
Take a deep dive into medical anthropology—the study of human health across culture, time, and location with particular attention paid to cultural, social, political, economic, and ethical dimensions. Tailored to work with pre-med requirements.
Mind, Brain, Behavior
Investigate techniques by which mental abilities are explained in psychology and neuroscience and illuminate philosophical questions about the nature of the mind, consciousness, and agency.
Modern Media: The Good, the Bad, & the Future
Explore the history and ongoing evolution of mass media, including how digital technologies have shaped journalism, publishing, documentary, and more. Then create content specific to traditional and new media channels.
Pathfinder Fellows in Environmental Leadership
Delve into an integrated study of environmental change at scales from individual sites to neighborhoods, landscapes, nations, and the globe.
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Phage Hunters
Embark on a laboratory experience in a national research project to isolate and analyze bacteriophage that infect actinobacteria.
Safe Asylum: Refugee Politics & Pathways
Examine the global population of forcibly displaced people and the dramatic rupture of mass migration.
Text & Traditions
Study the foundations of knowledge: politics and literature, justice and imagination, activism and reflection.
The Hallmarks of Cancer & Patient Care
Learn the biology behind cancer and engage survivors and health care professionals charged with treating this deadly disease.
The Mind–Body Connection: What Makes Us & Moves Us
Explore how your mind and body create meaning in the world with applications to philosophy, neuroscience, aesthetics, and rehabilitation.
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A&S Classes Reserved for First-Year Students
Feeling curious and ready for adventure but not sure you want to take on a year-long course? There are dozens of one-semester classes reserved for first-year students that cover just about any topic you can imagine from across Arts & Sciences.
Enrollment in these courses is also limited. To join, you’ll participate in the same matching process followed by the Ampersand Programs, with priority review opening on Thursday, May 16, at 4 p.m. During the matching process, you can indicate your preference for a combination of Ampersand and A&S First-Year classes.
A SELECTION OF FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS
Three credit, one-semester, small courses just for first-year students in every discipline!
Gender, Sexuality, and Settler Colonialism
Black Lives Matter and Educational Justice for Black Youth
Villains of Ancient Rome
The Linguistics of Constructed Languages
Unearthing the Science of Climate Change
Jewcy: Jewish Culture in the 21st Century
Introduction to Problem-Based Learning in Biology
See the full list of courses at artsci.wustl.edu/fyp maybe 12
A SELECTION OF FIRST-YEAR OPPORTUNITIES
1–2 credit courses, these are easy to add to an already full schedule!
Contemporary Issues in Psychology
Molecular Biology of Genetic Disease
Neuroscience Futures 1: How Do We Learn About the Brain?
Introduction to Cutting-Edge Research in Biology
Why Is Chemistry Called “the Central Science”?
Research and Conservation in Zoos and Botanical Gardens
Chemistry and Energy
A SELECTION OF BEYOND BOUNDARIES COURSES
The Business of Elections
Mid-size classes only for first-year students, co-taught by professors from across WashU! Earth’s Future: Causes and Consequences of Global Climate Change
The Art of Medicine
The Endgame of Entrepreneurship: Leveraging Capitalism for Good When I’m 64: Preparing Ourselves and Society for a Good Long Life
To Sustainability and Beyond: People, Planet, Prosperity (P3)
Designing Creativity: Innovation Across Disciplines
For more information on Beyond Boundaries courses in the fall, as well as course offerings for Spring 2025, please visit:
beyondboundaries.wustl.edu 13
What Comes Next
Browse through the First-Year Programs website and review your top 3–5 program choices.
Create your WUSTL Key and WashU email account.
Sign up for a First-Year Program on Thursday, May 16.
Receive your First-Year Program placement (early June).
Receive your academic advisor assignment (mid-June).
Meet with your academic advisor to discuss courses for the Fall semester (mid-June through mid-July).
Register for your Fall semester courses (July 9–July 11).
Participate in A&S Orientation activities (August 19–21).
Attend your first day of Fall classes on Monday, August 26!
Student Transitions and Family Programs will be in touch with more information and other dates and deadlines regarding your first year and move-in. The timeline you see here relates only to A&S academic events.
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Ampersand /ˈampərˌsand/ noun
The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram &, representing the conjunction “and.” It originated as a ligature of the letters et—Latin for “and.”
It’s also the symbol of Arts & Sciences because it’s at the heart of who we are and what we do. We are connecters: we link ideas, practices, and people to produce and disseminate knowledge.
similar: explore discover
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