Personage of the First Year

The First Year Personage course serves as a comprehensive review opportunity for first-year (Y1) students, allowing them to consolidate their knowledge. Rather than merely recalling specific information acquired in their first year, students are tasked with crafting a persona that encapsulates their interpretations of values and narratives in a holistic manner. These meta personas serve as embodiments of students’ ideals, engaging in socio-cultural discourse both in the contemporary era and potentially in the future. Through the presentation and development of these personas, students internalize and articulate their worldviews, drawing from the materials covered in the SAS core curriculum, including WTAI, Paideia, Great Book: Philosophy, Ecce Homo, and Meta-narratives and perspectives.

The course content is divided into two main components: theoretical exploration and hands-on experiential learning. Initially, students are introduced to the fundamentals of creating fictional personas, learning how to structure narratives and motifs effectively. Subsequently, they delve into various philo-psychological texts that offer contextualized analyses of different groups and individuals. This segment aims to assist students in situating their personas within specific contexts, emphasizing intellectual rigor and theoretical grounding. At the course’s conclusion, students engage in peer review sessions, offering constructive feedback to refine their classmates’ personas. The final week of the course is dedicated to students’ presentations, where they showcase their personas to the broader SAS community, including fellow students, professors, and staff members.