Learning in a small group

The seminar experience is the core of Montserrat. Seminars are small so that students and professors can get to know one another well and the dialogue can flow spontaneously. Discussions are exciting because there are many ways to interpret the readings, and your ideas and questions will help the group search together for answers. People bring different backgrounds and perspectives to the material, which draws on multiple academic areas. Everyone becomes a clearer thinker, a better writer, and a more effective speaker.

Originally, seminars were designed for advanced students, but Holy Cross finds that they are also ideal for introducing first-year students to college work. The word seminar comes from the Latin seminarium, a nursery or seed plot for plants or trees. Montserrat seminars are designed to plant the seeds of ideas and nurture approaches to life-long learning.

The Montserrat seminar is one of four courses students take each semester of their first year. Because you choose three other courses each semester, you have the opportunity to begin to pursue a major in a chosen discipline and explore other areas through electives.

Examples of Montserrat seminars

PHILOSOPHY AND FOOD
I Eat, Therefore I Mean
I Eat, Therefore I Esteem

TRUTH & JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY
Witnessing Crime
Responding to Crime

SCIENCE MATTERS
From Myth to Science
Scientists Argue About Gods

PSYCHOLOGY & MODERN FICTION
Body & Mind from 1800-1900
Memory and the Modern Novel

PILGRIMAGE AND FAITH
Islam and Pilgrimage
Christianity and Pilgrimage

POWER & VALUES IN 20THE CENTURY HISTORY
Europe’s Empires
Memory Wars: WWII and Vietnam

LANGUAGE AND THE MIND
The Language Instinct
The Structure of the Mind

TRUTH, ILLUSION AND THE MOVIES
The Uses of Illusion
The Quest for Reality

THE WEST AND ITS OTHERS                          
Madmen, Monsters, Werewolves                         
20th Century Genocides                                     

TIME , FREEDOM AND THE MEANINGFUL LIFE        
Killing Time: Seeking Eternity                             
Freeing Time: Presence                                     

THE ETHICS OF REBELLION                           
Heroes or Outlaws?                          
Collaboration and Resistance                       

A WORLD APART/A WORLD TOGETHER                             
Culture and the Self                                 
Coordination and Conflict                           

WORLD RELIGIONS: WORLD MUSIC               
World Religions and Music                             
Music and Religious Traditions                       

MACHINES AND MORALITY                              
Computers and Society                                
Ethics of Computing                                      

MATHEMATICS AND MUSIC                            
Math/Music: Structure and Form                 
Math/Music: Aesthetic Links                       

JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON AND US                  
The Great American Duel Begins                  
The Great Duel Continues