First Year Seminar courses at CU Denver are designed to provide first-time college freshman with an opportunity to enhance their academic potential, gain familiarity with the campus and campus resources, work with a faculty member that is focused on helping students succeed as new freshman, and experience an exciting course.

I developed this course around photography and story-telling. With a camera in hand, students explored the campus, ideas, art making, and strategies for creating compelling visual stories. Building academic skills centered on activities and projects that helped students understand themselves better and photography projects that included concept mapping, idea development, timelines, and exploring intention. Critiques centered on the choices students made in creating their work, self-reflection, peer assessment, and strategies for improving their visual story telling skills.