First Year Seminar Overview | University of Houston-Clear Lake

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The Seminar is crucial to the UHCL experience. PSYC 1100 Learning Frameworks (First-Year Seminar) is a course designed to promote the intellectual readiness that ensures students thrive in college.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I take the Seminar?

Learning Frameworks is unique to UHCL and prepares you to be successful here. Unlike some other colleges and universities, where PSYC 1100 is taught primarily as a study skills course, our course is designed to make you an active learner, a critical thinker and a good researcher. You will also learn how to take advantage of the resources available at UHCL so that you have the support to meet any challenge you face on your road to graduation.

This course provides many opportunities for you to build strong relationships with your peers and with faculty—relationships that will help you be successful and happy throughout your career at UHCL.

Do I have to take the Seminar?

Students take a PSYC 1100 during their First-Year at UHCL as a required part of the core curriculum. However, some students have taken a course that will complete this requirement at another institution—Ask your academic adviser.

Who will my professor be?

UHCL has decided to dedicate its resources to having full-time faculty, that have been recognized as excellent teachers, teach this course. Wanalee Romero, Ph.D., a literary scholar who researches Latina women writers, is the Director of the First-Year Seminar Program and full-time instructor for the course. Anne Gessler, Ph.D., a cultural historian who researches grassroots cooperative organizations, is the other full-time faculty member. Additional full-time faculty are recruited as needed from other university programs in a selective process that ensures a lively and engaging classroom with quality instruction.

What will I do in the Learning Frameworks course?

In the Seminar, you will learn what the commonly used phrase “critical thinking” actually means and how to really do it. You’ll use your new knowledge of critical thinking to engage in articulate discussions of each year’s UHCL Common Reader. You’ll learn how researchers build knowledge by having conversations with each other through scholarly publications and how to become part of these conversations. You’ll build relationships with a core group of peers and have access to students who have been successful at UHCL. Most of all, you’ll learn why a university education is valuable and how to make the most of it.

Learning Frameworks Faculty

Learning Frameworks is taught by faculty who work full-time in the Program. Also, guest faculty are selected from different programs in the University who teach sections of the course. These guest faculty members are recognized for their scholarship, exemplary teaching, and innovative approaches in the classroom. You will likely run into one of these faculty as you continue to take courses at UHCL.

Wanalee Romero

Clinical Associate Professor, Director of First-Year Seminar Program, Director of Women's and Gender Studies ,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3423
Email: romero@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou 1508.10

Wanalee Romero Faculty Bio

Anne Gessler

Coordinator of UHCL Common Reader Program, Clinical Associate Professor of First-Year Seminar and Humanities ,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3471
Email: gessler@uhcl.edu
Office: Arbor Central 1307.02

Anne Gessler Faculty Bio

Amy Lucas

Associate Professor of Sociology,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3413
Email: Lucas@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou 2121.04

Amy Lucas Faculty Bio

Leticia French

Senior Lecturer of Writing,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3462
Email: french@uhcl.edu
Office: Arbor 1507

Leticia French Faculty Bio

Leo Chan

Tak Shing (Leo) Chan

Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3323
Email: ChanTa@UHCL.edu
Office: Bayou 1508.18

Tak Shing (Leo) Chan Faculty Bio

Desdamona Rios

Associate Professor of Social Psychology,
Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3457
Email: rios@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou 2121.06

Desdamona Rios Faculty Bio

Lillian Benavente-McEnery

Professor of Literacy, Language Arts, and Literature Studies,
Education

Contact number: 281-283-3539
Email: mcenery@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou Suite 1321

Lillian Benavente-McEnery Faculty Bio