Welcome to Intensive First-Year Seminars

IFS is a transition-to-college program. It is your chance to step into life at IU Bloomington before the fall semester even begins. With IFS, you will move into your dorm on campus early to work with leading faculty in a 3-credit course, create your first college friendships, immerse yourself in unique programming designed to connect you with IU's extensive resources, and prepare yourself for life at college.

IFS 2024 takes place from August 4th to August 21st, right before the fall semester begins. Virtual week starts on August 4th. IFS students move to campus on August 11th, and in-person class meetings begin on August 12th.

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Your success at IU begins here

At IFS, you'll have the opportunity to:

  • Connect with a top professor
  • Participate in a small and rigorous college class
  • Learn alongside other incoming first-year students & create lasting friendships
  • Explore the IU Bloomington campus
  • Discover opportunities for leadership, service, and study

Connect with faculty

Learn from one of Indiana University's leading faculty members in a small classroom setting. Because IFS classes are small, students have the chance to work individually with their professor and make personal relationships with faculty. With classes in a variety of subjects and unique co-curricular opportunities, there's an IFS class for every type of student.

Create friendships

When you attend IFS, you aren't just academically successful, you're socially involved too. You will participate in a variety of activities and events while exploring campus and making friends with new and returning IU students. Meet other students before coming to campus at IFS virtual events. Have a blast at the IFS Welcome Festival, perform a hidden talent at an Open Mic Night, attend an outdoor movie night, and more. Experiences aren't limited to what happens in the classroom. At IFS, you'll never be bored.

World Literature and Intellectual Traditions

Asaad Alsaleh

Dive into literature, philosophy, drama, theology, and poetry from the pre-modern world! In this class you will encounter different modes of thinking from across the world, with a focus on themes like free will and divine justice, power, religion, and more. 

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Disrupting the Stage: Theatre as Embodied Social Activism

Gustave Weltsek

This course disrupts the idea that theatre is a passive spectator event, and allows students' diverse stories to come together through active, creative collaboration. 

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Popular Music as a History Book: Latin America in the 20th Century

Sergio Ospina-Romero

This course offers both a historical and a musical journey through Latin America in the 20th century. From the sound recordings that accompanied the unfolding of the Mexican Revolution to the music of Post-revolutionary Cuba to the songs that denounced the ruthlessness of dictatorial regimes in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, the course will be an opportunity to learn history through music, and thus, to appreciate history in a whole new light. 

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Hudson and Holland Scholarship Program (HHSP)

Hudson & Holland scholars can work toward graduating with Cream distinction by taking an IFS course designed for their program.

Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Experience (ASURE)

(ASURE) students who participate in IFS have the opportunity to complete one ASURE course before the fall semester starts.

21st Century Scholars

Scholarships cover the cost of the IFS Program Fee and Early Arrival Fees for all 21st Century Scholars. Scholars who participate in IFS receive exclusive perks, including a 21st Century Scholars Program t-shirt, notebook, and more!

Scholarships

IFS offers scholarship opportunities for Advance College Project (ACP) students and 21st Century Scholars.

Explore our courses

Check out the exciting topics you can study in IFS.

Courses

Reserve your spot

Complete the IFS application to register for IFS 2024.

Apply now