First-Year Interest Groups Program

First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs) are cohorts of twenty first year UW-Madison students who share a common academic interest and take (usually) three fall-semester classes together as a group. Each fall, more than 60 different FIGs are offered on a wide range of subjects. Each FIG is anchored by a small enrollment seminar that is only open to incoming freshmen — who take this class and the other courses in the FIG together as a cohort.

HOW FIGS WORK

Learn more about the classes in a FIG

The main FIG seminar

At the heart of each FIG is the main seminar instructor who develops and leads a class exclusively for you and the other students in your FIG. Your FIG seminar is capped at 20 students and may include outside-the-classroom experiences, like field trips, to help you explore the topic and get to know your classmates.

Linked classes

All of the students in the FIG will take two other classes in addition to the main seminar. These classes are selected to add to your exploration of the FIG topic and to help you fulfill general education or other degree requirements. You will enroll in the same sections of these courses. This allows you to study together and to think about the connections between all of the classes in the FIG.

Small class sizes

Your main seminar will be small. If the linked courses are large lectures, many will have small discussion or lab sections that meet weekly in addition to the lecture. In this case, you will be in the same sections or labs with the other students in your FIG.

title	key_image	fig	key_image_url	random_number
Killer Robots: Androids, Cyborgs, and Artificial Intelligence in Literature and Culture	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/23fig29.png	24fig28	Killer Robots: Androids, Cyborgs, and Artificial Intelligence in Literature and Culture	98
Earth Partnership, Indigenous Arts, and Sciences	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/24fig09.png	24fig09	Earth Partnership, Indigenous Arts, and Sciences	95
Climate Change and People: Past and Present	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig05.png	24fig05	Climate Change and People: Past and Present	94
Cultures of Sustainability Across Europe	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig06.png	24fig06	Cultures of Sustainability Across Europe	93
Children and Youth in a Changing World	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/23fig05.png	24fig03	Children and Youth in a Changing World	92
Rainforests and Coral Reefs	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019fall62.jpg	24fig47	Rainforests and Coral Reefs	91
Sharing Space: How We Live and Work Collectively	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig43.png	24fig43	Sharing Space: How We Live and Work Collectively	87
Make it Count: Measuring Physical Activity Behavior	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019fall45.jpg	24fig33	Make it Count: Measuring Physical Activity Behavior	86
Primates in a Changing World	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/24fig45.png	24fig45	Primates in a Changing World	85
National Identity in the Global World: The Italian Case	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022fig37.jpg	24fig36	National Identity in the Global World: The Italian Case	84
Exploring Opportunities in Environmental Sciences	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig16.png	24fig16	Exploring Opportunities in Environmental Sciences	83
Magic and Adventure in the Age of Science	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig32.png	24fig32	Magic and Adventure in the Age of Science	80

WHY STUDENTS CHOOSE FIGS

Learn more about how you can choose a FIG

🔦

Extra attention

You’ll have the dedicated attention of an instructor who really wants to work with first-year students like you.

🤝

Make friends

Studying together and helping each other, you’ll really get to know the other students in your FIG.

📚

Deep learning

Integrating ideas from different courses will help you learn in a more holistic way.

🏆

Proven popularity

Every fall, over 1,000 UW freshmen enroll in a FIG. Participants overwhelmingly say that their FIG was a great experience.