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	97
Sports, Games, and Spectacles in Antiquity	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig51.png	24fig51	Sports, Games, and Spectacles in Antiquity	96
Exploring Opportunities in Environmental Sciences	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig16.png	24fig16	Exploring Opportunities in Environmental Sciences	92
Global Biodiversity and the Sixth Mass Extinction	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019fall26.jpg	24fig21	Global Biodiversity and the Sixth Mass Extinction	90
World of the Vikings	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022fig61.jpg	24fig55	World of the Vikings	88
One Health: Connecting Human, Animal, and Environmental Health	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig38.png	24fig38	One Health: Connecting Human, Animal, and Environmental Health	87
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	84
Mapping our Changing World	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/23fig34.png	24fig34	Mapping our Changing World	83
Freshwater: Past, Present, and Future	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/23fig17.png	24fig18	Freshwater: Past, Present, and Future	82
Rainforests and Coral Reefs	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019fall62.jpg	24fig47	Rainforests and Coral Reefs	79
Protest in America	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig46.png	24fig46	Protest in America	76
Children and Media	https://figs.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/24fig04.png	24fig04	Children and Media	69

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.