The Sophomore Research Seminars build on the University’s first-year writing curriculum, inviting sophomores to strengthen and expand their academic research skills in preparation for junior and senior independent work. Each seminar operates within a focused, interdisciplinary context; supports students as they explore possible majors; is organized around a year-long research project of each student’s own design; and integrates regular opportunities for writing in community with other sophomores, faculty, and research specialists across campus. The yearlong 1-credit format also allows students to fulfill the ninth credit they need by splitting their 5th course over two semesters. Satisfies EC requirement. Enrollment by application. No audit. No PDF. Credit earned only upon completion of full year sequence. Community That thing you came to Princeton to study? Study it with us, in a supportive community of your fellow sophomores. Confidence Find your place at Princeton! Discovery Build flexible, interdisciplinary academic skills in a community of friends and fellow scholars! News Sophomore research Alyssa "Ally" Lloyd wins Princeton Research Day Award Sophomore researcher Alyssa "Ally" Lloyd's research project for WRI 220/1 "Princeton in a Pin[ch]: How Worn Labels Promote Inclusion and Exemplify Exclusion at Elite Institutions" won the Princeton University Library Award at the 2024 Princeton Research Day. Research and community in the Sophomore Research Seminars Learn how the Sophomore Research Seminars build community around ongoing research, shaping research questions and data collection by imagining possibilities through peer feedback. Introducing the Sophomore Research Seminars: An Interview with Professor Emma Ljung Alexis Wu '25 interviews Professor Emma Ljung about the new Sophomore Research Seminars offered by the Writing Program. Course Offerings WRI 220/221: The Writing’s on the Wall Emma Ljung This seminar invites students to explore Princeton’s campus as a material archive, unexplored by researchers by brimming with potential for spatial, visual, and textual analysis, and empowers them to complete a unique research project of their own design. WRI 230/231: Is Talk Cheap? The Art and Science of Conversation-Based Methods for Social Research Alexander K. Davis This seminar immerses students in conversation-based methods for social scientific inquiry (such as in-depth interviews and qualitative surveys) and empowers them to develop an original research project of their own design within that intellectual tradition. WRI 240/241: From Cuneiform to Codices: Archival Methods for Special Collections Research Philip Keel Geheber This seminar immerses students in archive-based methods for humanistic inquiry by exploring Special Collections objects (including manuscripts, drawings, death masks, musical scores, among many other items) and empowers them to develop an original research project of their own design.
