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  • <a href="/live/image/gid/647/width/650/86678_Words_and_Numbers.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image86678"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/647/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86678_Words_and_Numbers.rev.1610665810.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/647/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86678_Words_and_Numbers.rev.1610665810.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/647/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86678_Words_and_Numbers.rev.1610665810.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/647/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86678_Words_and_Numbers.rev.1610665810.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/647/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86678_Words_and_Numbers.rev.1610665810.jpg" alt="Numbers teaches students to interpret quantitative information presented in various forms and contexts." width="720" height="690" data-max-w="932" data-max-h="932" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a> <div class="hero-split_image_caption collapsable-caption"><em>Numbers</em> teaches students to interpret quantitative information presented in various forms and contexts.</div>
Home/ First-Year Seminar

First-Year Seminar

Words and Numbers are your first-year seminar classes.

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At Lewis & Clark, you’ll take one faculty-led foundational seminar per semester. These small classes (19–25 students) are designed to help you develop the reading, writing, discussion, and analytical skills you will need to succeed in college and for life. One of your two courses will focus on interpreting the meaning and significance of texts (CORE 120: Words), the other on interpreting quantitative information and models (CORE 121: Numbers). These are not simply writing and math classes; rather, these courses allow you to explore a specialized topic of particular interest with a faculty member and a small group of students.

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Words teaches students to explore the meaning and significance of texts via close reading and analysis, and to express that analysis in writing.

Numbers teaches students to interpret quantitative information presented in various forms and contexts; to understand the logical structure of quantitative arguments; and to use quantitative models, theories, and data to simplify, explain, and make predictions.

  • Mara, wearing a floral print shirt and denim jacket, smiling in front of a stone wall near the campus reflecting pool.

    You don’t just choose a major and stick only to that. You learn so much about every discipline, and I think that is a really valuable skill.

    Mara Halloran BA ’22
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    More about Mara
  • Taj-Jamaal TJ Muhammad BA '26

    I want to be a sports broadcaster, however, this is just one of many interests being a Rhetoric and media major can bring out—from digital marketing to government and business.

    Taj-Jamaal “TJ” Muhammad BA ’26
    Inglewood, California
    More about Taj-Jamaal
  • Bella Root BA '25

    The labs give me an opportunity to really wrap my head around what I’m studying. Watching chemical reactions happen in front of you really solidifies the real-life applications of what we’re learning in class.

    Bella Root BA ’25
    Santa Fe, New Mexico
    More about Bella

News

Creative Writing, English Major, English Minor

2025-2026 Visiting Writers Series Announced

Please save the dates, spread the word, and join us in welcoming these six fine writers to our 2025-26 Visiting Writing Series. Author bios below.

The September 24th Artist-in-Residence event with Anis Mojgani will be held in Miller 105 Auditorium at 7pm and is sponsored by the Art Department.

All other events will be held in Armstrong Lounge in the Manor House at 6pm.

Students writing.

Learn More About Our Writing Center

The Lewis & Clark writing center offers guidance on everything from the most basic components of style and grammar to your highest aspirations to clarity, elegance, and originality.

 

Words and Numbers is located in room 404 of Miller Center on the Undergraduate Campus.
MSC: 83

email 

voice 503-768-7208 

Director: Karen Gross
Admin: Dawn Wilson

  • Words and Numbers
    Lewis & Clark
    615 S. Palatine Hill Road 
    Portland OR 97219