Brandeis has launched a cluster of seminars for entering students, called JustBooks, "in an effort to honor the University's dual commitments to social justice and rigorous intellectural inquiry," according to Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG).

"These new seminars will have the additional benefit of addressing in a curricular way the University's commitment to social justice," wrote Lanser in an email to the Justice.

The seminars will not replace the current First Year Seminars but merely complement them. Like University Seminar courses that Brandeis previously required first -year students to take, each JustBooks Seminar will be individually crafted around a specific topic consistent with the professor's field of expertise. Unlike the USEMs, each JustBooks Seminar will carry credit toward at least one major in a sponsoring department or program, and possibly toward more than one major or toward a minor. USEMs were small seminar-style classes taught by distinguished faculty. They were interdisciplinary in subject matter and developed students' critical thinking and writing skills through close analysis of significant texts.

Brandeis will have a kick-off lecture in the fall of this year for all sections as well as for the Brandeis community as a whole. The lecture will be presented by philosophy professor and Brandeis alumnus Michael Sandel '75, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass professor of Government at Harvard University, and a teacher of political philosophy. His class, titled "Justice," has attracted hundreds of students and is available online. He is also the author of Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do.

Also like USEMs, faculty members have been asked to propose courses for next year designed in conjunction with JustBooks. "Right now we have asked faculty to propose JustBooks courses for next year, so we don't yet know the specific seminars that will be offered—nor how many there will be," commented Lanser. "But we hope the idea will catch on with students and faculty alike."

Lanser is responsible for the seminar name, JustBooks, but her colleague and Brandeis alum Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS) "thought it would be quite Brandeisian to [put] the two words together."