Directed Studies offers a group of about 120 first-year students an intense interdisciplinary introduction to some seminal texts of Western and Near Eastern cultures, from Antiquity to their reception in the premodern and modern worlds. Working in discussion seminars taught exclusively by Yale faculty, DS students learn to analyze complex texts and to put them into conversation with one another across time and genres. DS helps students develop their abilities to engage in thoughtful discussions of fundamental social, political, philosophical, and cultural questions, and through frequent feedback from faculty and dedicated DS writing tutors, to write clear and persuasive analytic essays.