Directed Studies offers a select group of first-year students an intense interdisciplinary introduction to some of the seminal texts of Western and Near Eastern cultures. Working in discussion seminars with top Yale faculty, DS students learn to analyze complex texts and to put them into conversation with one another across time and genre. 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.