Seminar

A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a

commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups
for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone
present is requested to participate. This is often accomplished through an ongoing Socratic
dialogue[1] with a seminar leader or instructor, or through a more formal presentation of
research. It is essentially a place where assigned readings are discussed, questions can be
raised and debates can be conducted.[2]

An instructor discussing women's involvement in Bengali Wikipedia in a seminar in Dhaka in 2015

Etymology
The word seminar is derived from the Latin word seminarium, meaning "seed plot"[3] (an old-
fashioned term for “seedbed”).[4]

Overview

The term seminar is also used to describe a research talk, often given by a visiting researcher
and primarily attended by academics, research staff, and postgraduate students. Seminars often
occur in regular series, but each seminar is typically given by a different speaker, on a topic of
that speaker's choosing. Such seminars are not usually a part of a course of study and are
therefore not usually associated with any assessment or credit.

In some European universities, a seminar may be a large lecture course, especially when
conducted by a renowned thinker (regardless of the size of the audience or the scope of student
participation in discussion). Some non-English speaking countries in Europe use the word
seminar (e.g. German Seminar, Slovenian seminar, Polish seminarium) to refer to a university
class that includes a term paper or project, as opposed to a lecture class (e.g. German
Vorlesung, Slovenian predavanje, Polish wykład). This does not correspond to the English use of
the term. In some academic institutions, typically in scientific fields, the term "preceptorial" is
used interchangeably with "seminar".[5][6]

In North Indian universities, the term "seminar" refers to a course of intense study relating to the
student's major. Seminars typically have significantly fewer students per professor than normal
courses, and are generally more specific in topic of study. Seminars can revolve around term
papers, exams, presentations, and several other assignments. Seminars are almost always
required for university graduation. Normally, participants must not be beginners in the field under
discussion at US and Canadian universities. Seminar classes are generally reserved for upper-
class students, although at UK and Australian universities seminars are often used for all years.
The idea behind the seminar system is to familiarize students more extensively with the
methodology of their chosen subject and also to allow them to interact with examples of the
practical problems that always occur during research work.

Seminar rooms

"Seminar room" is often used as a name for a generic group study or work space at a library.[7]
Some seminar rooms are more tailored to a specific topic or field, literally a space designed for a
seminar course or individualized self-study to occur. One such seminar room is the Goodrich
Seminar Room at Wabash College which is designed for "exploring the meaning of liberty and
the nature of a free society."[8]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seminars.

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Seminar

Academic conference

French mathematical seminars

Plenary session

Poster session

Senior seminar, aka Capstone course or final year course

Symposium (academic)

Webinar (a seminar attended through the Internet)

References

1. Socratic Method-Problem Method Dichotomy: The Debate Over Teaching Method Continues, CG
Hawkins-Leon. BYU Educ. & LJ, 1998.

2. Dialogic discussion and the siddharth seminar. L Billings, J Fitzgerald. American Educational Research
Journal, 2002

3. "Seminary definition (dictionary.com)" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Seminary) . Retrieved

2009-02-17.

4. "Seed Plot | Definition of Seed Plot by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Seed Plot" (http
s://www.lexico.com/definition/seed_plot) . Lexico. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

5. A consideration of preceptorial medical education in the United States. WS Wiggins. Academic Medicine,
1957.

6. "The Nature of Time--Cosmology Seminar" Sommers, Aaron (http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/preceptorial/Su

mmaries_2001/outline8_2001.html)

7. "UPenn Seminar Room" (https://commons.library.upenn.edu/ec-seminar-room)

 8. "Goodrich Seminar Room" (https://www.libertyfund.org/goodrich-seminar-room)

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Last edited 3 months ago by Materialscientist