Freshmen students at UC Davis are making a connection to senior faculty early in their college experience by taking advantage of the Freshman Seminar Program, giving first-year students the opportunity to work closely with some of the school's most accomplished faculty in an informal setting. Of the eight courses offered fall quarter to freshmen students, "History of Medicine" is the most popular. Students will examine important medical discoveries and analyze how they impacted the culture and politics of their time. Topics include the black plague and the Middle Ages, the germ theory of disease, and anesthesia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Dr. Jerold Last, vice chair of internal medicine and director of the UC Systemwide Toxic Substances Program, will team-teach the course with Dr. Hanspeter Witschi, the associate director of the UC substances program. The second most popular course, taught by senior veterinary professor Bruce Madewell, is "Cancer in Animals and People." Initiated on the Davis campus in 1988, the seminar series offers about 25 courses annually to first-year students.