Skal said that she had been “so busy with the technical side” of the performance, that she had not noticed the more abstract interpretations of the dance and the authentic “religious, ritual feel” of the style cited by her classmates.

A LOW-STRESS ENVIRONMENT

Current freshman seminar students said that individuals who lack experience in the arts feel comfortable enrolling in these art-making courses because they are taken pass-fail.

Even experienced students said that they found themselves exploring topics and areas that they may not have entertained had the course been graded traditionally.

Had Skal’s final project been subject to “more of a stringent grade,” she said she probably would not have chosen to explore such an unfamiliar dance method.

Psychas said that she had a similar experience while writing papers for the “Movement” course.

“It was cool in that you felt like you could take a risk,” said Psychas, adding that she chose topics she was interested in, despite the uncertainty that she would be able to develop a strong argument in an unfamiliar terrain.

At one point, Psychas said she chose to write a paper that compared originals and remakes of musicals involving dance, such as “Hairspray” and “Dirty Dancing.”

“It was a really awesome opportunity to watch all these musicals that I had really wanted to watch and then analyze them and write about them,” Psychas said. “But had it been a graded class, I wouldn’t have risked choosing a topic that was kind of out there.”

—Elyssa A.L. Spitzer contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer James K. McAuley can be reached at mcauley@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Julia L. Ryan can be reached at jryan@college.harvard.edu.