Fox Cities News

First-Year Studies, a staple of the academic experience at Lawrence University since 1945, continues to evolve. Beginning in Fall 2024, the course required for all first-year students will undergo a significant realignment aimed at making the program more focused while keeping its intent of a collective introduction to the liberal arts.

The changes stem from recommendations made by a faculty task force that began its work in spring 2022 and were approved in a faculty vote in May 2023. The revamped course, now lasting one term instead of two, will have a theme that stitches together the seven works to be studied. “Water” will be the theme for the next four years before giving way to a new theme. The writing curriculum has been reshaped with a sequence aimed at better preparing students for effective analytical writing.

“The First-Year Studies program has undergone many changes since its initial introduction in 1945,” said First-Year Studies Task Force Chair Scott Corry, Patricia Hamar Boldt Professor of Liberal Studies and professor of mathematics. “I, and many other faculty, felt that the time has come for substantial rethinking of the course. A guiding principle for me was to provide more coherence to the course, moving away from the current model in which the primary requirement is to feature works from all divisions of the university with little planning for connections between the works.”

The works selected for the water-focused thematic course beginning this fall include:

- USGS Water Cycle Diagram (basic science of the hydrologic cycle)

- Death and Life of the Great Lakes (by Dan Egan)

- Flood narratives (Gilgamesh and Noah)

- Selection of music in the Delta Blues tradition (various musical artists)

- Blood Dazzler (poetry by Patricia Smith)

- The Interesting Narrative (autobiography of Olaudah Equiano)

- Rising: New Dispatches from the American Shore (by Elizabeth Rush)

Since its establishment almost 80 years ago, First-Year Studies (formerly Freshman Studies) syllabus has been continuously revised to introduce a changing student body to the intellectual challenges of a liberal arts education and to embrace interdisciplinary thinking. The course has gone through many iterations through the years. The earliest version launched by then-President Nathan Pusey included a film, a laboratory component, and participation in music, art, or creative writing along with studying classic works by Plato, Machiavelli, and Thoreau. It was scaled back in the late 1960s and discontinued for several years in the mid-1970s before returning in 1978. Major revisions occurred again in 1986, 1997, and early 2000s.

Jeff Clark on choosing water as a theme: “Lawrence is situated on the Fox River and is in the Great Lakes drainage basin—it is intensely local yet at the same time global.”

The new version marks it as having a thematic structure for the first time.

“We surveyed students and faculty and used responses to inform our work,” Corry said. “We were committed to retaining a common curriculum for all sections of the course while retaining selecting works from various disciplines and diverse viewpoints.”

Jeff Clark, professor of geosciences will serve as director during this iteration. He noted that while more focused it still holds broad appeal touching on sciences, music & art plus humanities.

“Lawrence is situated on Fox River within Great Lakes drainage basin—intensely local yet global,” Clark remarked regarding water’s essentiality: creating/destroying source inspiring artistic awe/wonder millennia.”

During exploration over inclusions task force received over sixty suggestions.

“The committee worked balancing geographical/temporal perspectives different study fields voices media forms selecting pieces interesting approachable working well together,” Clark added.

Though change may bring apprehension it also injects excitement into First-Year Studies including structured developmental writing sequence focusing analysis skills starting summary progressing thesis-based essay.

“Clear writing equals clear thinking; connecting skill leads broad success undergrad career,” Clark stated adding informal writing/reflection allows low-stakes idea trials challenging recognizing growth writers/thinking.”

Other aspects remain familiar sharing small groups fifteen classmates each section led different discipline professors periodically gathering Memorial Chapel listening experts sharing experiences connected unifying varied contemporary poetry ancient manuscripts environmental journalism music included.

“I’ll teach section looking forward seeing all come together” concluded Corry.