The Department of Physics at Lawrence University strives to be one of the best undergraduate departments of physics in the country. To that end, we teach physics and practice it. In teaching physics, we aim to acquaint all students who interact with the department with the basic laws, the fundamental principles, the major accomplishments, the basic methodology, the special character, the historical development, the current challenges and aspirations, various applications, and the contemporary tools of both theoretical and experimental physics. In practicing physics, we aim as a faculty to engage regularly, enthusiastically, and energetically in scholarly activities that contribute new knowledge to the discipline, that maintain our currency in the field, that keep the curriculum up to date and vital, and that involve students in the practice of physics alongside faculty.

More specifically, we aim

• to graduate majors who
  • have developed confidence and skill in applying physical principles and in working with the tools of physics;
  • strive to appreciate the unity of physics, unfettered by the artificial division of the subject into courses;
  • appreciate the intellectual and historical background of the discipline;
  • are alert to developments in the field;
  • are articulate and clear in the use of English;
  • are aware of the breadth of activities for which an understanding of physics and the skills developed in pursuing that understanding are valuable resources for productive, satisfying lives of service; and, most of all,
  • have learned how to pursue scientific studies intensively, effectively, and independently

  and who are well prepared

  • for advanced study and careers in many areas (physics, other physical sciences, engineering, law, medicine, public service, ...),
  • for direct entry into careers in science (secondary school teaching, research positions in industrial and government laboratories, ...), and
  • for pursuit of any careers for which the substantive knowledge and/or skills of a physicist are pertinent;

• to provide opportunities for students majoring in other sciences to learn about physics as a discipline in its own right and about applications of physics to their primary areas of study;

• to provide opportunities for all students at Lawrence to include the study of physics in their efforts to become scientifically literate;

• to engage in the scholarly pursuit of several areas of contemporary interest and in creative curricular development; and

• to participate in the conduct of the affairs of the University as a whole.