Freshman Studies, in its current form, is a two-term course organized around compelling works from the various disciplines of the University, including works of music and visual art.
All Lawrence freshmen and some transfer students are required to complete the course.
Sections are taught by faculty from all the various disciplines and are supplemented with lectures by faculty in the disciplines from which the texts were chosen.
Classes meet, by long tradition, at 11:10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and are kept small enough to encourage discussion and to allow the instructors adequate time for close attention to the written and oral performance of their students. Selection to the various sections is accomplished by a random process (there are no "advanced" or "remedial" sections of Freshman Studies), assuring that students with diverse interests and varying high school preparation will be found in each class.
Grading in the course is based upon written work and classroom performance. Students are required to write several papers per term and to take mid-term and final examinations. The S/U option is not available in Freshman Studies.
Individual instructors at Lawrence are permitted to maintain their own policies concerning class absences. Some take attendance; others do not. Of course, whatever the policy in effect, you are expected to show up in your classes unless you have an urgent reason for not being there. Particularly in courses like Freshman Studies, in which class discussion is expected, your attendance and participation in class may reasonably become a significant part of your grade.
The reading list for the first term of the course, along with other pertinent materials, will be sent to incoming freshmen before the beginning of the fall term.
