Freshman Studies is taught by instructors from all the various disciplines in the Lawrence curriculum, and all Lawrence faculty members are expected to devote some of their time to teaching in the Freshman Program. In short, Freshman Studies instructors represent the faculty as a whole.
Though some of these instructors may happen to have individual expertise in one or two of the course readings, Freshman Studies instructors in general are teaching outside of their own specialties and disciplines, and thus, strictly speaking, are not expected to bring any specific professional knowledge to all the various works. What they bring instead is their ability to use the methods and modes of their professional disciplines to examine problems outside their own fields -- in other words, their ability as liberally educated people to converse intelligently and insightfully about a wide variety of topics. Of course, your instructors are not coming "cold" into the Freshman Studies classroom. They are not merely amateurs dabbling in unknown things. Many of them have taught in the course before; most of them have attended summertime faculty seminars in the various readings and historical periods of the course; and all of them have prepared themselves through their own background readings and through discussion sessions, both formal and informal, with their colleagues.
In brief, though your instructors may not have the answers to all your questions about a work under discussion, they all know how to detect a good question and they all know how to measure the quality of an answer.
That does not mean Freshman Studies instructors are all alike in their methods or their interests or their classroom techniques. You will find that each instructor in Freshman Studies will emphasize different aspects of your texts and different approaches to the broader intellectual content of the course. Some might provide more historical background than others; some might offer their own strong opinions, while others will play a more passive role in leading a discussion; some will usually demand very close analysis of particular passages, while others may sometimes allow the discussion to range more loosely over a larger portion of the text; some will deliver impromptu lectures when the occasion demands and others will say very little, allowing students to do the bulk of the talking.
There are those who find such variety troublesome. Ever since the Pusey days, there have been complaints about the unevenness of the course, section to section, and, in fact, some instructors are simply more at home teaching Freshman Studies than others. Life, as John F. Kennedy said, is unfair. On the other hand, one of the peculiar glories of Freshman Studies is the variety of intellectual approaches to be found in the different sections, and the opportunity afforded for both students and faculty to compare and measure these approaches outside the classroom.
The Freshman Studies staff meets for a luncheon on a regular basis, and though some of those meetings are devoted to keeping everybody moving along similar lines in teaching the course, much of the time is spent in vigorous discussions about different interpretations of a text or different pedagogical approaches to the coursework. That is as it should be. It is the vigor of those arguments, and the intellectual growth it implies, that have made the faculty members so loyal to the program.
HOW TO "USE" YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Freshman Studies instructors expect to be helpful to you in a variety of ways. They are sources of information and advice, both practical and scholarly. They will be reading, and often struggling with, the same texts you are reading and struggling with, and they will enjoy carrying on a lively conversation about the reading outside the classroom. They will respond to your written work both through the comments they put on your papers and in individual meetings. They are also willing to discuss with you, in an informal way, their own disciplines and specialized interests. So make an effort to get to know your instructors. Find out what they know that you may want to know. There are some students, particularly freshmen, who may have difficulty in following this advice because they believe their instructors to be "imposing" or "distant" or otherwise awkward or difficult to converse with. And, since variety rules here, as in everything else, some instructors actually are more congenial and accessible than others. Some will go out of their way to engage students in casual conversation; others will wait for students to make the first move. Some will be intent on knowing each of their students personally; others will remain rather professional in their manner unless the student takes some initiative. The point is that getting beyond a mere classroom relationship with your instructors is as much your responsibility as theirs. If your instructor seems distant, make the first move, take the initiative. In almost every case, you will find the "imposing" attitude was unintentional, the distance more a matter of style than substance, and the initial awkwardness of conversation soon giving way to interesting talk and friendship.
Remember, though, that your instructors are engaged in various professional activities, as well as their other teaching obligations; time is a precious commodity to them; and, while most of them will be happy to chat with you when you just "drop in," seeing them during their regular office hours or making an appointment if their regular office hours are not convenient for you will assure that you have their complete attention.
WHAT YOUR INSTRUCTOR WANTS
Too many students believe that the primary goal of their education is to please their instructors - to "psych out" precisely what particular answers or methods or styles a particular instructor favors, and to assure a high grade by giving instructors exactly what they want. Such students often find themselves befuddled in many Lawrence courses because, they complain as they receive poor grades, it was never made clear to them what the instructor wants. Even worse, what one instructor seems to want is quite different from what another instructor seems to want. What, then, is a well-intentioned student to do? Such students are remembering, perhaps with nostalgia, their high school classes, in which their teachers usually made quite specific and well-defined demands upon them. Students in high school writing classes, for example, are often given highly specific rules for various kinds of written work ("Your introductory paragraph should have exactly five sentences, with the fifth sentence stating your thesis!"), and what the teacher wanted was for them to follow those rules precisely. They were rewarded for doing so with the high grades that got them admitted to college. But college is not merely an extension of high school; it is another sort of thing altogether. The mechanical rules that serve to structure the teaching of basic skills in high school are not necessarily useful at the college level, and so in most Lawrence classes, including Freshman Studies, the demands are rather different. Of course, you will continue to receive specific instructions -- for paper assignments, examinations, and so on -- and your instructors will assume your ability to follow those instructions carefully. But you will find that in most of your courses, the emphasis will no longer be on the rote memorization of factual content or the strict adherence to mechanical forms. Rather, your mastery of facts and your adherence to appropriate forms will be taken for granted; they will be seen as a means to other ends such as clear thinking, critical reading, and excellent writing. And these ends are far more difficult to master and measure. What your instructor wants, then, is not a matter of forms and flattery, but a demonstration of your growth toward your own style of discourse, your own mode of insight and discovery. What your instructor wants is for you to move toward your own disciplined manner of thought and expression. What your instructor wants, in short, is for you to stop asking what your instructor wants and to start asking some more fruitful and self-liberating questions.
GRADING
It may be a wonderful thing to ask fruitful and self-liberating questions, you may now be saying, but in the end there will be a grade on a transcript, and you want it to be a good one. Lawrence freshmen are used to receiving excellent grades in high school, and some of them are shocked when they receive far lower grades for their first assignments. Moreover, though the Freshman Studies faculty strives to achieve some uniformity in their grading policy, some instructors are bound to be more demanding than others. Fortunately, you will receive many grades in Freshman Studies, and you can use the first ones to learn something about the sort of work that is expected of you at Lawrence. Most instructors will be quite explicit about what constitutes acceptable work and what separates the excellent from the mediocre in any particular assignment. The sections below will have some things to say about how to improve your reading, your class participation, and your written work. If you have questions about your instructor's grading policy, or why you received a particular grade, or how to respond to the next assignment, ask; and if you don't get a clear answer, ask again. And remember: Ms. Hardnose's C + may just be a greater tribute to your efforts and accomplishments than Mr. Soft-touch's A-.
COPING WITH CRITICISM
Though the principle of positive reinforcement, as practiced in many high school classrooms, is certainly a good thing, most college instructors tend to be more demand-ing and blunt in their responses to your work. That is simply a sign that expectations are higher at Lawrence than they may have been in your high school, and that maturity resides, in part, in one's ability to accept and respond usefully to serious criticism. That you can think, that you have ideas and want to express them, are things the faculty takes for granted -- you wouldn't be at Lawrence otherwise. The aim of Freshman Studies, indeed of your entire education here, is to get you to think more deeply and more clearly, to examine and test your ideas, and to express them more lucidly and completely. Only criticism, even if it sometimes seems unkind, can accomplish that.
You may, of course, disagree with an instructor's criticism of your opinions or your work. In some cases, your instructors may well be wrong, or wrongheaded, in their criticism. Some instructors may even, during a discussion, offer unfair criticism of a comment simply to provoke a response from other students. So don't be afraid to argue -- and argue vigorously -- for your side of the case. Too often students merely grumble about criticism or what seems to them the failure of their instructors to take their ideas seriously. Argue. Argue strenuously. Argue well. Too much politeness in intellectual matters is merely a mask for lack of conviction. Arguments, even bitter arguments, may lead finally to understanding. Keep in mind as you argue, however, that the point of the argument ought not to be your grade, nor your instructor's prejudices, nor the clash of personalities or personal animosities between you. Persuade if you can; be persuaded if you will; agree to disagree if you must. So long as you argue about the issues, the argument will have as its point your intellectual growth and what can be learned from the disagreement by both of you.
