Academics
Lawrence University operates on a trimester calendar. The academic year runs from mid-September to mid-June.
The student/faculty ratio at Lawrence is 9:1.
Lawrence grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees, with a double degree possible. Lawrence offers a number of cooperative degree programs in areas such as engineering, health sciences and environmental studies.
The college offers majors in most of the liberal arts. The school also offers the option of interdisciplinary areas of study and allows students to design their own majors. All students are required to take Freshman Studies, which introduces students to broad areas of study and provides a common academic experience for the college. Lawrence’s freshman studies program focuses on a mixture of Great Books and more contemporary, influential works. For example, the 2011-2012 list includes Plato's Republic and Stephen Jay Gould's Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History.
The school has an independent study option that allows students to design their own courses. This allows students to explore academic interests not covered by Lawrence’s classes or to explore topics more deeply. Over 90% of the students take advantage of the independent study program.
In 2005, Lawrence University began the Lawrence Fellows Program, initially selecting eight recent Ph.D.s to teach and carry out research at Lawrence for a period of two to three years. This program seeks to develop the liberal arts faculty of the future.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)