What is the First-Year Experience?

How do chemistry and literature relate? Ask professors from those two disciplines and they'll tell you to attend their class on "Wine, Science and Society." Or combine art history and political science for a course on the culture and politics of being American. Making connections is what these courses teach and what's at the heart of a Randolph-Macon liberal arts education.

As a new student, you'll explore these kinds of connections through your First-Year Experience (FYE). You'll join a small group of other students and two professors from different disciplines for a yearlong exploration of a topic in a challenging and interesting set of FYE classes. Outside the classroom, you'll attend co-curricular events such as plays and public lectures designed to deepen your understanding of the topic. The work will culminate in an interdisciplinary analysis that might take the form of a written report, a video production, or a work of art. And through FYE you'll make solid connections with those who share your exploration, including the faculty members, one of whom will serve as your academic advisor.

What else?

Beyond exploration into a new world of thought, you'll be challenged to develop a set of scholarly skills you'll need in college and value for the rest of your life: writing, speaking, critical thinking and researching. In fact, one entire FYE course is devoted to developing your skills of argumentation and exposition. Focusing on these key tools right at the beginning of your college career will prepare you to be successful in all your classes at Randolph-Macon College.

Learn more about past FYE topics of study, Randolph-Macon's co-curricular events, and how the FYE fits into the overall R-MC liberal arts curriculum.

For more information about the program, contact Chas Gowan at cgowan@rmc.edu  (804-752-7293) or Deborah O'Dell, FYE Administrative Assistant at deborahodell@rmc.edu (804-412-1559).