LCSR Program Director
Dr. Peggy Pittas
Lynchburg College
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg VA 24501
(434) 544-8652
LCSR Assistant Director
Dr. David Freier
(434) 544-8083
Steering Committee
Peggy Pittas, Director
Lesley Friedman (Philosophy)
Katherine Gray (English)
Maria Nathan (Business)
Sabita Manian (International Relations)
Marleen Delauder (Nursing)
James Owens (History)
Will Briggs (Computer Science)
Interested in applying?
Visit our Admissions page.
The Lynchburg College Symposium Readings program (LCSR) helps faculty in all programs (liberal arts and sciences, and professional) develop student skills in reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking. Avoiding the common pedagogical tendencies to reward students for simply digesting the "right" information, faculty in the program share strategies that mold intellectually active and engaged students who take responsibility for their own learning.
To provide the challenges that keep students engaged, the program requires that faculty include primary source materials in their LCSR classes at all levels. For instance, students in political science will address readings from Rousseau, Machiavelli, and Chief Joseph, or students in education will discuss readings from Maria Montessori, W.E.B.DuBois, and Paolo Freire.
Excerpts of these materials are supplied in a series of ten volumes that collect influential readings from Plato forward. Four volumes of the new third edition, published by Xlibris, have been completed, with six more scheduled to be available by 2007.
The program uniquely combines the development of both innovative faculty pedagogy and improved student capability in skills important to their lasting success after college. Our thorough, annual program assessment makes clear the strong performance of the LCSR approach for students.
For faculty, the LCSR Program includes professional development, collegiality, and support for creative teaching:
- the annual four-day summer workshop offers faculty who wish to teach in the program a familiarity with LCSR texts and pedagogies. They also receive guidance in creating a syllabus that transforms one of their courses into an LCSR course (their efforts are supported with stipends).
- special luncheons and dinners throughout the academic year provide opportunities for faculty to share their LCSR teaching experiences with their colleagues in the program.
- professional resources for faculty to sharpen their ability to inspire critical thinking, strong writing, and confident speaking; to keep their teaching fresh; and to inspire new views of familiar texts.
- opportunities to take presentations to national conferences allow participants to share their experiences with faculty from other campuses.
Members of the faculty regularly present papers at the annual meeting of the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) and at their particular disciplinary associations.
For students, the LCSR program offers an opportunity to work with primary texts, to explore interdisciplinary perspectives on ideas, to gain experience in critical thinking, and to become skillful in expressing their own ideas in class discussions, presentations, and papers. Students whose written work is of top quality may submit their essays for publication in the AGORA., an annual journal of student writing published at Lynchburg College.
The LCSR Program Mission:
To encourage interdisciplinary study
To support and challenge faculty to keep their teaching fresh and effective and to share their efforts with their colleagues
To encourage students to read from, to write, and to speak about the classics in the context of contemporary society throughout their four years
To work in partnership with students, both inside and outside the classroom
To encourage students to take responsibility for their learning
To create an atmosphere of shared learning within the College and beyond, therein fostering an academic climate conducive to teaching and learning
The LCSR Program History:
The LCSR concept initially began in 1976 with the Senior Symposium, a senior course encouraging the reading of good books, the asking of meaningful questions, and reflections on great ideas. Using the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings - Classical Selections on Great Issues, the College's own ten-volume set of classical readings published by the University Press of America, the course addresses themes representing continuing concerns for humanity such as Poverty and Wealth, Tyranny and Freedom, and The Nature of the Universe. Through lectures by visiting scholars on related current issues and small-group discussions based on the lectures and reading, students grapple with great issues facing humanity from the perspectives of Western civilization and thought from other traditions. In 1989, the College created a bold approach to general education by extending the use of the symposium readings across the curriculum and engaging students in the discussion of these texts from the freshman year. LCSR is an integral part of every student's experience at Lynchburg College.
The LCSR Program Goals:
Enhance the integration of basic skills, interdisciplinary knowledge, and the classics by encouraging students to read analytically and to think critically using reading, writing, and speaking activities across the curriculum through discourse rather than memorization of facts
Encourage students to take more responsibility in their education
Become full partners with faculty in shaping their education
Work with faculty to publish the Agora, the official publication of the program
Participate in state and national conferences
Work on program committees and in-service workshops
Serve with the LCSR Steering Committee
Promote among faculty cross-disciplinary communication via training workshops, monthly presentations, and ongoing involvement in the standing LCSR committees and national, international, and regional presentations.
Reach beyond our campus by developing workshops and institutes which expand participation in the program
Expand faculty development opportunities in the areas of interdisciplinary/integrated studies, writing, speaking, and critical thinking through in-service training and by sending faculty to external institutes with the intent to make greater use of faculty expertise in these areas.