Senior Symposium

LCSR Program Director
Dr. David Freier
freier@lynchburg.edu
434.544.8083

LCSR Assistant Director
Professor Nina Salmon
salmon@lynchburg.edu
434.544.8275

Steering Committee
Dr. Lesley Friedman (Philosophy)
Dr. Katherine Gray (English)
Dr. Maria Nathan (Business)
Dr. Elizabeth Farnsworth (Education & Human Developement)
Professor Marleen DeLauder (Nursing)
Dr. Will Briggs (Computer Science)
Dr. Delane Karalow (Art)

Lynchburg College > Academics > Undergraduate > Senior Symposium

Senior Symposium

The Senior Symposium is an academic tradition at LC that brings significant texts, questions, and ideas to bear on various contemporary issues. Students meet weekly to listen to a public lecture, then participate in small group discussions.

Established in 1976, Senior Symposium is required of all students for graduation, except for Westover Honors students who may choose it as one of their optional seminars. It is offered in the fall, spring, and summer sessions to students who have accumulated at least 75 credit hours.

Senior Symposium Components

Reading
Each week the assigned readings will provide at least one perspective on a topic. Students are encouraged to challenge or confirm the validity of the perspective(s).

Lecture
On Mondays, all class sections meet together in the Memorial Ballroom of Hall Campus Center to hear a lecture on a topic that relates to the weekly reading assignment.

Discussion
On Wednesdays, students meet in their smaller groups to discuss and debate the issue at hand. Students lead these discussions.

Papers
Weekly writing assignments enable students to demonstrate their ability to establish, support, and organize their thoughts in written form using references from the reading(s), and lecture.

Goals

The Senior Symposium is designed to have LC seniors utilize weekly lectures and symposium readings to examine issues of contemporary significance, in the process integrating the material with their personal views while dealing constructively with a wide variety of positions. The coursework requires seniors to combine understanding taken from the symposium readings with an appreciation for current related issues and developments, as covered in weekly lectures and class discussions. The course is intended to help students bridge the gap between their established positions and a mature, independent point of view essential to educated adults. Senior Symposium stresses the oral and written performance of the students.