STUDENT-CENTERED ACADEMICS

With a student-faculty ratio of 11:1, students receive personal attention from faculty and have opportunities to do joint research and independent studies with them.

Of special note is the Africana Studies major and two interdisciplinary minors, East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Africana Studies is the scholarly examination of the black experience universally—in Africa and its extensions in the United States, the Caribbean, and elsewhere in the world. It is the study of the social, cultural, and political thought of peoples of African heritage.

Students may also design their own interdisciplinary major, combining courses from several fields to achieve educational goals within the Bachelor of Arts program.

 

(Photo Right) Rexford Ahene (left), professor of economics and business and Africana studies coordinator, talks with students about their course work in the major.

Study-abroad opportunities include optional January and May interim courses to China, England, France, Germany, Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Kenya and Tanzania, Puerto Rico, South America, and Turkey, and full-semester programs led by Lafayette faculty to Belgium, Greece, Spain, and Ghana.

Active learning and experiential learning are emphasized at Lafayette. Students are encouraged to participate in the learning process through small-group seminars, student-centered team projects, and student/faculty research. Through the EXCEL Scholars program, students collaborate with faculty members on their research and are paid a stipend.

Students also expand their horizons through work/study opportunities, internships, and volunteer experience in the community. A special example is Technology Clinic, a year-long course in which a student team proposes a solution to a real-world problem posed by a participating business, industry, or government body.

(Photo above-left) Shane Clauser ’07 (left), who has a double major in English and government & law, worked with Ian Smith, associate professor of English, studying the use of black face in theaters in Renaissance England.