Foundations of the Liberal Arts (FLA) is a two-semester course of study required of all first-year Transylvania students. It provides students with the framework necessary for the successful pursuit of a liberal arts education, and it seeks to inculcate attitudes, skills, and forms of awareness that characterize today’s liberally educated citizens.

The program focuses on:

• Developing clear and effective writing on substantial topical and enduring issues
• Fostering critical and fair reading of complex and challenging texts
• Encouraging rigorous, critical, tolerant, and sustained discussion of issues flowing from students’ reading and writing

In the first term, FLA students read a number of classic essays, study a novel closely, view films and documentaries, attend campus lectures and gallery shows, and participate in selected community events. These experiences form the basis for class lecture and discussion, and provide the materials from which students write three argumentative essays.

In the second term, students choose from a variety of special topic sections, each of which concentrates on the development of a piece of original scholarship—a substantive, research-based argumentative essay. Outstanding projects from the second term are chosen for inclusion in the annual FLA Conference.

Foundations of the Liberal Arts is an interdisciplinary program. Professors from all divisions teach the course, and senior faculty members participate each semester. The small class size allows for close student-professor interaction. Students and instructors also work closely with the campus Writing Center as students make the transition from high school to college level writing.

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