The College of Arts and Sciences

First-Year Forum and the Laura Hanhausen Milton First-Year Lecture

Music, culture, community engagement, sharing experiences, and tips on adjusting to academic life—these are but a few of the activities included in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences’ First-Year Forum.  First-Year Forum, a small-group, seminar-like class, helps new students discover all that The College, SU, and the surrounding communities have to offer. 

Forum groups are comprised of approximately 16 students and are led by faculty and staff members, who are well acquainted with aspects of college life that are important to students. Groups meet weekly and are uniquely focused, depending on the interests and background of the forum leader. Discussions revolve around current issues, personal growth and goal setting, becoming an active member of an academic community, and exploring the liberal arts. Forum groups attend several activities together over the six-to eight-week program.

The Laura Hanhausen Milton First-Year Lecture

A shared, culminating experience for all First-Year Forum students is the annual Laura Hanhausen Milton First-Year Lecture.  Established in 1997 by a gift to The College from class of 1951 alumni Jack and Laura Milton, the lecture series brings a speaker of national stature to campus each fall to address new students. Milton Lecture topics provide a common intellectual theme for discussion in Forum seminars. The annual themes are of particular importance to students and scholars of the liberal arts.

Past Milton lecturers have included Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison (2001), Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin (1998), anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer (2007), and such internationally renowned scientists as Steven Pinker (2010), Jane Goodall (2006), and the late Stephen J. Gould (1997).

Click here for a complete list of past Milton Lecturers.