Each fall, the College plans a three-day orientation program for entering students which includes a variety of academic and social activities. On Monday, August 30, seminar students will meet with their faculty for the first time to discuss the assinged summer reading. Cedric Jennings, the students whose experiences are described in A Hope in the Unseen , will be present to meet with students, to participate in question and answer sessions, and to autograph books. The speaker for fall convocation usually is invited to address a theme relevant to the First Year Seminar. Robert Paul Wolff, professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, the author of numerous books, with a reputation for interesting speeches, will be the convocation speaker.
Convocation is a colorful and festive ceremony to mark the beginning of the school year.
FYS sections will attend together, and students will sign in officially as members of the Class of 2003. Click here to see the First Days Schedule Click here to learn more about our convocation speaker, Robert Paul Wolff Events, Field Trips, Workshops Convocation is only one of many events which are integral to the First Year Seminar. Field trips to the many museums, cultural sites, and natural wonders in the Berkshires are a regular feature of most seminars. The following field trips and events are on tap this year for some or all of the FYS sections. Hiking to Greylock's summit improves a college education.