The Connections Curriculum
Embodying the true spirit of a liberal arts education, our Connections curriculum encourages you to strive beyond traditional boundaries to make connections: between disciplines that at first glance seem unrelated, between theory and practice, and between your liberal arts education and the world.
Our Connections curriculum provides a framework for you to engage with other students and faculty, become a creative and ambitious participant in your education, and prepare to shape your life and community beyond your years in college.
There are three phases of Connections: Introduction, Exploration, and Concentration.
Phase 1: Introduction
Connections seminars are your introduction to the academic life of F&M. Seminars are small classes limited to 16 students. You will take your Connections seminar your first semester on campus. You’ll learn how to think critically, write succinctly, debate respectfully, and accept constructive feedback with confidence—intellectual skills necessary to develop your own ideas and perspectives at F&M and beyond.
During the summer before your arrival on campus, you’ll review the Connections course descriptions for the fall semester, choose those you’re most interested in taking, and rank them in order of preference. These selections will help determine the Connections seminar in which you are placed.
Examples of connections seminars
- American History in True Crime
- Animals Through the Ages
- Greek Tragedy and the Tragic
- Social Activism: Effective Dialogue
- Language, Society and Linguistic Rights
- Solo Performance Art
- Environmental Impacts of War
- How Your Hands Think
- Food, Fashion and Facebook
- Medieval Cities
- Mountains, Natural Resources and Water
Curious to see more examples of Connections seminars? Check out our course catalog to see the variety of options we offer.
Connections & Your College House
Your first-year Connections course will often be taught in your F&M College House. Alongside your classmates, you’ll be assigned to your College House based on the interests you express for your first-year Connections course. Our College Houses bring together students with a variety of backgrounds and interests, immerse you in the intellectual, extracurricular, and social life of campus and provide a place to gather with friends and find community.Read More »
Phase 2: Exploration
The Exploration phase is your chance to branch out and try new things—to dive into subjects you’ve always been curious about and discover new interests you might never have considered. You'll take classes in the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, languages, and global cultures, expanding your intellectual horizon and finding connections among a wide range of subjects.
Phase 3: Concentration
The final phase, Concentration, is when you’ll determine which fields you are most passionate about and want to pursue more profoundly. You’ll choose a major by the end of your sophomore year, allowing you to gain depth and breadth within a specific field and pursue advanced work, which may include independent study or original research.
If you uncover unexpected connections between fields you’re interested in, you have the option to declare more than one major. More than a third of our students build a unique educational experience tailored to their specific interests and career goals by declaring more than one major or designing a special studies or joint major.
Examples of Double and Joint Majors
- Environmental Studies & Government
- History & French
- Public Policy & Sociology
- Dance & International Studies
- Business, Organization and Society & Data Science
- Psychology & Public Health
- English & Film and Media Arts
- Classics & History of Art and Architecture
Examples of Special Studies Majors
- Neurobehavior
- Consumer Behavior
- History of Medicine
- Biocultural Studies of Gender
- Urban Inequality and Education Studies
- Ethics, Law, and Business
These are just some of the distinctive ways our students have designed their own major. You can combine any two fields at the College to create your own.
A Glimpse at Our Connections Courses
November 27, 2024
Students Explore Campus and Community in History of Science Course
First-year students at Franklin & Marshall College are heading out of the classroom and into the laboratory—and surrounding community—as part of the course “A Hands-On History of Biology.”
November 9, 2022
Making Connections: Exploring the Role of Emotion in Music with Karen Leistra-Jones
We met with Associate Professor of Music Karen Leistra-Jones to discuss her Connections course, Music and Emotion. “The course is structured around a single foundational question: Why does music move us?” Professor Leistra-Jones said. “We look at examples of different types of music and discuss how they convey emotions like happiness, sadness, and anger, but we also approach the question from philosophical, psychological, and anthropological perspectives."
January 10, 2023
Making Connections: Unraveling Political and Social Upheaval in Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables’
Lisa Gasbarrone, professor of French, taught a Connections course, “Les Misérables,” an in-depth reading and analysis of Victor Hugo’s renowned, 19th-century historical novel. Professor Gasbarrone — who joined F&M in 1986 — has recently been writing on the novel in Quebec and also on Victor Hugo (“Restoring the Sacred in Les Misérables”).
Meaning “both/and,” the ampersand in the middle of our College's name is the purpose
— and the power — of the liberal arts: uncovering and tracing connections between
things that at first glance don’t seem to go together.How F&M Does the Liberal Arts