The First-Year Experience at Loyola
Your Gateway to a Loyola Education
Our First-Year Experience program welcomes you into an holistic education shaped by the Jesuit concept of the cura personalis, the education of the whole person. Read more »
When you enroll at Loyola, you become a member of a community where learning happens in the classrooms, in the residence halls, in the student center, and beyond. Loyola’s First-Year Experience program helps you become part of this rich living and learning environment.
Academic Seminars: Thinking Critically, Acting Justly
The First-Year Experience program is anchored in small academic seminars taught by leading teacher-scholars. The seminars introduce you to college-level thinking and learning and to Loyola’s Jesuit tradition under the overarching theme “thinking critically, acting justly.” Read more »
Living and Learning Together
First-year learning experiences don’t stop at the classroom doors because at Loyola living and learning are one and the same.
Residence Hall Programs
You will have the chance to participate in a variety of programs with all the students in your residence hall. After a day spent engaging with Loyola’s faculty and fellow students in the classroom, your learning flows seamlessly into the residence halls as you bring concepts home to reflect and engage with your peers. Read more »
The First-Year Common Reading Program
One of your first activities as a Loyola student will be participation in the First-Year Common Reading program, which involves readings and discussion of a common text. This year's Common Reading will be selections from John Biguenet's The Torturer's Apprentice. We'll have an evening with the author in the fall for you to ask questions and discuss the book with the author himself.
Read the selections from The Torturer's Apprentice, and review a set of study questions to help you prepare for the discussion.
contact
For questions regarding the First Year Experience at Loyola, please contact:
Christi Sumich, Ph.D.
Associate Director,
First Year Experience
(504) 864-7122
cksumich@loyno.edu
Living and learning together
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First year students visit Gert Town in New Orleans.
What Students Say About Loyola's First-Year Experience
- "One of the most interesting classroom experiences of my life."
- "This class confirmed all of my expectations of Loyola. We formed a family within the classroom and ensured lifelong friendships."
- "This course made us go out of our comfort zones and think about things we never did in high school."
- "This course helped me focus on what I want to do in life."
- "This course made me realize that I love Loyola and have picked the right school."
- "I loved this class because it is more about thinking than anything else."
- "It was an exciting and eye-opening cultural experience."
- "What I really liked about this class is that we had the chance to discover the answers to questions ourselves."