ADVICE FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

Syllabus

Welcome to Notre Dame! I’m glad you are in my class. As of today, you have less than four years left to enjoy life in this privileged oasis. So, now it’s time to get to work.

To give you a sense of my philosophy of teaching, allow me to share four personal biases with you.  These are partly based upon my role as an educator but also upon what I have learned as a Notre Dame parent.

First, you have been admitted to Notre Dame because you are smart and talented. Yet everybody around you is smart and talented, too. And frankly, smart is boring. The greater challenge is for you to be interesting. This means that you should use your years at Notre Dame to acquire the tools, the wisdom, and the passion to make people care about who you are and what you will become.

Second, I am not really interested in the conventional definitions of what it means to be educated. It’s possible that much of the education you have received before coming to Notre Dame was based upon two pedagogical goals: description and memorization. Now, everything changes. In all of my classes, I emphasize analysis and understanding. If you can’t analyze and understand, you won’t be able to persuade. If you can’t persuade, we will have failed you.

Third, why Notre Dame? There must have been something special about Notre Dame that led you to choose it over other institutions, such as The Ohio State University, The USC, and various East-coast finishing schools. Did it matter that Notre Dame is a Catholic university with pretty conspicuous traditional values?  What’s that all about?

Finally, to quote a prominent contemporary philosopher, “along with great privilege comes great responsibility.”  University education is a privilege that few people in the world experience. Who knows why each of you has been given the blessing of time to cultivate your minds?  You are morally obliged to make the most of it. As the Bible says: "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light" (Luke 11:33).

My office hours are on Tuesday, 10:50-11:50; Wednesday 2:00-4:00; and by appointment in the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, 211 Brownson Hall (right behind the Main Building). My assistant Sharon Konopka can always find me; call 1-5253. You do not need a specific reason to visit me. I’m always curious to know what’s on your mind.  My email:  amcadams@nd.edu

Again, I am glad you are in my class. I look forward to meeting each of you soon.

A. James McAdams

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