Grant Funds Freshman Initiative The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences received a $150,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to implement a general education program for freshmen. The two-year program, which begins in January, will underwrite efforts to make the freshman year a more thoughtful introduction to intellectual work at Hopkins. This year marks the first in which freshmen are deferring their declaration of a major to their sophomore year. With no specific field of study to guide their course selection, a university committee has been working to shape both what they learn and how they learn it. The first of two components of the grant involves the development of new courses--to be created and taught by faculty and teaching assistants--that will introduce new students to the importance of research in the various academic disciplines. The courses will focus on major texts, such as The Origin of the Species, or broad issues or topics, such as the environment and the city. Some courses will be team taught in order to bring to students a wider range of academic perspectives and approaches. The second component--intensive four-week institutes held each summer--will give faculty a chance to discuss the content and pedagogic techniques of courses already taught, to develop new courses in consultation with Hopkins and visiting faculty, and to give shape to the freshman year. The Dean's Office is now accepting course proposals from faculty and teaching assistants.