A doctoral student in an apron offers a dish to students as part of their first-year seminar Food, Identity, and the Art of Belonging

In Food, Identity, and the Art of Belonging, doctoral student SMMR Ashique (left) guides first-year students Abigail Nam, Alyson Lin, and Bryan Cheng in making the Bengali dish chingri malaikari. The course explores how food shapes identity, carries memory, and connects people across cultures and communities. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham

A Redesigned Seminar Program Helps Elevate First-Year Students’ Cognitive Development

Small first-year seminars are one of the most reliable ways to integrate undergraduates into the campus community—and thereby boost student retention and overall academic performance.

For all new students this fall, full-time faculty at the Lynch School are offering seminars across a wide range of subjects outside their areas of expertise, which allows them to accompany students in the learning process.

Andrés Castro Samayoa in class with a student

Photo: Caitlin Cunningham

“I can learn alongside the students and model for them what it looks like to take on something new,” says Andrés Castro Samayoa (pictured), associate professor and program director, Ph.D. in Higher Education. Topics include the relationship between food and identity, the challenge of designing fair college admissions, and the science of play.

This form of accompaniment is part of the broader BC commitment to the Jesuit tradition of a formative education, one that engages the whole student in order to foster joy and a sense of purpose.

“The goal is to get students to ask themselves, ‘What does creativity look like in my everyday life as a college student?’”

—Associate Professor Andrés Castro Samayo

Program Director, Ph.D. in Higher Education

A student speaks in class while another student looks on

Three students sit at a table with paper in front of them

Three students sit at a table speaking in front of laptops, while the professor speaks to another student in the background

Photos: Matthew Healey (left and center) and Caitlin Cunningham (right)

Read about the first-year seminar

G.R.A.C.E.

The Lynch School and the Roche Center for Catholic Education sponsored the Global Researchers Advancing Catholic Education (G.R.A.C.E.) colloquium this summer. Nearly 200 attendees from 16 countries discussed the formative, holistic student education and preparation that Catholic schools provide.

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Belle Liang stand in front of a blackboard

A study in Jesuit Higher Education by Professor and Ascione Faculty Fellow Belle Liang and two doctoral students explores the impact of faculty and staff formation. When grounded in Ignatian spirituality, these initiatives prepare employees to shape culture as scholars, mentors, and leaders.