Established in 1987, the Ford Colloquium helps prepare students for careers as college and university teachers and researchers through a series of seminars, research and teaching experiences with a faculty mentor, and graduate school counseling.
Ford Colloquium students receive scholarships of $1,500 a year for each of the last two years of college. Supplementary funds are available for research and for attendance at professional conferences.
Following the sophomore year, the colloquium begins with an intensive summer seminar, Orientation for Teaching and Research. This seminar introduces the group to different methods for examining a given topic. Students conduct research and discuss their work in class. In the process, they learn how to defend their ideas and provide constructive criticism. They also study developments in theory and practice in various disciplines.
This six-credit seminar meets four days a week for five hours. Students also get together outside of class to visit museums; attend theater, music, or dance performances; or participate in discussion groups.
During their junior year, Ford Colloquium students continue their analysis of the methods of inquiry characteristic of academic disciplines through a seminar titled Introduction to Scholarly Disciplines. They also complete an independent research project in their academic major.
During their senior year, students take two seminars, Critical Analysis in Scholarship and Research and Knowledge and Society. The first examines the nature of disciplinary knowledge. The second considers the nature and consequences of changing disciplinary knowledge and explores the sociology of academic culture.
Students in Knowledge and Society are responsible for developing a course syllabus that meets the requirements set forth by the Brooklyn College Faculty Council. Some faculty members invite Ford Colloquium students to lecture to their classes on topics that the colloquium students have researched. All Ford Colloquium students gain experience as teachers by serving as peer tutors in the Brooklyn College Learning Center.
Candidates for the Ford Colloquium must be interested in working toward a Ph.D. degree in a field of their own interest and in pursuing an academic career.
Successful applicants have completed between 45 and 66 credits with a grade point average of 3.50 or better and are full-time students. Applicants must submit a personal essay and two letters of recommendation from faculty members. Current Ford Colloquium students interview applicants and, along with the program director and faculty members, help to select the incoming class of colloquium students.
The Ford Colloquium welcomes applications from students of diverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.
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