Starting next fall, first-years in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences will be required to take part in a multidisciplinary and community-building academic experience through either FOCUS or Constellations.
The FOCUS program has been a staple of Trinity’s first-year curriculum for over three decades, while Constellations is a recent edition, launching this fall as part of a revamping of the Trinity curriculum — its first major change since 2000. Students in the Pratt School of Engineering are currently only eligible to participate in the FOCUS program, though this restriction may be lifted in the future.
As incoming first-years navigate which pathway is the best fit, The Chronicle broke down the two first-year programs to highlight what each has to offer and what students should know about each experience.
FOCUS program
Launched in 1991 by Richard White, former dean of Trinity College, the FOCUS program was imagined as a model of small-group experiential learning focused on interdisciplinary themes. The program has since expanded to 19 clusters and is expected to accommodate more than 600 first-years next fall, around one-third of the incoming Class of 2029.
Each cluster entails two to four courses tied to a particular theme, where students learn in small seminars capped at 18 students per class. The program, open to all majors, counts towards general education requirements, as well as for majors, minors and certificates. Clusters span the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences and the arts, with many exploring a common theme through multiple disciplinary lenses.
FOCUS only takes place in the fall semester, and students enroll in two-and-a-half credits, made up of two cluster courses and a half-credit through weekly group meals.
According to Director of FOCUS Edna Andrews, the goal of the program is to foster lasting relationships between first-years and their faculty and peers. Many such interactions take place outside the classroom — through weekly dinners, service-learning settings, group outings and the housing model, which places students from each cluster in the same East Campus dorm.
“[FOCUS is] supposed to facilitate your entry into a new world, into disciplines [and] into community,” she said, noting that she thinks many first-years arrive at Duke having “imagined their trajectories” without exploring the options available to them.
First-year Stone Yan, an intended biomedical engineering major, ultimately opted to join the Medicine, Ethics and Health Policy cluster because he thought it was “one of the last chances that [he could] actually devote that much time towards something other than what the engineering coursework demands.”
Yan described “late-night conversations” with his classmates in his dorm and how he came to know his cluster professors on a personal level through group dinners every week.
Last year, sophomore Heber Ford was in the Global Energy: Past, Present and Future cluster. His biggest takeaway from FOCUS was the connection he forged with faculty in research areas he is passionate about, calling the experience “really something special.”
The online application for FOCUS is open until May 25 and accepts students on a rolling basis. Applicants are notified of their placement within two to three weeks of submission. Students who do not apply will automatically participate in a Constellation.
First-year Constellations
While FOCUS only lasts one semester, Constellations run throughout the academic year. Each Constellation includes a set of three interconnected courses that explore a theme from multiple angles. Students will take one course in the fall semester, one in the spring semester and a writing seminar in either semester.
A set of 16 Constellations will be offered in the program’s inaugural year, with topics ranging from “How does artificial intelligence impact human experiences” to “How do sports shape society?” Each Constellation features six to 10 courses, allowing students to choose from a diversity of options. A mix of six to 12 faculty from various departments and schools will teach in each Constellation. Courses vary in sizes, with a maximum of roughly 80 seats.
Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, professor of the practice of statistical science who led the rollout of the new Trinity curriculum as the chair of Arts & Sciences Council’s curriculum implementation committee, identified two key objectives of the Constellations program: cohort-building and multidisciplinarity. She noted that beyond the classroom, students will participate in co-curricular activities that involve group outings and guest speakers.
Both Çetinkaya-Rundel and Andrews credited the introduction of Constellations to the success of FOCUS.
“We've noticed that having collaborations between and among classes — like in the cluster model — [is] very healthy,” Andrews said.
Students will be matched to a Constellation based on their expressed preferences in June.
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Faculty advice
Faculty said the key difference between the FOCUS and Constellations programs lies in the intensity of the student experience.
“There's more of a depth of time … in terms of your relationships with the cohort of people you're taking classes with,” said Professor of Cultural Anthropology Lee Baker, who will teach in both FOCUS and Constellations for the 2025-26 academic year, about the FOCUS program. He added that these close connections with faculty and peers have lasting impacts throughout the four-year college experience.
He explained that students participating in Constellations will also take advantage of developing bonds with their peers but that “it’s a lot less intense.” Baker recommended the year-long program to students seeking to “experiment a little bit more” and explore one academic theme with more flexibility.
Çetinkaya-Rundel encouraged students to first explore through all the cluster offerings in FOCUS and Constellations to find the one theme that piques their interests. She added that students can then think about whether they seek a “concentrated first-year experience in the fall semester versus spread across the year.”
She advised incoming students that fulfilling major requirements should not be the only factor when deciding which Constellation and FOCUS clusters to pursue.
“… Give yourself the freedom to think beyond what you might major in, but also, you don't need to lose sight of that,” Çetinkaya-Rundel said. “I'm confident that there's a way to plan both.”
Editor’s note: Heber Ford was previously a staff photographer for The Chronicle’s 119th and 120th volume.
Lucas Lin is a Trinity sophomore and a university news editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.