January Term at Luther alters the pace of the academic year by creating opportunities for students to engage in focused exploration of a single subject. January study is often experiential and/or experimental, and it offers students both greater freedom and greater responsibility for their learning. A separate listing of January courses is published online every year. Students can enroll in a maximum of 4 credit hours during each January term.
Students must engage in two J-Term experiences:
1) a 4-credit first-year seminar course (offered on many different topics each January under the course number 185; engages beginning students in significant responsibility for course presentation and interaction with their peers); and
2) a second January experience (2 or 4 credits) that involves one of the following: off-campus engagement, directed readings/research, or student-designed study. The second required January Term may be fulfilled in any year after the first and must engage students in one of the following experiences during January:
Students can complete a registration form for directed or independent study or research.
Students are encouraged to spend their other two January terms in off-campus experiences, vocational exploration, community service, and/or senior project development. A sample January term pattern over four years might look like this:
This is only one example of how Luther students can take advantage of January. Students should begin talking with their academic advisor during their first year to consider options for satisfying the two January requirements and for good use of their time in the other two terms.