PREFACE @ JMU is an intellectual introduction to the unversity’s academic culture. Much like the preface of a book that provides insight into what you can expect from the book, PREFACE @ JMU is an introduction to the college classroom experience. PREFACE will introduce you to the differences between the high school and college classroom, what you can expect in terms of the increase in academic rigor, and how faculty expect you to come prepared for each and every class.

This year's PREFACE theme is Ways of Knowing. The Ways of Knowing theme explores different ways in which humans have acquired knowledge (or not), how can we "know" what is unknowable? Does everyone acquire knowledge in the same way? Can we manufacture knowledge? How do we make decisions when the knowledge necessary is unavailable or outside our grasp? Does knowing change? If so, when, how and how do we know when it has and what do we do about it?

These articles were selected by a small group of faculty that teach courses you’re likely to take during your first year at Madison. They were selected because topics of the articles and the overarching theme apply to every discipline. As students, you will be challenged on a daily basis to defend what you know and how you have developed informed conclusions you bring to the classroom. These articles provide a great foundation to engage in a conversation with your peers and a faculty member, and to challenge the differences in how your ways of knowing for high school learning will likely be different for your college experience.