January 31, 2008 — Students and faculty who participated in the 2008 January Term will discuss their experiences in a retrospective symposium on Friday, Feb. 8, in the Kaleidoscope center on the third floor of Newcomb Hall.

The symposium will feature poster sessions and presentations by students from several January Term courses from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition, eight faculty members who taught during the January Term will participate in a roundtable conversation about their experiences during the J-Term as well as the way in which they designed their courses to fit the intensive format of the two-week session. The roundtable will begin at 3 p.m.

The roundtable will feature Ken Stroupe (Center for Politics), David Sherman (mathematics), Patricia Reagan (Spanish), Yuri Urbanovich (politics), Gordon Stewart (German), Francesca Fiorani (art), Margaret Gardiner (English) and Marianne Kubik (drama).

This was the fourth January Term at U.Va., and student participation has increased each year. This year, 637 students participated in 32 courses, including eight study-abroad programs. That was an increase of 8 percent over a year ago and 58 percent over the first J-Term in 2005.