Faculty members have submitted about 70 ideas for a new series of general education courses focusing on “big” questions rather than basic facts.
Ira Berlin, the history professor who chairs the task force charged with overhauling CORE, said the committee had received proposals from all 13 colleges for new “I”-series courses — so called because they emphasize issues, imagination, intellect, investigation, inspiration and implementation. The deadline to submit course ideas was Monday, but Berlin said courses submitted late will still be reviewed.
Faculty members who submitted proposals said they were excited by the flexibility the “I” series offers. Professors said the series would allow them to teach courses that stretch across disciplines and aren’t easily classified as part of specific disciplines.
By Oct. 19, task force members will have to whittle the proposals down to about 20 courses that will likely be offered next semester as part of a pilot program.
“There are some very good courses,” Berlin said. “They take a variety of different perspectives. Some of them are on very contemporary issues like HIV or energy. And some of them are on very classic issues like metaphysical questions.”
The “I” series will be the centerpiece of the university’s new general education program. The task force is overhauling CORE in line with the Strategic Plan, the university’s 10-year roadmap to increased prominence.
Potential student interest will be the most important factor in deciding which courses should be offered, Berlin said, but intellectual “weight” and opportunities for student involvement will also be considered.
“I think everybody is pleased with the quality [of the proposals],” Berlin said. “I think there are going to be proposals that we will turn down that it will be a painful decision.”
Faculty members said the new series would allow them to create courses with more creative, broader focuses than under the old CORE plan.
“I think that the CORE had been previously been too focused on content of disciplines and did not really have a place to fit in these courses that really expand the mind,” urban forestry professor Marla McIntosh said.
McIntosh said she had a hard time fitting her course — which included a lab but branched into several subject areas — into the old CORE model. McIntosh’s proposed course would explore environmental issues in developed areas and use the university as a case study.
Plant science professor Christopher Walsh said the “I” series has “allowed me to be a little bit more interdisciplinary.” Students in Walsh’s course would study the global effects of agriculture.
Computer science lecturer Evan Golub said he was attracted to the “I” series because he already tries to focus his courses around important questions. Golub, whose proposal focuses on social media in society, said building courses around questions can help faculty to focus their curricula and students to better understand what the course is about.
The “I” series, which was introduced early last month, is the first step to renovating the university’s general education requirements. The task force’s final plan is due by the end of the semester. It will have to be approved by the University Senate and the Board of Regents.
Task force members have said it’s important to update CORE so classes are more interesting for students and faculty.
“We’re trying to bring sort of the good stuff up front, so that students get engaged in the interesting questions and get a feel for how the researcher will approach those questions but not necessarily get bogged down in a first principle tooling,” said African American Studies professor Darrell Gaskin, a task force member.
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