Core of the Matter

Students returning to campus may have been surprised by the news that the Major Cultures portion of the Core Curriculum has been replaced by the new “Global Core.” Featuring courses such as Asian Humanities, African Civilization, and Latin American Humanities, this requirement was developed to stress the comparative nature of cultural study. Yet this change is neither consequential enough to actually broaden students’ cultural understanding nor a step in the right direction. The Committee on the Core Curriculum should rethink and revise this initiative.

In an e-mail sent on Aug. 29, the Committee on the Core announced that a single list of Global Core courses would replace the three-tiered Major Cultures system. By eliminating the three lists, the committee has created a pool of classes that can be taken in any sequence. As it stands, the Global Core for the class of 2012 includes all existing List A courses, which are broadly introductory courses in a single civilization, as well as many from List B, which covers more specialized courses in these same civilizations, and List C, which addresses the manifestations of these civilizations in the United States . But the emphasis on List A classes does away with a system that moved students from broad to specific study within a culture. And while List B and C classes can be small seminars, List A courses are typically larger and considered by many students to be less instructive. Ironically, such survey courses seem to be the linchpin of the newly devised Global Core.

At best, the change is purely superficial. The e-mail is quick to mention that the Committee on the Core changed the name of the program, but gives the impression it did little else. Though the committee seems to have spent time on the language of the statement, the Global Core list includes no classes developed specifically for the requirement. At worst, the committee has done away with any guidance to direct cultural inquiry. In the past, List A courses served to provide a foundation more specialized study in Lists B and C. But the new requirement will destroy the incentive for students to study cultures in depth.

According to the announcement, the Global Core was created “after two years of discussing some of the concerns voiced by faculty, students and administrators.” Apparently, two years of dialogue have succeeded only in getting rid of any guidelines with which to focus cultural study. The e-mail indicates that the changes to the course list will occur over “the next several years.” For the sake of students who deserve more than a cursory overview of non-Western culture, these revisions should come as soon as possible.