Joining the Core struggle

Columbia’s Core Curriculum has always been a topic of discussion among students and faculty, especially in regards to the most immediate representatives of the Core­—the instructors. A recent struggle intrinsic to the Core has been the difficulty of finding tenured professors to teach Core classes. For years, Columbia has strived to select the most qualified individuals for these positions, pursuing tenured professors as priority candidates. I argue, however, that the process of hiring Core teachers should not be so heavily based on tenure, but instead on student feedback, which would reflect the fact that tenure is not necessary to successfully teach a class. Rather, an extraordinary enthusiasm on the part of the candidate is essential.

I measure success by the level of student enthusiasm inside and outside of the classroom, the frequency of student participation during class, the prevalence of insightful discussions, and student understanding of the curriculum. These factors are irrespective of the number of degrees an instructor has.

For my first semester of Literature Humanities, I had a tenured professor who was not only an expert in his field, but also received a literary award that semester for a book he had published. Nonetheless, I can’t say that I learned anything in that class that I could not have learned from reading the texts on my own. The problem was not only that my professor’s teaching style was somewhat dull, but also that he lacked enthusiasm. There were easily two to three people asleep per session. One example of this dull teaching style were our lessons on the Iliad: The depth of the character of Achilles and others were overlooked in exchange for a discussion on the less significant Greek games. We were tested on Greek vocabulary words, like oresteia and kleos, but were never asked to explore their significance in the text in relation to themes and characters.

Second semester of Lit Hum rolled around and I had a new instructor—a grad student. And this semester was nothing short of amazing. Discussions were insightful and student-run. The most important thing that my instructor did was connect textual themes to the broader concept of the Core itself. Her level of enthusiasm was unprecedented. Armed with a smile and creative agenda, she made coming to class enjoyable.

What’s the significance of the two dissimilar experiences? I have to acknowledge that there are students who have had opposite experiences with tenured professors, and thus support having more classes taught by tenured professors. This opinion is valid, given that tenured professors do have more experience and training. Yet I must argue that knowledge does not necessarily translate into the ability to successfully teach a class. Positive, constructive experiences are not necessarily dependent upon tenured professors.

The Core will continue to shape the experiences of current and future students. Thus, as long as the Core exists, the nature of Core professor selection will continue to be a relevant topic. Furthermore, I do not aim to simplify the process by which Core teachers are hired. I only ask that student feedback is considered. How about using those evaluation forms on CourseWorks that students are asked to fill out at the end of each semester?

The author is a Columbia College junior majoring in English and comparative literature and political science.