The Brooklyn College Core Curriculum Louise Hainline

Transcription

1 The Brooklyn College Core Curriculum Louise Hainline The new Core is the progeny of a Core Curriculum originally designed in 1986 that became a signature for the college s s commitment to liberal arts education. After a few desultory attempts at revision, the Core was finally revamped extensively in a year-long, faculty driven process. The new Core went into effect in September, It been in effect for three full academic years, so still a work in progress.

2 Goals of the BC Core Curriculum The common goals of the Core Curriculum reflect the knowledge, understanding, judgment, and skills that a person needs who will be in a position to make major contributions to society, to assume tasks of leadership, and to continue a life of learning and reflection. Our students should: Be able to think critically and creatively, to reason logically, to reason quantitatively,, and to express their thoughts orally and in writing with clarity and precision ecision; Be able to make sound moral and ethical judgments; Understand the arts, histories and cultures of the past as a foundation for those of the present; Understand the development and workings of modern societies in an interdependent world; Acquire the tools that are required to understand and respect the e natural universe; Understand what knowledge is and how it is acquired by the use of differing methods in different disciplines; Be able to integrate knowledge from diverse sources; Understand the necessity for tolerance and appreciate individual and social diversity; Be informed and responsible citizens of the world; Establish a foundation for life-long long learning and the potential for leadership.

3 Arts and Literatures Lower Tier Core: Students select one course from each box (nine courses required) Philosophical and Social Inquiries Scientific Inquiry CC 1.1 Classical Cultures CC 2.1 Knowledge, Reality, and Values CC 3.11 Thinking Mathematically OR CC 3.12 Computing: Nature, Power, and Limits CC 1.2 Introduction to the Study of Art CC 2.2 Shaping of the Modern World CC 3.21 Biology for Today's World OR CC 3.22 Science in Modern Life: Chemistry CC 1.3 Music: Its Language, History, and Culture CC 2.3 People, Power, and Politics CC 3.31 Physics: The Simple Laws that Govern the Universe OR CC 3.32 Geology: The Science

4 Upper Tier Core (Juniors and Seniors Only) Students select one course from two different boxes (two courses required) Arts and Literatures Philosophical and Social Inquiries Scientific Inquiry CC Exploring Literature CC Exploring Global Connections CC Exploring Science

5 Examples of Exploring Literature CC 10.01: Literature, Ethnicity, and Immigration CC 10.03: Italian American Literature and Film CC 10.04: Literature and Film CC 10.05: Philosophical Issues in Literature CC 10.06: Text/Context: Special Topics CC 10.07: The Emergence of the Modern CC 10.08: The Quest for Ethnic, Cultural, and National Identities in Literature CC 10.09: The Self and Society CC 10.10: Literature of the African Diaspora CC 10.11: Classical Jewish Texts: Moving Toward Modernity

6 Examples of Global Connections CC 20.01: Art and Archaeology of Late Period Egypt, 1070 B.C.- A.D. 642 CC 20.02: Classical Philosophies of India and China CC 20.03: Diasporas in the United States CC 20.04: The Global Spanish-Speaking Speaking Community: From Imperial Conquests to Latino Diasporas CC 20.05: The Jewish Diaspora CC 20.06: The Development of the Silk Road CC 20.07: The Caribbeanization of North America CC 20.08: Comparative Studies in Cultures and Transformation CC 20.09: After Alexander: A Confluence of Cultures CC 20.10: Islamic Perspectives on Modernity, Politics, and Culture CC 20.11: Black Political Identity in a Transnational Context CC 20.12: Mathematics of Non-Western Civilizations

7 Examples of Exploring Science CC 30.01: Cosmology CC 30.02: Energy Use and Climate Change CC 30.03: Exploring Robotics CC 30.04: Exploring the Earth System CC 30.05: Exploring Scientific Issues: Methodology, Theory, and Ethics in the Sciences CC 30.06: Scientific Revolutions CC 30.07: Studies in Forensic Science CC 30.08: The Making of the Atomic Bomb CC 30.09: Climate Change: Torn Between Myth and Fact CC 30.10: Paradoxes of Reason CC 30.11: Society and the Ocean CC 30.12: Mathematics of Non-Western Civilizations

8 Examples of Science Course Descriptions Robotics: Introduction to programming through the use of project-based educational robotics activities. Small group work on a series of multi-week creative projects involving use of robots to address meaningful and socially important issues, such as urban search and rescue or elder care. Introduction to the fundamentals of robotics (including aspects of mechanical design) ) and elementary programming within a graphical environment. Energy Use and Climate Change: Global energy balance as a function of the chemistry of the atmosphere and its effects on global and local climate. Climatic consequences of human energy use. The long history of climate and d the relatively short history of human energy use. The socio-economic and political issues involved in attempts to project and influence future energy use and its climatic consequences Making of the Atomic Bomb: The history of the development of the atomic bomb. The scientific breakthroughs of the first half of the 20th century that led to it. The political context in which the bomb developed. The personal stories of the leading scientists involved. The moral issues arising from the development d and use of the bomb.

9 A Few More Examples Cosmology: Organization and evolution of the universe. Methods of inquiry over large cosmological distances. The structure of space and time. Lifecycle L of stars. The origin of chemical elements. Are we alone in the Universe? Exploring Scientific Methodology: A critical examination of three fundamental sorts of scientific issues: methodological, theoretical, and moral. Exploration of the nature of scientific inquiry, scientific knowledge, pseudoscience. e. Examination of controversial theories, and of ethical issues relating to scientific ific research. Paradoxes of Reason: Paradoxes and limitations arising in computer science, the physical sciences, and mathematics. Paradoxes created by using reason r alone. Linguistic and philosophical paradoxes like This sentence is false. Limitations of reason, logic and computers. Reasoning about infinity. The inability to prove everything that is true. Problems that cannot be solved by computers in a reasonable amount of time. Unsolvable problems. The boundary between what can and cannot be known. More can be found at:

10 Another Means for Interdisciplinarity: Freshman Learning Communities As an example, a recent freshman block program included Core Classics and Core Geology as well as English Composition. A geologist and a classicist developed overlapping readings and class discussions, a common journal, and joint field trips to mine linkages between their fields. The classes intended to help students see connections such as: An analysis of Pliny s s writing about the eruption of Vesuvius The science behind the Oracle at Delphi

11 Cont d: Topics in the Linked Cores A grant writing competition for research proposals to debunk the Atlantis myth as found in Plato and a humanistic explanations for the myth A survey of flood mythology and the salinity of the Black Sea and Mediterranean A comparison of ancient periodization of Ages (Hesiod, Book of Daniel) and Geologic periodization. A analysis of the use of classical orders and building stones in lower Manhattan (field trip) A survey of the materials used by different Mediterranean cultures as demonstrated in the Met collection (field trip)

12 A New Core-L.C. Pairing The focus of this new Learning Community cluster is the interplay between sociological and environmental considerations for sustainability in an urban setting, focusing on Brooklyn, with special attention to Mayor Bloomberg s PlaNYC and the increased interest in local food and urban community gardens gardens.. It will be offered for the first time this fall. We anticipate more such pairings in the future.

13 A Few Final Comments Assessment Institutional Support Barriers Other Benefits

14 Thanks to: Scott Dexter, CIS Professor and Core Director Liv Yarrow, Assistant Professor of Classics Rebecca Boger, Assistant Professor of Geology for their help in supplying material and insights for this presentation.