Core Humanities v. WR 100/WR 150

<p>Hi all. </p>

<p>I’m trying to decide between the Core Humanities: CC 101 all the way through CC 202 or WR 100/WR 150. I know that taking the core will take twice as long, but I’m really interested in the course information. Then again, making a decision based off of a one-paragraph description might be jumping the gun. </p>

<p>Can anyone who has taken WR 100 or CC 101 tell me what its like? Is WR 100 just a writing sweatshop of research paper after research paper? </p>

<p>Also I’ve pretty much already decided to do the Core Natural Sciences, but some people tell me its kind of a joke (along with pretty much core as a whole). Is it worth it or should I jump into Biology 107 straight off the bat?</p>

<p>Thanks for any help!</p>

<p>Core doesn’t take longer if you take the entire thing. If you take Core Science, Humanities, and Social Science then it doesn’t take longer than divisional studies. I took all of Core. Yeah, the first semester of Natural Science is pretty easy. I found second semester better. Not harder, but I felt I got more out of it. Or maybe I liked the topic more. Second semester is Biodiversity. The Humanities I found easy too but for some people it was a lot of reading, same for the Social Science.</p>

<p>Ahh I see. </p>

<p>The thing is…I can’t take the whole Core because I have some AP credits I 'd like to use. Do you think Core Humanities is anything like History 101 in terms of content? I wanted to take the history class, but I think my General Education requirements take priority.</p>

<p>No, it’s not really history. It’s literature, although the first year has a lot of Classical texts like the Iliad and Odyssey. You also read the bible and Gilgamesh. If you’re interested in a good history class take Greek History with Professor Samons. He’s not an easy grader but he’s the most entertaining lecturer you’ll ever have.</p>

<p>If you have AP scores you intend to use and are not in love with the core humanities, I recommend WR100 and WR150.</p>

<p>The core track is designed to give a broad traditional liberal arts background. For many it is a great program. Especially if you are into reading classic (as in greek and roman) and early and modern western thought.</p>

<p>However, Core humanities is 2 full years. If you switch after 1 year, only only get credit for WR100 and then have to take WR150. Also, the courses are very reading intensive; as opposed to many WR courses with are writing intensive.</p>

<p>My advice is think about what you want to write your freshman papers on and what kind of thought/literary background you want from your freshman year.</p>

<p>I personally like modern literature, so I took the WR track (I also had AP credits and did not want to do core in the other areas).</p>

<p>Also core humanities is not history. I believe history is in Core Social Sciences (or something like that…)</p>

<p>If you want to do history, there are WR courses in history for fall 10 (these are all WR100): <a href=“http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/files/2010/07/CatalogF10.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/files/2010/07/CatalogF10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
American Environmental History (p. 5)
American Manifesto (p. 6)
Boston’s North End: Window to American History (p. 9)
Documentary Film: History, Theory, and Form (p. 11)
East Meets West (p. 12)
The Essential Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (p. 12)
Imagining the Vietnam War: “The Big Muddy” in American Culture (p. 14)
Modern American Liberalism and its Critics (p. 18)
Representations of War and Justice (p. 21)
Technology and Nature in New England (p. 24)
U.S. Presidents on American Secularism (p. 25)</p>

<p>In most WR100/150 classes, you read books, discuss them in class, and then write 3-4 papers per semester. Some teachers also want introduction papers with that. It’s not as bad as people make it seem. At first I was terrified of WR classes, but they both turned out to be the highlight of my freshman year.</p>