<p>Right now I have no idea what my major will be when I get into college. So I was wondering if you guys knew any schools (preferably on the East Coast, I'm in NJ) that have a good core curriculum that would be good for an undecided like me. I basically am hoping that these courses will show me a variety of things and HOPEFULLY I will find a great intreset in them. Any help would be great. Thank you!</p>
<p>connecticut college sounds like it has just what you are looking for, in terms of being able to explore a lot of different departments:
<a href="http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/gen_ed/%5B/url%5D">http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/gen_ed/</a></p>
<p>Two schools with fairly extensive core curriculums are columbia and villanova. Many of the Catholic colleges will have a core curriculum that are less extensive such as Fairfield in Ct. You might want to distinguish for yourself whether you are really looking for a heavy core (courses that everyone has to take) or strong distribution requirements (having to take a course in many different subject areas).</p>
<p>Columbia practically invented the core curriculum, and it continues to be a central part of the undergraduate experience. It piqued my interest in areas like art history, anthropology, and contemporary musicology, that I would have never really been interested in. And in addition to perhaps helping to form your focus, it will make you a culturally literate individual!</p>
<p>"Columbia practically invented the core curriculum"</p>
<p>Nope, try again. The Great Books program courtesy of Robert M. Hutchins popularized the Core Curriculum, which Columbia was the first Ivy League college the adapt.</p>
<p>Note that the "Great Books" philosophy and the concept of a general education Core Curriculum are distinct entities. It was much later in the history of Columbia's Core Curriculum that a Great Books program was adopted for some of the classes within it. The first Core class, Contemporary Civilization, commenced in 1919, when Hutchins was still an undergrad at Yale.</p>
<p>"An Oasis of Order: The Core Curriculum at Columbia College"
<a href="http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/oasis/%5B/url%5D">http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/oasis/</a></p>
<p>The idea of a core curriculum extends beyond one course. It is the synthesis of a variety of schools of thoughts, from science to mathematics to humanities to history.</p>
<p>Indeed. A complete curriculum was hardly a glimmer in the eyes of some in 1919, but the course did embrace (or begin to embrace) many of the ideas behind a Core Curriculum even in its first incarnation. Even more important was the addition of "General Honors" by John Erskine, whose educational philosophy predated Hutchins' by many years.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/excat/ideasint.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/excat/ideasint.html</a>
This Chicago history introduces such concepts, including the "Great Books" as emerging first, with clarity and the force of practical implementation, from Columbia:</p>
<p>"The idea of the Great Books was not born in Chicago. Adler and Hutchins drew their inspiration from an experimental program to teach the classics developed by Adler's Columbia University mentor John Erskine..."</p>
<p>From the chapter "General Honors comes to Chicago":</p>
<p>"Set up almost exactly as it had been at Columbia, General Honors was offered as a two-year course for entering freshmen in the fall of 1931..."</p>
<p>In any case, I merely stated that such a synthesis was first practically realized, in terms of undergraduate education at a US college, at Columbia. Quite a few individuals contributed to the concept, as the above referenced history indicates. Columbia is where they were merely first crystallized into an actual program.</p>
<p>You can look beyond colleges with core curriculums or distribution requirements even if you are undecided. Take a variety of classes that sound interesting. My college only specifically requires one class, and yet I've taken courses from a broad array of areas not even offered at many universities.</p>
<p>Thanks for thoses who mentioned a few. I was actually looking into Villanova (Columbia is a large reach for me).</p>
<p>Northern NJ, GUNOT</p>
<p>Well, St. John's College in Annapolis (there is one in Santa Fe, too) is ALL core.</p>
<p>High five to Columbia2007. Roar Lion roar!!!</p>
<p>To the orginal poster, if a college that interests you maintains a core that is rather narrow (or very broad) with no specific emphasis in western literature and civilization, then look to that college's upper level courses in Literature, Philosophy and Art to see if there are solid offerings [electives] on the classics; typically you would see courses entitled 'History of Western Philosophy" and Ancient Classics or World Literature,' and History of Art & Architecture.</p>