<p>
[quote]
but just want to note that MANY LAC's have some kind of distribution requirements..which include math and science...we've been through that before on another thread.
[/quote]
DUH????
Ahem...who you callin' an old fart????</p>
<p>Kind of seems pointless to argue open curriculum vs. distribution requirements vs. Core curriculum. In the end, each kid chooses what's right for him/her and that's about it. The way I see it, if a kid has opportunities to take classes beyond his or her own areas, they should take it. Hey, college is expensive and only once, so why not take it all by the bullhorns, right? But the kids who limit themselves to one, two, or three areas may be truly happy with their decisions. College is supposed to be all about freedom/liberation and being responsible and making your own choices, right?</p>
<p>Yes, this is coming from somebody is very math and science-phobic but is (tentatively) willing to give both subjects a second chance if I end up at Smith. There's a physics class that I'm particularly attracted to. :) Besides I could always use the Pass/Fail option to my advantage (without getting excessive and overprotective of my GPA).</p>
<p>How about this:</p>
<p>There are many colleges in this country. These colleges are all different. They are urban, rural, co-ed, single-sex, big, small, etc. Some have a core, some have distribution requirements, and some (like Smith and Brown) have an open curriculum. People should be able to choose what schools they want based on their own personal preference. A core curriculum is not better or worse than an open curriculum. For some, however, it is better or worse. Think: what's more important to you? Flexibility or structure? Do you want to go somewhere where everyone has common ground class-wise, or somewhere where everyone is doing his/her own thing? I personally would prefer an open curriculum, although it would hadly affect me, as I plan to take classes in many different areas anyway. </p>
<p>Variety is the spice of life! Feast on your options!</p>
<p>Not that this may mean much to the APers, but I'm a self-described IB loser and I personally find a major Core-anything to be a drag at times (no offense to Columbia and U/Chicago -- both great schools, my cousin went to U/Chicago). But there were times when I'd be studying for parametric equations and sitting there, thinking, I'd rather be reading Sartre or talking about politics.</p>
<p>Yes, probably too math-phobic for my own good. I jokingly talked about starting a philosophy that is anti-math and anti-rational thinking -- not including the societal implications of creating such a way of life. That said, I'll take a second shot at Calculus (but please, no trigonometry...). ;)</p>
<p>You can read my mind, arianneag...</p>
<p>Diversity is nature's way of caring for the species.</p>
<p>My personal opinion is that the best core program by far is not at Columbia or Chicago, but at Scripps. The idea that they pursue is that the core doesn't consist of a list of books, or a "canon", but that there is need for familiarity with modes of inquiry.</p>
<p>In the best of all worlds, the "canon core" should have been "covered" in high school. In my d's case it was - but we homeschooled! ;) Nonetheless, with experience in all three approaches, I think that for most students the freedom that comes from open inquiry, including mistakes and missteps that occur as a result, outweigh the gains that come from having to conform with someone else's often much-compromised notion of what one needs to know.</p>
<p>I have been following the debates about Harvard's proposals to change distributional requirements and I can't help thinking how the debate is no better advanced from what I see happening in front of a small town school board.</p>
<p>Starting this fall there will be a quantitative analysis requirement. Advising also will be much more in-depth in an effort to have as many women as possible experience all the different disciplines. Presently 60% of the students take a course in 5 of the 7 major fields of knowledge. The two fields most often not taken are math and language.
Public speaking—speaking correctly- will also be integrated into the curriculum.</p>
<p>The COFHE survey is interesting. Smith women ranked themselves at the top for writing proficiency but last for math. Since the survey is students self assessment, while it does serve a purpose, it doesn’t necessarily mean the assessments are fact. </p>
<p>Like or dislike the no core , it’s here to say. It’s used a recruiting tool.</p>
<p>roadlesstraveled, where did you hear about a quantitative skills requirement? I haven't heard of one being implemented, though I have heard talk of it being required. Same with the changes to advising.</p>
<p>"where did you hear about a quantitative skills requirement?"</p>
<p>Sr. Smith administrator. I should have said in all likelihood. I tried to edit but it was too late.</p>
<p>More in-depth advising is no big deal as far as implementation goes.</p>
<p>Borgin,</p>
<p>If anyone, you should know sometimes Smith arrives at an internal consensus regarding a change and without warning implements it. Just last week an email was sent announcing a change in the bio major requirements. No one had a clue it was coming.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what changes to the Bio major?</p>
<p>I wasn't questioning that it had happened, I was just wondering how you heard - there's been no announcement to students or the general public as far as I can tell, and if there had been I'm sure there would have been some outrage on campus, especially with regard to the quantitative skills requirement. I personally don't think such a requirement is a bad thing.</p>
<p>They probably won't announce it until <em>after</em> the admitted students commit. :-)</p>
<p>The funny thing is, I get the impression that many Smithies who swore that they would not take math or science end up taking those courses anyway. </p>
<p>I, too, want to hear about the bio dept. changes. </p>
<p>BTW, my d. says that they changed Japanese instruction texts/methods mid-year to make the class much more difficult. Those who are taking elementary Japanese (my d is not, but she got her info from those who are) had their class time increased by the professor to include an extra hour per week. This for a class that already meets five times a week. Has Smith made a conscious decision to make their courses more rigorous? Is something going on campus-wide?</p>
<p>Big, happy dance in my house. My d. in Italy this morning (evening there) just received word that she has been awarded a Kahn Fellowship!</p>
<p>STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS
Each year, at the beginning of the Spring semester, the Director of the Institute invites members of the sophomore and junior classes to apply for fellowship in connection with projects that the Kahn Institute will support during the next academic year. </p>
<p>All project Fellows meet together weekly for a colloquium gathering and meal — a process of social and intellectual interaction that represents the core of the project. It is here that Fellows develop their research and discuss one another’s work-in-progress from the perspective of her/his own particular interests. In addition to these discussions, Fellows are encouraged to invite outside scholars and experts to participate in the research colloquium and to offer public events that are open to the academic community and the public. </p>
<p>Kahn Student Fellows are appointed for the duration of the project, and are required, along with Faculty Fellows, to participate in the project’s weekly research colloquium and meal, as well as the various special events organized by the project’s Fellows. Therefore, each student is expected to be able to commit to the project’s weekly schedule for the entire academic year.</p>
<p>Kahn Fellowships require a real commitment to scholarship, and that means developing research questions closely related to one of the yearlong projects, and spending the Fellowship year conducting the actual research. Student Fellows will be expected to read five or six of the key works in the field of their topic over the course of the summer preceding the project year and to develop at least three significant research questions, one of which will be pursued during the Fellowship year. Most students may not have had much experience defining a research topic or generating original research; therefore, the Kahn Institute has developed a two-part research orientation program for Student Fellows that consists of an introduction to available research tools in May, followed by a week-long research workshop in late August to help students develop and refine the focus of their research projects. </p>
<p>Student Fellowships carry a stipend of $3,000: $1,000 to be disbursed in two equal installments over the course of summer preceding the project year; and the remainder disbursed in equal bi-weekly payments following the academic year student payroll schedule. Please note that students who are appointed Kahn Fellows are not permitted to hold any other on-campus job during the course of the academic year.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>This is the topic:</p>
<p>UNDERGROUNDS AND UNDERWORLDS
Organizing Fellows: Kevin Rozario (American Studies) and Michael Thurston (English)
In the Underworlds of mythology, ritual, and poetry, and in Undergrounds of subterranean space (sewers, subways, cellars) and oppositional or avant-garde movements, things occur that are interesting and important. Both Underworlds and Undergrounds have existed for thousands of years in religious mythologies, in literary narratives and folk tales, and in political cultures, as well as in the interpretation and use of subterranean spaces, both natural and built. The creation of Underworlds into which characters descend and the use of Undergrounds in which revolutions are hatched have held meaning across wide spans of geographical and cultural space, and in every historical period. Some might look to Odysseus invoking the shade of the prophet Tiresias from the Underworld at the inaugural moment of the European literary tradition, while others see groups devoted to subversive ideas finding refuge in the catacombs under Rome in the first century BC; while still others pursue Gilgamesh into an Underworld, or trace Mao Tse-tung to caves in the mountains of China, where he harbors his revolutionary forces; or follows the Underground Railroad leading slaves to freedom; or examines Bohemia as a distinctive kind of creative space; or investigates the effects "blogging" on mainstream politics and journalism. The substantive areas of research that might be pursued within this framework are almost unlimited, and the organizers hope to bring together scholars from the broadest range of fields to pose a wide array of questions about that which goes on under the surfaces, in undergrounds and underworlds. Why have such spaces exerted such power over our imaginations? What are the material and symbolic functions of underground spaces, in urban development, in economic organization, and in social relationships? How does the presence of an underground shape how we inhabit and experience space above ground, whether physical or conceptual? To what extent might such spaces liberate us from the rules and constraints of the dominant and normative order above ground? Indeed, how have undergrounds and underworlds, as places and as metaphors, formed, deformed, and transformed the world we inhabit? The organizers view this project as enabling the broadest possible intellectual engagement, and so as long as the eyes of scholars are focused downward, under the surface, toward undergrounds and underworlds, a rich variety of perspectives, methodologies, and areas of research interest are encouraged. </p>
<p>Doin' the happy dance. :)</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter, Mini! The topic sounds fascinating - and well worth a year of research.</p>
<p>Smith should make the quantitative skills requirement, if they implement it, apply to future classes only. I think it's slightly unethical to announce a requirement after the admitted women commit.<br>
I also think that their applications and yield will go down, since the current open curriculum is a major selling feature to many (whether or not they eventually take a math and/or science course).</p>
<p>Mini, Congrats to you and your D!!!! Sounds awesome.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I also think that their applications and yield will go down, since the current open curriculum is a major selling feature to many (whether or not they eventually take a math and/or science course).
[/quote]
MoS, I agree with this thinking. The open curriculum is most definitely a selling point; I know it was with my D and her friends who attend. I'm certain that if they do impose a quantitative requirement, it would only apply to new first years after implementation.</p>
<p>No new enforced quantitative requirement. I was at a reception/presentation with President Christ the other night and took 14 pages of notes which I'll transcribe as soon as I get some business taken care of over the next few days. She was kind enough to give me permission to post everything I took down, so it'll be on the longish side.</p>
<p>Students will receive more directive counseling and will be "encouraged" to take quantitative as well as other courses but they will not be required. She was good enough to laugh when I posed a "listening between the lines" question...she's a speaker where if you don't listen between the lines, you're missing half of what she's saying. I'll leave all the nuggets for the full report...no later than this weekend, I hope.</p>
<p>We apparently have a miscommunication. In the past, I specifically asked Pres. Christ if the quantitative analysis requirement would be instituted this fall, and she replied it would.</p>
<p>It appears the decision has changed</p>
<p>"Encouraging" a student to take a quantitative analysis course is going to accomplish little.</p>