Word: cores
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...more unfortunate aspects of the Core controversy was the method by which it was discussed and finally adopted. Harvard's administrators like to function in quiet, low-profile fashion, tinkering with the system but largely failing to consult the students who will be affected by their plans. True to form, the Core has arrived with a minimum of student input. It is strangely presumptuous--almost insulting--to ask undergraduates to buy the idea that a small number of Faculty members know enough about Harvard's problems to be able to suggest a replacement for Gen Ed. A Crimson poll...
When the first sketchy outlines of what became a very intricate proposal came to light last year, most students and Faculty members believed that only five new areas of general education would be established to replace the three now in existence. But the Core as it stands today recommends a much more rigid program, with ten rather vague areas in all, out of which students must choose eight. This is unacceptable: although we recognize the inevitability and practicality of some sort of Gen Ed revision, ten areas constitute an unnecessarily excessive infringement on students' freedom of choice. The idea...
...major problem with the Core is the attempt by its authors to delineate carefully the structure and content of courses to be designated as "Core courses," which will gradually phase out Gen Ed courses over the next four academic years. Whether Faculty members will be willing to teach the types of courses outlined in the report is not clear; the Core may well set up the type of large lecture courses that no one likes to teach and no one wants to take...
...Core Curriculum is only a poor substitute for the good advice and counseling that would direct, but not coerce, students to attain a balanced education. And the Core will not solve one of Harvard's fundamental problems: the dearth of close associations between students and Faculty members. Instead, by setting up huge introductory courses as the bases of an already-suspect Harvard education, the Core will only widen the gulf between students and Faculty members. A Harvard education could easily be reduced to instruction by busy, underpaid graduate students who are more interested in pleasing their doctoral advisers than accommodating...
...wake of the Faculty's 182-65 vote in favor of the Core, it is incumbent upon the Standing Committees on the Core, which will be formed over the summer, to use their enormous powers of discretion to make the Core courses as palatable as possible. Finally, it is imperative that the Faculty not feel that its efforts for reform of undergraduate education are terminated for the decade, now that the Core is a reality. Notoriously problematic areas of concern remain, including tutorials, student-faculty contact, advising, and alternate concentrations. The Core addresses only a small part of undergraduate education...