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Core Curriculum at Hopkins: The Affirmative
The Student Discourse
Issue date: 11/5/09
This week we introduce a series of debates about life at Hopkins, The Student Discourse.
In this edition, two writers discus the merits of establishing a set of core curriculum at Hopkins.
If you do not know what biological taxonomic kingdom humans belong to, stop reading. If you do not know what the Freudian ego is, stop reading. If you do not know who wrote The Republic, stop reading. Or rather, maybe you should start.
To be fair, it is not your fault. It is not your fault. If I keep repeating myself like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting maybe it will become true - and I bet you all get that reference, especially if you missed the ones above.
Still, too many of us lack experience and knowledge outside of our own respective fields. I bet all biology majors answered the first one with ease, but I am not equally as confident that they were able to identify the last two. I am only slightly poking fun at bio majors; I know you guys are smart. I took Orgo. Students in other majors would have equal difficulty answering a biology question of similar difficulty. But the fact remains that as college students that will (hopefully) graduate from an elite university, we should be well versed in all academic disciplines, and not only limited to our specific major. As of now, we are failing pretty hard.
Look, I am on your side. I like the status quo that lets me take History of Medicine as both a Humanities distribution and writing intensive course. But more than that, I wish high schools were held to a certain standard that required graduating seniors have a basic knowledge in the various academic pursuits. If high school students came to college adequately prepared, we would not need to have our tenured professors impart their insights into Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby here and we could focus on a more specialized and narrow approach.
Sadly, this is not the case. And because kids are not showing up to freshman orientation with an understanding of Pascal's Principle, the derivative of my previous statement becomes important - because students do not gain a basic knowledge in high school, we have an obligation to teach it to them here.
In this edition, two writers discus the merits of establishing a set of core curriculum at Hopkins.
If you do not know what biological taxonomic kingdom humans belong to, stop reading. If you do not know what the Freudian ego is, stop reading. If you do not know who wrote The Republic, stop reading. Or rather, maybe you should start.
To be fair, it is not your fault. It is not your fault. If I keep repeating myself like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting maybe it will become true - and I bet you all get that reference, especially if you missed the ones above.
Still, too many of us lack experience and knowledge outside of our own respective fields. I bet all biology majors answered the first one with ease, but I am not equally as confident that they were able to identify the last two. I am only slightly poking fun at bio majors; I know you guys are smart. I took Orgo. Students in other majors would have equal difficulty answering a biology question of similar difficulty. But the fact remains that as college students that will (hopefully) graduate from an elite university, we should be well versed in all academic disciplines, and not only limited to our specific major. As of now, we are failing pretty hard.
Look, I am on your side. I like the status quo that lets me take History of Medicine as both a Humanities distribution and writing intensive course. But more than that, I wish high schools were held to a certain standard that required graduating seniors have a basic knowledge in the various academic pursuits. If high school students came to college adequately prepared, we would not need to have our tenured professors impart their insights into Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby here and we could focus on a more specialized and narrow approach.
Sadly, this is not the case. And because kids are not showing up to freshman orientation with an understanding of Pascal's Principle, the derivative of my previous statement becomes important - because students do not gain a basic knowledge in high school, we have an obligation to teach it to them here.
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Las Vegas Movers | Local moving Las Vegas
posted 11/06/09 @ 4:35 PM EST
Quote:
"Sadly, this is not the case. And because kids are not showing up to freshman orientation with an understanding of Pascal's Principle, the derivative of my previous statement becomes important - because students do not gain a basic knowledge in high school, we have an obligation to teach it to them here. (Continued…)
Becca
posted 11/06/09 @ 10:30 PM EST
"Do you not think it undermines how people perceive your English diploma when they meet your fellow student who can not accurately attribute "The Wasteland" to T. (Continued…)
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