History courses added to core?

Two U.S. History courses will be added to Area E for core requirements if the Board of Regents approves the proposal from Georgia College & State University to do so.
“I don’t think adding the courses will be a problem because most of the other institutions [in the University System of Georgia] already have it as an option in the core,” Professor and Chair of History and Geography Lee Ann Caldwell said. “There’s no reason I can see for it not to be added to the core.”
The history courses being considered are History 2111-US History to 1877 and 2112-US History since 1877. This implementation would begin Fall Semester 2005, and only for students who have not yet taken the course.
Students may still opt to take the US Georgia History test or the Georgia History test in place of the course to satisfy legislative requirements, however.
“In most of the institutions in the system, the US history courses are already in core area E because of the legislative requirement,” Caldwell said. “Here, it wasn’t in the core and students were taking the test and not successfully passing the test, or they were having to take the US history course as electives.”
Junior Kanica Hurt said she believes taking the class is a wise decision.
“I think it’s easier to take the class if you don’t really know history well. It’s easier to study for the class than the test,” Hurt said.
Demand for these courses is already growing, and will continue to grow if the courses are added to the core said Dr. Beth Rushing, Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
“Having these courses in the core doesn’t mean everyone would be able to take them,” Rushing said. “We’ll do our best to meet demand.”
Rushing said she would suggest students take the test if they are not able to get into the courses. She said students should also consider taking the exam or course early in college, while students are more likely to remember information from history courses taken in high school.
The proposal has been through the Department of History and Geography, the Curriculum and Instruction Committee of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Vice President and Dean of Faculties Dr. Anne Gormly’s office and was then sent to the University Senate for the last phase of approval at the university level. The proposal is currently at the Regents Council on General Education, to be decided this spring.
“It’s already been all the way through our governance structure here, and the next step is for it to be approved at the university system level,” Rushing said. “We certainly don’t anticipate any difficulty getting it approved.”
Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean Olufunke Fontenot said the legislative requirement is not the only reason students should be interested in taking History courses.
“The material is important because as Americans, it seems obvious that you need to know the history of the US,” Fontenot said. “Understanding your history is very important.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 4 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry