Great Books Program aims to change core
With the University Senate considering revising the core curriculum, some changes, both drastic and subtle, could be entering the lives of GCSU students soon. At least, that’s the goal of Caroline Rentz, a senior political science major at GCSU, and the groundbreaking vision she has for the core curriculum of all GCSU students.
At the heart of Rentz’s plan is the Great Books Program, which is designed to give students an optional area of classes to fulfill their core requirements that rely on reading classical texts rather than textbooks and overview courses.
Started by Rentz last semester as her capstone project for her LEAD 2000 class, the Great Books Program aims to initiate and develop an optional core curriculum for GCSU students that is based on studying and learning from texts that influenced the development of western civilization.
Spread over multiple courses, the program would focus on teaching students about core ideas of western civilization including politics, culture, philosophy, government and literature through the texts that the ideas are based on. From Aristotle to Upton Sinclair, students would be able to learn about the foundations of western civilization in a way that could be considered truly “liberal arts.”
It’s not just Rentz that is enthusiastic about the idea of the Great Books Program though, students involved in the group are also eager to see the program come to fruition.
“I’m really excited about the idea of a books based course. I think it would be a more interesting way to learn about our core subjects,” said Brent Lambert-Zaffino, a freshman English major. “I’d definitely sign up for it.”
At the moment the Great Books Program may not be a well-known name, but that is soon to change. Already some professors at GCSU have jumped on board regarding the idea and a plan has been proposed several times for consideration. And while some may consider the idea impossible or too outlandish to work, Rentz is strong behind her belief.
“The evidence is strong that a system like this works,” Rentz said. “This system has been tried and tested at universities like Yale, Kansas, and Mercer, our sister school.”
With the University Senate considering revising the core curriculum in the near future, some feel the timing couldn’t be better for the program to get on its feet. This semester the program plans on ramping up awareness and gaining support for the initiative, as well as approaching professors about involvement in the program.
Posted by Matt Duncan
on Feb 19 2010. Filed under News.
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