This article describes a general education course offering, Physics and the Arts. During the development of this course, physics and arts faculty collaborated closely. We cover the usual physics phenomena for such a course--light, color, and sound--in addition to gravity, equilibrium, and spacetime. Goals of the course are to increase students'…

Despite efforts of both administration and faculty, the intent and the execution of new curricular initiatives are not always in alignment. To understand how the declaration of a campus-wide general education initiative was being implemented, this article combines analyses of syllabi and courses from across disciplines. In an initial review, the…

The University of California-Merced's Core 1 has potential to foster genuine interdisciplinary thinking by asking students to conceptualize knowledge across fields of inquiry. Core 1 introduces students to the range of scholarly inquiry at the university all in the span of one semester-long, writing-intensive, integrated curriculum that encourages…

The purpose of this study was to describe the structure of general education curricula at baccalaureate colleges of health science in relationship to Bergquist's Career-Based Model of curriculum. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, the model was tested by examining whether the curricula were both prescriptive and specific.…

Discusses the importance of historical study within general education. Reviews the rise and fall of the Western Civilization course as the core of general education in the humanities. Suggests ways a revised version of this course can be restored to a central place in the curriculum. (AYC)

A group of papers concerning English language syllabus design for general education curricula developed for a symposium on that topic includes an introduction on the definition and function of syllabuses by Christopher Brumfit, and a paper providing a review and discussion of terminology, background to the discussion, and current views on the…

When faculty members think about curriculum, they think about course content. Debates about general education reflect this focus. Drawing on a case study, this article considers, rather, the politics and process of curricular change. It argues that success in this realm depends on the skill of academic administrators. (Contains 2 figures.)

After much discussion and several false starts, Nassau Community College (New York) has developed a two-course core curriculum designed to cover significant material from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities in practical proportions. The first course in the sequence, "Exploring Nature and Society," deals with Perceptions of the…

This study analyzed the curriculum to which prospective teachers were exposed during their baccalaureate program in comparison with arts and sciences graduates. Transcripts of college graduates from 17 universities in the south were examined; 2,760 were classified as arts and sciences majors not certified to teach, and 3,283 were classified as…

Discusses the Ursuline Studies Program, a new core curriculum at Ursuline College designed to improve women's learning and intellectual and ethical development. Describes the program's emphasis on analysis and synthesis, effective communication, social interaction, value-based decision making, response to beauty, problem solving, and social…

Based on thirteen examples of humanities programs across the U.S., this book attempts to address the question of what an effective core humanities curriculum should include. It looks at issues such as course requirements, standardized versus more flexible programs of learning, and the question of how responsive such programs should be to current…

Saint Francis College (SFC), in Pennsylvania, is a private, Catholic, coeducational institution of 1,200 full-time undergraduates. Over 55 percent of the student body is enrolled in pre-professional majors; majors in the traditional liberal arts now account for only 13 percent of the student population. Faculty some time ago began to question…

A General Education Task Force (GETF) was formally constituted at George Brown College (GBC) in June 1992 as one of four task forces created to develop an academic plan for the college. The charge of the GETF was to develop a philosophy statement on general education, a set of post-secondary general education curriculum guidelines, a general…

It is proposed that the college core curriculum should provide students with the background to understand magazines and books read by culturally literate, college graduates. As an example, Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" is examined for important themes, language, and historical and cultural figures. (MSE)

"Secondary School Offerings" provides a brief annotated outline of the general education courses offered in two middle units and one senior unit in the Cherry Creek Schools during 1971-72. The purpose of this summary is to supply a guide for new staff members, interested students, and parents. An overall instructional goal is to…