The purpose of this paper is to share how physical education (PE) offers a unique place of interdisciplinary connections, contributing to coherence in the general education (GE) experience, and to demonstrate the overall value of PE, serving as a rationale for its inclusion in a GE program. A definition of GE is provided, followed by an historical…

Describes the course content of an interdisciplinary core course for science majors at Portland State University. This is a two-year sequence encompassing material from physics, chemistry, and biology, and is designed to prepare students to undertake an advanced undergraduate program in any of these fields. The syllabus and special features of the…

If degrees are interdisciplinary, minimal conditions concerning course structure, content and academic organization have to be met for them to be successful. Course descriptions are included in the appendix. (Author/PG)

A pilot for "Cornerstone," a new core curriculum at Samford University that aims for a more deliberate inclusion and consistent coverage of communication competence, was launched to coincide with the university's sesquicentennial celebration in 1992. The Cultural Legacies component of Cornerstone dealt with instruction in speech…

If science can be taught in a way that makes it accessible to the nonmajor, student fear of science would decrease. The topic of memory allows for an interdisciplinary analysis because films can be selected to complement the science. A course at Brooklyn College is described. (MLW)

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…

Attempts by the faculty at Baker University to introduce American undergraduates to the history of the Western tradition as part of their general education are described. The strengths and weaknesses of the Western civilization course and of the core curriculum formerly offered by the college are analyzed. The rationale for the interdisciplinary…

Man and His Environment is a course that teaches human behavior and preventive medicine to medical students, with multidisciplinary professionals, medical students, and institutions collaborating in its organization, delivery, and evaluation. Course content, instructional methods, student and course evaluation, and administrative organization are…

Prepared by the General Education (GE) Review Steering Committee of Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College in 1991, this guide provides a model of a Capstone course, a component of the College's newly developed GE Cornerstone Curriculum. Chapter 1 reviews the purpose of Capstone, a mandatory interdisciplinary course designed to integrate the…

Human services programs offered at 30 schools, colleges, and departments of education are described. All of the colleges and universities offering the programs are members of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The programs are described through abstracts, written by the institutions, and contain the following information:…

A State University of New York/Buffalo course entitled "American Pluralism and the Search for Equality" became the centerpiece of a new general education core curriculum. The origins, design, criticisms, and support for the course, and the role of faculty in the successful, long-term interdisciplinary effort are discussed. (MSE)

Proceedings of the North Country Workshop on Science, Technology, and the Undergraduate Curriculum are presented. The Sloan Foundation's call for reform of the liberal arts and coverage of mathematics, science, and technology is noted in welcoming remarks by State University of New York, Potsdam, President Humphrey Tonkin. Stephen H. Cutcliffe…

An international studies major for undergraduate students at the State University of New York College at Cortland is described. The major is designed to provide students with knowledge and skills that enable them to understand and help change a world that is interdependent, and determined by long-range forces. It is hoped that the international…

West Virginia State College's course development for a new general education core curriculum is described in this report. The process of curricular change that led to the development of new courses entitled "Origins" (investigating the origins of the universe, earth, human life, the mind, and society) and "Race, Gender, and Human…

This collection of 26 papers focuses on interdisciplinarity and its impact on the core or general education curriculum at postsecondary institutions. The papers include: "Professing or Instructing: Outstanding Challenges in the Task of Facilitating Student Reflection on Identity as Individual, as Family Member, and as Citizen" (Steve R. Gordy and…