f riday, oct. 28, 1988
cabrini college, radnor, pa 19087
vol. xxxv, no. 6
Constructionstarts Changes in curriculumoffer from groundup varietyto students by Marian Armstrong
DiMarco construction company continues their work at Grace Hall. (photo by Kare_nSieg/)
Due to the lack of parking problems, workers are creating an extension to the Sacred Heart parking lot. (photo by Keith Pyle)
Tennis courts undergo reconstruction (photo by Keith Pyle)
Cabrini's curriculum of the liberally educated individual has been rewritten for the first time in almost twenty years. Next year the curriculum committee will introduce the initial stages of the Cabrini Core Curriculum (CORE). Next year's freshman class will be the first class affected by the new curriculum. "Intellectual excitement will characterize the next few years here at Cabrini," Dr. Sharon Schwarze, professor of philosophy, said. The committee was established in 1982, but Cabrini's curriculum has been the same since the early '70's. Schwarze, who wrote the core curriculum, said, "Revising the curriculum has been a six-year process and it was time to ripen." Schwarz~ said that one of the objects in rewriting the curriculum was to have more coherence among the students. She said, '· It wasn't clear where the qualities were being achieved. With the new core curriculum, I think it's clear to students. Students wanted more of a choice and we needed more cultural diversity." The core curriculum is divided into two sections, the competency and the distribution. The competency section consists of the requirements in mathematics, 3-9 credits; foreign languages, 3-6 credits; computer information sciences, 0-3 credits; and wntmg and composition, 0-3 credits. Therefore, the number of credits required under the competencies can range anywhere from 6-21 credits, depending on how wellprepared the student is. For example, students are presently required to obtain six credits in a foreign language. Under the core curriculum, students will be given the option of either having to get six credits when starting with an introductory course, or having to obtain only three credits when starting at an intermediate level. According to Schwarze, students will be encouraged to take the higher level courses in these subjects because there is more of an incentive to do so. "We're hoping students will push themselves. We want them to reach, not grab for security," she said. The other section of the core curriculum, the distribution, is divided into nine different categories. These categories are self understanding (freshman seminar); natural science; heritage; common good (junior seminar); values and commitments; social and political institutions; imagination, creativity, and aesthetic appreciation; cultural
diversity; and contemporary issues. Courses will be distributed into these categories. Courses such as fine arts, history, religion. literature, philosophy. psychology, and sociology will no longer be listed by department. A course may not appear in more than one category. However, a number of courses can appear under each category. For example, courses listed under the category of heritage can be a history course, a literature course, or even a religion course. According to Schwarze, it's like a free-fora!!. ''The distribution gives the students a lot of choice,'' she said. Credit requirementin the distribution area will be 34-35 credits. The number of required CORE credits will range from 4056, depending on the student's initial competence. According to Schwarze, in addition to the competency and the distribution, the faculty has compiled a list of books which they feel best classifies what a liberally educated individual should be familiar with. The list, which is called the Cabrini Classics, will be the primary source of materials for next year's freshman seminar in the spring. Freshmen who are well-prepared in English and composition will be able to take the freshman seminar first semester rather than having to wait until their second semester. The seminar will be restricted to groups of 15 students, but may have as many as four or five faculty members teaching it. "My job is to find people with similar interests,'' Schwarze said. The seminar is designed so that the instructor can provide their expertise in their own particular field. The $80,000 grant for the core curriculum was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. As well as the National Endowment grant, Schwarze has hopes of a possible grant from the National Science Foundation for another science course. such as astronomy, to give students more choices than just biology or chemistry. Dr. Antoinette Schiesler, academic dean, said, "I think the core curriculum is a marvelous idea. One of the things CORE is attempting to do is integrate. It is looking at the students' development." Schiesler said that students will get a taste of more than just one subject by itself. "I think it will help faculty to expand other fields of interest and that's exciting.'· Schwarze said, "We needed a knowledge of the rest of the world." Schwarze said the CORE will help students to take on a more mature attitude toward their courses and enable students to have more freedom and responsibility.
inside perspectives
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What horror awaits
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(See pages 6 and 7)
(see page 1_1)