How much do you love the Core?

Maroon8
Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:53:14 +0000

When I hear people vigorously question the existence of the Core, I seriously question their decision to attend the university. There are parts of the core that could use some work (Bio…), but by and large the courses are well-designed. The author’s arguments against the core are, in my mind, actually arguments in favor of it. He complains that it is an overly prescribed curriculum, dictating a supposed “correct” course of education. But it’s actually the opposite. It is precisely because no single approach has a monopoly on insight that it is essential to be introduced to diverse perspectives. A narrow exposure to a limited number of fields places limitations on one’s ability to understand findings from all disciplines. The core forces everyone to get at least a little bit familiar with a wide range of disciplines, so that you can understand what they offer to the pursuit of knowledge.

And a bit of psychology demonstrates the necessity of the core to that end. While in theory taking a broad range of courses might be agreeable to many students, in practice each individual quarter would likely fill up with classes mostly from the students’ area of interest. While an English major might be perfectly willing to take a math class or two among their 42 at the university, it’s likely that without a requirement, most would never actually pick a math class instead of a subject in which they were more interested when selecting classes for each individual quarter.