<p>what do you think are the most important subjects for students to take? Linear algebra or art history, political philosophy or bioethics, etc.? Or in other words, what should be the backbone of a universal “core curriculum” (in a very loose way, of course, since each person has different interests and such).</p>
<p>asdf123, I don’t wish to post my choices just yet , but I will wager that if you take the total number of posters posting on the parent forum and multiply it by oh…maybe 2, you will have a rough approximation of how many different answers you are going to get to your query. LOL.</p>
<p>I’m ready with my first one. English composition or whatever the demanding, intensive writing course is called at the school. If you are able to communicate your thoughts within a society ,** then** the other material you learn becomes valuable to that society. Without the ability to effectively communicate your thoughts over time and through space, you and your “knowledge” are the internet without search engines (or for the “old school” - an un-alphabetized encyclopedia).</p>
<p>[ul][<em>]At least two fine or performing or studio art courses (music/art appreciation, drawing/sculpture/painting/photography,vocal or instrumental performanc…)[</em>]At least two courses involving the reading and analysis of literature, whether modern, classic, in English or not[<em>]one or two physical sciences [</em>]an intensive writing course[<em>]a course exploring one or more world culture(s)/religion(s) or cultural history [</em>]at least one business or economics course [*] a VERY small seminar (8-10 students max) in any topic of interest, where you MUST participate in intense discussions so you learn how to learn from others’ perspectives and communicate your own[/ul] This would be my ideal, so that no matter how specialized one’s major field of interest is, s/he has an appreciation of other fields and ways of thinking.</p>
<p>jmmom: Sounds good, but a little light on the sciences–not to mention mathematics–don’t you think?</p>
<p>Oh…and when you’re studying those world cultures, how about a foreign language or two?</p>
<p>Not a parent, but I would add the following to jmmom’s list: [ul]
[<em>]Intro courses in all three major science fields - biology, chemistry and physics
[</em>]Some mathematics courses, even better if they pertain to your chosen field of study.
[li]At least one course covering the government/politics of one’s country.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>I may be the only person who would find this interesting, but… an overview of where the heck one’s university education came from, which would be a sort of rough history of philosophy/education/natural sciences, including what the classical liberal arts education is, its evolution, what colleges originally were and what they’ve become. Maybe I’m way off, but I think it would be a good idea for students to know what they’re doing at college and why.</p>
<p>I think if students were to learn what the original purpose of a college was for, they’d realize that college is not for those wishing to get a job!</p>
<p>After all, the original purpose of a college was to provide a liberal arts education, that is, an education that is purposely not very practical but instead meant for those who don’t need to work (i.e., “free men”).</p>
<p>Statistics and a good working knowledge of algebra and geometry will suffice for the math portion of all but the most technical jobs. Writing, history, science and arts courses are great to round things out.</p>