TheSkiffView
CHOICES
Students deserve useful courses

We have all wondered why we’re required to take classes that have nothing to do with our majors. More specifically, why everyone on this campus, regardless of their major, follows the same core curriculum requirements. It seems like a waste of time and the precious limited space in our brains, but the purpose behind it is commendable: To make us all more aware and better able to understand the many aspects of the world around us. A world that consists of more than our specific interests. A world that we should better relate to on many levels.

As a liberal arts college, TCU is expected to provide a broad-based curriculum that heightens a student’s understanding of the world around them. TCU graduates should leave here knowing more than the knowledge required for their career. The development of the new core has some antsy about what students will really be getting out of their courses. The courses are being put under broader, more interpretive categories and require new ways of assessing learning objectives. It seems like the courses are pulling away from the need to know a little bit of everything to being more concerned with what applies to each individual’s major and ultimate career choice.

Say a film major is allowed to take a History of Film course to fulfill a History requirement. Does that mean the student will graduate with no idea about what the American Revolution was? Doubtful, but still of concern. As is the fact that students who do take legitimate American History courses still leave college with no idea about what the American Revolution was because they didn’t consider it pertinent information in the grand scheme of things. And perhaps, for some, it isn’t.

Regardless of what direction the core is moving in, the mission that guides it is the same. The results are in the hands of the students.