I think people need to draw a distinction between the curriculum and the specific classes they take. For example, my Modernity AND my Western Trad professors were horrible. In Modernity I spent a whole semester being called racist and learning why Christians are evil, evil people and in Western Trad I spent . . . wait, it was the same thing as Modernity, except I also had to listen to people say stupid things about Dante's Inferno because the professor knew NOTHING about it and couldn't correct them. However, the reading materials for each have been EXTREMELY useful to me, and I'm glad I took the classes. The in-class analysis and application sucked, but my own academic knowledge was definitely furthered. I'd LIKE to say that the problem is getting too far afield in assigning professors to teach disciplines they know nothing about, but my Modernity prof was the head of the History department, so there's no excuse there. I think we just have some bad professors, hate to say it.
(I have absolutely NO complaints about CORE Cultures and Scientific Perspectives--CORE Japan and Advent of the Atomic Bomb rocked my world. That Scientific Perspectives was EXACTLY what Colgate wants that class to be--I balanced chemical equations, learned how to build a plutonium bomb, and engaged my hindsight in political analysis based on what we knew about the bombs)
I completely agree that people need to be aware that Colgate is a liberal arts school before they get there. Did I LIKE taking Phys. Ed. or science/math classes? HELL NO! But, I knew what I was getting into before I agreed to go there. And seriously, if Colgate graduated people who couldn't do basic math or name some great works of literature, I'd doubt its reputation as an elite university. Besides, I had to take Calc anyway for Phi Beta Kappa, and it wasn't a hassle to take Comp Sci 100 at all--trust me, people can find classes they can handle.
My only Colgate academic regret is that I didn't have the time to take all the classes I wanted to. Sigh. So many un-learned bits of information. But . . . so many Mongols. Sooooooooooooo many Mongols . . . (with a Social Sciences class like "The Mongol Empire," HOW can people be complaining?! I would take that class again if I could)
And re: the video . . . man, there's some people in that video I haven't seen in a long, long time. Not that I ever liked Case very much, but still, seeing the people is kind of nostalgic for me.
no subject
(I have absolutely NO complaints about CORE Cultures and Scientific Perspectives--CORE Japan and Advent of the Atomic Bomb rocked my world. That Scientific Perspectives was EXACTLY what Colgate wants that class to be--I balanced chemical equations, learned how to build a plutonium bomb, and engaged my hindsight in political analysis based on what we knew about the bombs)
I completely agree that people need to be aware that Colgate is a liberal arts school before they get there. Did I LIKE taking Phys. Ed. or science/math classes? HELL NO! But, I knew what I was getting into before I agreed to go there. And seriously, if Colgate graduated people who couldn't do basic math or name some great works of literature, I'd doubt its reputation as an elite university. Besides, I had to take Calc anyway for Phi Beta Kappa, and it wasn't a hassle to take Comp Sci 100 at all--trust me, people can find classes they can handle.
My only Colgate academic regret is that I didn't have the time to take all the classes I wanted to. Sigh. So many un-learned bits of information. But . . . so many Mongols. Sooooooooooooo many Mongols . . . (with a Social Sciences class like "The Mongol Empire," HOW can people be complaining?! I would take that class again if I could)
And re: the video . . . man, there's some people in that video I haven't seen in a long, long time. Not that I ever liked Case very much, but still, seeing the people is kind of nostalgic for me.