Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities

Scripps College has a long and distinguished tradition in teaching in the humanities. New students must fulfill their general education requirement in the Humanities by taking the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities (Core). The Core is a closely integrated sequence of three courses designed to encourage increasingly sophisticated and focused interdisciplinary investigation of a broad range of historical and contemporary issues.

During the first semester, all first-year students take Core I which consists of a lecture/discussion format. Team-taught by 15-18 faculty members drawn from each of the College’s academic divisions (arts, letters, natural sciences, and social sciences). Core I is unified by a single syllabus and a particular theme that is approached from multiple perspectives. In the second semester of the first year, students choose from a range of Core II courses, each of which is taught by an individual professor or team-taught by two professors. Core II courses are devoted to more intensive study of some of the methods, issues, and problems introduced in Core I. In the first semester of the sophomore year, students continue their interdisciplinary work in Core III, in which they choose from a large number of options which focus on more specialized topics and in which students develop independent research and projects; each Core III course is taught by an individual professor.

The theme of the Core Program as a whole is “Histories of the Present”. With this inquiry Core faculty and students explore the ways in which our contemporary self-understandings have emerged. We interrogate concepts and categories that seem so “natural” and “obvious” that they prevent us from thinking clearly about their complexities and ambiguities, and hinder us from seeing our world in other ways.

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Core 1

Department Goals and/or Objectives

Goals are broad statements that describe what the program wants to accomplish

1. First-semester students have a shared intellectual experience.
2. Students are introduced to interdisciplinary approaches to studying problems of historical and contemporary interest.
3. Students develop analytical skills in reading and oral expression through small-group discussions.
4. Students develop writing skills that emphasize argumentation and textual analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes describe specific knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes students should demonstrate

SLO1: Students demonstrate comprehension of key terms from texts and lectures.
SLO2: Students are able to examine a variety of issues from different disciplinary perspectives.
SLO3: Students display a comprehension of course materials (i.e., the claims, arguments, interpretations of texts and lectures).
SLO4: Students display a capacity to present and to respond to claims and arguments orally.
SLO5: Student essays emphasize argumentation and textual analysis.

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Core 2

Department Goals and/or Objectives

Goals are broad statements that describe what the program wants to accomplish

1. Understand how and why different disciplines approach seemingly similar objects of contemporary interest and/or historical importance from different perspectives, leading to different conclusions and material consequences.
2. Use various disciplinary methods.
3. Develop their own written and oral arguments in interdisciplinary contexts.

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes describe specific knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes students should demonstrate

SLO1: Demonstrate knowledge of various disciplinary methods.
SLO2: Effectively communicate arguments orally.
SLO3: Effectively present arguments in written form.

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Core 3

Department Goals and/or Objectives

Goals are broad statements that describe what the program wants to accomplish

1. Students independently and creatively develop their understanding of different disciplines and interdisciplinary inquiry acquired in Core 1 and 2.
2. Students explore and interrogate the historical construction of a particular field of inquiry.
3. Students formulate, research, and execute a substantial project of their own design.

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes describe specific knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes students should demonstrate

SLO1: Student synthesizes and critically explains issues.
SLO2: Student articulates a clear and informed argument.

Programs

Core Courses