Boston College Students Think Core Curriculum is Too Eurocentric
As Campus Reform points out, this charge is totally bogus.
BC students demand change to ‘Eurocentric’ core curriculum
Students at Boston College (BC) are petitioning administrators to change the school’s core history requirement because it is too “Eurocentric.”
“After careful analysis of the core curriculum at Boston College, we, the students, have come to acknowledge the lack of core courses that expand beyond a Eurocentric focus, which is particularly evident with the history core,” their petition states.
A group of four BC students wrote the petition as part of an assignment for a theology class, which tasked students with the project of identifying an injustice on campus. In their petition, students argue that such a limited historical perspective stands contrary to the goal of a liberal arts education, which, they claim, is to establish a well-rounded individual…
Although BC’s core curriculum does place an emphasis on European history, it simultaneously encourages students to establish “an awareness of historical developments in other parts of the world” while “encouraging the sense of tolerance that results from an understanding and awareness of different cultures and parts of the world.”
Additionally, students are required to complete two courses in history, which can be selected from a wide range of topics, such as “Asia in the World,” “Atlantic Worlds,” “Globalization,” and “Understanding Race, Gender, and Violence.”
Only one course in the core history requirements for BC’s 2015-16 academic catalog explicitly mentions Europe, whereas there are four offerings of the “Globalization I” course.
BC students demand change to ‘Eurocentric’ core curriculum (Campus Reform)
Comments
Who benefits from core requirements? As I understand it, many universities outside the US allow students to specialize from day one. Engineering majors study Engineering, Biology majors study Biology and as much Chemistry, Physics, and Math as they need. My Math BA required 18 hours in courses above Calc. IV. I could have tested out of History, Anthropology, and Drama. The US K-PHD education industry has become an employment program for dues-paying members of the NEA/AFT/AFSCME cartel. Mandatory (on all schools which receive tax support) credit by exam for all courses would bust this racket. Unfortunately for taxpayers and students, university faculty are articulate, well-paid, and have a lot of free time. This gives them simultaneously the means and motivation to defend their interests in legislative processes. Greece is a best-case scenario. Venezuela, here we come.
Things can be overdone, but a well-rounded education, including the liberal arts, has a lot of value. The ideal of the Renaissance Man has been around for over half a millennium.