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November 22, 2005
Letter to the Editor: Cultural Breadth decisions questionable
The “Cultural Breadth inquiry examining collected data” article in the Oracle publicized that members of Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) have taken on the important job of reforming the Cultural Breadth requirement. This article also raised some concerns which we have about the AAC relying so heavily on student evaluations to receive the input of students, which not everyone fills out. How can students, staff and faculty work together to provide more input throughout this process, so the committee is working with the most comprehensive and honest responses about what direction to take Cultural Breadth in?
Course evaluations aren’t the strongest method for reforming the Cultural Breadth. One flaw with relying solely on evaluations is that they provide only limited information on particular aspects of a course. For example, do the evaluations reflect that some courses can be used to fulfill the requirement and yet never really deal directly with diversity issues such as race, gender and sexuality? If the requirement allows students to go through four years of college without ever addressing Cultural Breadth issues, is the requirement doing what it’s supposed to do? Is Hamline as an institution fulfilling its mission statement and preparing students to become “compassionate citizens of the world?”
One problem with the reform to the Cultural Breadth is that the university relies on indirect communication to develop its curriculum, as opposed to direct communication and dialogue between staff, students, and faculty. If the role of students is to help shape the future of the requirement through their evaluations, then what is the role of the faculty and the administration to ensure that this requirement is authentic and being carried out? Shouldn’t the faculty and administration be working with students to make sure that Hamline’s mission statement is being fulfilled?
What would an ideal Cultural Breadth requirement look like? This is a question for the university as a collective body of students, professors, staff, and administrators to think about, discuss, and respond to.
- Matt Kitchin ‘08
- John Allen ‘09
- Chase Foreman ‘06
- Reed Aronow ‘08
- Brittany Johnson ‘08
- Mariama Kpaka ‘06
Posted by msveum at November 22, 2005 11:07 AM
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