The Michigan Daily-Friday, May 18, 1979-Page 9
'U' courses share Harvard 'core' idea
By SARA ANSPACH
University administrators say they
have no plans to follow Harvard
University's revamping of its un-
dergraduate curriculum and degree
requirements to include mandatory,
specialized courses in place of broad in-
troductory classes. But the ad-
ministrators also say the ideas that
prompted Harvard's recently announ-
ced curriculum overhaul have been in-
strumental in some curriculum
developments here.
HARVARD UNVEILED its new un-
dergraduate program Tuesday. In ad-
dition to requiring "core" courses in
five areas-literature and arts,
historical studies,rsocial analysis and
moral reasoning, science, and foreign
cultures, the school will insist that
graduates show proficiency in writing
and mathematical skills, including the
use of computors.
LSA Associate Dean John Knott said
about a year ago administrastors
briefly discussed some of the types of
changes Harvard will be, instituting but
he added they felt these innovations
were not appropriate for a school like
the University. "We don't have a strong
general education tradition similar to
Harvard," he said.
Also, Knott said the University is so
- large and diverse that it would be dif-
ficult to agree on the courses to be
taught ina core program.-
THE PHILOSOPHY behind Har-
vard's core program is that students
benefit from in-depth studies of a
specific topic by learning how
knowledge is gained and studied more
than from a general overview of a sub-
ject in which students retain only bits
and pieces of information.
Several University programs were
developed with this philosophy in mind,
said Knott. The Great Books division in
the Honors College is a type of "general
education" course, said Knott. Next
fall, Knott said, he expects more honors
courses will be offered.
The freshman seminar program,
which will begin its second year next
fall, is another example of courses
which are specific and inter-
disciplinary. The 15 courses in the
smaller program are small (15-20
students) and taught by a senior mem-
ber of the faculty.
"UNIVERSITY COURSES," classes
an elementary knowledge of computers
in areas such as American Studies, are and can set up a simple loop program.
also examples of "non-standard" cour- "THE IMPLICATIONS of this are
ses offered through LSA. that professors will be able (in later
Knott said he would like to see more years) to assign students work on a
of these types of classes, but getting computer," he said.
faculty to teach interdepartmental LSA General Academic Counselor
courses is difficult. "The problem is Linda Wallin says that if a student is the
faculty have a lot of things their depar- least bit technically oriented, she ad-
tments want them to do," he said. vises that he or she take Computer and
"There's no budget to buy time away Communications 274, an introductory
from the departments. computer sciences course which
Harvard's new requirement that teaches students a computer language
students be proficient in computers and "how a computer thinks."
may be a developing trend, according Dean Knott discussed the possibility
to academic counselors. Harvard's - of some day requiring students to take
General Education Director Edward a course in computers. "I have a feeling
Wilcox said that students will have to we may discuss the issue some time in
nass unit tests to demonstrate thev have the futura "ha added
Trash-tossing, book-blaze
clutter U. of Connecticut
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - The Univer-
sity of Connecticut was cleaning up
yesterday from an end-of-school
student trash-throwing and book-
burning spree that left dormitory yards
covered with garbage, litter, and
broken beer bottles.
Many parents who arrived to pick up
their sons and daughters as the spring
semester closed were shocked by the
mess at the 9,000-student campus, a
university official said.
At one men's dormitory all six pic-
ture windows were missing, the result
of a wild party 21I2 weeks ago.
A MAINTENANCE worker stopped
shoveling debris outside the dorm and
shook his head. "I've been here 11 years
and this is the worst I've seen. I think
they (the students) are a bunch of
pigs," he said.
The damage reached its peak Mon-
day and Tuesday, when students built
massive bonfires to burn textbooks, and
threw cinder blocks, trash, and books
from dormitory windows.
No estimate of the cleanup and repair
cost was available Thursday. Officials
said any expense would be assessed to
students.
THE LITTER and damage had some
students and administrators at the
rural campus comparing the incident to
the movie "Animal House," which
detailed the antics of a college frater-
nity.
The movie "kind of brought back the
idea of going crazy on college campus,"
said graduate student Neil Sikand of
Mansfield, Conn.
But Nicholas Luchetti, a senior from
Milford, Conn. who lived in the heavily
damaged dormitory, said it gained an
"animal house" reputation long before
the movie appeared.
HE SAID much of the trash-throwing
was in reaction to the administration's
decision to make the dormitory coed.
The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative presents at mLB
FRIDAY, MAY 18 $1.50
SILVER STREAK
(Arthur Hiller, 1976) 7 a 9-MLB 3
GENE WILDER stars in this neat comedy-thriller about a book editor who wit-
nesses a murder on the L.A.-New York suaer-train and then becomes hunted
by the murderers and the cops. This film boasts RICHARD PRYOR in superb
comic torm and an elegant PATRICK McGOOHAN as the suavest villain since
Basil Rathbone and James Mason. Pryor giving Wilder lessons in American
comedy. With JILL CLAYBURN.
Free showing Tuesday, May 22nd in Aud A
Bogart in IN A LONELY PLACE and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
FRED ZINNEMAN'S 1955
OKLAHOMA
From a milestone in American musical theater, the first successful integration
of popular music with a story line on equal footing. Music by Rodgers and
Hammerstein, choreography by Agnes Demille, cinematography by many
times Oscar winner Robert Surtees. Starring GORDON MacRAE, SHIRLEY
JONES, ROD STEIGER 8 EDDIE ALBERT. By the future director of "Julia." In
color.
Sat: Lino Wertmuller's LOVE AND ANARCHY
Sun: THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD (Free)
CN AGUILD TONIGHTAT OLD ARCHMAUD
CINEMA GU : 4.A100.$15