At Colgate University, a proposed Questions of Justice course has been considered to replace two classes part of the Core Curricula, Challenges of Modernity and Legacies of the Ancient World, into one unified class focused on “the concept of justice as it has been developed in a diverse range of ancient and modern texts”.

Modifying the Core Curriculum

This proposal is based on the increasingly pressing concerns about the ethics and efficacy of Colgate’s Core Curriculum. Colgate student Willow Goff explains how “The representation of only Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian texts calls into question whether [Core 151]  is a true pillar of the core curriculum”. The lack of connection the subject matter imparts onto students is based upon both the lack of nonwestern representation and the way Colgate’s text-based courses are taught. The themes are not unified and do not connect to the desire for the core to “provide an intellectual foundation shared by students, faculty, and all of Colgate alumni.”

 

To explain why Questions of Justice should be the focus of the core, we have to consider how students learn effectively and how this change could make an impact on the role of the Core Curriculum. 

How we learn 

If your early education was anything like mine, you probably remember being asked the question,“why do we learn history”?  To prevent history from repeating itself, is what our teachers told us while forcing us to memorize all the presidents of the United States. I learned that our 24th president was Grover Cleveland, but these facts of isolated historical events don’t allow for the kind of learning that inspires students to really build from the past. 

Colgate’s Core curriculum has this same issue. We read a set list of texts we are told are important, but there lacks a supporting theme that explains why they are important. Deciding how to alter the aspirations of the Core could mean the difference between students forgetting what they learn and students actually absorbing their knowledge to apply in future endeavors. 

According to the well researched transformative learning theory, we learn based upon the frame of references we have inherited through experiences. To learn is not only to absorb facts, but instead to connect them to basic ideas we already hold or are taught. We need to have a central theme in our learning to support the details we learn afterwards. This theory of learning also focuses specifically on adult learning, stating that the purpose of learning is to strengthen and build on foundational knowledge. As college students, we should be taking classes that challenge our already established point of views while building towards a common goal of reflection.   

For example, Core 151 or Legacies of the Ancient World, is text based and the focuses of the class are based on each individual text. Such topics include “basic modes of speech, literary forms, and patterns of thinking that establish the terminology of academic and intellectual discourse and critical thought across many different societies: epic, rhetoric, tragedy, epistemology, science, democracy, rationality, the soul, spirit, law, grace.” It can be assumed that not every text read in this class is going to include all these themes, so there is no concrete connection between every text. The lessons learned from this class instead become a mishmash of ideas with no real foundation to allow for the absorption of knowledge. 

The proposed Questions of Justice course instead would build the set of texts upon the common theme of justice. Students would therefore have a point of reference to guide them through historically significant texts. 

Why focus on Justice Specifically? 

If it is already established that the best way for the Core to be reformed is for the courses to follow a specific topic, how can we say that the theme of justice is the best option for the combined text-based courses?

The theme of justice is both broad and structured enough to lay the foundation of knowledge with the ability to carry into all aspects of further learning. As stated in the proposal for Questions of Justice, “Because of its multivalence, and because so many different cultures have overlapping yet non-identical conceptions of justice, this theme offers a powerful means by which to achieve the primary pedagogical goal of this course”.

I believe that by connecting to a common theme, these social issues presented in both classes would be enhanced. Instead of splitting the required Core courses into two time periods, the theme of justice could be analyzed chronologically as a whole using already present texts in both Legacies of the Ancient World and Challenges of Modernity. 

The future of the Core still remains uncertain, but change is definitely needed. Focusing on the way college students learn could transform Colgate’s Common Core from simply a requirement to real knowledge used past graduation.  

Cassy Bennett (author)

Hi, my name is Cassy Bennett and i’m a freshman at Colgate University. I am currently undeclared but interested in majoring in chemistry with a minor in architecture.