Hours don't count... except when they do. Since they are arbitrary or "ROMANTIC" or "ILLOGICAL" perhaps we could reduce the gen ed requirements as well? Just a thought.
stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: David Garrison <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 11:00:24 -0500
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] responses
Joe,
Your anxiety about the shift from 128 to 120 seemed romantic to me because
it valorizes 128 as magical. (Why not 127 as the index of education or 146
or 25? Why hold on to the sacred 3 hours (i.e., 2.5 hours) of classroom
time per week? These things are matters of convention and usage, not
matters of quantity of time equating to quality of learning. So, the 128
seemed romanticized.
Illogical because the shift from 128 to 120 isn't about computer science or
English or engineering or any other program. It's about the overall
experience of the BA- or BS-seeking student. One doesn't need 128 hours of
English to be an English major--only 39; more than that for computer
science, but not 128. So, many programs will insist that students simply
have fewer electives or that gen ed courses or grad requirements be cut or
absorbed into the major. It's the overall educational experience that will
be compressed in terms of credit hours. Maybe that's a bad thing and maybe
it's not. (Maybe it's a bad thing, as well, that we don't require students
to spend a year abroad or to take up semester-long internships. Each of
those and numerous others would enhance the overall educational experience
and deepen the involvement in the major.)
We should be looking for ways to improve whatever undergraduate program
we're able to maintain, not fretting over its exact clock-time.
Finally, your comment, "maybe there are 8 credit hours of coursework in
*your* major programs in which the students learn nothing of value,"
assumes, dangerously, I think, that we all know and agree upon what is
worth learning, what is "of value."
I apologize if my terms seemed to you uncivil. I am frequently referred to
myself as both romantic and illogical--as when I wear my deputy sheriff's
badge in the office and make the other faculty folks nervous.
Cheers,
David
David Garrison
Professor and Head
Department of English (2703)
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Ave
Chattanooga, TN 37403
423 425 4238
423 425 2282 (fax)
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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