LA&S and V&PA Share a New General Education Initiative

In an innovative new approach that promises to significantly enhance general education at NIU, the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) and Visual and Performing Arts (V&PA) have begun collaborating in the delivery of some general education courses.

The new focus--known as Plan One--builds upon LA&S's highly successful Freshman/Focused Interest Group program and links existing courses in general education through particular themes.

Implemented for the first time in the fall 1999 semester, the initiative links various general education courses in biological sciences, geology, physics, anthropology, economics, philosophy, theatre, communication, sociology and art around four main themes: Beauty; Civilization; Community; and Science, Society, and Culture.

Deans Frederick Kitterle of LA&S and Harold Kafer of V&PA believe the program will promote the integration of knowledge across traditional boundaries by delivering general education in a coherent and coordinated fashion. Students will benefit by being provided a broad perspective that increases their breadth of knowledge beyond that found in a single general education course.

"In its cross-college collaboration, Plan One will significantly increase the likelihood of a formative undergraduate experience for our students," notes Kitterle. "Our approach is in keeping with the national emphasis on improving undergraduate education and is consistent with NIU's General Education Mission Statement, inasmuch as it provides increased opportunities for students to relate information from one intellectual realm to another and to see connections and relationships among ideas."

The approach also enables faculty to work together in developing their syllabi and coordinating course delivery so that connections and relationships among ideas are more readily articulated, notes Kitterle.

"From the faculty's perspective, this thematic approach to general education provides a way of developing a learning community where teaching, scholarship, and research at interdisciplinary boundaries can influence and inform undergraduate education," he says. "Moreover," he adds, "such an approach can be the basis for curricular linkages at the upper division in electives or the major. It can be the means by which the values and value of general education can permeate and infuse the entire undergraduate experience. It is a way to create a uniquely Northern approach to undergraduate instruction."

Made possible through funding from NIU's Alumni Foundation and the Provost's Office, and endorsed by the councils and curriculum committees of both colleges, Plan One was initiated with a General Education Transformation Workshop last year, an event in which selected faculty who teach general education courses worked collaboratively to develop the themes that would link some of the various courses in the general education curriculum.

Faculty members in different disciplines worked in three- or four-member teams to identify and effectively link their respective general education courses with the particular themes. The summer program also featured presentations by invited scholars, which included in-depth discussions of issues, strategies, and resources for general education transformation through thematic linkages. Subsequent workshops have drawn more and more faculty and are now a continuing part of college planning.

The following are examples of courses linked to a Plan One cluster:

Beauty ART 282 Introduction to Visual Arts ART 395 19th-Century Art PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy PHIL 342 Philosophy of the Arts PHYS 150 Physics Courses in the beauty cluster develop an awareness of beauty in nature and in the arts; an understanding of scientific, social, and historical ideas about beauty; and the ability to think critically about the connections between beauty and a good life and to identify and explore important questions about beauty.

Civilization ECON 260 Principles of Micro- economics PHIL 231 Contemporary Moral Issues THEA 203 Introduction to Theatre Courses in the civilization cluster examine general issues concerning the structure of civilization, specific features of particular civilizations, and those activities that are hallmarks of civilized endeavor. An important goal of the cluster is to impart a sense of what citizenship means.

Community COMS 240 Rhetoric of Interpersonal Communication ENGL 115 Masterpieces of British Literature ENGL 315 Shakespeare FLRU 261 Russian Culture and Literature PHIL 231 Contemporary Moral Issues SOCI 270 Social Problems Courses in the community cluster address key questions about human community such as: What is a community? How do communities shape their members? How are communities held together or pulled apart? How will we define community in the future?

Science, Society, and Culture ANTH 120 Introductory Anthropology ANTH 210 General Prehistoric Archaeology ANTH 220 Cultural Anthropology BIOS 101 Plant Products and Human Affairs BIOS 103 General Biology GEOL 120 Introduction to Geology PHYS 150 Physics THEA 203 Introduction to Theatre Courses in the science, society, and culture cluster examine the complex interactions between science, society, and culture. This cluster considers the influence science and technology have had on the growing human population and the physical environment, as well as the influence that society and culture have on the science that develops.