Shared Futures

Butler University

Current Core Curriculum (Until Fall 2008)

Freshman Writing & Humanities (6 hours)
EN 102Freshman Writing Seminar
ID 103 Humanities Colloquium

Speech
SH 198 Public Speaking (2 hours)

Interdisciplinary Studies/ Change and Tradition (6 hours)
ID 201-202 Change and Tradition- Cultural & Historical Perspectives: Interdisciplinary and comprehensive study of major world historical cultures required of all Butler sophomores. The goals of ID 201-202 are to gain knowledge of major historical cultures during dynamic periods of their development, to appreciate both the diversity and universality of human cultures, and to recognize ways in which the present world is a product of the past. The cultures and historical periods featured by the course include: Chinese Civilization- Tradition and Modernity; Islamic Middle East-Tradition and Modernity; Revolutionary Europe-1789-1989;

Colonial Nigeria. Change and Tradition:  Islam/China
30 courses per fall term
810 students enrolled

Change and Tradition:  Revolutionary Europe and Nigeria
30 courses per spring term
 810 students enrolled
 
Faculty:  100% full-time
            60% taught by tenured/tenure-track
            40% taught by full-time non-tenure-track

We will specifically focus on this aspect of the core curriculum through the Shared Futures Project. Beyond that, we wish to infuse other areas of the core with the theme of “Self, Community and World.” The theme implies not only that a third of the core should attend to global issues, but also that we are calling for attention to the relations among the three elements of the theme, both the boundaries of each term and the membranous nature of those boundaries.

Physical Education (2 hours)
PE 101 Lifetime Fitness
PE102     Sports Activities

Distribution Requirements (17-18 hours)
Division 1- Humanities (History, English, Philosophy, Religion, Classics)
3 hours
Division 2- Fine Arts (Art History, Music History, Arts in Performance, Theatre)
3 hours
Division 3- Social Sciences (Anthropology, Economics, Journalism, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Geography) 3 hours
Division 4- Natural Sciences (Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics,                    Experimental Psychology) 5 hours
Division 5- Quantitative & Formal Reasoning (Computer Science,                   Mathematics and Logic) 3 or 4 hours     

Total Hours in the Current Core: 33 or 34            

The New Core Curriculum at Butler (To be implemented by Fall 2008)

In the old core, world cultures occupied 6 hours and was the responsibility of a small cadre of dedicated faculty.  The perception was that this cohort group was taking care of cultural diversity, so the rest of the faculty could more or less focus on other matters.  In the new core, cultural diversity must be addressed in all of the Common Core (15 hours, or 45.5% of the core, if one does not include the graduation requirements) and will likely also find a place in many sections of Areas of Inquiry.  Clearly, we wish to promote infusion of the theme, “Self, Community, and World,” and the connections among the elements in the theme, whenever we can meaningfully do so.  The Graduation Requirements, especially through The Indianapolis Community and The Butler Cultural Community Requirements, will also require students to experience diverse groups and perspectives.  Moreover, Butler’s entire curriculum—from majors in the liberal arts and sciences to professional degrees—must begin a thorough review of all required offerings to assure fit with “Self, Community, and World.”

Currently the faculty is engaged in a three-year period of course development.  An Interim Core Advisory Group is drafting criteria for course proposals, along with an application process for course development grants.  An Interim Core Administrator has been appointed until the provost can fill the new post of “Senior Core Administrator” (likely either a dean or associate provost) in accordance with the report’s insistence that administration of the core be given very high priority and the authority needed for successful implementation and continued operation.  President Bobby Fong has pledged to augment the faculty by 10 new full-time faculty lines.  He has also promised $250,000 over the next three years for related faculty development.  These commitments to the new core send powerful signals to the faculty.
 
The process of new course adoption will be creative and evolutionary.  Faculty will work individually and in teams to design limited choice models in Global and Historical Studies and Topics in American and Global Society.  Otherwise, a broad menu of courses will be solicited, courses which can change with faculty interest and expertise.  No course will be given permanent license; each course design, which must be accompanied by a detailed assessment plan, will be presented for recertification every five years.  Assessment must be thorough, as an excerpt from the recently approved core document explains:
 
Butler’s core education program must be assessed routinely and vigorously to evaluate and improve all aspects, including answering the following questions:

· Are students able to demonstrate mastery of specific learning objectives of Butler’s core program?
· Do specific approved courses in the core program continue to meet educational goals and objectives in content over a period of time?
· Does the teaching in core courses demonstrate successful pedagogical methodologies?
· What is the affective response on the part of students and faculty to involvement in Butler’s core program?
· How fully do students, faculty, and advisors understand the rationale for inclusion of the various learning objectives and attendant courses in Butler’s core program?

Finally, an important responsibility for the Core Administrator and the Core Advisory Group will be oversight of appropriate pedagogies; pedagogies suited for general education courses.  This represents a new commitment for the Butler faculty, which overwhelmingly endorsed a statement of “Pedagogical Principles for the Core” in September 2004.  A portion of that statement follows:

We champion a pedagogy for Butler’s core that reflects the ideals, goals and practices of liberal education:  we believe that how we engage students in core courses is, in the long run, as critical as what we teach our students. Helping students build the capacity to think critically and develop enthusiasm for the life of the mind are the most important goals of the core.   

As one of the sixteen participants in Shared Futures, our team will work together to bring back to campus the collective thinking and insights gleaned from this invaluable association.  Our goal to foster a conversation among cultures is the same as the projects, and as we enter a period of curricular planning, we are appreciative of the assistance of AAC&U and the Henry Luce Foundation to help enlarge our field of vision as we engage in dialogue with colleagues across the country.  We stand on the threshold of transformative change in our curriculum:  the timing could not be more fortuitous for Butler. We will become a model of reflective change, one primed for new growth. Specifically, our team will become a “Global Learning Resource Team” (GLRT) at Butler, providing a center of expertise for course designers and a screening committee for proposals. The GLRT will manage the successful transition from compartmentalized global studies to more universal infusion.