Harvard following where others fear to tread... ;-)

A short article in the Harvard Crimson nicely captures some of the spirit of discussions at Harvard on their Oct. 2006 roposal for revision of core curriculum. With Louis Menand leading the revision committee, one expects much that is sensible. But the emphasis still seems to be: one theme, one course, without much thought (or attempt) to structure the Core. Almost inevitably, then, it will revert back to the distribution requirement it claims to be replacing.

An earlier article from 2005 discusses an earlier proposal:

The draft report recommends replacing the current Core Curriculum’s 11 fields of study with three broad disciplines—Arts and Humanities, Study of Societies, and Science and Technology—and requiring students to take three courses in each of the two areas most different from their concentration. The report also outlines year-long “portal” courses that students could take to fulfill the requirement for one of the three areas, according to a copy viewed by The Crimson last month.

And the 2005 Harvard reform proposal is still available on the Harvard website... Here's the "portal" idea:

At the same time, the Committee believes that the curriculum should assist students
in shaping their education by providing discrete opportunities for more intensive,
foundational courses in general education. These courses would provide integrative and
synoptic introductions to important knowledge and texts as well as orienting conceptual
frameworks in each of the broad divisional areas articulated above. Without prescribing a
common body of knowledge for all Harvard College students, they could contribute to a
common set of intellectual and academic experiences in which large numbers of students might engage in debate, discussion, and disagreement about important issues in the realms of art, culture, politics, science, and technology. The courses would reside outside of any specific departmental home and would be listed in a separate section of the catalogue called “Courses in General Education.” They would also count towards the fulfillment of distribution requirements.