A call for diversity in the current curriculum may be implemented as early as fall of 2001, said David Andrews, professor of Slavic languages, at a meeting held Mon. by the Curricular Working Group on Diversity.
The Working Group was formed last year in response to the Unity Coalition Report regarding diversity on campus. After having met for several months in order to discuss possibilities for broadening the current curriculum, this meeting informed students of their findings, said Andrews.
“Georgetown is behind our competitor institutions in terms of handling this particular area of curriculum,” Andrews said. “In addition to failing to represent the cultural diversity of our campus, there is little emphasis put on women’s studies as well as on courses dealing with sexual orientation,” he said.
The Working Group has proposed new offerings for the core curriculum which will include more diverse educational opportunities. Courses such as U.S. Pluralism in Global Context, Women’s Movement, Then and Now, and Sexuality and Society may be included in the fall Undergraduate Bulletin.
“The committee has asked Dorothy Brown to make an appeal to the departments to have each begin discussions from the bottom-up, in a grass roots way, about what each department could do in the area of diversity,” Andrews said.
The Office of the Provost was awarded a Hewlett Grant to work specifically in addressing issues of diversity in the New Student Orientation. The Provost’s office used the grant to bring speakers on diversity to speak to the incoming class.
In addition to the alteration in NSO, The Center for New Design in Learning and Scholarship will have workshops as early as May 2001, in order to help the faculty address issues of diversity in both the class room and student body.
