Georgetown College’s Curriculum Committee revised the general education history requirements last week to include a wider range of courses; starting next fall, students will now be able to use courses on Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to fulfill half of the requirement. The other course must come from the current options: European Civilization, History of the Atlantic or Pacific World or World History.
When Zoe Marks (COL ‘07) arrived in fall of 2003, she said she was disturbed by the curriculum’s traditional focus and joined Leaders in Education about Diversity to investigate.
LEAD did not work on the issue during the 2004-05 school year, but met the challenge with renewed work last year, researching other schools like Harvard and Yale to see what their requirements entailed.
“They have very different requirements,” Marks said. “All of them have either a diversity requirement or a diverse curriculum.” Over 900 students signed a petition to expand the selection.
Marks sent a letter to the College Curriculum Committee on Oct. 25, 2006, detailing what LEAD believed should be done. At the end of the fall semester, Marks received an e-mail from John Tutino, the former head of the History Department, saying that the requirement was being changed. At the beginning of the semester, the proposal was introduced in the history department. According Dean Jane McAuliffe, it passed the College Executive Council , the final hurdle, on Jan. 29.
“It seems to be a good idea.” Professor Susan Pinkard, a Visiting Assistant Professor of European Civilization, said. “Everyone should know a part of the world that is neither European nor North American.”
