January 17, 2006
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Major: Education
Class Title: Alternatives to majors and minors in American colleges and univerisites
Major: Writing
Class Title: Writing blogs for social change
Major: Psychology
Class Title: Journaling as a form of personal growth
I’m not sure what I want to write today, but I’m in the mood to change the mood of this site. My last few posts were just trying out some new ideas….I’m always coming up w/ new ideas that last from anywhere from 1min. to a year or so. But, always creating ideas.
This past weekend was extraordinary. An 8-mile run, some good conversations with friends and strangers, the NYC travel expo w/ over 500 travel companies, re-connecting with some people from the Outward Bound community, an entire Monday in my pajamas to commemorate the life of MLK, some wonderful articles in the NYT magazine, a documentary about Amish kids gone wild, some more big thoughts about education and life, and some more stepping back from the emotions that big thoughts breed.
While on the John, where most great thoughts of mine occur, it dawned on me w/ new clarity how silly the idea of “majors” and “minors” are in college. If I were to create a college from only my imagination, and with the goal of doing something that made the most sense for teachers, students, and society, it would be question based learning. It would also be a ”practical use” school. For each subject, you might put the words, “the practical use of,” before it…so you get “The practical applications of psychology 101″ or “Practical use of business 101…”
Example classes that professors might teach / discussion that professors might facilitate:
Sociology – understanding the causes of our society’s great problems, including poverty, public health (AIDS, nutrition, malaria, mental health), war, and others. Will discuss solutions, and new ideas to these problems.
Education – understand the purpose of education and schools, the problems with the current system, and how to imporve it
Business - understanding money, different ways of making money, saving money, budgeting money. Understanding problems people encounter with money, and learning how to live a financially secure life.
Philosophy - understand the great philosophical challenges of today, such as finding meaning in life. Understanding philosophers, past and present, and how they may be used to help us develop our own personal philosophies.
Psychology – understanding the conditions which lead to happiness and depression. Learning about people who are in need of psychological help (such as the 1million Japanese known as “hikikomori,” who lock themselves in their rooms for years because of a fear of failure or a sense of hopelessness in life), and how we might help them.
Biology – understanding how our bodies work so that we may take better care of them. Issues to be covered include exercise, diet, and the role of psychology in biological health, as well as the role of biology in psychological health. Also, learning about new developments in medicine.
Engineering – will understand how to repair common forms of technology such as computers, cars, home appliances (toilets, heat, broken doors or windows, lights). Will also help those who are interested to understand how to develop and create their own engineering ideas.
Law – will understand the law as it affects us. This includes tax law, dealings with the police, and understanding our basic freedoms. Those interested in law as a profession will pursue law that meets their professional needs.
History – will understand the role of history in making sense of life today, and will come to see the deeds and misdeeds of all societies throughout time, so that we may be better able to recognize them in our own.
your thoughts?
Comments (2)
If that was the way history was taught, I get the feeling many fewer people would fall asleep in history class. History’s more than a bunch of names and dates-it’s ordinary and extraordinary people just like us making mistakes and figuring things out as they go along. History’s a lot more interesting when you realize it’s not so alien from the world today.
*spoken like the former history major I am*
~Bethany
I like to say that I’ve always been a history major, at least from the time I was in 5th grade. I never was much for memorizing dates, but I always liked to dress up and “play history”-like when my sisters and I practiced our southern accents playing plantation in the basement, or when I dressed up for 11th grade world history when we acted out the French Revolution (I got my head chopped off too). If we had to write an assignment from the perspective of a historical figure, I’d stain paper with tea, burn the edges, and write it by candlelight. It was such a relief when I went to the history honor society induction in college and realized that I wasn’t the only one who did all of that!
As far as learning history in school, I always enjoyed moderated discussions more than lectures and essays more than multiple choice-history is about people, after all, and people have more than 4 (A B C D) motives for their actions. The complexity of history can’t be captured in a true/false test.
There’s my lecture for the day. Back to drafting flood safety presentations.
~Bethany