I am sure that I wasn't the only one who was jumping for joy after receiving that nice little letter from the Registrar's office notifying me of the distributive requirements I have yet to fulfill. To tell you the truth, I have tried to keep an open mind about the matter for the last two years, convincing myself that the "new and improved" distributive requirements for the Class of '98 are an integral part to a well-rounded liberal arts education.
Why, certainly it would be an embarrassment to society to send bright young men and women out into the work force with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College without them ever having taken a non-Western course.
Certainly the puppeteers of higher education cannot continue to grant degrees to students who have mastered courses solely in Western civilization. How can one who has gained a firm understanding of American history or the free market system while remaining ignorant of feminist thought and/or gay and lesbian politics consider himself to be an educated and tolerant United States citizen?
In the midst of the Columbia University hunger strikes this past spring, where irate students demanded that Columbia establish an ethnic studies department and deconstruct its Western-oriented core curriculum, an 18 year-old freshman by the name of Valerie Vladavsky said it most brilliantly in a New York Times interview-- "I am reading 'Pride and Prejudice' because I'm being forced to." Gosh. Poor Valerie.
Certainly here at Dartmouth the administration would never stoop that low and "force" a student to endure such a traumatic experience as studying Jane Austen's works. In fact, one can graduate from Dartmouth having been spared the trauma of studying a "Western" author. Furthermore, the current curriculum also permits one to receive a degree from the College without ever having taken a single course in American history, economics, or the American political system.
That's right. A Bachelor of Arts degree from one of this country's finest institutions with not even a simple introductory course in American history, economics, or the American political system under one's belt.
Talk about graduating from an Ivy League institution without even being a well-educated voter!
It has become commonplace in the 90's to encounter students who can expound upon their knowledge of Marxism, feminism, and gay and lesbian issues but who could not tell you the slightest bit about the economic reasoning behind the recent battles in Washington over a minimum-wage increase, who is sitting on the United States Supreme Court, or why the Clinton Administration is under fire for improperly obtaining confidential FBI files on more than 400 White House emploees.
We continually hear excuses about how wonderful it is that the distributive requirements encourage us to expand our horizons and seek out that which is foreign to us. However, let us not tolerate a system which quietly, but surely, exempts students from taking even a single course in any one of these fields which are an integral part of becoming a well-educated American citizen.
Indeed there are requirements such as PHR (Philosophy, History, and Religion) and SOC (Social Analysis) which require students to take courses in these respective fields. However, it is possible to satisfy these requirements with Non-Western oriented courses.
Do not misunderstand me. Even as a double major in Biology and Environmental Studies, barely managing to organize a feasible academic schedule, I am willing to accept the current distributive requirements including the Non-Western, for in fact, I have already taken some superb courses to fulfill these requirements which otherwise, I most likely would not have taken.
However, I am deeply disturbed by the fact that while most people tend to dwell on what the distributive requirements require, few seem to address what the distributive requirements lack-- not a single course required in Western civilization.
Although my critics will contend that we are required to take courses which satisfy both the NA (North American) and EU (European) World Culture categories, it only takes a few minutes to browse through the ORC to find some very suspicious courses (many of which are concentrated in specific departments which are notorious for their highly politicized curriculum) which will satisfy these requirements.
To summarize: the College has made it feasible for those students wishing to avoid courses in Western thought to manipulate the system to their favor. However, there is no escape from the Non-Western requirement for the rest of us.
Rather than simply pointing the finger at those persons in positions of power who are responsible for manipulating the system to push their agenda, as students let us do ourselves the favor of not only exposing ourselves to a diversity of ideas, but also fulfilling our duty to educate ourselves, both inside and outside of the classroom, on those matters which will make us more responsible, productive, and educated American citizens.
