Curriculum 2000 changes approved

While the name will not change to Curriculum 2004, Curriculum 2000 will look significantly different starting in the fall.

The Arts and Sciences Council approved changes to Curriculum 2000 Thursday that will lessen the burden of fulfilling the matrix's requirements and will be retroactive for all students still enrolled come fall.

Steve Nowicki, chair of the ad-hoc Curriculum 2000 committee, biology professor and co-director of neurosciences, addressed some questions that arose from his presentation at the council's February meeting and reiterated the general goals that the revision process aimed to address.

"The key principle was to simplify the curriculum in a way that would offer students more degrees of freedom in choosing courses, to clarify the conceptual goals of the curriculum, while at the same time maintaining the intellectual framework originally articulated for Curriculum 2000, which we thought was still a very important one for Duke," Nowicki said.

Along with a reduction of required Areas of Knowledge courses, the new curriculum reduces the required number of courses fulfilling the various Modes of Inquiry designations to 12 to 14. Nowicki said the current requirement of 16 to 18 courses added both unnecessary complexity and a greater burden for students.

The IAA classification in Modes of Inquiry will be dropped, a step which originally met with opposition from department heads and directors of undergraduate studies, Nowicki said. To accommodate those concerns, the amended plan broadens the Arts and Literature classification in Areas of Knowledge to include performance arts, an area which the IAA distinction was intended to promote.

In a further change to the Modes of Inquiry designation, a course will be allowed to satisfy up to three modes of inquiry. Currently, a student must chose two codes, even when three are available.

Dean of Trinity College Robert Thompson said students admitted in May 2004 would be the first students to fall under the entire provisions of the revised requirements; current students would fall under most of the new provisions.

"The idea would be to apply the revised curriculum to current students who are now rising sophomores, juniors and seniors with one exception," Thompson said. "Current students will still be obligated under the QID requirement of pre-revisions."

Nowicki was quick to add, however, that the current QID requirement is actually less than the two courses in the Quantitative Studies portion of the Area of Knowledge requirement for incoming freshmen, meaning that the burden on current students would be lessened across the board.

IN OTHER BUSINESS:

The council passed changes to its by-laws, a culmination of four meeting's worth of discussion within the council, as well as extensive revision by the Executive Council.

In an unanimous vote, the council extended the term of Chair Kathy Ewing in a special vote. Speaking for the Executive Committee, associate history professor John French said the extension would enhance the continuity of leadership during the implementation of the new by-laws, which Ewing had "shepherded through."