More than 30 students and faculty members from all corners of the University gathered Monday to address the pros and cons of UNC's curriculum.
The third in a series of open public discussions, Monday's forum focused on, "What's Broke and What Isn't?: Assessing UNC's General Education Curriculum."
The main issue discussed by Monday's panel was whether upper-level perspectives are useful to students in a liberal arts institution.
The forum, held in the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, was part of the initial stages of the undergraduate curriculum review, scheduled to be completed by 2003. A committee will be appointed this semester to evaluate and tweak the curriculum.
Monday's panel featured two former chairmen of the UNC general education system, who dealt primarily with undergraduate curriculum, and one undergraduate student.
Peter Coclanis, professor and chairman of the history department; Darryl Gless, senior associate dean for the humanities and fine arts and an English professor, and Sujay Kansagra, a senior and vice chairman of academic affairs for student government, all offered their opinions.
Coclanis began by acknowledging the ever-present tension in any general education program. "Our general education system is very complex and, despite improvements, our system still has Western biases," he said.
Gless continued the discussion by focusing on the need for simplification in the current curriculum. He said a more restricted range of courses is needed.
