University alters curriculum to reflect new events, technology

In the 1980s, before history professor Stephen Kotkin arrived at the University, the politics department offered a popular course on Soviet politics.

Then, in his first semester at Princeton in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and the topic "ceased to exist as a contemporary issue," according to Kotkin.

Though the politics course is no longer offered, Kotkin continues to teach some of the same material in HIS 362: The Soviet Empire, while also adding recent events.

Kotkin begins the course in the year 1900 and continues until the present day — 13 years later than when he began teaching here.

Like Kotkin's class, other University courses adapt to changing times by both preserving traditional subject matter and adding new material. Courses in the computer science department, for example, are "a mixture of continuity and change," professor Andrew Appel said.

New discoveries and advances have an impact on what is taught in the department.

"In our introductory curriculum we have courses, like COS 109: Computers and Our World and COS 111: Computers and Computing, that just didn't exist ten years ago," Appel said.

COS 109 and COS 111 are designed for non-engineers.

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"A long time ago, non-engineering majors wouldn't expect to encounter computers much in their life," Appel said.

These courses are innovative, Appel said, because they encompass material beyond programming — the sole focus of most other universities' introductory courses.

Information security is another area that has become important, Appel said, prompting the department to add the course COS 432: Information Security.

He added that computer graphics have undergone several revolutions and that "what's taught in operating systems now includes things like what you need to know to build a webpage." The course on artificial intelligence also will be updated.

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Despite these changes, however, "some courses like COS 217: Introduction to Programming Systems have had the same number and the same title for 25 years," Appel said.

Science departments must also adapt to rapid changes created by new discoveries in the field.

"We try to incorporate more recent innovations," said molecular biology professor Mark Rose. Though introductory courses remain consistent over the years, advanced courses, such as those at the 400-level, are "literature-based" and contemporary.

Rose said that some content changes within course, while some remains the same. New faculty are also branching out the department in new directions.

"We're developing a new emphasis on neurosciences," Rose said. New genomics courses will be offered as well.

Curriculum changes are not exclusive to the sciences. Humanities departments also alter the content of some of their courses.

Courses "get restructured regularly, to take in new material," said art and architecture professor Robert Bagley, adding that "a lot of courses evolve without ever changing their titles."

Bagley said his department offers courses on contemporary art in the second half of the 20th century that adapt to accommodate new artistic styles and movements. Bagley also said the curriculum changes when new faculty members come to campus, making use of their specific areas of expertise.

"We add new courses when new faculty arrive," Bagley said.

As in the art and architecture department, when new professors take over existing courses in other academic disciplines, a preservation of past structure is coupled with the introduction of new perspectives.

This year, professor Kathryn Chew took over CLA 212: Classical Mythology, after precepting the course when Professor Fritz Graf taught it.

Classical mythology was named one of the student course guide's Fall 2002 "cool courses."

Chew credited Graf with the course's success.

"It was already popular when I came along," she said.

Yet Chew brings a new vision for the course that is influenced by her sense that "the whole definition of 'hero' has really been broadened [since Sept. 11.]"

The University's courses are central to many alumni's memories of their Princeton experiences. Alice Fahs '73, an English major, is one such alumna.

"Professor Roche's lectures in McCosh 10 on Hamlet and Lear, for instance, would draw in a number of students who weren't even in his Shakespeare course, but just knew that these were brilliant, must-see lectures," she said.

Fahs said she remembered famous courses being a crucial part of the University's academic climate.

"Students would say to each other: 'You have to go to Schorske's lecture today.' And that was whether or not you were actually enrolled in his course," she said.

Fahs also remembered professor Robertson's course on Chaucer and his "famous reading of the Wife of Bath tale."

Professor Thomas Roche described Robertson's course as "legendary," frequently drawing around 150 students.

Roche described Professor John Fleming's current course on Chaucer as carrying on Robertson's tradition.

Since Robertson's time, the English department's popular courses have changed. Roche identified Professor Elaine Showalter's course ENG 351: Contemporary Fiction as one of the new large courses.

Roche described the shift as a result of the fact that "almost no one wants to study anything before the Victorian period."

Courses based on earlier eras require difficult, time-consuming reading and a background in Latin that courses on modern and postmodern literature do not require, he said.

Roche also said the shift is based in changes in the department's requirements for concentrators. He said that 30 years ago the English department required its majors' first junior paper to be drawn from pre-1800 subject matter. The department currently requires its students to take three courses on pre-1800 literature, but the junior paper requirement is no longer in place.

Though the University's academic departments must continually adapt to keep up with the times, Jane Cary, a premed adviser from the Office of Health Professions Advising, said that in the nearly 10 years that she has been at the University, medical school requirements have changed "not one whit" — except for a greater emphasis on biochemistry.

The core lab science requirements remain the same, as does the recommendation that students have some math experience and two semesters of English or writing.

The only other development in recent years, Cary said, is that some medical schools in Texas, California and elsewhere are encouraging students to have a knowledge of Spanish.

The bottom line, however, is that "students must perform well in the sciences," Cary said.