Making us well rounded

The Office of the Dean of the College has been busy the past few months, and not in ways always appreciated by the undergraduate student body. First, Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel announced that she and the rest of the administration (and, apparently, the faculty), felt that our grades were too high and planned on lowering them for us. Then, those same folks decided that the departments that most of us has decided to enter weren't satisfactory. A push, they claim, should be made to deemphasize politics, the Wilson School, molecular biology and English, and in their place spotlight astrophysics, classical studies and religion, once again with little discussion or warning for students.

As tempting as it is, however, this column is not designed to simply criticize the administration. A few days back, a group of upperclassmen was discussing what it means to be well rounded, and whether or not Princeton students fit that category. Inherent in the concept of a liberal arts education is the concept of the canon, the fundamental collection of knowledge that every well-educated individual should know. We can argue forever what does and does not belong in the canon, but I think that most of us, deep down, believe that it exists. I would say that it contains politics, history, classics, sociology, philosophy, and art, and today we would add math, and perhaps mol/bio/chem/physics.

Do Princeton students graduate with a good understanding of all of these areas? I'm not sure. Many of us (myself included) fall into the specialization trap — we walk in with an area of interest (or find it quickly) and then specialize, fast. Want to know about AIDS in Africa? There are students who are experts. The American Revolution? Same. Kant's Categorical Imperative? Yup. Maxwell's Equations? Of course.

The question is, how many people can talk to you about all of the above? Our job isn't to master every field out there, but shouldn't every undergraduate should know a thing or two (or more) about Aristotle, Virgil, Thomas Payne, Watson and Crick and maybe a bit of John Lewis Gaddis (Yalie that he is)?

You might think that we get this through our distribution requirements; I counter that we don't. Having to take a math class, often AST: 203, and a politics class (often POL 210, which is at least a survey) does not teach a canon.

What's the solution? I don't know, but here's the idea on the table. Take the humanities sequence, and apply it generally. Make every incoming freshman striving for an A.B. take a mainstream version of the class, made less intense (not as, well, masochistic), akin to Columbia's Contemporary Civilizations course. Assemble the rock-star professors from the applicable departments (West, Gager, Viroli, Shirley T., Cava, Fleming, Katz, Grafton, the list goes on), and make it the best darn lecture course ever assembled this side of Nassau. Fold the writing requirement in and eliminate the freshman seminars and you have the ultimate freshman course; it both makes sure that you're ready for Princeton and launches you into your next three years well prepared.

The advantages are numerous. One, it will simply make Princetonians "more well rounded," (just ask Dean Fred about the virtues of being well rounded — that's what got us in here). Two, it will prepare students for in-depth analysis as they get older, yielding better, more contextually applicable, independent work. Three, it will provide an amazing bonding experience for new freshman, one that they will look back on for reunions to come. Lastly — and shhhhh! don't tell Dean Malkiel — but it may encourage students to select the more esoteric departments in which to major. A graduate of the current humanities sequence wrote that the class, "provided a good perspective as to what periods, writers, and subjects I might want to focus on in the future." Like the Nietzsche? Take philosophy next year. Cervantes? Enter Spanish and Portuguese. Want more Homer? Go classical studies. Can't get enough of the Bible? Religion is for you. Can't get enough of the photoelectric effect? Perhaps physics (if you're brave)?

The proposal is far from finished. True, it is a great deal of material for one class, but the details can be worked out. The key is to provide far more longstanding gain for future Princetonians than the current disheveled system that we currently have for frosh.

One more thing. Along with continuous political and social commentary, all of my columns are archived on my weblog, found at: http://mattggold.blogspot.com. Matthew Gold is a politics major from New York, N.Y. He can be reached at mggold@princeton.edu.