bridging disciplines for better learning: interdisciplinary projects at the college of general...
TRANSCRIPT
BRIDGING DISCIPLINES FOR BETTER LEARNING:
Interdisciplinary Projects at the College of General Studies,
Boston University
• A 2-year, interdisciplinary, team-taught general education program (1200 students)
• Taught exclusively by full-time faculty with Ph.D.s—NO adjuncts, T.A.s or T.F.s
• Freshman courses:– Humanities– Social Sciences– Rhetoric, plus an elective
• Sophomore courses:– Humanities– Social Sciences– Natural Sciences, plus elective
THE COLLEGE OF GENERAL STUDIES AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY:
• Because 80 students share the same 3 CGS faculty, creating projects that ask students to explore the connections between their courses is relatively easy
• But similar projects can be constructed in a non-team system as well
• We regularly run 3 joint projects on our sophomore teams:– Applying political philosophy to
analyze an event in a communist revolution
– Applying just war theory to analyze a recent U.S. military conflict
– Capstone project
TEAM SYSTEM FOSTERS INTER-DISCIPLINARY LEARNING
• In Humanities 201 students survey ethical philosophy from Ancient Greece to the 19th century
• In Social Science 201 students study the Russian and Chinese communist revolutions
• We ask them to focus on the political philosophy of either Rousseau or Hobbes
• And use it to interpret a key moment in either the Russian or Chinese revolutions
1ST JOINT PROJECT:ROUSSEAU, HOBBES, AND COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONS
A LENS FOR ANALYZINGREVOLUTIONS:
BENEFITS?UNDERSTANDING
Without the philosophic lens, history can seem like just a series of events; without the historical framework, the philosophy seems too abstract.
APPLIED LEARNING:STUDENTS UNDERSTAND AND REMEMBER MORE WHEN THEY APPLY THEIR LEARNING
Assignments in ANY class can encourage students to apply course material to other courses, whether students are in a team system or not.
• In Soc. Science 202 students study U.S. foreign policy, including U.S. involvement in Vietnam and Iraq
• In Humanities 202 students study applied ethics, including just war theory which articulates principles that can help to determine whether and how war can be waged justly.
• This project asks students to take principles of just war theory and use them to determine if the wars in Vietnam or Iraq were just
2ND JOINT PROJECT:JUST WAR THEORY & VIETNAM OR IRAQ WARS
• Was there just cause for fighting? (i.e. response to an attack)
• Was war the last resort? (have all other measures been tried?)
• Is it reasonable to expect that the war will bring about more good than harm?
• Were the means used in proportion to the goals sought?
• Was every attempt made to protect non-combatants (civilians)?
JUST WAR:
JUS AD BELLUM &
JUS IN BELLO
JUSTICEAND VIETNAM OR IRAQ
BENEFITS:THE WARS BREATHE LIFE INTO THE PHILOSOPHY; THE PHILOSOPHY PROVIDES A FRAMEWORK FOR INTERPRETING THE WARS.
• Both projects helped students prepare for the Capstone project at the end of their sophomore year.
• Capstone is a group-written, 50-page research proposal that requires students to draw on all of their CGS classes plus research to analyze a current real-world problem and present a valid solution.
• E.g.: Ending Hunger in Boston, OR Stopping Deforestation in Chiapas
• Capstone enables us to assess our students’ development using a rubric--
CAPSTONE—ADDRESSES THE CORE COMPETENCIESWE AIM TO DEVELOP AT CGS
• For more information, see our website:
www.bu.edu/cgs/center-for-interdisciplinary-teaching-learning
• CONSIDER SUBMITTING ESSAYS FOR OUR
JOURNAL IMPACT AT THIS SITE OR at
www.citl.submishmash.com
THANKS TO THE DAVIS
EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR FUNDING
FOR OUR ASSESSMENT
PROJECT!