Working Group #1 – Foundational & Capstone Courses: “The Art & Science of”June 3, 2014 Curriculum Renewal ForumTeam: Peter Stoicheff & Gordon DesBrisay(Co-Leads); Rainer Dick; Mike Horsch; Dean McNeill; Sheryl Mills; Alison Norlen; Mark Meyers; Wendy Roy; Ulrich Teucher; Andrea Wasylow-Ducasse

Introduction• A strategic way to introduce first-year students to ways of knowing

across multiple disciplines in the College of Arts and Science• Useful to any student in the College• A signature feature of the College• Aligns with College Learning Goals • Will connect to capstone courses

PrinciplesHow can first-year students intellectually sample the flavour of our college?

Interdisciplinarity; creativity; simplicity / clarity; sustainability; flexibilityAboriginal student success and achievementHigh-quality learning experienceCollaborative with other colleges and regional colleges Potentially career-related, potentially grad school-related; contributes to recruitment and retention goalsAdaptive innovation to PSE environment and demographicsCross-culturalWriting intensive

Features Experiential learning; internships; student portfolios; undergraduate research,

theme-based as well as discipline-based; structured first-year experience that enables broad sampling; internationalization (diversity / global learning); service learning; community-based learning; common intellectual experiences

What higher order thinking can be (ways of knowing)

Instructors are invited not as representatives of their disciplines/ Divisions, but as a professional and public intellectuals

Course Contributors  

1. Academic Programing Appointment

2. 5-9 instructors from various disciplines in College; credit given to departments through TABBS

3. TAs and / or grad students

4. First Nations and Metis Elder(s)/ knowledge keepers

Recommendations:“The Art & Science of”

foundational course A 3-cue course for first-year students. Approx. 9 different disciplinary modules on one theme. Open call for themes each year. Departments/programs invited to contribute modules on selected themes. Instructors chosen / recommended by individual departments. No added program requirements; fit into distribution requirements as

either general requirement or elective.

Possible topics / themes

Ways of knowing Light

Chaos Creativity

AIDS Play

Civilization Resources

Conspiracy theories Life

Proposed Format• Large classes (200-300 students) with smaller seminars.• One week for each of the 9 disciplinary modules: two lectures and one seminar.• Additional classes for introduction, wrap-up, discussion of elements of good

writing, etc.• Mid-way and near course end, panel of contributors to bring together concepts.• Flipped classroom key; readings and/or videos assigned ahead of time.

• Also a possibility: Recorded lectures rather than in-person appearances.

Ideas for Assignments

One short assignment for each module; graded by seminar leaders under supervision of academic coordinator.

Environment where students can take risks (e.g. not all assignments count). Longer assignment based on student interest in one disciplinary module or

intersections between disciplines. Writing Across the Curriculum element.

Proposed timeline Proposal for a shell course by fall 2014 to Academic Programs

Committees. First pilot course(s) in fall 2015.

BenefitsInspire students about the diversity of possibilities in the College of Arts and Science. Provide opportunities to:

o Experience a wide variety of perspectives in understanding the world o Identify differences between disciplineso Understand that disciplinary boundaries exist to aid in understanding and explorationo Build community

The Art & Science of Beauty

Why Modules on Beauty?The theme of Beauty can help weave together connections between our splintered disciplines and knowledge fields.Theologian von Balthasar (1989): Beauty is a fundamental property of beingWriter Dostoevsky (1869): Beauty saves the worldPhysicist Chandrasekhar (1987): Truth and BeautyMathematician Orrell (2012): Truth or Beauty

The different modules will consider multiple viewpoints of beauty; the relationship of what we see, how we are persuaded to perceive beauty in certain ways, and how this reflects who, where, and what, we are.

Modules on BeautyArt and Art History on BeautyHow do we see, define, and perceive beauty in our visual world?

Biology and BeautyHow do evolutionary processes select for beautiful designs?

Computer Science and BeautyWhat are the computational aspects of beauty?

English Literature and BeautyHow do writers present what is beautiful and what is not?

Modules on BeautyHistory and BeautyHow have notions of beauty varied according to time and place?

Indigeneity and BeautyHow do indigenous aspects of beauty relate to specifics of place, mythology, and spirituality?

Physics and BeautyWhat is beauty in the universe – and how do the properties of light convey this beauty?

Psychology and BeautyWhat are the social and media influences on perceptions of attractiveness – and are there evolutionary purposes?

Modules on BeautyOne final note: