The Socialization of Sexual-ity, The History of Geography, Humor in the 20th Century, South Park and Society -- these are only a few of the student-taught courses that Tufts Experimental College has offered in the past or will be offering this semester.
Created in 1964, the Tufts Experimental College is the oldest experimental college in a traditional university setting and features a wide array of classes taught by students.
"The one thing that I think everyone needs to be aware of [is that] from the very beginning, the Experimental College [has] had students involved," Robyn Gittleman, director of the ExCollege, said. "Students serve on the board, help select classes, interview potential instructors and some students teach. We treat the students respectfully, and they treat their responsibilities with respect."
The Experimental College provides two teaching opportunities for students. One option is to teach an Explorations course, which is designed to introduce first-year students to the university community. The second option is to teach a class in the Peer Teaching Program, which is open to all students.
In both cases, students who wish to teach must submit a proposal, a reading list and syllabus, and have an interview before they can teach. They also have to attend a weekly class, entitled EXP 90: Leading a Seminar, during the semester that they are instructors.
Although subject matter of the courses varies greatly and students have different reasons for teaching, many are motivated by a desire to fill voids in the current university curriculum.
Sophomore Chas Morrison was inspired to teach his class, EXP 62: Counterinsurgency Seminar, for this reason.
"The ExCollege excels in providing students with the opportunity to take classes that fill gaps between normal coursework," Morrison said. "Interested students can pursue studies in areas that only receive cursory discussion, if any, in normal educational environments."
Morrison explained that this opportunity holds true whether a student is teaching the class or taking the class.
"This magnifies the value of a student's education because it provides the detailed knowledge which informs the broader issues outlined in survey courses," he said. "For example, a student who took last semester's EXP 60: Contemporary Studies in Terrorism and Counterterrorism would have had a great foundation to discuss wider strategic issues in [International Relations Associate] Professor [Malik] Mufti's U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East [class]."
Similarly, Benjamin Sacks, a junior who is teaching The History of Geography this semester, used the ExCollege to help create a broader range of classes he felt Tufts was lacking.
"I was surprised an elite institution with such a significant emphasis on international studies as Tufts did not have a formalized geographic education," Sacks said. "The Experimental College is committed to interdisciplinary studies, and I hope that my course will provide a new and different perspective for any student who wishes to explore history, political science, the classics, international relations and regional studies. In essence, I wanted to bring a new discipline to a university that I believe will truly embrace the subject."
Teaching an ExCollege class may not only be a chance to fill a hole in curriculum -- some students use the opportunity to add a creative twist to a traditional topic, like senior Jessica Snow, who taught The Socialization of Sexuality last semester.
"I think [sexual education] is seriously lacking in the US," Snow said. "So I wanted to try out a new type of curriculum -- one that made students really think about who they were sexually and why they became that way."
In forming her curriculum, Snow aimed to tie information from women's studies, sociology and American studies all together to produce this new type of sex education -- one that tackled typically taboo subjects and made them accessible and more verbally approachable.
Like Snow, junior Ellie Berg taught the course South Park and Society to revitalize a traditional course topic and make it more accessible to college students.
"My co-teacher, Iggy Moliver, and I took a political science class together called Civil Liberties in the fall of 2007," she said. "After discussing each course case and legal issue in class, we would turn to each other and say, 'Wow, this is just like that 'South Park' episode where...' We realized that 'South Park' was a unique way to teach students about politics and the law and would make a perfect Explorations class."
Berg felt that the class fueled a new interest in an old subject.
"The ExCollege allows students to explore academic subjects through unconventional routes," she said. "Students can really enjoy the class and the subject material without feeling bored or uninterested."
Students aren't the only ones who get satisfaction out of the class though. Twenty-six year old Resumed Education for Adult Learners (REAL) student Toby Bonthrone, who is currently co-teaching the Counterinsurgency Seminar with Morrison and taught a class on insurgencies last spring, explained that instructing classes for the ExCollege has been an extremely rewarding experience for him.
"I feel a great affection for Tufts, and I was looking for ways to give back," Bonthrone said. "Teaching seemed the best way to use what I have -- a basic military background to affect students' lives in a long-term manner. The first class [I taught] gave me a great measure of respect and admiration for my Tufts students. Give them enough trust and free reign, and they can come up with remarkable arguments and solutions...It was an immense privilege to witness these students, and I'm quite looking forward to meeting the next bunch."
Snow, who also taught a freshman Exploration class, has similar sentiments.
"The Explorations course I taught wasn't about the grade as much as it was about connecting with students on both a personal and academic level," Snow said. "I can't quantify in words what I got out of it -- relationships with students, the feeling of helping them adjust to college. I remember one time everyone in the class said that they looked forward to Tuesday nights and that they skipped other awesome things to come to class because they really enjoyed it."
For freshmen, the Explorations classes can serve as not only a gateway to unconventional topics but also a way to make connections with older students.
"I was really excited to meet my students, or, as I like to call them now, my 'children,'" Berg said. "The Explorations program is different because students are interacting with students. My partner and I became our students' academic advisors, their social aides and their safety net, as well as their instructors."
And as Morrison noted, teaching a class is a learning experience for everyone.
"First and foremost, I want to be challenged," Morrison said. "I want students to question our assumptions and pick apart the narratives we'll be exploring on the conduct of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. While I'm listed as an instructor for the course, I'm really just as much of a student as anyone else. I look forward to learning from the course materials and more importantly, learning from my fellow students."
