Students and faculty have mixed feelings about the value of the world civilizations course, a graduation requirement for liberal arts undergraduates. Although some say the course adds to an already heavy requirement list, others believe it is an important component to the Tufts education. Nearly everyone, however, says the requirement could be put to better use.
The world civilizations course is intended to be an interdisciplinary introduction to global cultures and societies, focusing specifically on non-Western civilizations and the interaction between these countries and the Western world. Classes are taught in teams by professors from various disciplines, designed to give students the opportunity to learn from multiple instructors and each other.
But not all students are familiar with the course bulletin, and many in the Class of 2005 say they have never heard of the requirement. "Nobody told us about it," freshman Katie Sheedy said. "It would be nice to have list of all of the basic requirements. I'm trying to get my required classes out of the way, so it would be nice to know."
According to students interviewed yesterday, Tufts needs to increase awareness of all requirements in its newest students. Freshman Antonio Arteficio, for example, said he had just learned about the language requirement. "They should explain why we have to take this class," he said of the world civilizations course. "I'm not going to be an expert in this field, and I think it's more important for me to focus on what I'm interested in."
1The undergraduate bulletin states that courses that fill the world civilizations requirement may not fulfill any other foundation requirement, which means that students may have to take classes outside their academic focus. The bulletin lists 11 courses from which to choose, although additional courses are occasionally offered.
But some semesters there are slim pickings. According to Professor Greg Carleton, resident director of the Russian House and a member of the Russian, German, and Asian languages department, the course, "Reading the World: Love and Sexuality in World Literature," listed in the bulletin as fulfilling the world civilization requirement, has not been offered for three years.
Some say a system that allows professors to create unique world civilization classes is effective. But while the possibilities seem endless, even professors teaching world civilizations classes find fault in the program. Psychology Professor David Harder, who has taught a variety of world civilizations classes, says the program needs a regular "world civilization" faculty with appointments in a separate department.
But according to Harder, funding obstacles make this an unlikely scenario. "As things are now, departmental commitments override faculty involvement in World Civilizations, thus limiting the courses that can be offered," said Harder. "Having a list of acceptable courses - as we do now - helps, but sometimes those listed courses don't really focus on the culturally comparative aspect of the requirement which was one of its original aims."
But when compounded with other undergraduate requirements, some question whether the world civilization class is unnecessarily bogging down a Tufts education. Others, however, say the world civilizations is easy to fulfill. Sophomore Branden Yee said he is familiar with Tufts' requirements, but says he'll take classes he enjoys now and find out if any of them qualify later. "I heard Music 2 was easy; I'll probably take that," Yee said.
Other students agree, saying one of the classes they take out of interest will likely count for the world civilization requirement. "I'm not really worried about fulfilling the requirement because I'm taking culture classes already," Price said.
Sophomore Elizabeth Candee said her cross-listed Sociology 108 and Community Health 108 course - "People, Plagues and Politics" - are classes she always wanted to take that fulfilled her requirement as a side benefit. "The professor told us we could use it for the world civilizations requirement on the first day," Candee said. "It wasn't a big deal to get the requirement out of the way."
Other students maintain that the requirement exposes students to new ideas. "Not everyone gets to go abroad and have the experience of life in another culture," sophomore Alyson Fleming said.
To freshman Anna Kantha, the world civilization requirement is a good idea, but more choices are needed. "I think the requirement is necessary if Tufts wants to be known as a global university," she said. "But I also think it's hard to fulfill when so few courses are offered in [other] areas, such as Asian-American courses."
Not everyone is concerned. Engineering students, for example, are off the hook. Because of their myriad other requirements, engineers do not have to take a world civilizations class. "I do have to take a cluster of humanities and social sciences," junior Mike Coughlin said. "I have to do a group of four credits to fulfill that requirement. But I've already taken two "history of music" classes, so I'm halfway done."
The definition of the non-Western world according to the University requirement includes Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, Oceania, and pre-Columbian North America. Thus, courses dealing with any of these regions, their local philosophies, or their peoples are applicable. Classes not listed in the bulletin may also be used to fulfill the world civilizations requirement if approved by the faculty subcommittee on the world civilizations requirement.
A list of the courses acceptable for fulfilling the world civilizations requirement can be found online at http://ase.tufts.edu/worldciv/. If a particular course to satisfy the requirement is not found on this list, a petition may be submitted to committee chair, Professor Hosea Hirata.
One major caveat, however, is that courses taken to fulfill their world civilizations requirement may not be used for any other foundation requirement, such as the culture option. But courses offered as options to fulfill the world civilizations requirement may be taken to satisfy distribution and other requirements.
