Summary of Third Meeting
Inquiry Group 2

Gen. Ed. Inquiry Group 2 met on September 27, 1996. We continued our discussion of question 1b ("What skills, values, and knowledge should a graduate of the College of Charleston possess?"), focusing particularly on the issue of knowledge. We then moved on to question 2a ("How can the College of Charleston facilitate the development of a liberally educated person"?).

SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION
Graduates should have a general historical perspective.

Graduates should have some knowledge of and acquaintance with cultures other than their own. Such knowledge will help them respect diversity, a value the group listed as important at our last meeting.

Graduates should have an introductory knowledge of the humanities, including an acquaintance with the fields of philosophy, religion, and literature. We hope that such knowledge would teach students to value and love learning, not necessarily for practical or job benefits, but as an end in and of itself.

Graduates should have a knowledge of what knowledge is--what counts as knowledge, where it comes from, and how we get it. They should have grappled with questions of methodology and epistemology.

Graduates should also have a basic understanding of scientific processes and methods. They should have some knowledge of the scientific history of life and of the earth.

At this point, we briefly revisited the area of "skills." We decided to add some interpretive and expressive skills that we neglected to put on the list from the previous meeting. We felt graduates should have an understanding of self-expression (as in artistic or literary expression, especially). They should understand and appreciate others' expressions, and be able to interpret various modes of self-expression. In addition, they should be able to interpret the culture they live in as well as other cultures.

Next, we moved into a discussion of how the college could facilitate the skills, morals, and knowledge that we had deemed necessary for a liberally educated person. We debated the merits of a world history course. Some group members felt that such a course would inevitably turn out to be superficial because of the broadness of its subject. Other members suggested that a world history course might focus on a few (perhaps 6) specific topics to look at in-depth, rather than attempt to achieve coverage. This suggestion prompted discussion of a possible capstone, in-depth seminar course, to be taken at the end, rather than the beginning of the undergraduate career like most of the current gen. ed. courses are. Group members seemed enthusiastic about this idea.

Susan Farrell
English Department
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
(803) 953-5785 or 5664
farrells@cofc.edu