Should a class aim to cover the "big names"chronologically or should it use a more thematicapproach? And how do perspectives which aren'tpart of the standard canon of "deal white males"fit into a basic survey?
One solution is simply to drop the surveycourse or courses, as Fine Arts did.
But the department's decision to replace FineArts 13 courses with a series of smaller, focusedclasses was so unpopular with students that thedepartment is now staking out a compromiseposition.
It will soon premiere a new, "thematic"introductory class which be more inclusive andless strictly chronological in format, accordingto Professor of Fine Arts Henri Zerner.
Students who mourned the passing of Fine Arts13 are eagerly awaiting next year's new offering.
"I think it's to the benefit of every arthistorian to know where everything begins andends," says Meredith M. Thomson '94, a Fine Artsconcentrator.
Theme-focused compromises betweentraditional canonical teaching and newerapproaches are a common solution to the surveyquestions.
Despite its apparent radicalism, Higonnet'sHistory 10b class in an example of such acompromise.
It is one he crafted only after agonizing aboutthe proper format and syllabus for a basic historyclass, he says. "It's a private debate in mysoul," he says.
Higonnet has retained the basic subject matterof an introductory survey class--the politics andeconomics of European history.
But rather than lecturing on the standardpolitical chronology in the texts, he focuses onthematic "world historical constructs" such assexuality.
"What I hope will come out History 10b,"Higonnet tells his class, "is that you'll be ableto travel through the time period along eachissue."
In the History Department there is widespreadsupport for Higonnet's use of the traditionaltexts in History 10b.
One of the most vocal proponents of thecustomary Western curriculum is department ChairThomas N. Bisson, Lea Professor of MedievalHistory.
"I for one believe that every educated personought to know about Plato, Romans and Medievaltimes because this is where the modern world--notjust Europe--came from," he says.
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