Students would be better served by a broader, simpler distribution requirement. This alternative should preserve the Core's emphasis on the social and natural sciences, literature, arts, history and mathematics. The few Core courses that do not find a place within a department should be offered as general education courses. Over the next week we will further investigate the problems with the Core and elucidate our suggestions for a future undergraduate curriculum.
There could not be a better time to reevaluate the Core curriculum and its place within undergraduate education. Over the past six years, many prestigious universities-- including Princeton, Stanford and Duke--have overhauled their own graduation requirements. The arrival of the next president will offer us a rare opportunity to focus on undergraduate education with new vigor and fresh insight. Harvard led the way in 1979--it cannot afford to rest on its laurels any longer.