Number 6
November 17, 2009
 
 

M I N U T E S

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
College of Letters and Sciences
Meeting of November 12, 2009

    PRESENT:  Ellen Davis, Paul House, Pilar Melero, Jennifer Thibodeaux, Trudi Witonsky, Geetha Samaranayake, David Cartwright, Bob Benjamin, Jolly Emrey, Elizabeth Olson, Paul Adogamhe, Jim Winship, Michael Oldani, Ellie Schemenauer, Marcy Reed (DAC) and Elizabeth Hachten, Chair.
    1. The minutes of the October 15, 2009 meeting were approved on a Schemenauer/Davis motion.
    2. Announcements: 
      1. The chair reminded everyone that the deadline for proposals effective Fall 2010 is the meeting scheduled for December 3rd.  Proposals are due November 24th and the agenda will be distributed on Monday, November 30th.  This is the last meeting for the fall semester.
      2. The chair also brought up the problem of BSE proposals submitted to this committee at a deadline meeting not making the UCC deadline because they have to go through the College of Education Curriculum Committee as well.  The College of Education Curriculum Committee does not meet as often as this committee does so the proposals are often held in the College of Education for a month or more.  It is suggested that BSE proposals be submitted to both this committee and the College of Education simultaneously instead of waiting for this committee to act on them.
    3. Winship/Melero moved to approve the change in the Latin American Studies minor.  The motion passed unanimously.
    4. Oldani/Cartwright moved to approve the change in the Asian Studies minor. It was suggested that the Japanese Studies track be developed into a separate minor from the general Asian Studies minor in the future. The  motion passed unanimously.
    5. Witonsky/Melero moved to  receive and record the prerequisite changes  for the following English courses:
      1. ENGLISH 341 The American Renaissance
      2. ENGLISH 347_547 British Modernism
      3. ENGLISH 379 Rhetoric for Writers
      4. ENGLISH 401_601 The Heroic Age
      5. ENGLISH 404_604 Shakespeare
      6. ENGLISH 405_605 Shakespeare
      7. ENGLISH 420_620 Victorian and Edwardian Literature
      8. ENGLISH 460-660 Major Authors
      9. ENGLISH 463-663 Nineteenth-Century Women Writers   The  motion passed unanimously.
    6. Discussion on Comprehensive majors and "liberal arts" education was continued.  It was felt that the committee should define the circumstances in which it is appropriate to deviate from the traditional major-minor in developing a comprehensive major and  develop written criteria the committee can look at in approving a comprehensive major.  The chair and secretary will look into developing guidelines and putting them on the website.  Based on the above discussion, Elizabeth Olson proposed the following resolution:
 " The L&S Curriculum Committee currently recognizes two rationales for comprehensive majors: We would move that the Committee require that proposals for comprehensive majors discuss, specifically and in detail, 1) the justification for offering the comprehensive major without a minor (with the intent that ‘adequate justification’ should address either of the two previously-established rationales for offering comprehensive majors), and 2) and how breadth in the courses of a comprehensive major make up for the loss of  in-depth study in another field provided by a minor".
        Emrey/Cartwright moved to accept this resolution.  The motion passed unanimously.
    1. Discussion on the curricular initiatives outlined in the memo from Dr. Hachten on strengthening the Foreign Language requirements for the BA continued. Since no decisions were made, it was decided to bring this issue up at an early spring meeting. 
    2. The meeting adjourned on a Benjamin/ House motion.
Respectfully Submitted


Elaine Wagner, Secretary