Students have expressed confusion in the wake of the English department’s recent decision to revamp its curriculum.
Undergraduate adviser Janel Munguia said concerned students have flooded her office since the change was announced, but the department’s list of revamped courses has not been finalized so she cannot help students with academic planning until it is released in the spring.
“Everything I’ve heard from the (English department) about the change has been really vague,” said second-year English student Kaitlyn Hybl. “They’re not telling us what is going on.”
The major’s new course requirements will place less emphasis on specific authors, like John Milton, and more on time periods and transcendent themes. Under the new system, students will fulfill requirements such as literature from before 1500 or gender and sexuality in literature. While courses about single writers may still exist, they will instead fulfill these new categories.
The department will release a detailed e-mail about the changes once a list of fall 2011 courses is approved by the Faculty Executive Committee within the next month, said Ali Behdad, English department chair.
Meanwhile, Munguia is working to create a more interactive department website with links to a list of classes that fulfill each requirement.
A new counseling position is also being added to the department, Behdad said. This counselor will help students pursue courses that mesh with their interests in the English field, such as gender relations or literature from a specific era.
Most students are concerned that the classes they are taking will not fulfill the revamped major’s era- and theme-based requirements, Munguia said.
When these students come to her office, Munguia gives them a handout describing the new requirement categories and how they compare to the current system.
When choosing spring courses, students should do their best to infer which currently-offered classes will satisfy the new requirements, Munguia said. Yet students already in the program have the option to continue with the current English requirements and ignore the changes altogether. Munguia said she sees this as the better choice.
“I’ve been trying to reassure students that they have options,” Munguia said. “We’re not trying to make changes that will cause people to not graduate.”
James Faccinto, a second-year American literature and culture student, said he is considering following the new major requirements but wasn’t sure which of his current classes would fulfill which requirements under the new system.
Munguia answered his questions, but Faccinto said he wishes the department would do more to clear student confusion.
“Right now, it’s put upon the students to find information about the changes and figure out what they have to do,” Faccinto said. “People are nervous.”
Almost all Hybl knows about the curriculum changes has come from exchanging rumors with fellow students, and she said she is unsure if her knowledge is accurate.
Other students have said they would like to know about the details of the change now, since choosing spring courses and planning an abroad experience are difficult without a solid understanding of the new English system.
“I don’t know what classes to take for spring quarter,” Haeri said. “I can’t choose my classes if I don’t know the details of the new system I’m following.”