Reply to Why such an emphasis on holistically building a class?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Colleges want students in all areas of study. Education in general is greatly benefited by having multifaceted students and professors. It is enriching for all students to be exposed to students with many differences in background and experiences. College isn’t meant to be a technical trade school with a narrow focus. [/quote]

And some colleges really like kids who have both left brain and right brain excellence (thinking of Northwestern).[/quote]

Yes, Northwestern always has and has encouraged it.

Similarly, U of Rochester with their Cluster system (core curriculum that allows you to study what you love) does something very similar.  IMO, well balanced people who have interests in several areas are the ones who will go farthest in life and can adapt to what life throws at them
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It’s called liberal arts and has been around for centuries. [/quote]

Well aware of that.  Rochester takes it to a new level.  DO you understand their cluster system?

They have STEM, Social Sciences and Humanities.  Your major covers one area.  Then you need 12 credits in each of the other remaining areas, but those 12 credits are within the SAME area and have a focus.  So it allows you to go more in-depth and focus on what you truly like/love. 
Otherwise you need required freshman writing course and a sophomore writing course for your major (all engineering takes the same one, all math majors take a math one, etc).  No other required courses outside of your major. 
 
For ex: my engineering major, took freshman writing seminar (Taylor swift something, very in demand topic), engineering sophomore writing, all the major courses and what's left: 12 credits of dance and 12 credits of Psychology.  Nothing else.  No "history" or "philosophy" or anything else required.  They get to focus in depth on subjects that matter to them. Makes learning more fun and interesting. 
Most LA/Humantiies majors have a double major and 1-2 minors or a single major and 2-3 minors.  Why?  Because you are 50-60% to a minor with your "cluster" and LA/Hum/SS majors have less "major required courses" and more free electives, so this allows a kid to focus even more in-depth in a few subjects if they so desire.  Or they can just take random courses.  But numbers show that most of those kids pick up minors or another major in something they love/interests them.

That's very different than being told to take a normal college core curriculum.  This is much more open
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UMiami has something similar. It's called cognates.[/quote]
Great!  Was not aware there were others with similar systems.  I think it's an excellent idea at any school.  More in-depth learning in areas students are interested in.  That's exactly what college should be about
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