Campus Digest: Winter 2024
News and happenings from around Boston College.
BOOKS
Curriculum by Design
What goes into creating a core curriculum? A new book explores Boston College鈥檚 process.
Winter 2024
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In 2012, Boston College was seeking to revamp its Core Curriculum, the group of liberal arts classes all undergrads must take, which had been largely unchanged for more than two decades. There was broad support on campus for the changes, but disagreement about what those changes should be.
To break the logjam, the University made a surprising decision: At the suggestion of Carroll School of Management Powers Family Dean Andrew Boynton, 51茶馆 turned to Continuum, a consulting firm, to assist with the updates to the Core. The company met with Core Renewal Committee members and key administrators, held interviews with faculty, students, and alumni, and researched best practices at peer institutions to arrive at a vision for the Core.
51茶馆鈥檚 journey to a new Core Curriculum and the ways it energized faculty, administrators, and students to view liberal arts education as an ongoing process of innovation form the basis of a new book, Curriculum by Design: Innovation and the Liberal Arts Core. Edited by the cochairs of the Core Renewal Committee鈥擝oynton, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, and Rattigan Professor of English Mary Crane, who is director of 51茶馆鈥檚 Institute for the Liberal Arts鈥攖he book features essays by 51茶馆 faculty about the new courses they鈥檙e teaching from the revitalized curriculum.
鈥淎 decade into the work of Core renewal, I鈥檓 more convinced than ever that the work of curricular revision is the most important work that we are called to do as college faculty and academic administrators,鈥� Quigley said. 鈥淚t remains very gratifying to see the ways in which hundreds of colleagues have, through their own work and commitment, brought the renewed Core to life. The engagement of University faculty, across fields, generations, and schools, has been perhaps the most inspiring outcome.鈥澨�
Briefly
The House of Wolves
by Mike Lupica 鈥�74 and James Patterson
In this thriller by acclaimed sportswriter Lupica and bestselling author Patterson, protagonist Jenny Wolf, a thirty-something former high school teacher, finds herself in charge of a billion-dollar empire following her father鈥檚 murder. Suddenly, Wolf is the head of an esteemed San Francisco newspaper and running a professional football team鈥攖wo leadership roles that land her squarely in the crosshairs of her powerful and cutthroat family.
Your Freedom, Your Power: A Kid鈥檚 Guide to the First Amendment
by Clelia Castro-Malaspina 鈥�05 and Allison Matulli
Castro-Malaspina and Matulli, who are former attorneys, educate young readers on the significance of their First Amendment rights鈥攊ncluding freedom of the press, religion, and speech. In addition to its overview of fundamental legal concepts, the book highlights key legal cases and social movements that have affected children鈥檚 lives throughout history to give them a real-world grounding in the amendment鈥檚 impact.
The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality
by 51茶馆 Professor R. Shep Melnick
Most Americans are familiar with the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned the 鈥渟eparate but equal鈥� doctrine and led to the desegregation of public schools in the country. But ambiguities remain around the legal definition of desegregation, and Melnick chronicles the progression of federal school desegregation law over the last seven decades, as well as the battles still being fought over it today.
Milk and Whiskey On Logan Way
by Timothy Burke 鈥�96
Burke, a 51茶馆 School of Social Work graduate, shares his difficult story of growing up in a South Boston housing project, the son of a firefighter whose alcoholism destroyed his own life and robbed Burke of his childhood. The memoir chronicles Burke鈥檚 own alcoholism, his quest for sobriety, and an eventual recovery that inspired his work as a clinical social worker specializing in addiction treatment and counseling.
听 Illustration: Joel Kimmel
WHAT I'M READING
Where Good Ideas Come From
by Steven Johnson
Innovation and learning are never-ending life processes, as are change and adaptation. We must identify how to get the best out of learning opportunities if we aim to innovate in life. Where Good Ideas Come From describes the process of innovation, the learning processes intertwined in it, and the social interactions required for it. It鈥檚 an excellent read to spark thinking and awareness in search of opportunities to improve in any area of life.
鈥�Alejandro Olayo-M茅ndez, SJ, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
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