2008 Woodie Awards
Diversity classes lack interest
Natalie Niemeyer
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Math… check. Science… check. Communication… check. The best is ahead, right? Wrong.
I recently started looking at classes for fall semester. I purposely took all of the classes that I knew would be challenging during my freshman year, knowing that I could spend my second year taking classes that I was interested in. I credited myself for devising such a master plan… until I read the course descriptions.
In order to graduate from Kirkwood Community College with an Associate of Arts degree, you need six hours of history or cultures. I figured I could take two, three credit classes of my interest and have fun doing it. Well, none of the topics really seem to spark my interest and I can't see some of them sparking anyone else's either.
Europe: Age of Monarchy, Intro to Religions of the East, Survey of World Religions. None of these are of significance to me and I consider myself to be a fairly normal college student. I'm not trying to be ignorant. I know that there are other cultures, religions and countries besides mine but how is this educating me for my future?
Where's the African American history class that studies the struggle Black people endured to be where they are today? Where's the class about women's history? Where is the current issues class? These are all topics that relate to students at Kirkwood. We all deal with current issues. Why not narrow in on aspects of our culture that students can relate to and maybe provide knowledge for our futures instead of Europe: Age of Nationalism.
Students would be more excited about taking required history and cultures classes if they could relate to the subject matter. Until then, I will be stuck in a religion class that I'm just trying to get through.
I recently started looking at classes for fall semester. I purposely took all of the classes that I knew would be challenging during my freshman year, knowing that I could spend my second year taking classes that I was interested in. I credited myself for devising such a master plan… until I read the course descriptions.
In order to graduate from Kirkwood Community College with an Associate of Arts degree, you need six hours of history or cultures. I figured I could take two, three credit classes of my interest and have fun doing it. Well, none of the topics really seem to spark my interest and I can't see some of them sparking anyone else's either.
Europe: Age of Monarchy, Intro to Religions of the East, Survey of World Religions. None of these are of significance to me and I consider myself to be a fairly normal college student. I'm not trying to be ignorant. I know that there are other cultures, religions and countries besides mine but how is this educating me for my future?
Where's the African American history class that studies the struggle Black people endured to be where they are today? Where's the class about women's history? Where is the current issues class? These are all topics that relate to students at Kirkwood. We all deal with current issues. Why not narrow in on aspects of our culture that students can relate to and maybe provide knowledge for our futures instead of Europe: Age of Nationalism.
Students would be more excited about taking required history and cultures classes if they could relate to the subject matter. Until then, I will be stuck in a religion class that I'm just trying to get through.
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