NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED191532
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1980-Jul-22
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Armed with Alternatives: A Future Oriented Program for a Liberal Arts College.
Brooks, Phillips V.
An interdisciplinary futures program was established as part of the core curriculum at Davis and Elkins College to prepare students for the variety of personal and social changes they are likely to experience during their lifetimes. Courses in the program are taught sequentially during each of the undergraduate years. At the freshmen, sophomore, and junior levels, students are introduced to collective and personal freedom, world cultures and lifestyles and the problem of ethnocentrism, and the major ideas that have shaped the modern Western mind. The last course of the sequence, taught during the senior year, requires students to forecast their own lives based upon information about the future, methods of choosing from alternatives, and an understanding of the forces of change. Classes are led by a team of instructors from disparate academic disciplines, using a variety of instructional methods, including lectures, discussion, games and simulation. The program is administered by a separate Integrated Studies department with its own head who oversees selection and development of core faculty, budgeting, and scheduling. In addition to helping students come to grips with the challenges and problems posed by the future, the futures program has enhanced the professional development of faculty and has increased the acceptance of the interdisciplinary approach within the college community. (JP)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A