The analogy continues

On Monday’s SGA meeting, Barnard Provost and Dean of Faculty Linda Bell graced us with her presence to inform us on the ins and outs of the curriculum review. Barnard Bwog Correspondent Lauren Beltrone was dutifully on the scene to keep you up to date.

Provost Bell began the meeting with arguably one of the most scintillating bios in the history of all Dean of Faculty introductions (a superlative I’m sure she’ll forever covet). After a life-altering epiphany at the tender age of 8, she vowed to make a difference in the world. She wrote poetry and played tennis throughout her adolescence, studied econ at UPenn as an undergrad and later Harvard for grad school, and acted in a comedy group.

Fun Fact: Provost Bell has once worn a diaper on stage. New Fun Fact: she has on one occasion interacted with a drunk Heather Locklear. (Yes, dear reader, this is what you miss out on by not coming to the SGA meetings.) Relatively new to the Barnard Community, Provost Bell began here a year ago after serving as the John B. Hurford Professor of Economics and provost at Haverford College for nearly 20 years.

Okay, that’s great, so why should I care about the curriculum review?

Well, how do you feel about the lab requirement? What about class sizes? Do you feel like you’re going to be a functioning human being after graduation? The curriculum review involves all these concerns and more! It’s been a full 13 years since we’ve done one, mostly because the process is so comprehensive and cumbersome. The aspects of the curriculum under review can be sorted into these seven nifty committees:

  1. 9 ways of knowing—Is this really a thing we want?
  2. 1st year experience—Are the leetle first years getting enough attention?
  3. Senior experience—Thesis? Capstone? Employment? Survival?
  4. Major requirements—Why’s there so much disparity, man?
  5. Technology—Where does Barnard want to be in the techno-sphere?
  6. Globalization of the curriculum—What does it actually mean to be a global college?
  7. Interdisciplinary programs—We’ve got some; what now?

Provost Bell is on the lookout for strong students (14 of them, to be exact) to work specialize in a committee and work to create the new curriculum during the second semester of the next academic year. If all goes according to plan, the new curriculum will be implemented by fall 2015. For more information on how you can involve yourself (including less intensive participation in forums), stay tuned.

In other news, the first Town Hall event will happen next Thursday (October 3rd) from 6-8 in the Event Aula of the Diana. The theme is “Multiple Feminisms on Campus,” which focuses on the question: how is my version of feminism different than yours? Go for some food for thought and some actual free food.

Bells via Shutterstock