Math and science curricula as well as the appropriate place for those disciplines in a liberal education will be the focus of a recently created faculty committee, administrators announced last week. The group will meet over this academic year before delivering its suggestions for changes to the University's science and math curricula in Spring 2007.
Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 and Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron notified undergraduates of the formation of the committee in a campus-wide e-mail sent Oct. 25. The committee will be gathering information from the University's math and science departments during this and next semester.
For the past month, Bergeron worked with Kertzer, Associate Provost Pamela O'Neil and Deputy Provost Vincent Tompkins '84 to organize the committee.
The committee consists of 10 faculty members from various departments, including Professor of Geological Sciences Karen Fischer, who will be heading the committee. Other committee members include Professor of Biology Kenneth Miller '70 P'02, Professor of Applied Mathematics Jan Hesthaven and Associate Professor of History Tara Nummedal.
"With the growth of new centers and the growth of the faculty ... this is a very good time to take a very close look at what we're doing," Bergeron said. "There has been a lingering sense that Brown is not attracting strong science students. We have to raise that as a question, not go forward with it as an assumption." In its exploration of this question, the committee will be examining admissions policies and recruitment efforts.
"I hope that this committee will be able to organize a better picture of what science is like here to put a very clear image of the work that's being done here," Fischer said.
The group will also be looking at retention rates, curricular innovation, undergraduate research opportunities, advising and the place of math and science in the larger liberal arts mission of the University, according to Bergeron. The committee's efforts are very broad and will not target any particular departments, she said.
The committee will meet approximately twice a month, according to Fischer, and Bergeron said it hopes to schedule its first meeting before Thanksgiving break.
"The reputation of Brown as an innovator needs to be put in action here so we really come up with a plan that reflects the strength of what we do as an undergraduate institution," Bergeron said. She emphasized the importance of open-mindedness in this process.
"The major issue with any kind of curricular review has to do with always being willing to look at what you're doing, being open enough both to reflect on and change what you're doing," Bergeron said.
Several professors expressed excitement over the formation of the committee, including Professor of Physics James Valles. "I really like the idea a lot - the time is right for an interdisciplinary approach to introductory courses, especially because more and more science is occurring at the boundaries of sciences," Valles said.
J. William Suggs, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, also expressed approval of the new committee. "Students in the year 2006 are different from students in 1986 or 1886 - we always need to make sure we're teaching in an appropriate way. The goal is always the same - to teach students about science - but that doesn't mean that we have to do it the same exact way we did it in 1950," Suggs said.
Plans for the Science Cohort, an undergraduate program in multidisciplinary science education, were announced last year, and the Science Cohort Committee originally called for the program to accept its first group of students in 2008. However, the program was never implemented due to various concerns, including on-campus housing shortages, from faculty members.
Fischer emphasized that the new science committee is "completely separate" from the Science Cohort proposal.
However, Fischer said the Science Cohort Committee raised "some very good questions about science education (at Brown)" and that the new committee will be examining these questions.
"Because of the energy of that initiative and the interest that it created, there was a strong sense from the provost and from myself that we should capitalize on that energy to move forward with the question of how we can enhance our science and math curricula on campus, both for concentrators in those areas and also for the larger Brown community," Bergeron said.
Fischer said the committee will cater to the needs of all undergraduate students, not only students who are planning to concentrate in the sciences. "Not only do we want students with exceptional abilities in the sciences, but we also want to make sure our science courses are meeting the needs of students all across the University," Fischer said. She also emphasized the importance of diversity in science recruitment efforts.
Many people interviewed by The Herald said they think Brown already has a strong research program but noted they believe a review of the sciences at the University would be helpful. One of the main reasons Vira Ameli '08, who is from Iran, chose to come to Brown was because of the school's strength in the sciences. "Brown has a very good science program, it's very research-oriented," said Ameli, a chemistry concentrator, who expressed approval of the new committee and its goals.
"The opportunity for undergraduates to be deeply involved in research here are, in fact, far more profound than the opportunities available at other schools, but I think that any institution can always do better," Fischer said.
Humanities concentrators also had positive things to say about the new committee. "It's important for people to have a diverse understanding and exposure to the sciences," said Katie Goetz '08, an anthropology concentrator. Goetz said there is a lot of focus on the humanities at Brown and that it is "important to reconsider the sciences in an interdisciplinary manner."
Goetz also approved of the idea of making science courses more accessible to non-science concentrators. "Many of the laboratory science classes are very time-consuming, especially when you have other classes that are very reading- and writing-intensive. It makes it hard to find time to take a science class, so if you're not concentrating in the sciences, you're less likely to take a class in that area," Goetz said.
"I think that it's going to be really exciting because it's always a really positive experience when you can take something which is already working well in many ways and look at it to see how we can make something really good really excellent by suggesting new programs," Fischer said.
