K体育

In 1944, under then-university president Dr. Philip Weltner, K体育 University initiated one of the earliest efforts to develop a core curriculum, with the twin aims to 鈥渕ake a life and to make a living.鈥� The goal of The K体育 Core was to create a common learning experience focused on citizenship and human understanding.

With the 80th anniversary of The Core this year, the K体育 Community has celebrated what has become an integral part of an K体育 education, connecting students to history, current events and each other through thoughtful understanding and rigorous discussions.

The events this year have included Core discussion panels with alumni, faculty and current students. The celebration continued with a Core Trivia Night in the dining hall and a read-in co-sponsored by the Petrel Pageturners, an active student group for bibliophiles.聽

Over the years, The Core has achieved Dr. Weltner鈥檚 goal and truly become a common thread for alumni and faculty to reminisce about and grow from. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a communal experience, and students are able to talk to their friends about the same readings and topics,鈥� said Director of Core Studies Dr. Judith Levy. 鈥淗owever, they also find that different instructors teach each of the topics differently, so while it鈥檚 communal, it also shows students that there is no monolith of ideas or presentation formats for any given topic. I believe this helps grow student voice and creativity.鈥�

In its 80th year, The Core is still making a difference to K体育 students who are learning to synthesize information, communicate amid differences, and formulate action plans in the community with their peers. The Core has stretched beyond the classroom to include at the K体育 University Museum of Art (the next one opens this July) and reading groups for alumni to stay connected. While continuing to emphasize transformational texts and big humanistic questions, The Core is also evolving with today鈥檚 learners.

Levy explains that faculty regularly collaborate on new ideas, like an ePortfolio that provides a multimodal, digital format for student projects and experiential learning through community partnerships.

鈥淚 believe that more experiential learning through community partnerships would help enhance students鈥� skills by showing how we can take the topics we read about in Core and see them in action, simultaneously highlighting the last step in our motto, to 鈥楳ake a difference,鈥欌�� says Levy.