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First-Year Insight

Spring 2001

Beginning with this year’s freshman class, all Berry students will have something in common besides an affinity for deer. Humanities (HUM) 200, E Pluribus Unum: Moments In American Democracy, is a new addition to the general education requirements.

"Our country, from day one, has been marked by diversity," according to Berry president Scott Colley. "Even at the beginning, we didn’t all look alike, and today, more than 400 years since the first colonists came to this country, there are well over 100 languages represented in the Atlanta school system alone. Students need to understand the oneness and solidarity in this pluralism." Colley proposed the idea for a common course in American culture when he arrived in 1998, and a faculty committee spent a full year turning the concept into reality.

The course focuses on the tensions inherent in the concept of "E Pluribus Unum" which translates to mean "from the many, one." Program director Dr. David McKenzie explains: "We are in fact many people with varied ethnic identities, religious traditions, and personal interests, yet in some way also one as Americans." Among the specific tensions students may consider in a semester are

New Nation and Native-American Cultures

Federalists and Antifederalists

Melting Pot and Multiculturalism

Public Education and Private Interests

Religious People and Wall of Separation

Capitalism and Corporate Responsibility

Scientific Knowledge and Bible Believers

Racial Integration and Black Power

Gender Equality and Academic Feminism

The course attempts to give students some intellectual preparation to understand these tensions in the context of history. Thus, before engaging in a discussion of contemporary feminism and its detractors, students may read and discuss 18^th Century philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft’s "Vindication of the Rights of Women." Students in Dr. McKenzie’s course studied Scottish philosopher Adam Smith’s "The Wealth of Nations" prior to their discussion of capitalism and corporate responsibility.

One goal of the course is to give Berry students a common intellectual experience. The two primary texts for all sections are Alexis de Toqueville’s Democracy In America and From Many, One, an anthology edited by University of California-Davis Professor Richard Sinopoli, a text devoted to historic as well as current tensions in the experience of American democracy.

A second goal of the course is to integrate academic disciplines and encourage students to see connections among their college studies. Dr. Jim Watkins, Assistant Professor of English, who taught HUM 200 this fall, observes "It’s good to give students an opportunity early in their academic careers to integrate ideas from various intellectual disciplines. The ultimate goal of a liberal arts education is that students will be able to synthesize ideas from disparate sources and come to their own understanding of these issues." In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the course, faculty from all disciplines are invited to teach and are encouraged to include material from their own areas and approach the common material from their professional interests. For example, Dr. Watkins, whose research is in autobiography, assigned a number of autobiographical selections in addition to the common texts. The autobiographies allowed students to see how individual Americans throughout history have responded to Toqueville’s themes and encouraged students to consider those ideas in light of their own experiences. Many instructors incorporate film, fiction and drama into the course readings as well. While instructors have a great deal of latitude in the approach they take to the course and the material they include, half of the material is common to all sections.

Like the rest of the general education curriculum at Berry, HUM 200 helps students hone the critical thinking and reading skills that characterize higher education. The course’s aims extend beyond preparing students to take their place in the academy, however; the course also seeks to prepare them to be active participants in American democracy. President Colley notes, "Citizenship has to be learned. It doesn’t just happen spontaneously." Freshman Veronica Burgess acknowledges that the course has "made me realize how important the Bill of Rights is and how different our lives would be without it." Lindsey Evans, another freshman enrolled in HUM 200 echoes Veronica’s response: "How better to learn about where we come from and what America is about than through a whole class devoted to the subject?"

Making the Most of Summer

For many first year students, the end of freshman year brings mixed feelings: relief at having one year of college behind them, and anxiety at being one step closer to entering the world of work. For students weighing career and major choices, Berry's Career Development Center offers a wonderful summer opportunity. The Externship program is a career shadowing experience that allows current Berry students to meet, observe and work with Berry alumni in a career field of interest.

Students who have participated in the program in past years have found it helps them explore a desired career and see whether or not it's something they really want to do. for many students, the externship provides valuable contacts that may lead to an internship or even a job in the future. According to Wes Moran, director of Career Development, sometimes the most valuable outcome of the externship is a student's discovering that his or her dream career does not fulfill expectations.

The externships are scheduled for the week of May 14-18, immediately after graduation, so that students may participate and still have most of the summer to pursue a summer job. Interested students may apply for the program through the Career Development Center in the Ladd Building. On the basis of the application and a follow-up interview, every effort will be made to coordinate an externship to meet every career interest and geographical preference.

It's never too early to start planning for the future. Encourage your student to take advantage of this exciting chance for career exploration.