In its Statement of Purpose, the College pledges to offer curricular programs “to investigate and appreciate the richly diverse cultural, intellectual, and linguistic traditions shaping the contemporary world” and “to examine critically and understand the intellectual traditions woven into the history of Western thought.” The College also commits its intention to the cultivation of “discernment of social, spiritual, and ecological needs of our time” and “a sense of responsibility for leadership and service in response to those needs.”
The Collegiate Center addresses these commitments through a two-component general education requirement:
Journeys —one-course common sequence.
Journeys is a one-semester, common course required of all first-year students entering Hendrix College. It is grounded in the College’s motto, which (from Ephesians 4:13) may be translated as “toward a fulfilled person.” The motto thus implies trajectory, a sense of movement or development, from one state of being or one way of living to another. It implies, in short, the notion of journey. This course takes the concept of journey as its touchstone and explores how different cultures and different peoples have made sense of their own life journeys.
The Journeys course is global in its perspective and interdisciplinary in its approach. For example, through an exploration of Aristophanes’ The Clouds and some of the dialogues of Plato we probe the teachings of Socrates. We turn then to China, examining “the ways” for human flourishing pioneered by Confucius. In both Islam and Christianity, we can trace adherents’ spiritual journeys toward a relationship with the divine. We explore journeys of a more contemporary nature by looking at Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species and by reading texts pivotal to the rise of modern democracy, including selections from John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. We also probe journeys of self-discovery, such as the ones revealed in W.E.B. Du Bois’ Souls of Black Folk and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. The exact works and kinds of journeys we examine will no doubt evolve as the course changes over the coming years. But our goal will remain constant. We aim to challenge our students to examine a variety of human journeys, with the hope that they will come to understand different conceptions of human fulfillment and that they will reflect deliberately on the paths their own lives might take.
Transfer students entering Hendrix with seven or more accepted transfer credits are required to take a second Challenges of the Contemporary World (CW) course instead of Journeys. Students who do not pass Journeys are required to take a second Challenges of the Contemporary World course to meet the Journeys requirement. The grade earned in this course will not replace the Journeys grade. Journeys may not be repeated.
Explorations: Liberal Arts for Life—one course.
Explorations: Liberal Arts for Life is a one-semester common course required of all entering students in their first semester at the College. Explorations is designed to foster an ongoing engagement with the liberal arts experience, to facilitate the transition of new students to the Hendrix community, and to enhance students’ potential for success in their collegiate studies. The course meets once a week and carries one-quarter (.25) course credit.
Areas of study in Explorations include higher education and the liberal arts, the aims and expectations of the College, academic and career explorations, and self-inquiry and personal development. Additionally, the seminar focuses on refining student knowledge, perspectives and skills requisite to successful academic work and integration into the Hendrix community.
Each new student will be enrolled in both a Journeys and an Explorations section. Academic components of Explorations may be linked to Journeys content, adding immediate relevance to these areas of study. In each Explorations section, a second-year peer assistant will be available to provide student perspective and assistance.
Challenges of the Contemporary World (CW)—one course.
This component complements the Journeys component by exploring challenges of the contemporary era. Such challenges include environmental concerns, racial and ethnic differences, social inequities regarding gender and sexuality, and other issues of world citizenship. By confronting contemporary social issues, students prepare themselves to join a responsible world community striving toward a just, sustainable, and spiritually satisfying future. This component of the curriculum is a flexible one-course requirement to be fulfilled after taking Journeys.
Courses meeting the Challenges of the Contemporary World requirement are listed below. Courses from this list offered in 2006-2007 are noted with a “CW” in the Schedule of Classes, 2006-2007, and in the course listings in this Catalog. Transfer courses may be considered for CW credit. Contact the Office of the Registrar for more information.
AFRI 358 African Film
ANTH 230 Cultures of the United States-Mexico Borderlands
ANTH 250 Visual Anthropology
ANTH 235 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America
ANTH 330 Human Ecology and Ancient World
ANTH 360 Globalization and Transnationalism
ANTH 390 Social Inequality and Identity
BIOL 104 Environmental Biology
BUSI 100 Contemporary Issues in Business and Entrepreneurship
CSCI 115 Computing and the Internet
ECON 100 Survey of Economic Issues
ECON 340 Environmental Economics
ECON 360 International Economics
EDUC 390 Cultural Geography
ENGL 250 Women and African Literature
ENGL 257 Literature and the Working-Class
ENGL 358 African Film
ENGL 336 Postmodern and Contemporary Literature (1945-present)
ENGL 363 English as a Global Language
FREN 220 Aspects of French Culture
GEND 267 Introduction to Gender Studies (Social Sciences)
GEND 268 Introduction to Gender Studies (Humanities)
HIST 170 Contemporary Europe
HIST 240 History of the Islamic World
HIST 280 Contemporary Africa
HIST 330 Culture and Colonialism
HIST 333 Russia since 1917
HIST 360 Vietnam and the 60’s
IRGS 400 Senior Seminar in International Relations and Global Studies
LBST 200 Vocation and Integrity: A Call to Wholeness
MATH 115 Mathematics in Contemporary Issues
MUSI 270 Survey of Global Musics
PHIL 215 Ethics and Society
PHIL 225 Ethics and Medicine
PHIL 268 Topics: Introduction to Gender Studies (Humanities
PHIL 270 Environmental Philosophy
PHIL 310 Feminist Thought
PHIL 315 Ethics and Relations to Friend, Kin, and Community
POLI 230 Public Administration
POLI 235 Public Policy
POLI 250 Global Politics I
POLI 251 Global Politics II
POLI 260 Political Economy
POLI 300 Feminist Political Thought
POLI 372 China and East Asia
POLI 373 Palestine, Israel, & Middle East
POLI 380 Gender, Sexuality, and American Politics
POLI 390 Race and American Politics
POLI 430 Topics in Comparative Politics
POLI 440 Topics in Global Politics
PSYC 400 Psychology of Gender
RELI 200 State of the World
RELI 330 Women and Religion
RELI 360 African American Religion
SOCI 250 Gender and Family
SOCI 270 Racial and Ethnic Minorities
SOCI 300 The Urban Community
SOCI 310 Gender and Sexuality
SOCI 340 Food, Culture, and Nature
SOCI 350 Consumerism in Context
SOCI 360 Social Change/Social Movements
SOCI 375 Environmental Sociology
SOCI 380 Medical Sociology
SOCI 390 Social Inequality and Identity
SPAN 474 Indigenous Influences in Latin American Literature
SPAN 475 Politics, Human Rihts, and Vocation in Latin American Literature
TART 330 Theatre and the Challenges of the Contemporary World