GE Initiatives in UCLA
GE Initiatives in UCLA
Date: 17 March 2011 (Thursday)
Speakers: Prof. Robert Gurval (Department of Classics,University of California, Los Angeles
The structure of the UCLA GE program is based upon two distinct models, which may be seen as complementary principles of innovation and tradition. The former can define the first-year cluster program, which has been nationally recognized as the “jewel in the crown” in the UCLA GE program. These courses are broadly themed, year-long, collaboratively taught by teams of distinguished faculty, and cut across conventional boundaries of departments and disciplines. Nine or ten freshman clusters, are taught each year. Topics include “The History of Modern Thought”; “Evolution of the Cosmos and Life”; and “Los Angeles: The Cluster.” Lectures are taught by university staff, who are both research scholars and distinguished teachers, and tutorial discussion sections are led by experienced graduate student instructors, who must apply to teach. The classes are restricted to entering freshmen and limited to lectures no larger than 200 students and sections capped at 20. But tradition is also a fundamental part of the GE program. In addition to the cluster programs, individual departments and interdepartmental programs offer their own one-term, more conventional GE courses, which serve as informed introductions to their discipline’s methodologies and practices. But like the popular saying on ancient Rome, it should be emphasized that GE reform at UCLA was not born in a day. To know more about the UCLA GE program, please go to the website.
About the Speaker
Prof. Robert Gurval, Hong Kong Visiting Fulbright Professor in the area of General Education and former faculty chair of GE Governance Committee of UCLA, will lead a workshop on the recent undergraduate initiatives at his home institution in the United States, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The workshop will focus on the challenges and strategies of reforming GE at a large public research university (not unlike CUHK), the continued administration and oversight of its program, and future university goals in undergraduate education. The workshop will also include a brief introduction to the history of the university.
