Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

SFS Considers Math, Science Requirement

In response to growing demands for a more competitive curriculum, School of Foreign Service officials said they have begun considering the addition of a math or science requirement to the school’s core curriculum as early as the next academic year.

Any change to the school’s required course load would apply only to the class of 2009 and beyond.

“To stay current with the changing requirements of competency in today’s global world, the core curriculum is continually being monitored and assessed,” Elizabeth Andretta, associate dean and director of the SFS undergraduate program, said.

Prompted by wider university discussions about a potential new science building, SFS deans and faculty have begun considering certain scenarios for the new requirement.

“For example, we are deciding whether there would there be a math or science requirement, or both, or neither, and we leave the core requirements alone,” Andretta said.

Additionally, Andretta predicted that if another requirement was added to the core, then something else would have to be eliminated, because of the demanding and broad required curriculum that already characterizes the SFS.

“Our [program] is at its heart a liberal arts curriculum with an international focus,” Andretta said. “It is important that students be given the opportunity for intellectual exploration that electives follow.”

SFS Dean Robert Gallucci maintains that the school’s faculty is constantly reviewing the curriculum and exploring methods to improve students’ educational experience.

“That the SFS has been `safe from science’ is a source of concern for some and of pride for others who see it as a traditional aspect of our curriculum,” Gallucci said.

Gallucci pointed to the school’s relatively new science, technology and international affairs major, whose requirements include both science and math courses, as an example of administrators’ efforts to introduce more science and math-related subject matter into the SFS curriculum.

“[The major] is open to those students who wish to elect it,” he said.

Mithuna Sivaraman (SFS ’08), an international political economy major, said that the proposed requirements would not significantly affect most IPEC and STIA majors, who are already required to take math and science courses.

“Because I am an IPEC major, all of my math requirements are already taken care of,” Sivaraman said. “Plus, many students are already coming in with AP credit in many math and science courses, whereby they would automatically be exempt from such requirements.”

Sivaraman also said that such requirements could deter students interested in enrolling in the school, especially because “enough people share the opinion for science to be mute in terms of its relation to an international affairs-dominated curriculum.”

Csaba Rusznak (SFS ’07) agrees that a curriculum change would ultimately be beneficial to the SFS program and improve its status in a technologically-dominated age.

“In this ever-changing world, our graduates need to be prepared for all levels of work, and this is consistent with our aim to be on the cutting edge of foreign service, because the word is in sore need of people who understand the relationship between science, technology and international politics,” he said.

Sivaraman maintained that math would be an important skill regardless of one’s major.

“It is a very important skill in the workforce today, and it is important that universities, especially in the United States, stay competitive with those in other nations,” she said, referring to nations such as Germany and Japan that she said boast far more advanced math programs than the U.S.

Gallucci predicted that the proposal to add another requirement would meet certain problems down the road, including certain resource constraints, and the need to delete some already existing SFS core requirements.

“I suspect discussion of this will turn less on the merits of having our students being exposed to a science course . and more on how this could be accomplished given . the desire to avoid having new requirements for the BSFS degree,” he said.

Changing the core curriculum would require an agreement from students, faculty and the SFS dean’s office, according to Andretta.

A proposal would first be brought to the SFS Curriculum Committee, which is composed of students, faculty chairs and the chair of the faculty. If that committee approved a change, then it would be sent to the full faculty for a vote. If it were approved at this level, then it would be sent to the School Council, chaired by Gallucci, which has the power to finally implement the proposed change.

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