This Inquiry challenges students to interrogate the processes through which the idea of “The West” has come to be geographically centered on Western Europe and the USA. It invites students to vigorously debate the ideas, practices, and historical processes which have catapulted the West into a position of global preeminence. And it encourages students to consider how as teachers and learners in the modern US, we are also participants in unmaking and re-making the idea and identity of “The West.”
Enrolled in this Inquiry?—Click here for a requirement checklist.
Inquiry Course Requirements
All Idea of the West students take:
- Introduction to Anthropology (ANTH 101)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Social and Behavioral Sciences, Cultural Literacy
Students choose one of the following courses that explore the history and expression of western nations– and their impacts on other cultures:
- Literature in History I (ENGL 284)
Literature in History II (ENGL 285)
Historical Foundations of the Modern World to 1450 (HIST 104)
Western Civilization (HIST 105)
History of the Modern World (HIST 108)
Atlantic World Survey (HIST 219)
Latin American Civilizations (HIST 253)
Ancient Mediterranean (HIST 272)
Introduction to Religious Studies (RELG 110)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Humanities
They further their study of western modes of expression with additional focus on creative forms of expression by taking one of the following:
- Introduction to Museum Studies (MUST 200)
Literature and Opera (MUSC 230)
Gender and Music (MUSC 231)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Arts and Humanities
Students choose an astronomy course:
- Solar System Astronomy with Laboratory (ASTR 154)
Stellar Astronomy and Cosmology with Laboratory (ASTR 155)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Natural Sciences with Lab
And students experience how even basic programming skills can be applied to a project focused on the impacts of the western world by taking:
- Introduction to Computer Science (COSC 120)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Mathematics
When this coursework is finished, all Inquiry students complete:
- Integrated Learning Portfolio (1 credit)
Integrated Learning Portfolio (ILP)
The final requirement for any Inquiry is the Integrated Learning Portfolio. The ILP is the place where students articulate the connections they see among their courses– and where they reflect on the contribution each course makes to the Inquiry topic. Portfolios can include assignments from each Inquiry class, or artifacts from the class itself: images, articles, data– whatever material has been most significant to you.
Assembled as a Google Site or through a similar platform, the ILP is submitted as the student completes their Inquiry coursework. During their final semester in the Inquiry, students will be registered for their ILP by the Inquiry Lead. The ILP is worth one credit and graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.
About Core Inquiries
Core Inquiries give students an opportunity to apply coursework from a range of liberal arts disciplines to a common topic or question. In an Inquiry, students satisfy their Core Knowledge and Methods requirements by taking a set of courses– each connected to the Inquiry topic– and completing an Integrated Learning Portfolio. Through their Inquiry coursework, students can fulfill their Core Knowledge and Methods requirements in four or five classes (the number varies depending on which Inquiry you take), rather than six.
