Reed College Overhauling Humanities Course After Students Protest Western Focus

[Valin]

Washington Free Beacon

Student group says focus on Eurocentric Western civilization is outdated

Rachel Frommer
February 4, 2018

Reed College has agreed to overhaul the syllabus of its centerpiece humanities course in a concession to students who have protested its Western focus.

Humanities 110, the interdisciplinary survey of antiquity, has been revised to include geographic regions beyond the current ancient Greco-Roman focus, it was announced in a campus email Thursday.

Beginning in Fall 2018, the freshman requirement will consist of four modules, each examining a separate city during a significant period of historical change. The first semester will cover much of the old Hum 110 content, focusing on Athens and Rome, to allow faculty time to determine the remainder of the curriculum. * The Spring modules will likely look at two cities in the Americas, with Mexico City and New York named as tentative candidates.

Reed would not comment on whether selections from texts considered cornerstones of Western Civilization such as Plato and Aristotle would remain going forward.

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* Mexico City was founded in 1430, New York City 1624. I point this out to say while both 1430 and 1624 appear to be a long time ago, particularly to those who have never really studied history and/or believe not much of importance happened before they were born. It should be noted the age of antiquity ended around 400 ad....(for those of you going to Reed College that means the age of antiquity ended 1,000 years before Mexico city was founded, and 1,200 before New York City was founded.)

 

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