Dear colleagues,
At its April meeting, the UNC Board of Governors approved a new policy stating that, beginning in fall 2025, all students in the 16 public schools in the University of North Carolina system will need to take at least one course covering foundations of American democracy. I am writing to share how the College of Arts and Sciences is addressing how we will meet this new policy requirement and ensure that it is a faculty-driven process.
As you know, the College has oversight of the University’s general education curriculum, and students who entered UNC-Chapel Hill in fall 2022 and later have been enrolled in the IDEAs in Action curriculum. Any new curriculum requirements will need to be integrated into the IDEAs in Action framework.
Rather than prescribe a specific course that students must take, the Board of Governors has given each university discretion to offer a variety of courses as long as they meet the two stated learning objectives, and a student can fulfill them by taking one or more courses. This new policy was written by a faculty group from several UNC system schools led by the chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly.
The two learning outcomes are:
- Evaluate key concepts, principles, arguments and contexts in founding documents of the American republic, including the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and a representative selection of the Federalist Papers.
- Evaluate key milestones in progress and challenges in the effort to form “a more perfect Union,” including the arguments and contexts surrounding the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as other texts that reflect the breadth of American experiences.
Here in the College, I have formed an ad hoc advisory committee made up of College faculty to focus on how we will administer this course at UNC-Chapel Hill. This group is tasked with developing two key recommendations: 1) Defining the specific nature of the course or courses at Carolina and ensuring that they meet the policy requirements and 2) How to integrate the new requirement into the IDEAs in Action curriculum.
The committee is being chaired by Gregory Copenhaver, chancellor’s eminent professor of convergent science and professor in biology. Its other members are: myself; Elizabeth Engelhardt, senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities; Noreen McDonald, senior associate dean for social sciences and global programs; Abigail Panter, senior associate dean for undergraduate education; Meredith Petschauer, associate dean for undergraduate curricula; Jed Atkins, director and dean of SCiLL; Mark Crescenzi, chair of political science; Gary Glish, professor of chemistry; Miguel La Serna, chair of history; Jocelyn Neal, chair of music; and Mariana Olvera-Cravioto, professor of statistics and operations research.
This group had its first meeting last month and will meet again this week, with a third meeting planned for over the summer. The goal is to make recommendations by Aug. 1 to the College’s Administrative Boards, which oversee the IDEAs in Action curriculum. As this is a curricular matter, I want to assure you that our recommendations will be faculty driven, that we will seek faculty feedback, and that we will follow the standard approval processes that all of our new courses and curriculum changes undergo.
I will share the committee’s report with you when it is finalized, and I welcome your feedback.
Sincerely,
Jim