Spring Break
General Education club revived
by Miranda Neubauer
Senior Writer
News | 1/22/08
Posted online at 4:19 AM EST on 1/22/08
Monday night's speech by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin was the first event co-sponsored by the General Education Now club, an organization started by two sophomores trying to bring more prominent speakers to campus in an effort to reinstate a program from the 1950s and '60s.
The club's co-founders, Jonah Seligman '10 and Daniel Gillman '10, said the idea to create Gen Ed Now grew out of Prof. David Hackett Fischer's (HIST) introduction to former President Jimmy Carter last January. Fischer noted that Carter's visit was "an event that rises from a Brandeis tradition of inviting leaders to meet with our students, who we think will lead in the future." He explained that the idea was part of the original Brandeis curriculum in the form of General Education Senior, which "was meant to be the capstone of the undergraduate curriculum."
In the '50s and '60s, the Gen Ed S program was required for all seniors and offered them the opportunity to hear from high-profile speakers from various fields in a more intimate setting. The program brought such speakers as former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, according to reports from the Brandeis Review and a University Archives Web page.
Gillman emphasized the intimate nature of the interactions between students and visitors. "Eleanor Roosevelt had breakfasts with students," he said. The organizers of Gen Ed Now, however, said that changing times created a challenge for them as they tried to recreate that atmosphere. "With Gen Ed S there were maybe 80 students in a class; now there are 800," Seligman said.
In their research to establish a viable new concept, Seligman and Gillman came across the Chicago Society at the University of Chicago, a student-run group that organizes discussion events and speaker visits on topical issues for the community.
Gen Ed Now could also model itself after the Chicago Society in terms of financing events, Seligman said, because the Chicago program doesn't pay speaker fees. The group is also working with the Office of Development and Alumni relations to approach alumni to fund Gen Ed Now's activities, Seligman said.
The club's co-founders, Jonah Seligman '10 and Daniel Gillman '10, said the idea to create Gen Ed Now grew out of Prof. David Hackett Fischer's (HIST) introduction to former President Jimmy Carter last January. Fischer noted that Carter's visit was "an event that rises from a Brandeis tradition of inviting leaders to meet with our students, who we think will lead in the future." He explained that the idea was part of the original Brandeis curriculum in the form of General Education Senior, which "was meant to be the capstone of the undergraduate curriculum."
In the '50s and '60s, the Gen Ed S program was required for all seniors and offered them the opportunity to hear from high-profile speakers from various fields in a more intimate setting. The program brought such speakers as former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, according to reports from the Brandeis Review and a University Archives Web page.
Gillman emphasized the intimate nature of the interactions between students and visitors. "Eleanor Roosevelt had breakfasts with students," he said. The organizers of Gen Ed Now, however, said that changing times created a challenge for them as they tried to recreate that atmosphere. "With Gen Ed S there were maybe 80 students in a class; now there are 800," Seligman said.
In their research to establish a viable new concept, Seligman and Gillman came across the Chicago Society at the University of Chicago, a student-run group that organizes discussion events and speaker visits on topical issues for the community.
Gen Ed Now could also model itself after the Chicago Society in terms of financing events, Seligman said, because the Chicago program doesn't pay speaker fees. The group is also working with the Office of Development and Alumni relations to approach alumni to fund Gen Ed Now's activities, Seligman said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Daniel H. Werner, '60
posted 1/25/08 @ 2:24 PM EST
I was surprised to learn that Gen Ed S was not still an ongoing activity on campus. I have very fond memories of listening to and talking with some of the great thinkers and leaders of our time when I was at Brandeis. (Continued…)
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