in a nutshell
the core curriculum invites students to contemplate deeply and formulate difficult questions. The core curriculum introduces CILASians to the fields of Historical Consciousness, Philosophical and Poetic Inquiry, and Ethnographic Study. It invites incoming students to lead conversations with interlocutors from across historical periods, hemispheres and sites of contestation about what it means to record history, build community, or question one's predicament; how meaning is produced through language and art; how we come to know and which rules we devise to organise ourselves. The core curriculum seeks to develop the habits of mind conducive to the pursuit of one's intellectual curiosities.
CILAS' approach
CILAS' core curriculum is continuously revised together with the students in an effort to contextualise liberal arts education. While a range of liberal arts colleges centre their core curriculum on a selection of so-called 'great books', CILAS proposes a different approach providing an intellectual foundation. It seeks to challenge the often Eurocentric nature of core curricula taught at liberal arts institutions while careful not to essentialise 'indigenous knowledges'. In so doing, CILAS recognises knowledge as globally, yet unequally, co-produced. With this in mind, the core curriculum emphasises the exchange of ideas across contexts and legacies.
incorporating matters of concern
the revision of the core curriculum has aimed to address students' indignations, concerns, and passions. Ongoing conversation about the core curriculum has allowed us to explore topics and material that is responsive and relevant to the rapidly evolving social, cultural, and civic settings that students act within. The core curriculum is meant to promote both criticality and creativity. In other words, it aims at a wise appreciation of the complexity of the world we inhabit. Reliance on tentative course flows rather than static syllabi invites students to reshape and redirect the orientation of courses.
the core curriculum invites students to contemplate deeply and formulate difficult questions. The core curriculum introduces CILASians to the fields of Historical Consciousness, Philosophical and Poetic Inquiry, and Ethnographic Study. It invites incoming students to lead conversations with interlocutors from across historical periods, hemispheres and sites of contestation about what it means to record history, build community, or question one's predicament; how meaning is produced through language and art; how we come to know and which rules we devise to organise ourselves. The core curriculum seeks to develop the habits of mind conducive to the pursuit of one's intellectual curiosities.
CILAS' approach
CILAS' core curriculum is continuously revised together with the students in an effort to contextualise liberal arts education. While a range of liberal arts colleges centre their core curriculum on a selection of so-called 'great books', CILAS proposes a different approach providing an intellectual foundation. It seeks to challenge the often Eurocentric nature of core curricula taught at liberal arts institutions while careful not to essentialise 'indigenous knowledges'. In so doing, CILAS recognises knowledge as globally, yet unequally, co-produced. With this in mind, the core curriculum emphasises the exchange of ideas across contexts and legacies.
incorporating matters of concern
the revision of the core curriculum has aimed to address students' indignations, concerns, and passions. Ongoing conversation about the core curriculum has allowed us to explore topics and material that is responsive and relevant to the rapidly evolving social, cultural, and civic settings that students act within. The core curriculum is meant to promote both criticality and creativity. In other words, it aims at a wise appreciation of the complexity of the world we inhabit. Reliance on tentative course flows rather than static syllabi invites students to reshape and redirect the orientation of courses.
