I want to create a new course on animal courtship and mating and sexual selection. First, I submitted it as a fourth year undergraduate course, simply titled, "Sex." The department's curriculum committee asked me to revise it, on the grounds that other departments (Psychology, Health, Sociology, maybe) were too likely to argue that it was a topic they should be teaching, not biology. So I took it back and changed the title to "Evolution and sexual reproduction" and resubmitted the proposal.
The departmental curriculum committee met again yesterday and I ran into a whole bunch of new objections that weren't raised in the first meeting. One of the reasons for creating the course was that we have our courses grouped into five areas; students need at least one class from each of the five areas. I wanted to create a class that would fill out the smallest section, which has only three classes. The first objection was that this course would draw away students from Genetics. I said, "There's a prerequisite; students can't take this instead of an existing course in the group, because you need a lower-level course to get into this one."
From this, it comes out that there is actually no way of enforcing prerequisites on this campus.
What?
Yes, it turns out that pretty much all of those course requirements are apparently not enforced, or even enforceable.
Being curious, I ask if the goal was to pump students into genetics why the course is not a requirement. After the meeting, I learn that the reason it's not a requirement is that many, many years ago, the person who taught genetics was so bad and so unpopular, he drove people away, so there was resistance to making the course a requirement because of this one instructor's unpopularity. Although the reason for not making the course required no longer remains, it would be hard to make the course required because it is argued that there would be complaints from pre-med students about adding more courses they have to take to finish their degrees.
Anyway, whether this course would pull people away from genetics or not, the second suggestion from a committee member was that I make the class a graduate course instead of an undergraduate course. I say, "Not what I had in mind, but I'll consider it." In the afternoon, I go away and write up two versions of a course description, for the third time.
After the curriculum committee meeting, I was left wondering if it was "appropriate" or "ironic" that my course on sex keeps getting screwed.
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