Core
Curriculum: Course Descriptions
Interdisciplinary Humanities Core
A Global Canvas
Perspectives on World Cultures:
Early Modern to Postmodern
At the heart of your first-year experience is a
year-long, interdisciplinary study of world cultures team-taught
by professors from the departments of history, philosophy, art
history, and literature. In its first year, this innovative
course was awarded a National Endowment of the Humanities Focus
Grant, which supported faculty research.
This special writing-intensive course folds together four honors
Humanities courses: world History II (HS 117 HC), World world
music (MU 111HC), World Literature II (EN 202HC), and Introduction
to Philosophy (PL 201HC). Meeting for six hours every week,
Perspectives on World Cultures bridges the gaps that traditionally
separate disciplines. We study cultures "in the round" to understand
how the world's peoples have forged their different destinies
and expressed their visions of reality. Our aim is to give students
an appreciation of the rich diversity of the world's peoples.
Today, nobody's education should end at the classroom door.
As a Scholar, you'll join excursions to theatres, galleries,
and other sites of interest in the Washington metro area. On
campus, you'll attend a series of Scholars Roundtables, or perhaps
participate in a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony!
Capstone Research Project:
From Idea to Expression
In your second year as a Montgomery Scholar, you will produce
your major honors research in the interdisciplinary Capstone
Project. Your project may take the form of a traditional research
paper, or it may take a nontraditional form, such as the production
of a video or a work of art.
The Capstone research theme mirrors the theme of the MC Smithsonian
Fellows Seminar, and three of the Fellows serve as research
mentors for the students. In 2000-2001, the theme was The Impact
of Technology on Our World. Students chose to investigate technology's
effect on some aspect of the arts, humanities, social, or natural
sciences of interest to them.
To produce results in the world, effective research also requires
effective communication skills, both in writing and public speaking.
That is why the honors speech course (SP 108HC) is such an important
component of the Capstone Project. While you are creating your
research project, you also learn to develop your communication
and listening skills, to practice the dynamics of small group
discussion, and to master the fundamentals of public speaking.
In the spring of your sophomore year, you will present the
results of your research at a public forum, the Montgomery
Scholars Capstone Colloquium. You are also encouraged
to submit papers to academic publications and to the Beacon
Conference, a research consortium for two-year colleges that
includes colleges from seven northeastern states. Over the past
few years, 11 Montgomery Scholars have been finalists at the
Beacon; 4 have won in their category.
