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- Jul 13, 2003
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"CIE stands for the "Common Intellectual Experience." This is the one course (two courses actually, spanning two semesters) that every first-year student takes, and the one course that every member of the faculty can potentially teach. (This year 47 of us, nearly half of the faculty, will teach in either CIE1 in the Fall or CIE2 in the Spring or both.) The reason that we expect all Ursinus students to take this course, and all Ursinus faculty to teach it, is that it deals with the questions that are confronted by everyone, the questions that lie at the heart of a liberal arts education: What does it mean to be human? How should we live our lives? What is the universe and what is our place in it? So whatever our specialties may be as faculty or whatever your backgrounds or career aspirations may be as students, seeking answers to these questions is something we all share in common. And since Ursinus is a liberal arts college, we will not leave that seeking to chance, but will engage in it deliberately from almost the first moment of your arrival, in small discussion-based CIE classes and, after class, in Wismer and the residence halls and in the campus's offices, lounges, and laboratories."
"In the CIE we meet in small classes so that everyone has the opportunity to make the arguments supporting his or her views, to listen carefully to others' arguments, to accept or reject every position based on careful deliberation. This activity is, of course, nothing other than conversation. It would be strange to confine this particular conversation only to the classroom. The issue of how I should live my life is not simply a "subject" in school, a narrow technical matter. Nor is mastery of it demonstrated by filling in bubbles on an SAT exam sheet. It's a problem that informs or ought to inform our every waking hour. Because each of you will study the same set of readings, you should always be able to find someone who wants to stay up late and talk about it. And this is perhaps the chief reason for the residential character of this college. No doubt, the college enjoys being in the hotel business. But it is this question of the right way of life, the question at the very heart of your liberal education, that dictates that residential character of the college. For this question bears not only on your classroom performance but on your life. And so you study, talk, and live in one and the same place."
I especially like this bit:
"As the year proceeds expect to find yourself confused, disturbed, or angry. Because this conversation may involve challenging beliefs you cherish, it requires some courage."
I don't know how I feel about all this. I'm not very good at discussing at all, so it's going to be really rough, but hopefully just at first. Overall, I suppose I'm glad I will be forced to be a part of this. In the end, I think it will improve my ability to express my self confidently.
Here's a question I could use some input on, if anyone wants to take a stab at it:
"What difference might it make if people worship many gods as opposed to one?"
I think that when we think of a single God, we assume that He has a divine plan that cannot be changed. But with many Gods, it's more like a council that is susceptible to disagreement and deliberation.
"In the CIE we meet in small classes so that everyone has the opportunity to make the arguments supporting his or her views, to listen carefully to others' arguments, to accept or reject every position based on careful deliberation. This activity is, of course, nothing other than conversation. It would be strange to confine this particular conversation only to the classroom. The issue of how I should live my life is not simply a "subject" in school, a narrow technical matter. Nor is mastery of it demonstrated by filling in bubbles on an SAT exam sheet. It's a problem that informs or ought to inform our every waking hour. Because each of you will study the same set of readings, you should always be able to find someone who wants to stay up late and talk about it. And this is perhaps the chief reason for the residential character of this college. No doubt, the college enjoys being in the hotel business. But it is this question of the right way of life, the question at the very heart of your liberal education, that dictates that residential character of the college. For this question bears not only on your classroom performance but on your life. And so you study, talk, and live in one and the same place."
I especially like this bit:
"As the year proceeds expect to find yourself confused, disturbed, or angry. Because this conversation may involve challenging beliefs you cherish, it requires some courage."
I don't know how I feel about all this. I'm not very good at discussing at all, so it's going to be really rough, but hopefully just at first. Overall, I suppose I'm glad I will be forced to be a part of this. In the end, I think it will improve my ability to express my self confidently.
Here's a question I could use some input on, if anyone wants to take a stab at it:
"What difference might it make if people worship many gods as opposed to one?"
I think that when we think of a single God, we assume that He has a divine plan that cannot be changed. But with many Gods, it's more like a council that is susceptible to disagreement and deliberation.
