All of our courses have a “Course Description,” as can be readily accessed via the Bulletin, that tends to remain static, even though exact content and style may vary between instructors and terms. This generally works well, except for courses in our Common Core (CC) category, which includes the following four components and associated Course Descriptions:
- Arts, Aesthetics & Creativity (A)
- Explores relation between creative writing and other art forms. Interdisciplinary arts projects. Emphasis on independent work, ethical issues of art and society, and the nature of the creative process. Discussion based, writing intensive.
- Human Behaviors & Social Institutions (B)
- Develops insights into human nature, the nature of social institutions, the social processes that have shaped the world of the 21st century. In an interdisciplinary way, introduces the distinctive perspectives of the social sciences, emphasizing frameworks and techniques used in explaining causes and patterns of individual and institutional behavior.
- Literary & Intellectual Traditions (T)
- Interdisciplinary exploration of a humanistic tradition of inquiry regarding one of the following themes: ideas of self, truth, beauty, community, nature, or conflict. Writing intensive, discussion-focused. Attention to primary texts and research materials.
- Natural World (N)
- Introduces students to the methods and logic of science, and helps them understand the importance of science to the development of civilization and the contemporary world. Provides a context within which to evaluate the important scientific and technological issues of modern society. Interdisciplinary elements.
A novel aspect of Common Core courses is that offerings can be proposed from any department, and each is to have a unique Variable Title (VT). Accordingly, there can be multiple VT offerings, at the same level, from the same department. Notably, faculty have the option of adding a more descriptive “Class Description” to better describe the content of their individual VT offerings. Our “historical” listing of approved Common Core courses includes paragraph-length class descriptions, typically from when the VT was approved: https://blogs.iu.edu/iusbgened/approved-courses/.
Faculty are strongly encouraged to take an active role in updating their own Class Descriptions, as students and advisors find this to be very useful when searching for classes in iGPS. This can be done for any course for which a faculty member is the official instructor of record, but it is especially useful for the VT courses within the CC, and it needs to be done each semester.
The tool for doing this is quite easy to use. Faculty should simply go to One.IU and then search for the tool, which is appropriately called Class Descriptions:
The tool should be the first result, and faculty should automatically see all of the courses for which they are the instructor of record and have the ability to paste in their own, instructor-provided, Class Description.