We can engage in witty banter on almost any obscure subject. Core requirements make us versatile, well-rounded people. Having majors perpetuates the abusive power dynamics that educational institutions hold over us.īut core requirements do nothing of the sort. It is neither responsible nor trustworthy for an institution like NYU to allow people with undeveloped brains to be making life-changing decisions.
They convince us we are ready to decide what we want to do, but when our brains fully mature, we realize we’ve been deceived. In doing so, they engage in psychological manipulation, literally gaslighting us into believing we’re smart enough to determine the rest of our lives at 18. In addition, majors force us to choose a career at an age where our brains aren’t fully developed. It perpetuates a cycle of jumping between topics without even being able to delve deeply into one of them. Studying two things, especially if they are similar - biology and chemistry, for example, or journalism and linguistics - is a poor attempt at compromise. Minors or double majors are no solution either. If we have majors that make us specialize in such different fields, how will we ever communicate? NYU is a global university, and its whole energy revolves around communication. We obsess over one field of study, and lose our global open-mindedness which NYU so prides itself upon. Thus, by limiting us to one field of expertise, they cut off incredible potential for interdisciplinary innovation and forging new lifelong friendships. Majors perpetuate the idea that you can only be good at one thing at a time. With core classes being so fulfilling, it’s a wonder we have major classes at all. “How could they know that?” I explain to you what the “medieval grotesque” is, and I instantly become alluring, the Platonic ideal of intelligence.
#Coreclasses full#
Core classes make me interesting, and full of mystery. That kind of in-depth understanding of the scientific nomenclature of African great apes is something I would never get as the measly journalism and linguistics student I am. They teach you random facts you can pull out as conversation starters at parties.ĭid you know that the scientific name of the western lowland gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla ? Well, I did. They range from mathematics and science to literature and philosophy. Why do we have so many? How do professors come up with these topics? From a Texts & Ideas course on doubling in French literature to an anthropology course on our complete evolution from proto-primates to humans, NYU’s offerings cover a wide range of topics in just enough depth that a quarter of the information will stick in your brain for the next three months. Core requirements have always mystified students.
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