Pennsylvania State University at Capitol Campus
C lIIC II re CI
Vol. 9 No. 4
Effort Made To
Synthesize-Isms
Citing a need for "the
interdisciplinary education of
all our students", the Core
Courses Planning Committee
(CCPC) has recommended
that "Entrance" and "Exit"
courses be "offered" at
Capitol Campus. The CCPC,
consisting of six members of
the faculty, presented its final
report to the Faculty Council
last May.
According to the report,
the "Entrance" course would
have the following purpose:
1. To teach "modules" of
"great ideas", including Cap
italism, Collectivism, Relativ
ity, Existentialism, and
Pragmatism, Evolution, Na
tionalism, Modernization,
Technology, Measurement,
and Inductive Reasoning.
2. To evaluate students'
writing skills and identify
those who need remedial
Tishler Discusses Sayer's
Purgatorial Career
It has been a three-year
labor of love for Dr. Nancy M.
Tischler, Professor of English
and Humanities. A new book,
Dorothy L. Sayers, A Pilgrim
Soul, has been the result.
Tischler shared some of
her observations on the pro
lific writer on Oct. 11 in the
Gallery Lounge before an aud
ience of students and faculty.
Students may be familiar
with Sayers through her
translations of Song of Roland
and Dante's Divine Comedy.
These academic successes fol
lowed tremendous acclaim for
her popular mystery series
featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
She also wrote well-re
ceived liturgical dramas for
festivals in a number of cath
edrals and "The Iv j3sirn.,to
be King," a radio AO
segments.
Sayers' story is the more
3. To place emphasis on
small groups for writing, re
search, and discussion.
4. To provide guest lec
turers who are "experts" on
the modules.
5. To seek "feedback"
from the students and place
emphasis on clear thinking
and writing.
Similarly, the report says
that the "Exit" course should
deal with:
1. Interdisciplinary
problem-solving, enabling
students to watch clear-head
ad and imaginative interdis
ciplinarians at work.
2. Senior seminars, with
student teams presenting
problem-solving reports.
Dr. Michael Barton, CCPC
chairman, said in an interview
with the Reader last Tuesday:
"This is something we would
by Joan klein
fascinating because of the
handicaps she overcame. In
the face of adversity, she
remained undaunted; said
Tischler. For example, being
female in the university arena
was a stigma in the early
years of the 20th century.
Oxford University belatedly
and reluctantly conferred
the degree of Master of Arts
on Sayers in 1920, five years
after her graduation. A dis
astrous marriage only served
to increase her creativity.
Oxford may have fallen
short of the ideals of a uni
versity where its daughters
were concerned, but it taught
her to use words, said Sayers,
and use words she did.
She made the decision to
translate Dante when she was
aver 50 years old, though the
undertaking demanded she
learn medieval Italian. The
by mike kondor
command all the students to
take." He said, "We had this
planned for a preliminary
program this year."
Barton said he suspects,
however, that "some people
are not content with" the
plan, and he describes the
idea as being "in limbo" or
"gestating."
Barton stressed that "we
wouldn't impose the require
ment on everybody until it is
tested", and he speculated
that the plan would be "more
actionable by the end of this
year."
The CCPC report was
forwarded to Dr. Theodore
Gross, Provost. Gross, tolls! thv
Reader that "the report gen
erally is very good", but 41-
ed that "there were some
questions" about it.
"What we need to do now
is to appoint an interdisciplin-
first of the trilogy, Hell, re
ceived high critical acclaim;
Purgatory likewise was a suc
cess. Sayers was in the midst
of translating Paradise when
she died. That work was com
pleted by an associate, Dr.
Barbara Reynolds of Cam
bridge University.
Tischler was aided in her
research by information pro
vided by Reynolds. They met
last year while Tischler was in
England on a research grant
from Pennsylvania State Uni
versity. The biography, to be
published by John Knox
Press, will be available in
January.
The lecture was sponsored
by Delta Tau Kappa, Interna
tional Social Science Honor
Society. Sam Bookheimer,
president of the society, was
host.
ary Core Faculty and course
supervisors," said Gross. "We
would ask for nominees from
the Faculty Council," he said.
Gross said that he was glad
the matter had been brought
to his attention. "I will act on
this," he stated.
According to the CCPC
report, the Core Faculty
would be responsible for de
ciding on "scheduling, room
assignments, number of
meetings in mass lectures,
discussion groups and semin
ars, course content, reading
materials, audio-visual aids,
guest lecturers, projected en
rollments, and credit hours
awarded."
The report goes on to say
that "They (the Core Faculty)
will need to coordinate all
these matters with the var
ious Programs and appropri
ate officials, and perhaps the
Dr. Nancy M. Tischler, Professor of English and Humani
ties, lectured on the writer Dorothy L. Sayers, Thurs. Oct.
11, in the Gallery Lounge. Tischler has spent three years
researching and writing a new book on Sayers titled,
Dorothy L. Sayers, A Pilgrim. photo by mike kondor
18 October 1979
Student Government Associ
ation."
The report warns that :
"The Core Faculty will need
to judge the impact these
courses will have on the ac
creditation requirements of
Business and Engineering
students, for they don't have
much room for electives, and
they are already, or are going
to be, required to take a cer
tain amount of work in the
social sciences and humanities."
The report suggests, how
ever, that in the event the
"Entrance and Exit" courses
"can't be squeezed into the
current requirements for
graduation, the two courses
might simply be added to
those requirements."
Other alternatives
mentioned in the report are:
to reduce the credits and
continued on pg. 4
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