Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Michigan

Still a work in progress. You, loyal reader, get to see ace reported Big Jim in action as he catalogs Michigan's perfidy . . .

Alright the specific dastardly nature of Michigan football players favorite major occurred to me as a read Pat Forde's article on the Harbaugh controversy. This quote, from Cathy Conway-Perrin, the director of academic standards and academic opportunities in Michigan's College of Literature, Science and the Arts clued me in:
"BGS [Bachelor of General Studies] can be more demanding in some ways," Conway-Perrin wrote in an e-mail asking for an explanation of the degree. "For example, students are required to take at least 60 credits of upper-level courses (courses numbered 300 and above, which are generally more intensive courses aimed at juniors and seniors). Since students need 120 credits to graduate, that means that at least half of a BGS student's coursework is upper-level. This allows them to develop intensive knowledge in several areas of study. So while juniors and seniors who are pursuing a BA or a BS may continue to take introductory courses in areas in which they have a peripheral interest, BGS students tend to study their areas of interest in depth and take more upper-level courses.
Here's the money quote:
For example, students are required to take at least 60 credits of upper-level courses (courses numbered 300 and above, which are generally more intensive courses aimed at juniors and seniors).
Right. Courses numbered 300 and higher.

Next I investigated the course requirements of all the other undergrad non-language humanities programs offered at Michigan (Math and science are excluded for obvious reasons):
African American Studies: 24 hours numbered 300 or higher, one 400 level senior seminar
American Culture: 19 hours numbered 300 or above, two 400 level courses
Anthropology's website proved impenetrable.
Communication Studies: 16 at 300 or above, 8 at 400
Comparative Literature: 24 at 300 or above (in two different languages), 3-6 400 level
English: 27 credits at 300 or above
History: 21 credits at 300 or above
Judaic Studies was unhelpful. 27 credit hours needed, but also 4 semesters of a language.
Medieval Studies and Early Modern Studies: 15 at 300 or higher, 4 semesters of a language, one 400 level class.
Near Eastern Studies: All concentrations with the program require extensive language classes except for Near Eastern Civilizations: 8 courses at 400 level
Philosophy: 15 at 300 or higher, 6 at 400 level
Political Science: 18 at 300 or above, 6 at 400 level
Psychology: 20 at 300 or higher
Screen Arts and Cultures: 30 at 300 or higher
Sociology: 30 at 200 or above (two 300 courses are mandatory)
Women's Studies: 12 at 300 or above, one at 400 level
So there we have it. Out of the 17 programs included in this survey only Psychology, Sociology, History, and English fail to require the student to take a 400 level course.

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