Welcome from the Director
Professor Jim Allen Director, University Core Curriculum		We're glad you are taking a look at the University Core Curriculum. This program is the backbone of the university experience and, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, we are justifiably proud of the Core experience we offer for undergraduates. Courses in the Core introduce you to the traditional riches of western civilization as well as to the contemporary perspectives of interdisciplinary and multicultural studies. Many students find that Core courses help them select a major, while others value the Core experience for the perspective it provides on the universe of human knowledge. As a full professor in History, I enjoy teaching graduate students and History majors. But my favorite classroom time is in my Core Curriculum class (History 201), with my undergraduates from all over the university who ask such lively, skeptical, and thoughtful questions about our readings. Through the eyes of an engineering major or a physical education major I continually learn more about my field and my world, and so do my students. And, it is a test of my own teaching abilities to communicate current knowledge and insights of my field--modern France--in an undergraduate setting, and encourage my students in their own intellectual and scholarly growth. This kind of experience with a senior scholar and a diverse and accomplished undergraduate population is available only at a research institution such as SIUC. There are many faculty like me in the Core classroom. We're here because we want to be. I hope you'll want to join us!
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