No one doubts the value of a broad-based education. That’s why students attend liberal arts institutions like Rice—they want the chance to think outside the box that is their major field of study. But general education is challenging, not just to take, but to teach and to implement within a university’s course requirements.

It’s easy to lose sight of the goal of general education, explains John Hutchinson, vice president of student affairs and a veteran of many Rice curriculum committees. Rice began a 20-year general education experiment in the late 1980s when it instituted core foundation courses in the humanities (HUMA), social sciences (SOCI), and natural sciences and engineering (NSCI). Then the squabbles began. Ask faculty members what Rice undergraduates should know in order to graduate, and “you quickly have a list that is longer than anything anyone could possibly take—even if they took nothing but general education courses,” Hutchinson says. “And when you make everyone take one specific course, it fails because too many people don’t want to be there.”

Rice abandoned the foundation requirement in 1995, taking away the lesson that general education isn’t about the subject matter, but about intellectual growth. The texts read in Humanities 101, the only original foundation course still taught at Rice, are simply a backdrop for learning how to analyze texts critically and construct logical arguments. Science and engineering courses for social science and humanities majors do best when they reveal the rigorous trial and error and real-world application of the scientific method. Think of general education as a bridge between disciplines—a bridge that is built through engaging, eager professors and an innovative approach to the subject matter.
“Students want to walk out of these courses feeling like they have a deeper understanding of the issues and an ability to tackle tougher—or different—intellectual challenges than before they took the course,” Hutchinson says. “When they come out on the other side, students will have the confidence and ability to look at a problem and say ‘I can figure that out,’ because they’ve done it before.”

Rice’s current general education strategy puts students squarely in charge. Undergrads must take 12 hours of course work from two departments within each of the three disciplinary groups. Beyond that, students decide what to take. It’s a flexible system that “makes material accessible,” Hutchinson says. And without the burden of teaching “required” material, faculty have been able to think creatively about the best way to make their subject areas more appealing to nonmajors—or to ensure that their majors are exposed to ideas that may help them become leaders in their fields when they graduate.

The result is a troop of interesting bridge courses and curriculum programs that are broadening the Rice undergraduate experience—and that could never be described as a waste of time.