Louisa Chiriboga ’29
Copy Editor
From the beginning of their college journey, Scripps students are encouraged to engage with the liberal arts by deeply immersing themselves in a variety of subjects. “The Core program is an introduction to a liberal arts education,” explained Dr. YouYoung Kang, Associate Professor of Music and Core Program Director.
Overall, Core, with the theme “Histories of the Present,” encourages students to examine how contemporary issues such as climate change, colonialism, and the oppression of marginalized groups are shaped by historical processes. The class sequence is designed to help students investigate relevant and complex issues through a multifaceted perspective.
“What I liked about Core was that… for me, I was taking classes that I would never have taken in subjects that I would never have learned about,” Malin Moller ’27 said.
Core fosters the ability for students to apply methodologies from multiple disciplines through past narratives and present realities—not to memorize and recite content, but to develop the critical thinking habits that define liberal arts education.
In addition to its academic aims, the hallmark of the Scripps underclassman academic experience serves a broader purpose, to build shared intellectual experiences.
“All Scripps students engage in interdisciplinary investigation at the same time that they take introductory courses in the disciplines,” Kang said. “While it is important to develop skills and depth of knowledge within a discipline, it is equally important to be able to look beyond one’s discipline and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue.”
The previous Core configuration was a sequence of three semesters. In the first semester, called Core 1, all Scripps first-years attended lectures from Scripps faculty across all four of the college’s academic divisions—arts, letters, natural sciences, and social sciences—and participated in corresponding discussion sections. All students additionally received the same written assignments.
“Something great about Core is that you get to know faculty and students [who] aren’t in your department,” Moller said.
The following semester, students took interdisciplinary seminars in Core 2 taught by one or two faculty members on a variety of topics. Finally, Core 3 emphasized research, culminating in students creating original final projects, ranging in format from research papers to art exhibits.
The newly introduced structure condensed this tripartite arc into two semesters while preserving the initially intended educational goals. The new part one of Core, now called Core A, combines elements of both Core 1 and Core 2.
Students explore a common theme (Histories of the Present), read a shared text (The Student by Michael Roth), and attend joint lectures (Monica Lewinsky’s, for example), all while employing the lenses of their specific course with inspiration pulled from multiple disciplines, including classes titled Music and Power, Christian Herstory, and Sex and the State.
“I love how diverse the topics were for us to choose from,” Charisma Cano ’29, who is enrolled in the Music and Power Core class, said.
Core B mirrors the former Core 3, focusing on research, academic writing, and information literacy. Students will complete a final project that brings together the skills developed across their first year.
The decision to transform Core into a two-semester model was made after extensive faculty discussion with a comprehensive review, which came to a broad consensus: three semesters were no longer necessary to meet the learning objectives.
According to Kang, the most recent review of student feedback found an overwhelming desire for a shorter Core program. “Three semesters was definitely too much,” Moller said. Additionally, the common lecture element of Core 1 became logistically strained as the student body grew over the years.
Beyond the consolidation, the shift provides for greater academic flexibility. “I feel like a shorter Core sequence will allow me to have more freedom in my course selection and progress in my major faster,” Lizzy Marquiz ’29 said.
While many students are excited to take only two semesters of Core, some have doubts about the shorter framework’s effectiveness. “I do worry that two semesters might not be enough to build writing and research abilities to a college level,” Kate Prince ’29 said.
Despite concerns, the transformation intends to enhance—not diminish—the academic experience for first-year students, according to Kang. “I hope that students will take the opportunity provided by Core to really delve into interesting interdisciplinary research… or explore further a field that they discovered during their first year of college,” she said.
Photo Courtesy of Frances Walton ’26
