As a first year at Connecticut College, I and about 500 other students are the guinea pigs in the new curricular experiment, Connections. The goal of this curriculum is to engage students in the academic work for their major as well as finding its relationship to the world we live in today. It emphasizes linking global and local aspects to the many classes you are studying at Conn. Choosing a pathway is the first step. All the pathways have core faculty as well as a curricular itinerary. Once you choose a pathway, you take a Thematic Inquiry course that will help you develop a question related to your pathway. This question will be the focus of much of your work throughout your time at Conn.
All incoming students from the class of 2020 are required to partake in Connections. Students have to take a First Year Seminar and complete one Conn Course during your first year or sophomore year. Then, you have the choice of joining one of the designed pathways. If you do choose a pathway, then you are only required to complete courses in four of the five modes of inquiry. If you do not a pathway you must complete courses in all five of the modes of inquiry.
Five Modes of Inquiry:
Creative Expression
Critical Interpretation and
Analysis
Quantitative and Formal
Reasoning
Scientific Inquiry and Analysis
Social and Historical Inquiry
When talking to students in the class of 2020, I was curious as to what role the Connections curriculum played in their decision to come here. Kaya Blumenthal-Rothchild, a first-year from New York said, “I will probably be partaking in one of the Pathways, although Connections was not a factor in my decision to attend Connecticut College. I was confused on what it really was until orientation, and even now I am still a little confused. That being said, I think the idea of what it is is cool.”
Erik Grant, another first-year from Massachusetts, said, “In all honesty I did not understand the details about the Connections program. But I was excited to go to a college with a progressive attitude about education. I was glad to hear that I could tailor my education to best fit my needs. As of now, I am still confused about the details of the pathways program. If I discover that one of the pathways will help me attain my goals and interests me academically, I will partake in one of the pathways.”
Despite the confusion, most students that I talked to had a positive outlook on Connections. It is definitely a new way for students to plan their education during college. The class of 2020 and the class of 2021 are not required to choose a pathways but the class of 2022 will be. It will be interesting to see how this program works in the future and how it will help strengthen the connections between what we learn here at college and what is happening in the world today. •
