Pathways students
make connections
■ Some say the Pathways
program brings people
together through academics
By Erin Middleton
for the Emerald
The commencement ceremony for
the inaugural class of the Pathways
program was held May 30 in the Ger
linger Alumni Lounge. Pathways was
first offered to students in the fall of
1999. It began as an idea from faculty
rience for first-year students. There
were three Pathways offered:- “Law,
Science and Culture,” “Exploring Cul
ture through Spanish or French,” and
“Human Nature.”
■* Each pathway, described in the
Learning Communities 1999-2000
bourse Schedule, is “a carefully de
signed one to two-year curriculum
composed of integrated courses and
activities. Pathways is designed to
help students explore thematically re
lated academic subjects, while giving
students the flexibility to take classes
outside the pathway. ’ ’
If enrolled in Pathways, a student
receives guaranteed enrollment in the
pathway courses as well as guaranteed
University enrollment, something
only upperclassmen previously re
ceived. As one of the first Pathways
graduates, I found the program to be
hugely successful.
I am grateful to the University and
to the Office of Undergraduate Stud
ies for providing this program for stu
dents. As a student in the “Human Na
ture” option, I found it enabled me to
make connections between classes
where I did not think connections
could be made.
Fall term of 1999, our pathway was
enrolled in Philosophy 170, entitled
“Love and Sex.” In this class, we
talked about the social implications of
love and sex and discussed the related
* 9 9 9 9 9
Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
members and stu
dents who wanted
to combine Uni
versity education
with a more the
matic and collec
tive learning expe
works of many great philosophers, in
cluding Plato and W.E.B. DuBois. In
spring term of 2000, we took Philoso
phy 216, entitled “Philosophy and
Cultural Diversity,” in which we
talked of racial barriers between differ
ent cultures. The professor mentioned
DuBois, and I remember thinking, “I
already know that name; I remember
him from fall term.”
An important characteristic of the
Pathways program, as opposed to oth
er learning communities, is that it
brings faculty members in contact
with students to form lasting relation
ships. John Lysaker, assistant profes
sor of philosophy, was a leading facul
ty member in the “Human Nature”
pathway. At the commencement cere
mony, Lysaker looked at his students
and said, “I will definitely miss you all
and encourage you to continue to use
me for whatever advising I can give. ”
This was a touching time, as Path
ways students in Gerlinger Lounge
looked around at each other. We were
the first to travel down this specially de
signed academic path. I have gained
friendships with faculty members and
students that will benefit me far beyond
the two years the program lasted.
I wonder if I would have met some
of these students, like my friend Bre
ana “Bre” Bruce, a psychology major,
if we hadn’t been enrolled in the path
way. We share a lot of the same views
on issues, like human nature and why
people do the things they do.
Another of my friends, Emily Gross,
a sophomore Pathways student,
brought her boyfriend to the com
mencement ceremony. “I wanted him
to meet all the people I have come to
know, my friends whom I always talk
about... to put a face with a name,” she
said. Pathways was more than stu
dents in a class, it was a community of
like-minded people sharing their ex
periences with those close to them.
I know a little something about
every one of the eighteen members in
my pathway, and I’m going to miss
them after this year is over, but I know
we’ll keep in touch. That’s what Path
ways is all about: Making connections
between people and ideas.
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