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CHID Program

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About Me

Statement of Principles

The participating members (students, staff and faculty) of the Program in the Comparative History of Ideas are engaged in a collective endeavor to construct a dynamic, creative learning community that will mobilize our collective and individual passions. We encourage our members to pursue the ideal of self-knowledge collaboratively through informed and self-conscious participation in the changing world in which their selves are shaped and which they will shape for their own and future generations.

CHID is widely recognized across campus for a number of contributions. We have created an exemplary curriculum for a problem-oriented interdisciplinary program, and nurtured a unique undergraduate culture. CHID has produced students recognized across the university for their inquiring, experimental, totally engaged participation in the life of the mind, their outstanding intellectual achievements, and their passionate commitment to asserting ownership of both the content and the process of their education. Additionally, CHID is noted for creating a laboratory for curricular innovation, for the "internationalization" of undergraduate education, for pedagogical creativity in learner-based methods of teaching and research, for extensive cross-unit collaborations, and for its focus on engaged community learning and public service.

As the program has developed and grown, we have been guided by a number of general principles:

    The questions are the content. Interdisciplinarity is disciplined knowledge. Students are the agents of their own education. Education is a dialogical process within a learning community. Experience is the best teacher. Critical thinking and self-understanding are tied to knowledge of the world.

From these principles have emerged the educational practices, the institutional innovations and above all, that reflective, questioning, engaged "CHID student" that we believe have immensely enriched the undergraduate life of this university. Many people think that this kind of intense, engaged community of learning is not possible within the context of a large, urban, commuter-oriented research university. For CHID, the large university is an opportunity for collaboration and exploration - an enabling condition for, rather than a hindrance to, passion, perspective and community in undergraduate education.

Program Philosophy

By introducing students to the interrelation of ideas and society, Comparative History of Ideas demonstrates the need to consider intellectual problems from many perspectives. The goal of the program is to provide the tools of critical and parallel thinking to each student.

By parallel thinking we mean a habit of seeing from a variety of vantage points. For example, the student might employ a specific methodology to a set problem and then critique his/her work by examining the assumptions of that methodology as the first step in employing a new method which would work in parallel fashion to the first. With respect to problem solving, when a particular method runs into obstacles (due to its inherent assumptions) the student who has been trained to critique his/her own operating methods would be able to step back and critique the problems that led to the obstacle and thereby steer a course around it.

The program hopes to engender an attitude of personal engagement and creativity within students, encouraging them to think for themselves. In addition, the program seeks to inculcate a sense of the importance of a disciplined methodology as a means to investigate various issues, while at the same time revealing the inherent weaknesses and limitations of any system.

My Blog

What American Accent Does Amy Have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent."  You probably are from the Midland (Penns...
Posted by on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:53:00 GMT

CHID in the News

There are 2 CHID-related articles in the news this week (that I know of!).First, today's P-I has a column by Robert Jamieson that is a commencement speech inspired by Jim: Life's great safari is fac...
Posted by on Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:51:00 GMT

Save the Date! Good-bye to Sylvia

Hi all,   The day we have dreaded for the past five years or so has finally arrived: It is with great sadness that I tell you that Sylvia Kurinsky will be leaving the chid office for a new job. H...
Posted by on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:29:00 GMT

intellectual risk-taking and careers

Hi all,This is just a heads-up about a big event happening tonight--John is going to be on a panel discussing intellectual risk-taking and careers. It's pretty cool that we get to be on a first-name b...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:49:00 GMT

Fun for Tomorrow Night!!!

OK--I admit it. I HATE stand-up comedy. But I will be going to this for three big reasons:1. It's for a good cause.2. There will be booze to take the edge off.3. I might get to see some folks I haven'...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:17:00 GMT

postcards

So eveyone must know how happy it makes me (Amy) to receive postcards. Chiddies go so many cool places and do so many cool things! I have to admit, though, that sometimes I get jealous. And today's po...
Posted by on Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:26:00 GMT

fetching donuts

Oh yeah--I just saw CHID's buffy archetype (we're a Zeppo) and that reminded me that we are having coffee and donuts in the office tomorrow for the first day of school. So stop by and have some!
Posted by on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:24:00 GMT

New CHID T-shirt

OK, I did it. You can now buy a CHID t-shirt that says, "CHID: it's all deep and shit." This may be a limited time offering--who knows how long it will take someone to notice that I made this! Get you...
Posted by on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:18:00 GMT

CHID Paraphenalia

It just occured to me that everyone might not know that we have CHID stuff for sale through CafePress.com (visit our store here)! Does anyone have ideas for new stuff? We were thinking we might need ...
Posted by on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 15:51:00 GMT

Blame KatBelew!

Which Buffy archetype are you? ZeppoTake this quiz!Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code
Posted by on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 11:55:00 GMT