Course Offerings for Fall 2008
What is the Carthage Symposium?
The Carthage Symposium is the new interdisciplinary component of the Carthage curriculum. By a vote of the faculty last fall, it officially replaced the old "Junior Symposium."
The Carthage Symposium gives students the opportunity to examine one or more subjects from the vantage points of two different disciplines. This is primarily accomplished by having the offering taught by two faculty members from the different disciplines. Both faculty are present in the classroom and engaged in the classroom activity; thus, there is always the opportunity for the other discipline's viewpoint to be brought into the discussion in a timely and relevant manner.
Students will usually enroll in a Carthage Symposium after they have completed the Heritage Seminar series. This would normally be in either their sophomore or junior year of study at Carthage.
A Carthage Symposium can take one or the other of two different forms. In a "single, team-taught course" students will examine a single theme from the vantage point of two different disciplines. Single, team-taught courses may be offered in the fall term, the J-term, and the spring term.
In a "clustered pair" students will enroll in a set of two designated courses; these courses were selected for their logical connections. Again, the courses will be team-taught; again, both instructors will be engaged through both class sessions. Clustered pairs, because they require the student to register for 8 credits, are offered only in the fall and spring terms. Frequently, one of the courses in a clustered pair might satisfy a requirement in the student's major.
What About the Junior Symposium?
Students who were enrolled at Carthage prior to the 2006-2007 academic year have the option of fulfilling the Carthage Symposium requirement either through the current Carthage Symposium program or through its predecessor program, the Junior Symposium. Guidelines for the Junior Symposium program are available online, and students should contact their advisors to decide how to fulfill the requirement.