Dear Future Quakers,
As the incoming Class of 2030 is being announced, we wanted to reach out to all future Quakers about how the
College of Arts and Sciences is evolving to embrace the complexities of a new moment in our history.
How will your time in the College at Penn enable you to realize the promise of a great education at a pivotal moment in your life, and in our institution’s history? In the College, we pursue fundamental knowledge, aiming to expand and deepen our understanding in every direction. This is our cherished purpose, and it has propelled Penn through three centuries of inventing new futures for ourselves and our society.
We are now at another historical moment of reinvention. Over the past two years, we have led the committees of the School of Arts and Sciences faculty to design a new path forward for undergraduate education in the College. We have been experimenting, putting pilot programs into practice, and engaging with colleagues, students, and staff. This multi-year, 200-person faculty-led effort has resulted in a proposed new framework for the General Education Curriculum to begin in fall 2027 with the incoming Class of 2031. This proposal has been shared with SAS faculty, who will vote on the proposal next month.
How we meet this moment will shape our future for decades to come. In our extensive conversations with current Quakers, we hear how acutely you feel the present challenges. Artificial Intelligence raises profound questions about the distinctive value of human intelligence and the prospects for future careers. Our polarized political environment makes it hard to connect with those who hold different views. Eroding public trust in anchor institutions of American society underscores how important it is for SAS faculty to rearticulate the core values that frame a shared life of inquiry and discovery on our campus. Above all, we believe that you want us to live up to your enduring optimism about the futures that will be opened up to you by a curiosity-driven education in the College at Penn.
The proposed new framework aims to allow students to make more meaningful choices about the courses they take; increase engagement across the inspiring breadth of our 28 departments and dozens of interdisciplinary programs; do this early enough in a course of study to inform their choice of major; enhance the sense of community, belonging, and identity in the College from day one; and renew our collective commitment to fundamental knowledge in a way that is legible to all.
The new curriculum is built on three parts: Foundations, Distribution, and Electives. The Foundations component builds on the successes of our First-Year Seminars and expands the opportunities to foster trust and deepen dialogue in small groups, strengthening our sense of community around curiosity and discovery. In addition to first-year seminars, the Foundations include a Critical Writing Seminar, a restructured language requirement, and a course on perspectives and difference that hones the ability to learn through cultural complexity. It also includes two new common-syllabus courses, Kite and Key, that welcome all of our first-year students into intensive conversation on the big questions that have driven a kaleidoscopic array of human inquiry for as long as we know. The Foundations will provide common starting points and greater clarity as you move forward in your course of study toward more advanced learning in specialized majors and minors.
As for how we ensure breadth, current Quakers have explained to us that the 13 boxes that the current system requires them to check make for a system that is too complex and restrictive. They wonder why one course counts toward a requirement, another that seems similar doesn’t, and yet another checks two boxes at once. With the new system, the faculty committees are proposing that every course counts. The framework outlines a straight distribution system across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The only question driving your choice will be, “what do you want to learn?” The greater freedom in distribution is carried forward in electives, which will increase — for most of you, significantly — in the new system. You’ll have more choice to explore new fields, double-major if you like, and expand your horizons into new ways of thinking you never imagined existed.
Any changes mean trade-offs, and we have been in intensive conversations with our colleagues about these. While there have been disagreements about aspects of the proposed changes, we’re confident of two things: first, your future faculty care deeply about your education. We urgently want to make your time with us a maximally enriching period of your life. And second, the plan that has emerged from a full year of design work, another year of extensive consultation, and peer review presents our best opportunity to find alignment among the wide array of perspectives held by our faculty.
Future Quakers, the new curriculum is designed to welcome you into a conversation, help you find your voice, set you free to explore any interest you have, and prepare you to thrive in all parts of your life in the College and beyond. Let us explore that future together.
COLLEGE COMMITTEE CHAIRS include the following individuals:
Coren Apicella, Psychology, Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education
Kim Bowes, Classical Studies, Chair of the Curriculum Committee
Kathleen Brown, History, Chair of the Writing Committee
Jed Esty, English, Chair of the Committee on the Major and the Overall Degree
Marc Meredith, Political Science, Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Academic Standing
Lisa Mitchell, South Asian Studies, Chair of the First Year Committee
Jo Park, English, Associate Dean of the Humanities, former Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education
Alain Plante, Earth and Environmental Science, Chair of the In Practice Committee
Kevin Platt, Russian and East European Studies, Chair of the Kite Design Team
Simon Richter, Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies, Chair of the Language Committee
Masao Sako, Physics, Chair of the Key Design Team, former Chair of the General Education Committee
Jason Schnittker, Sociology, Chair of the General Education Committee
Peter Struck, Classical Studies, Dean of the College
