FREEDOM WITHIN THE DISCIPLINES

Or should we recognize that academic disciplines are "artificial" and reorient our thinking around curricular "goals" such as "critical thinking skills," "effective communication," "ethical decision-making skills"? What is in the air at Notre Dame, and what is more insidious, is the replacement of disciplinary requirements like theology with the requirement that students achieve "goals" set by the faculty or administration, goals which may seem solidly Catholic and traditional ("an appreciation of and respect for the Catholic tradition," perhaps), but in truth open the way for fundamentally changing the kind of education students receive in the core curriculum.