Posted on 11/06/2003 8:42:09 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
A group working to create a minor focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues is attempting to create six new courses for the proposed minor.
For more than a year, students and the Commission on LGBT Equity have been working to create a minor focusing on gender, identity and sexuality.
Dan Trevino, co-chair of the Commission on LGBT Equity, said the Commission originally proposed the minor as a response to student and faculty requests.
The committee first looked at existing courses to determine which classes could fit into the LGBT curriculum.
Bernard said there is currently only one course with LGBT in the title -- HIST/WMNST 466 (Lesbian and Gay History) -- but there are 20 classes had gender, sexuality, or identity in the title.
The College of Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Development are co-sponsoring the minor because paperwork for new courses must be submitted by colleges, said Tom Bernard, co-chair of the Commissions' committee for curricular integration.
The colleges will submit six new course proposals to the University Faculty Senate, he said.
In addition to the new courses, the colleges are drafting the minor proposal, which would also be sent to senate.
The minor would be housed in one or both of the sponsoring colleges.
Bernard said the new courses would set a strong foundation for the proposed LGBT minor.
"It is better to build something good from the start, even if it will take a little longer," Bernard said.
It is unknown how many students are expected to enroll in the minor, but that strong student support was behind the push for creating the program.
Besides the paperwork, Bernard said there are no apparent roadblocks.
"We have the full support of the two colleges and strong support, including finances, from President Spanier and the administration," Bernard said.
Trevino said it would be too hard to set a definite timetable up for the completion of the minor, but the progress is steady.
Katie Trail (senior-architectural engineer) said she is unaware of the reason behind the minor but said classes about LGBT issues would be beneficial for students.
"It doesn't really seem it should be a minor, it's more of an interest," Trail said. "But taking classes would broaden the horizons of students."
Scott Brilliant (senior-telecommunications) said he is not part of the LGBT community and wouldn't be interested in the minor.
However, he said it's important for students to have the resources to educate themselves about current importante issues.
"Why not? If they have minors in women studies, African studies, and Jewish studies, then they should go for it," Brilliant said.
Trevino said the minor would fill a gap in the courses Penn State currently offers.
"The purpose of any academic study program is educational in order to learn about and strengthen the training in a specific area," Trevino said.
"We don't have a focus for the study of gender identity and sexual orientation."
A waste of students' tuition and taxpayer subsidies for the marxist agenda.
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