The Teagle Foundation awarded Hostos English professors Andrea Fabrizio and Gregory Marks a $275,000 grant to lead the implementation of Core Books: A Multi-Campus CUNY Humanities Proposal, an initiative inspired by Hostos’ application of Columbia University’s
core curriculum.
Hostos’ core initiative was developed by Fabrizio and Marks three years ago with help from Roosevelt Montas, the former Director of The Core Curriculum at Columbia. The College’s two-semester iteration embeds classic texts such as Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” and W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk” into freshmen English composition courses and is designed to encourage discourse about humanistic themes.
“We are looking very forward to this cross-CUNY collaboration and to working with colleagues to develop a rich and accessible humanities-based curriculum for CUNY students,” said Fabrizio, associate professor of English and department chair.
The Teagle Foundation is committed to supporting liberal arts education and the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences. The Foundation previously awarded Fabrizio and Marks a $31,000 planning grant for the initiative, and over the course of the next 36 months, the multi-campus grant will fund the implementation of Core Books at Hostos as well as at LaGuardia Community College, New York City College of Technology, and Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Each campus partner’s primary investigator will be given an annual budget, which may go toward purchasing books, speaker recruitment and lectures, professional development and pedagogy workshops, and other curriculum-related resources.
The execution of the program will vary from institution to institution, with some, like Hostos, folding elements of the Columbia core into their English composition courses, and others applying it to freshmen English seminars. Hostos is also looking into interdisciplinary applications of core texts.
Collaboration among campus partners is key. In the coming weeks, dozens of campus partner faculty members will convene for the Teagle Institute, which are workshops where core texts and strategies will be discussed among core curriculum applications. The three-day institute will be held at Hostos and Columbia June 10-12.
About Hostos Community College
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is an educational agent for change that has been transforming and improving the quality of life in the South Bronx and neighboring communities for over half a century. Since 1968, Hostos has been a gateway to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility, as well as a point of departure for lifelong learning, success in professional careers, and transfer to advanced higher education programs.
Hostos offers 28 associate degree programs and two certificate programs that facilitate secure transfer to The City University of New York’s (CUNY) four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions. The College has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development that offers professional development courses and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. Hostos is part of CUNY, the nation’s leading urban public university, which serves more than 500,000 students at 25 colleges.