THE HUMAN ODYSSEY PROGRAM AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY.

THE HUMAN ODYSSEY PROGRAM AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY. J.T. Bradley, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, Auburn University, AL 36849 ([e-mail])

The Human Odyssey Program at Auburn University aims to help students and faculty bridge the gap between science and the humanities that was described by Lord C.P. Snow in his 1959 essay "The Two Cultures". The program consists of two 3-hour semester courses that satisfy the core curriculum requirement in world history at Auburn University. These courses are unique for their high faculty: student ratio, small size, and participatory nature. Two professors, one humanities person and one scientist, are in each classroom of 25-30 students at all times. Students are assigned weekly readings in an anthology including book chapters, journal articles, and original articles contributed by the faculty members. Discussion of these articles plus related material presented weekly by a visiting scholar or in a film drives the two weekly discussion sections. Class material is selected to show connections between science and the humanities throughout history. Faculty members recruited from diverse departments participate in an intense preparatory workshop during the summer preceding their teaching. The workshop is known campus wide as an effective faculty development program. Students learn communication and critical thinking skills, tolerance for differences between people, and a sense of the unity of human endeavors.