Late 1980s and 1990s > The de Bary Commission
The de Bary Commission
Headed by former Provost William Theodore de Bary, the commission's 33 members looked back to the origins of "general education." How and why had the program originally seemed so vital? How might it restore vitality and relevance under the very different conditions of the late 20th Century?
While re-affirming the Western focus of CC and Humanities A, the 1988 report recommended the creation of a new "Extended Core" consisting of required courses in non-Western cultures and contemporary issues not covered in CC.
Ted de Bary, who created the Asian Civilization and Humanities sequence in the 1950s, had long argued that Columbia students should round out their Core experience with a required, non-Western course modeled on Lit Hum and CC. After issuing his 1988 report, de Bary hoped that students might soon choose from among a small number of non-Western courses to satisfy the new Extended Core requirement.
Cover of the report created by the de Bary Commission on the Core Curriculum, 1988