With back to school season in full swing, students everywhere are heading back to classes ready to take on another academic year. While artistic programs such as dance often times only fill elective requirements, some may not realize that in some places dance has served as more than just that. Imagine being able to take a Dance Appreciation course – online, and be guaranteed more than just a passing grade, rather dancing your way to an “A”.
For quite some time students attending Rutgers University and other New Brunswick-affiliated schools have commonly referred to courses like Dance Appreciation and Dance Appreciation online course as “GPA boosters” due to the nearly 100% passing rate and the fact that almost everyone receives an “A”. So it should come as no surprise that a large number of students needing an additional required course would choose one with a lesson plan consisting of watching live performances in class then writing reaction papers in response. The rather light course curriculum combined with the assured high marks earned this class a spot on the lists of easy Rutgers courses.
As a result a group of Rutgers faculty representatives known as The Core Requirements Committee voted last December to remove the Dance Appreciation classroom and online courses from their School of Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum after the spring 2016 term. The committee released a statement declaring that that the courses did not meet the Arts and Humanities learning goals, which mandates that students take six credits in two of the three Arts and Humanities learning areas: Philosophical and Theoretical Issues, Arts and Literatures and Nature of Languages.