First-year breaks through with ingenious new reading of Marx
Ann Karneus, Rejected Mathlete
September 28, 2018
Whitman first year Tom Jones, who recently finished three chapters of “The Communist Manifesto” in Encounters, thinks that he’s ready to take a stab at what exactly this Marx guy is all about. After conducting an in-depth interview with expert Tom, let’s hear what he has to say about that tantalizing...
Encounters Curriculum Shakedown!
Anthony Reale, Satan with a Lisp
April 26, 2018
A whirlwind of hate hit the Encounters program in the face this year, bringing the controversial program under fire yet again. Criticisms included the classic “I don’t know how to write still and I’m a senior,” the annoying “I didn’t get the grade I wanted so let’s make it retroactively...
The Future of Encounters
March 8, 2018
Review documents, as well as interviews with numerous faculty, show the philosophical and political stakes of the debates around the future of Whitman College’s “signature program.”
Considering the Western Canon in Encounters
Jordon Crawford, Columnist
February 1, 2018
As a first-year student, one is obligated to take “General Studies 145-146: The First-Year Experience,” otherwise known as Encounters. The two-semester-long course is intended as an “introduction to the liberal arts and the academic construction of knowledge,” in which students meet on a t...
Dear Mom
Mom, Advice Columnist
September 29, 2016
Dear Mom, Last weekend, I hooked up with someone from my Encounters class at the 80s dance. It was really chill, but now I think I have feelings for them. I’m trying to play it cool, since I’m worried they’re not into it—they don’t sit by me in class any more, and it’s been pretty awkward...
Keeping 400-year-old Jokes Relevant: Students Rise to Perform “Twelfth Night”
March 10, 2016
Taking on Shakespeare is a daunting task for anyone; but Harper Joy's production of "The Twelfth Night" kept the crowd on the edge of their seats with live music, palpable energy and an active engagement with the audience.
IPECC Petition Calls on Whitman to Engage with its History
March 10, 2016
The Whitman College Indigenous Peoples Education and Culture Club (IPECC) has put forth a petition calling for a critical examination of Whitman’s past and its relationship to colonialism.
New Encounters Syllabus Approved for 2015-16
May 7, 2015
A new Encounters syllabus has been approved for the 2015-16 academic year, with Encounters faculty voting in favor of the new curriculum by an approximate 2-1 ratio during a meeting on April 21. The syllabus, which will remove five texts and add four new works, was created by the Encounters Curriculum...
Guest column: Loss of Quran limits Encounters discussions
May 7, 2015
As a true example of antiquity in conversation with modernity, the upperclassmen I knew as a first-year still called Encounters "Core." Over the past four years at Whitman, the Encounters program has changed dramatically. Now the name itself seems to reflect a distinct guiding ethic or ideal that the...
ASWC Content Warning Resolution passed
April 30, 2015
During their April 12 Senate meeting, ASWC passed a resolution calling for content or trigger warnings in the future Encounters syllabus. The resolution, which will require faculty approval in order to be implemented, was created in the hopes of preparing students for engagement in particularly difficult...
Address discrepancies among workloads, grading standards in different first-year Encounters classes
April 16, 2015
Whitman College prides itself on an Encounters program that helps to initiate new students and get them up to speed with the expectations that the school holds for writing, reading and critical thinking. Encounters students grapple with difficult texts that will challenge their preconceptions and hopefully...
Sin-counters Revolution Begins
April 17, 2014
The ever so clever 2014 first-year class has come up with a new way to get through Encounters: drinking. The mastermind behind the trend, Sandy Caine, described how it came into fruition. "I was super inspired by 'Hind Swaraj' and could totally identify with Gandhi's active non-violence stuff. So I f...
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