Why race and ethnicity courses should be required

Rina Cakrani, Columnist

November 14, 2019

All first-years at Whitman are required to take Encounters and meet distribution requirements, but considering the current society we are part of, I believe that all students should also be required to take a race and privilege class at some point during their college career. All students should tak...

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

Andrew Schwartz

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”

Allison Hall

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

Christy Carley

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

Lane Barton

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

Lane Barton

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

Christopher Hankin

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...