Values and Change in a Diverse Society, the Oakes College core course required of all frosh, introduces students to the major intellectual, cultural, social and political themes that have shaped the college for over three decades. The small seminar format enables students to deepen their analytical reading and writing skills, and the evening film and lecture series enhances their membership in a diverse and vibrant academic community. The core course is designed to help students find their voices (in writing, small group discussion, and conferences with instructors) and to join the on-going scholarly conversation that thrives at UCSC.

 

The Oakes core course has other aspirations as well. Consistent with our commitment to building a community that nurtures leadership in a multicultural society, the course encourages students to draw on and share the cultural, linguistic, and artistic strengths of their home communities in order to forge connections across various differences. We believe that a meaningful university education is a partnership, and our students enhance the campus as they are enhanced by what the curriculum, the faculty, and the staff provide.

 

Communicating Diversity for a Just Society is an expression of optimism implicit in all meaningful education. It proposes that we are the shapers of the world; we write to avoid the humiliation of silence in the face of cruelty and injustice. We must learn to use our knowledge and compassion, and a college education should help us to do so.

Core Enrollment Info:

Oakes Core Course Sections
How to enroll in Core
UCSC Writing requirements