The Core Blog

A letter sent today to all our incoming first-year students in CC101 and CC105:

We are delighted that you have chosen to join the Core Curriculum. We hope that you find the Core to be a challenging, inspiring, and encouraging experience, as so many students have in the past. We will certainly do all we can to help you make it a success.

Classes begin on Tuesday, September 6, with the first meetings of discussion seminars and the first lectures in Core Natural Sciences and Core Humanities. Please check your class schedule at The Student Link to see if there have been any last-minute classroom changes. Helpful hint: If your classroom assignment is “ARR”, look in the “Notes” section to the far right of the row to find the room number.

If you are in CC101, you will want to begin your reading of Gilgamesh right away. Please read Tablets 1-6 before Tuesday, and bring your copy of the book to lecture. You’ll want to be prepared to discuss this portion of the text in your first discussion sections. If you won’t be able to get your book until next week, you can download the assigned reading as a PDF, via a link at the course webpage. You can find reading lists for all Core courses — including ISBN numbers — on the Core website.

Please save the date for two important Core events:

1. Core Fruit Drop and Ice Cream Social in the parking lot behind CAS on Sunday, September 11 at 12:30 p.m. Watch as Core Natural Science faculty investigate whether gravity will act on fruit released from the top of a four-story fire escape, and socialize with faculty and other students over ice cream sundaes.
2. Core Open House in the Core Office, CAS 119, on Friday, September 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. This will be a time to meet informally with Core faculty, staff, and other students, learn about Core student organizations, and sample some of the best chocolate cookies in Boston, gathered from a selection of bakeries in Boston and Brookline.

If there is anything we can do to help you make your transition to the University, please contact us.  Zachary Bos, our Administrative Coordinator, is a great source of information about all things connected to the Core. He can be reached at 617.353.5404 or at core@bu.edu. Liberty Davis Kenneally, our Program Administrator, is particularly skilled at solving problems with class schedules. She can be reached at 617.353.5436 or libertyd@bu.edu. You can also reach me directly at 617.353.1083 or mdeckel@bu.edu.

We hope that your first few days at BU are full of great experiences. We look forward to working with you in the Core.

Best regards,

David Eckel
Director of the Core Curriculum