Chiron Studies back after three-year absence

After three years of leaderless inactivity, the Chiron Studies program has been given new life at PSU. Ever wanted to earn credit for studying Taiwanese language and culture? How about the history of textiles? Coordinator Patrick Beisell is determined to bring Chiron Studies back to PSU.

Acting as both the coordinator and chair of the program, which has been on hiatus since 2005 due to lack of leadership, Beisell and his 12-member committee met last Wednesday to discuss the reemergence of Chiron.

Since 1969, Chiron Studies–named after the wise centaur in Greek mythology who taught Heracles and Achilles–has offered students a peer-to-peer learning experience outside the traditional PSU curriculum.

Students who qualify and are interested in teaching get paid a stipend of $700 per course for their work. Alternately, students who are interested in learning get a unique education and university credits in courses that they otherwise would not have had, such as studying shamanism or the Beatles.

This year, however, Beisell has poured time and energy into the program, giving it new momentum. Chiron studies at PSU now functions under new leadership with new courses, and new support from the university.

What started out as a student group is now a fully funded program under the Office of Academic Affairs, a process Eddie Hallman, one of the students on the committee called “departmentalization.”

“There’s no better way for students to get involved with the university than through Chiron,” said Hallman. “It’s an opportunity for students to lead, to go outside the academic box because there are subjects professors are not interested in teaching but students want to learn.”

Currently, there are several tasks the committee must accomplish before the start of Winter term. During a meeting of the Chiron studies committee last Wednesday, the group signed a new group constitution, selected the courses for Winter 2009 term and discussed slogans and leadership development. The committee is selective in composing Chiron courses. Proposals are submitted by interested and qualified applicants–graduate students, or undergraduate students who have earned at least 90 credits. The proposals then go through a process of deliberation by all committee members for approval. The variety of potential course subject matter through Chiron studies is limited only by student interest. Some of the courses reviewed by the committee on Wednesday included “The History of Pornography,” “Transformation in African Music” and “Reading and Writing Blogs.”

After a round table discussion, a vote was taken on each of the proposals, with the final verdict of a no-go on “The History of Pornography” and approved the other two. Explaining the reason for their disapproval of the prospective course, Hallman said they felt that at this time, it was not wise for Chiron to tackle such a far-out topic.

“It could alienate some people,” said Hallman.

Aware of the skepticisms others had in the past about the program due to Chiron’s position outside of the regular PSU curriculum, the new Chiron is striving to establish itself as a legitimate academic program. Other new revisions include elimination of the pass/no pass option from the program. Students taking any course through Chiron will be graded on an A-through-F system.

The criterion for a proposal to be adopted into the curriculum includes the content of the course, the depth of the subject and the qualifications of the instructor.

“The courses we selected are very academically legitimate,” said Hallman. “We received a lot of proposals from students and we looked at their resume, their schedule and their evaluation to select the best course and the best instructor.”

“Transformation in African Music” was one of the courses that received unanimous approval from those in the room that day. The committee agreed that the course was very extensive and that the instructor, who had spent some time in Africa, possessed a depth of knowledge on the subject.

Ultimately, Beisell said that the goal of Chiron was to facilitate student involvement at PSU, and to inspire intellectual curiosity in students beyond the boundaries of the university.