If you were to compare the curriculum of Trinity College in 1930 to Trinity\u2019s curriculum now in 2012, you would notice that they looked almost nothing alike.\u00a0 In the 1930 curriculum, you would see no mention of \u201cComputer Science,\u201d \u201cWomen, Gender, and Sexuality,\u201d or even \u201cInternational Relations,\u201d and you would see over twenty new departments and programs. \u00a0Over time, higher education institutions, including Trinity College, add departments and programs to their curriculum, and many reflect current events at the time of the department\/program\u2019s implementation.\u00a0 From 1930 to 2012, Trinity College has introduced several departments and programs to its curriculum, and many of these implementations reflect major historical changes outside of the college.<\/p>\n
One of the most profound influences of department\/program additions to Trinity College is the United States\u2019 wars and other international affairs.\u00a0 In 1949, Trinity added a \u201cMilitary Science\u201d department.[1]<\/a> This department\u2019s implementation coincided with the Cold War which lasted from 1945 to 1991[2]<\/a>.\u00a0 It also was added five years after the implementation of the GI Bill (Servicemen\u2019s Readjustment Act of 1944) which gave money to World War II veterans for a variety of uses, one of which was tuition to college.[3]<\/a> Trinity\u2019s implementation of Military Science reflects the student-veterans on campus and the status of the Cold War.\u00a0 Prior to the addition of the Military Science department, Trinity had not had any military-related departments or courses.<\/p>\n The department Military Science only lasted for one year at Trinity, but was replaced by the new department \u201cAir Science and Tactics\u201d in 1950.[4]<\/a> This department held courses relating to the military and to air science knowledge (such as airplane function and using airplanes and other such pieces of equipment in the military).\u00a0 At this time in history, airplane technology was advancing rapidly.\u00a0 During World War II countries invested heavily in airplane technology, and used these pieces of technology in the war, such as airplane-detecting radar, radiowave navigation techniques, airborne radar, and the first practical jet fighter.[5]<\/a> Following the war, the US broke the sound barrier with a jet (1947) and the first jet-powered commercial aircraft was built (1949).[6]<\/a> The combination of air space technology and the Cold War sparked Trinity\u2019s implementation of its Air Science and Tactics department.<\/p>\n In Trinity\u2019s 1965-1966 school year, the Air Space and Tactics department became \u201cAerospace Studies.\u201d\u00a0 Aerospace studies incorporated material on outer space studies into the air science curriculum.[7]<\/a> Meanwhile off campus, the US was engaged in the \u201cSpace Race\u201d with the Soviet Union at this time.\u00a0 Beginning in 1957 with the Soviet Union\u2019s infamous Sputnik, the Space Race was an American focal point for the next eighteen years, with its most intense years from 1957 to 1969.\u00a0 Because of America\u2019s large investment in \u201cwinning\u201d the Space Race (\u201cfrom 1961 to 1964, NASA’s budget was increased almost 500 percent\u201d[8]<\/a>), it is no surprise that higher education establishments invested in it as well.\u00a0 Shortly after the US landed in the moon in 1969, Trinity subtracted its aerospace program before the start of the 1971-1972 school year.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n International affairs were not the only influences on Trinity\u2019s addition of departments and programs.\u00a0 In the 1997-1998 school year, Trinity made it evident that domestic affairs had a significant influence as well when it added \u201cCourses Related to Gay and Lesbian Studies.\u201d[10]<\/a> In the 1990\u2019s there was a surge of homosexual rights activism sparked by occurrences such as the implementation of \u201cDon\u2019t Ask, Don\u2019t Tell\u201d in 1993[11]<\/a>, Baehr v. Lewin<\/em> (1993) in which the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage but the state\u2019s legislature overruled the ruling (sparking great controversy)[12]<\/a>, and Romer <\/em>v.\u00a0Evans<\/em> (1996) in which Colorado guaranteed gays and lesbians protections against discrimination.[13]<\/a> Student activism on Trinity\u2019s campus reflected the atmosphere in America.\u00a0 In 1993 and 1997 Trinity students spoke up and stood up for gay and lesbian rights by holding protests, such as the Long Walk March for gay support in 1993[14]<\/a>; creating student groups, such as E.R.O.S. which dealt with gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues[15]<\/a>; and writing opinion pieces for\/to the Tripod (which includes several articles).\u00a0 With so much energy around the gay rights movement in the 90s, Trinity was right on the ball with adding Gay and Lesbian Studies. It is safe to say that every department and program that arrives at Trinity got there for a specific reason.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0By looking at the historical context in which the department is placed, we can gain excellent insight as to the department\/program\u2019s roots.\u00a0 Trinity always has been and always will be affected by the world outside of its campus.\u00a0 Who knows what departments we will see next?<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1950<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> National Academy of Engineering. \u201cAirplane Timeline – Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century.\u201d Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century<\/em>, 2012. http:\/\/www.greatachievements.org\/?id=3728<\/a>.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> National Academy of Engineering. \u201cAirplane Timeline – Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century.\u201d Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century<\/em>, 2012. http:\/\/www.greatachievements.org\/?id=3728<\/a>.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1965-1966<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> \u201cThe Space Race.\u201d The History Channel Website, 2012. http:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/space-race.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1971-1972<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1997-1998<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> \u201cThe American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline.\u201d Infoplease<\/em>, 2011. http:\/\/www.infoplease.com\/ipa\/A0761909.html.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Head, Tom. \u201cThe American Gay Rights Movement – A Short History.\u201d About.com – Civil Liberties, 2012. http:\/\/civilliberty.about.com\/od\/gendersexuality\/tp\/History-Gay-Rights-Movement.htm.<\/p>\n [13]<\/a> \u201cThe American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline.\u201d Infoplease<\/em>, 2011. http:\/\/www.infoplease.com\/ipa\/A0761909.html.<\/p>\n [14]<\/a> Sullivan, Paul. \u201cLong Walk March Supports Gays.\u201d The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, May 4, 1993, Vol XCI No.22 edition. http:\/\/images.trincoll.edu\/cdm4\/document.php?CISOROOT=\/tripod&CISOPTR=4644&REC=4.<\/p>\n [15]<\/a> Genco, Beth. \u201cE.R.O.S. Formed to Deal With All Sexual Preferences.\u201d The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, March 30, 1993, Vol. XCI No. 18 edition.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a> Bellis, Mary. \u201cThe History of Computers.\u201d About.com – Inventors, 2012. http:\/\/inventors.about.com\/library\/blcoindex.htm.<\/p>\n [17]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1975-1976<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you were to compare the curriculum of Trinity College in 1930 to Trinity\u2019s curriculum now in 2012, you would notice that they looked almost nothing alike.\u00a0 In the 1930 curriculum, you would see no mention of \u201cComputer Science,\u201d \u201cWomen, Gender, and Sexuality,\u201d or even \u201cInternational Relations,\u201d and you would see over twenty new departments … Continue reading Trinity’s Department and Program Addition Thesis and Evidence Proposal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2029,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAnother inevitable addition to Trinity\u2019s curriculum was \u201cComputer Science\u201d.\u00a0 Computers had been in progress before Trinity added their computer courses in the 1975-1976 school year, but computers did not become consumer-accessible until one full school year before these courses were actually implemented.\u00a0 In 1974\/75, the first consumer computers were introduced,[16]<\/a> thus starting the world\u2019s computer hype.\u00a0 In the 1975-1976 school year, Trinity officially added a \u201cComputing Coordinate Major\u201d[17]<\/a> which would come to be known as \u201cComputer Science\u201d in later years.<\/p>\n
[1]<\/a> \u201cTrinity College Hartford, Connecticut Bulletin\u201d, 1949<\/p>\n