The Nine Ways of Knowing

While considering the various components that make up a college experience (cafeteria offerings, dorm accommodations, and social scene, among others), many of you are probably considering majors offered as a primary factor.  In addition to major, we think it's also important to begin looking at individual schools’ approaches to education, which can completely shape one’s college experience: big classes vs. small classes, lectures vs. seminars, professor availability, thesis requirements, majors, minors, the list goes on and on. 

The structure of a college's academic requirements, especially General Education Requirements, are not often the hot button topic for rising seniors applying to college; but these, too, can really have a big impact on your ability to explore and even a major.  Some schools have rigid requirements (and may take up to half of your four years of college to complete), others have none (other than a major and a total number of credits it takes to graduate). One of the (many) unique aspects about receiving an education at Barnard College is the Nine Ways of Knowing, which in conjunction with two Foundation courses, comprises the fulfillment of Barnard’s general education requirements. But what are these requirements?

The Nine Ways of Knowing include:

Ethics and Value

Social Analysis

Historical Studies

Cultures in Comparison

Laboratory Science

Quantitative and Deductive Reasoning

Language

Literature

The Visual and Performing Arts

If these “ways” seem to be like a loose collection, they are meant to be. The Nine Ways of Knowing comprise the very essence of what a Liberal Arts Education is meant to be: an exploration of innumerable subjects, topics, and themes, providing the opportunity to develop different perspectives.  In almost no other educational setting besides Barnard can a student have options such as “Human Rights and Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa,” “God, Torah, and Israel in Modern Jewish Thought,” “The Qur'an: A Comparative Perspective,” and “Introduction to Women 's and Gender Studies,” all as courses that would fulfill the same requirement of “Reason and Value.”

Some frequently asked questions about the Nine Ways of Knowing...

Q. Can classes at Columbia fill the requirements?

A.  Yes, if you peruse a list of the courses that would satisfy these requirements, you will see classes that are considered inter-campus, inter-faculty courses.  Some of these courses are taught at Columbia, some are taught at Barnard.  Course options range from 40-120 individual courses per requirement.  And, seven of the Nine Ways of Knowing only require a single course to fulfill the requirement.

Q.  Can one class fill than more than one requirement?

A.  No, but really it’s better this way. By taking a variety of different classes to fulfill these different requirements, Barnard students are exposed to subjects they might otherwise not have thought to take.  It's through this exposure that some students choose a major in an area they had not planned. And, courses taken for the Nine Ways of Knowing requirement can count toward your major.

                
Q.  Quantitative Reasoning…does that mean math?

A.  Yes, but there are a number of ways to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning requirement that encourage you to think beyond the cut and dry numbers and equations scenarios. And, a true liberal arts education is a foundation in all different subjects, including the sciences and math.  It is considered as important for a scientist to be able to write well and analyze literature as it is important for a history major to be able to understand the fundamentals of scientific or quantitative thinking.

While nine requirements may seem like a lot, many students find that they fulfill the requirements without even realizing it. More often than not, majors and minors are decided, altered, and changed through the completion of the Nine Ways of Knowing, as our students broaden their intellectual boundaries and find new subjects of interest they might not have before. The Nine Ways are not an obstacle.  Rather, they are a means of discovery, diversifying the way we look at and solve problems, both in and out of the classroom. The result of the Nine Ways of Knowing is a well-rounded student with a solid foundation, who can truly say that she is the product of a liberal arts education.