I believe the new requirement, which the Senate approved unanimously in the spring of 1997, helps us address issues concerning the pre-1988 Western Culture requirement, shortcomings of the 1988 reform, and the pressing need for revitalizing the role of the humanities in a popular culture that heeds them less and less. I confess that I have found the culture wars, as fought by the combatants from all sides, fairly dispiriting. As a constitutional law scholar, I am fully embedded in the Western tradition and clearly unhappy about the fact that fewer and fewer students enter college with, for instance, a thorough grasp of American history and American institutions. On the other hand, as we worry about knowledge of Western civilization, we also must urgently deal with ignorance about the world. Viewing the world is not the same as surveying the world.
Depth is more helpful than breadth.
Therefore we have given the name Stanford Introductory Studies to the new initiatives and related programs in the freshman and sophomore years.