Victoria College's Academic Building
The Teagle Foundation awarded Victoria College a $235,000 “Cornerstone: Learning for Living” Implementation Grant to expand the college’s innovative Transformative Texts initiative.
The grant paved the way for a redesign and restructuring of Core Curriculum courses in VC’s Division of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The narratives covered in class are both ancient and modern texts that have shaped the world. These texts align with Victoria College’s educational pathways, including Health Careers; Science, Engineering & Math; Business & Technology; Industrial Trades; Public Service; and Liberal Arts.
The new grant helps ensure VC students across all core courses, regardless of the professor, are engaging with the same pathway-aligned texts, ensuring a common student learning experience. For example, students will read “Death of a Salesman” for the Business and Technology pathway and “Brave New World” for the Science, Engineering & Math pathway.
The redesigned courses were piloted in VC’s in-person English 1301 and Humanities 1301 courses, with plans for expansion in subjects such as history, economics, government and psychology.
“So far, our data shows that students experience greater success in these redesigned courses,” said Michelle Paulsen, VC Professor of English. “Perhaps more importantly, they express appreciation for the experience of a collective learning community and share stories of personal transformations.”
These redesigned courses are centered around the Socratic method, which encourages student-driven conversation in a seminar-style discussion. Students in the redesigned courses expand their understanding of the world, those around them and themselves in an engaging manner.
Through this grant, Victoria College faculty and students will have the opportunity to explore these transformative texts while connecting their learning to real-world professional pathways, broadening their understanding of both the world and themselves.