The course Quantitative Reasoning and Informed Citizenship was created with the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 9950229) for the years 1999–2001. The course was taught for the first time in fall 2000. It was designed to address the needs of college students in the 21st century and as one course that students may choose to satisfy a requirement of the new interdisciplinary general education curriculum at Moravian College. As its title suggests, the course investigates relevant applications and is designed to help students become more informed citizens.

Background

Moravian College is a small liberal arts college that has, for the past 35 years, had a “quantitative skills” requirement. In 1968, the college instituted its “Guidelines for Liberal Education,” a general education program designed to, among other things, “enhance the qualities of judgment and freedom of mind that distinguish the liberally educated person.” As part of this curriculum, students were required to take one course in a category labeled “Symbolic and Quantitative Analysis.” A student could meet this requirement by taking any course in the Mathematics or Computer Science Departments, or by taking Symbolic Logic, a Philosophy course.

In the mid-1980's, faculty began working on a new “Core” curriculum, a set of seven common core courses that would be taken by all students.