“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cheshire Cat.

“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.

“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the cat, “if you only walk long enough.”-- Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland

Proposal Syllabus

When you submit your course proposal to the Curriculum Committee, they will want to see a brief syllabus, a short summary of what topics you will be covering from week to week. The committee wants to be sure that you have a good structure for your course before approving it. Prior to the start of your course, by the time you send your welcome letter, you will need a more comprehensive syllabus that maps out in detail what participants can expect each week.

Think about the organization that makes the most sense for your course. Chronological organization may be a natural for a history course, but you can also organize by topics, points of view, concepts, or case studies. The topics that you cover each week could be independent from each other, or each week could look at the same event from a different point of view. You can even trace several different themes throughout the course, building in sophistication and complexity. Think of syllabus design as your building of an idea museum, with different displays in each weekly room that you visit, with your students growing in awe and wonderment as you journey through together.

To build your simple proposal syllabus, build a topical outline for each week. This process will also help you focus the information you want to cover, and winnow away material from your original idea that may be too much to cover. It is better to cover fewer topics well than to try to cram so much into a course that the participants don't have time to reflect on and absorb each week's material.