Required Courses

I was not satisfied with The Times’ vague editorial “Getting to Know You” (Nov. 21), which discusses the issue of the required academic courses at UC Berkeley.

Let us discuss the problem. If a white or minority student majors in American history, for example, he is required to take a course on Western civilization whose main representatives are Socrates, Plato, Virgil, etc. It is logical that, if one wants to understand American history, one must understand its roots. As T.S. Eliot eloquently states: “We are all, so far as we inherit the civilization of Europe, still citizens of the Roman Empire.”

The minority students view this whole approach with some resentment. They think that if they major in American history and are required to take a course on Western civilization, the white students should also be required to take a course, for example, on Chinese civilization. After all, the Chinese civilization is one of the greatest civilizations in the world.

It seems to me that this view is somewhat fallacious. A student, be he white or Asian, who majors in American history needs to know something about Western civilization because it is the root of American history. It is impossible to understand the American concept of democracy, liberty, equality before the law without studying the history of Greece, England, etc. This is not true in the case of Chinese civilization. It is a civilization which grew and developed apart from Western civilization and, therefore, from the history of the United States. China was not really discovered until the 13th Century.

It is true that it would be better to study both Western and Chinese civilizations, but since the time is limited, the emphasis on Western civilization is not unreasonable: an emphasis which is necessary to understand ourselves, as well as our institutions.

ANGELO A. DE GENNARO

Los Angeles