Stevenson College
Encyclopedia
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
. Currently, the college is host to the Linguistics Department, as well as many humanities faculty.
The college was named after Adlai Stevenson, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
ambassador. The college was founded in 1966, a year after the establishment of the university and its first college, Cowell.
The core course
The core course at Stevenson College is Self & Society. It is the only two-quarter long core course at the university and students can earn up to five general education requirements.The course holds an emphasis on analytical writing, critical thinking, and oral presentation skills. Due to the broad nature of the course, students find themselves learning about and discussing religion, political theory, social criticism, and literature. Some texts that the course includes are the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, Plato’s Five Dialogues, The Autobiography of Malcom X, Sigmund Freud's Society and Its Discontents, Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism, The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto, originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party is a short 1848 publication written by the German Marxist political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It has since been recognized as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the...
, Persepolis
Persepolis
Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...
, and much more. Students enjoy the small seminar sections, to discuss many ideas relating to “self” and “society.”
Living at Stevenson
At Stevenson College, there are eight dormitory houses that are separated into two adjacent locations: “upper quad” and “lower quad.” Each house contains single, double, and triple rooms, and can house approximately 60 students. Stevenson College also has apartments that are an option for non-freshman undergraduate students. They house approximately 136 students, and come fully furnished.The knoll, which has one of the most spectacular views of the Monterey Bay from campus, is a popular hangout for all Stevenson students. It is common to see students studying, napping, and sun bathing on the knoll at any given time during the year.
The Stevenson Coffee House is also another popular hangout where students and professors can eat, socialize, and study. If that environment is too distracting however, students have found that the Stevenson Library is a great, quiet location to work on papers and do any late night assignments they might have.
Finally, Stevenson College is also located just above the university’s gym and pool, giving its students easy access to an excellent workout facility.