The shingle style clock house on the Greatwood Campus appears on the college seal
Goddard College is a private college located in Plainfield, Vermont, that grants bachelor degrees (BA and BFA) and master degrees (MA and MFA). The original antecedent of the college was founded as Green Mountain Central Institute in 1863. The college currently uses a self-directed, mentored system of intensive residencies in Plainfield or Port Townsend, Washington.
Residencies require the student's attendance every six months for approximately nine days, during which time the student engages in a variety of activities and lectures from the early morning until quite late in the evening. After the residency, students return home and study independently, sending in "packets" to their faculty mentor every three weeks. The content of the "packets" varies with each individual.
Goddard College was founded by Royce Stanley "Tim" Pitkin, a progressive educator and follower of John Dewey and other, similar proponents of educational democracy. Pitkin conceived of the college as a place for "plain living and hard thinking." [1]
Having narrative transcripts instead of traditional letter grades, as well as learner-designed curricula, Goddard was one of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, which also included Franconia, Nasson, Antioch, and several other educational institutions.
Advocating innovation in higher education is its expressed objective and, in 1963, Goddard introduced the first Adult Degree Program for working adults. This program has been copied around the world [2] and since that date, over twenty million adults have been educated using this innovative, intensive, student-centered model.
In 2002, after fifty-four years, the college terminated its traditional age on-site experimental bachelor degree program. Today its more than six hundred adult students attend residencies in either Plainfield or Port Townsend. Only two programs are available at the Port Townsend site: the MFA in Creative Writing and the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, which was new to Port Townsend in the fall of 2007. Also new for the fall of 2007 was the first low-residency Bachelor of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Students must transfer to Goddard with a minimum of sixty undergraduate credits to be eligible for the program.
Governance of the college always has been communitarian, but Mark Schulman has been its president since 2003.[3] The history of Goddard has been tumultuous, similar to many Free Schools practicing the pedagogical theories of educators such as John Dewey. Although many free schools have ceased to exist, Goddard remains alive, well, and atypical, still promoting education as a process of self-discovery in which the learner is firmly in charge. Accordingly, while Goddard is not for everyone, it has been, and continues to be, a home for creative, persistent, and self-directed students.
Goddard also is home to a community radio station that serves central Vermont, broadcasting as, WGDR, 91.1 FM, which is part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Goddard College was a mecca for politically-astute, highly-intelligent students.[citation needed] The students at Goddard were among the most active and influential students to organize and speak out in opposition to the Vietnam War.[citation needed]
Academic programs[1]
- BA in Individualized Studies Program
- BA in Health Arts and Sciences: Nature, Culture, and Healing Program
- BA in Education and Licensure Program
- Community Education BA Concentration
- Teacher Licensure - BA
- BFA in Creative Writing Program
- MA in Individualized Studies Program
- Consciousness Studies Concentration
- Environmental Studies Concentration
- Transformative Language Arts Concentration* MA in Health Arts and Sciences - Nature, Culture, and Healing Program
- Mexico Trip
- MA in Psychology and Counseling Program
- Sexual Orientation Concentration
- Organizational Development Concentration
- MA in Education and Licensure Program
- Community Education MA Concentration
- Partnership Education Concentration
- School Counseling Concentration
- Teacher Licensure - MA
- MA in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities Program
- MFA in Creative Writing Program
- Plainfield, Vermont Residency Option
- Port Townsend, Washington Residency Option
- Clockhouse Writer's Conference
- MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts -- Plainfield, Vermont Residency Option
- MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts -- Port Townsend, Washington Option
Campus
The campus in Plainfield was initially formed into a school in 1938 from the various shingle style buildings on a late 19th century model farm: the Greatwood Estate. Eleven new dormitory buildings were constructed adjacent to the ensemble of renovated farm buildings in 1963 to accommodate an increasing student population. The Pratt Learning Center, was sited to be at the heart of a larger campus, was constructed in 1968. No other significant new construction has been added to the campus since that time.
Facts
- Campus area: 175 acres (0.7 km²)
- Enrollment: approximately 750
- School type: Private
- Year founded: 1863, as Green Mountain Central Institute; in 1870 became Goddard Seminary and opened for business
- Address: 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, Vermont 05667
- Goddard College was host to the Bread and Puppet Theater in 1970-1971
Notable alumni
- See also: Category:Goddard College alumni
- Mumia Abu-Jamal - journalist, political activist,killer of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.
- Trey Anastasio - rock band member (Phish
- Piers Anthony - author
- Howard Ashman - actor, playwright (Little Shop of Horrors), lyricist (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast)
- Daniel Boyarin - professor (Jewish Studies)
- Jared Carter - poet
- Mark Doty, poet
- Norman Dubie, poet
- Larry Feign - cartoonist (The World of Lily Wong)
- Robert M. Fisher - abstract artist
- Jon Fishman - rock band member (Phish)
- James Gahagan - abstract artist
- David Gallaher - writer (High Moon)
- Ann Gillespie - actress (Beverly Hills, 90210)
- Bradford Graves - sculptor, musician, professor (fine arts, sculpture)
- Peter Hannan - artist, writer, producer (CatDog)
- Wayne Karlin - author
- Jonathan Katz - writer, actor, producer (Dr. Katz)
- Neil Landau - screenwriter, playwright, television producer
- William H. Macy - actor
- David Mamet - writer, director, Pulitzer prize winner in drama (Glengarry Glen Ross)
- Page McConnell - rock band member (Phish)
- Walter Mosley - author
- Russell Potter - Arctic historian, author
- Tobias Schneebaum - artist, anthropologist, AIDS activist
- Archie Shepp - saxophonist
- Kenneth R. Timmerman - correspondent, author, activist
- Thomas Yamamoto - art instructor, not technically an alumnus
- Paul Zaloom - puppeteer {Bread & Puppet Theater}
References
- ^ "Academic Programs". Goddard.edu. Goddard College. http://www.goddard.edu/academic/. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
Related resources
External links
