Experimental College (ExCo)

Collection

Identifier: RG 09-018

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records of the Experimental College are limited to a small amount of administrative files, course catalogs, course evaluations, videotapes and slides. The records are arranged in the following four series: Series 1. Administrative Files; Series 2. Course Catalogs; Series 3. Course Evaluations (Restricted); and Series 4. Non-Textual Materials.

Dates

Creation: 1968 - 2007
Other: Date acquired: 10/05/1988

Creator

Oberlin College Experimental College (Organization)

Administrative History

The Experimental College (ExCo) is both a student organization and a department of the college that sponsors for-credit courses taught by Oberlin students, administrators, townspeople, and faculty. The group was established in 1968 by the Educational Plans and Policies Committee; its charter was approved in 1979. ExCo supplements the regular college curriculum by offering classes not typically available in traditional courses of study. These courses reflect the current academic, cultural, social, political, and intellectual trends of the Oberlin community.

As of 2013, students could earn from one to three credit hours for an ExCo course, and could apply up to five ExCo credits toward the 112 credit hours required for graduation. ExCo offered 63 courses in the Fall of 2013 covering an eclectic mix of sports, martial arts, dance, games, crafts, music, languages, sexuality and gender studies, activism and politics, cooking, meditation, popular culture and media, improvisational comedy, and letterpress printing.

Note written by Anne Cuyler Salsich

Extent

6.60 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

Experimental College records were received in 1988, 1997, 2010 and 2013. Slides were received as part of a very large accession from the Office of Communications in 2009. Videotapes of trapeze shows, 2000-2002, were received in 2010 from Hannah Logan Morris.