In China the global challenges of fast-evolving technology and multidisciplinary studies are complicated by the newness of the market. Only 40 years ago, professors were condemned to manual labor if suspected of capitalist sympathies, and most universities were shut down during the decade-long Cultural Revolution. The government is preoccupied…

About 700 college programs, ranging from short workshops to degree programs, now specialize in leadership development, twice as many as four years ago. Critics wonder whether the subject has enough substance to warrant an academic minor or major. Others doubt whether the skills of leadership can be acquired through classroom instruction. (MSE)

Calculus provides the language for expressing the differential equations that govern change and also the methods for solving them. In order to insure that more Americans qualify for science-related careers, the way calculus is taught must change. (MLW)

Loosely structured like think tanks, humanities research centers are the true intellectual homes of many humanities faculty members and are instrumental in breaking the hardened boundaries of the disciplines. (MSE)

The movement to improve the quality of general education (the common courses taken by students outside their majors) continues. Change is difficult because it is resisted by a significant number of faculty. Experiences at the University of Wyoming and the University of Washington are described. (MLW)

Excerpts from Cornell University president Frank H. T. Rhodes's recent speech calling for a return to college curricula that enhances students' intellectual and moral well-being, provides more educational coherence and breadth, and embodies a philosophy of commitment are presented. (MSE)

At a recent meeting of traditionalist and "politically incorrect" scholars, speakers accused a small but vocal core of academics of allowing their radical anti-Americanism to taint their scholarship and teaching, refusing to question their own assumptions. Increasing restraints on free speech among scholars was also criticized. (MSE)

In a course entitled "Introduction to Parageography," offered at the University of Texas at Austin, students study classic literary works in which authors create imaginary landscapes, then create and document their own imaginary worlds. The purpose is to get students to use and develop their creative imaginations. Student response has…

Prompted in part by student demand, schools of international affairs are offering new courses, hiring new faculty, and creating research centers focused on business and finance. Schools feel this move is necessary in a world where business dominates international relations and the public and private sectors have become intertwined. Critics feel…

Proponents of the liberal arts continue to disagree over maintaining the traditional college curriculum versus diversifying it to give a greater role to ethnic and women's studies and to the ideas of non-Western cultures. (MSE)

Data are tabulated on the proportion of colleges and universities reporting institutional response to reports on curricular reform, use of measures of institutional effectiveness, methods of measurement, administrator attitudes about assessment, enrollment changes, and changes in institutional finances, for universities, four-year colleges,…

Many Asian-American studies programs have emerged on college campuses recently, due largely to high Asian-American enrollment and student pressure. The field originated in the 1960s, and has broadened to incorporate many ethnic groups. Courses may be either broad-based, comparing ethnic or immigrant groups, or narrowly focused on specific themes.…

A 1985 survey conducted by the Modern Language Association found that undergraduate English courses are still organized around genres or historical periods although feminist criticism and reconstruction have had a major influence on scholarly work. Attacks by Secretary Bennett and other critics of curriculum revision are discussed. (MLW)

Teachers for a Democratic Culture, a newly formed organization of humanities scholars seeking to broaden the undergraduate curriculum, is challenging criticism of scholarship and college teaching. Members maintain that such issues as political correctness and free speech on campus have been misrepresented and unfairly attacked by conservative…

A few medical schools have introduced a significant innovation--the problem-based curriculum. Students meet in small tutorials and consider biomedical problems that they cannot solve without acquiring new information and skills. This experiment at Harvard gives "respectability" to the curriculum. (MLW)