It is notoriously difficult to change a core curriculum. As credit hours and course requirements are revised, politics quickly come into play and turf battles arise to create obstacles. The author writes that, in her experience, there are two default approaches to curricular change. The first is simply to "tweak" an existing…

At the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, a new vision for college learning is clearly in view. Through its Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has outlined what contemporary college students need to know and be able to do--in…

The problems of traditional overspecialization in British universities and current efforts to liberalize the curriculum are discussed in the context of the historical development of the university and curriculum structure. (MSE)

Those believing that liberal arts, taught as the civic arts, should be a significant part of the college curriculum must insist on a radical change to a core liberal arts curriculum of one or two years within the university, to precede vocational training and specialization. (Author/MSE)

Pacific Lutheran's integrated studies program includes eight courses and one seminar, all with "dynamics of change" as the theme. Courses are related to each other in pairs or sequences, each sequence having its own unifying and controlling topic expressed in the particular subjects of each course component. (Author/LBH)

Rather than return to a core curriculum that reflects the structures of knowledge and education developed for other contexts and needs, the humanities should create new structures appropriate to the students', culture's, and faculty's needs today, particularly through interdisciplinary collaboration. (MSE)

The individual element of multicultural education needs to be recognized. The Association of American Colleges' national project, "Engaging Cultural Legacies: Shaping Core Curricula in the Humanities," helps colleges develop curriculum that challenge students to explore the humanities as reflected in their own social values, ideas, and…

The curriculum development process leading to Bradford College's new Practical Liberal Arts Education plan, an interdisciplinary core curriculum focusing on the theme of the common bonds of human beings, is discussed. (MSE)

Curricular incoherence at the undergraduate level cannot successfully be countered by lower-division distribution requirements and proposals for a core curriculum. An alternative appropriate to a technological age of various specializations emphasizes development of communication and rhetorical skills across disciplines. (DB)

Instead of the random scattershot of the core curriculum, a program of overlapping curricular circles could provide students with a more effective educational experience. Each circle would center on the student's major, and would draw together the underlying strands of a liberal education. (MSE)

Dominican College's colloquia consist of courses from diverse disciplines clustered around a central topic or great figure from history, emphasizing the interrelatedness of all areas of knowledge. Opportunities for student involvement and the need for faculty development are discussed. (Author/MLW)

The core curriculum of a civic liberal education should combine the values of a stable cultural pluralism and political unity. Students should undertake scholarly and critical study of the underlying civic principles and values necessary for generating an informed and effective citizenry. (Author/MSE)

Fairleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey) students take four core general education courses from the second half of the freshman year through the first half of the junior year. All sections have the same syllabus, and faculty teaching them on separate campuses review and refine the courses together. Core course faculty participated actively in a…

A State University of New York/Buffalo course entitled "American Pluralism and the Search for Equality" became the centerpiece of a new general education core curriculum. The origins, design, criticisms, and support for the course, and the role of faculty in the successful, long-term interdisciplinary effort are discussed. (MSE)

The term liberal arts is defined and liberal education is proposed as a more appropriate term. Six characteristics of the liberally educated person are identified and curricular changes that would encourage the development of these qualities are proposed. (Author/MLW)