An effective higher education curriculum is woven from threads that unite into a whole cloth for students, as demonstrated by the new Civic Innovations program at Wagner College on Staten Island in New York City. Civic Innovations embodies an intensive system of college and community collaborations that focus the college's commitment to civic…

The study of literature is seen as one of the best ways to bring students through the curriculum to recognize and grapple with the moral dimension of human life. Such a focus for a basic course is especially important when students take only one literature course. (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)

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)

If curricular change to meet student needs were to produce a community focus on central problems of human development, it could serve to transform an institution into one better prepared to serve societal and institutional needs. (Author/KE)

Interprets the humanities as a rich and essential resource for understanding and making human choices in the real late twentieth century world. (MSE)

In an effort to relate higher education more effectively to the modern world and to instill in it a greater degree of social responsibility, alternative models for liberal education are suggested that use new knowledge and disciplines and address social and environmental opportunities, along with economic, political and international issues, and…

Standard logic courses are seen as unsuitable for liberal arts curricula because they emphasize the formal logic of calculative thinking. To develop the capacity of students to make moral decisions, logic courses should emphasize thinking skills based on informal logic or rhetoric, a logic of practical reasoning and communication. (Author/MLW)

The development of a new humanities program is described. This includes a freshman seminar as an introduction to humanistic study, the modification of traditional language requirements, and the establishment of a writing and reading lab, an issues and values interdisciplinary seminar, and humanities and intercultural majors. (Author/MLW)

Three broad views of the educated person (classical, pragmatic, and moral) are analyzed. It is suggested that only the moral approach focuses clearly on the development of the learner as the primary end of education. To construct any general education curriculum, liberal learning goals must be determined. (Author/MLW)