The physical fitness required to perform complex athletic feats has a parallel in the intellectual fitness it takes to perform complex mental tasks. At the heart of liberal education sits the idea that moderate training in several disciplines is better than intensive training in just one. Through exercising students' abilities in interpreting…

Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has developed a successful interdisciplinary program in liberal arts core courses, entitled "Introduction to Liberal Arts." The goals of the program, operational structure and curriculum construction are reviewed. (Author/PG)

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)

As a substitute for what he sees as confusion of separate introductory courses in the different areas, the author proposes an interdisciplinary social science-humanities course organized around basic questions about man's individual and group needs and behaviors, group relationships and processes, value systems, and techniques for creating and…

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 School of New Resources is described as a liberal arts program that helps adults enrich their lives by building on their life experiences within a formal learning environment. Core courses culminate in a seminar to integrate or synthesize the educational process and reinforce the humanistic thrust of the program. (Author/MLW)

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)

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…

Six undergraduate humanities courses and programs with a variety of structures and focuses are described, and sources of further information are given. (MSE)

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)