Think of the United States Military Academy and the typical images are of duty, character, leadership, and possibly even regimented conformity. Intellectual liberation, integrative innovation, and holistic development--hallmarks of a liberal education--are not always associated with the public's perception of the West Point experience. Yet,…

A recommended approach to college teaching and its improvement involves (1) collaboration with a faculty colleague who observes the teaching and (2) finding and using new ways of getting to know the students and how they learn. (MSE)

A participant in a conference on interdisciplinary general education at the college level highlights some of the issues addressed there: institutional limitations and opportunities; interdisciplinarity versus the power of deep disciplinary inquiry; cross-disciplinary linkages versus interdisciplinary inquiry; and the role of student development…

Though student-designed programs have been justified by references to humanism, systems theory, and romantic idealism, a more secure foundation lies in developmental theory. When properly advised, it is suggested, student-designed programs resemble the most desirable processes of liberal education. (Author/MLW)

Reviews aspects of foreign language instruction (FLI) often cited as incompatible with the goals of general education. Argues for inclusion of FLI at the center of general education, describing the critical linguistic skills and cultural learning gained through language study. Offers six suggestions for restoring FLI to the liberal education…

This speech discusses the development of a true undergraduate liberal education for the 21st century that is also global in scope. It argues that liberal education is failing in its goal to truly educate students. The mission of every college or university should be to advance students' knowledge, skills, abilities, and values for an international…

Bloomfield College (New Jersey) and St. Norbert College (Wisconsin), both small, church-related liberal arts colleges, have supported diversity through organizational change, one with a degree and certification program for a specific Native American population, the other with a collegewide effort for faculty development, inclusive curriculum,…

Designed as a forum for views on issues concerning the humanities in two-year colleges, this journal begins with "A Call for Common Learning," in which Ernest Boyer discusses the goals of education and outlines six themes which students should study to understand themselves, their society, and the world in which they live. Responding to…

This report describes significant phases in the development of Southeast Missouri State University's "University Studies" program instituted in 1988 as part of a general movement among American institutions of higher education to review and redesign their general education curricula. The report highlights unique program characteristics,…

Described is the comprehensive effort launched by Doane College in 1973 to blend the career development concept into its liberal arts framework. Areas discussed include college mission, curriculum planning, individual planning, advising, institutional responsibilities, internship programs, and evaluations of the liberal skills and of Doane's…

Four articles on higher education curriculum are presented. In "The Articulate Curriculum" an approach to curriculum description is presented that is designed to have minimal ambiguity concerning the intention, content, and processes of the curriculum and that will lead to questioning several discrete factors in the curriculum planning…

English, which enrolls all students, is the only humanities course capable of transmitting culture to everyone. Students respond to cultural stimuli other than books, however; and since many justifications for traditionally narrow English courses are demonstrably not valid, English subject matter should be broadened to include methods of…