The University of Chicago met widespread national opposition ten years ago after it instituted a new, less demanding core curriculum to make way for more electives. It was part of a plan to make the curriculum significantly less demanding in order to attract more students and improve the school's bottom line in a time of putative budget deficits.…

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…

In light of the pressures of historical circumstances and with a commitment to educational integrity, this work seeks to reconceive the mission of the liberal arts and sciences. Chapter I defines the key criteria of humanism and holism and offers a critique of current liberal education in terms of curriculum coherency and intellectual and personal…

Debate over the Stanford University (California) freshman humanities requirement, hailed by some as the birth of multiculturalism, by others as the death of the Western canon, has been rekindled as Stanford reconsiders its curriculum. Some consider possible changes a political, not academic, action. Reformers favor focusing on development of…

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)