The cultures of the science community and the humanities community misunderstand each other at the core, but there is more misunderstanding on the part of humanists about science than the reverse. If humanists insist that technical specialists study ethics and esthetics, what are the humanists prepared to study in return? (Author/MSE)

The Institute for Research in History, a nonprofit organization founded by four women that allows historians, regardless of how they make a living, to continue their work outside academe, is described. The scholarly group offers historians an opportunity to exchange ideas and gain new perspectives by working with specialists outside their fields.…

The notion that the interdisciplinary enterprise involves abandoning a discipline for a consistently holistic stance is critiqued. It is suggested that there are ways of exploring interdisciplinary relationships from the perspective of a discipline. (MLW)

There is a gap, it is suggested, separating the generally cultured person, not just from the scientist, but from specialists in many fields. Dictionary definitions are seen as one means of seeing the extent to which specialists and those in the general culture speak the same language. (MLW)

Rigid college entrance requirements screen out the majority of Soviet youths. (Editor)

Noting continued need for high quality graduate schools to teach students to specialize and to expand their perspectives, the author comments on a new academic provincialism, characterized by hostility to research and the courting of student popularity, that threatens the future of quality graduate education. (JT)

The premise of "A Quest for Common Learning," which questioned the value of distribution requirements in 95 percent of U.S. colleges, is challenged. It is suggested that the varied academic disciplines demonstrate the pursuit of truth, and general education must immerse the student in a number of disciplines. (MLW)

One key to the understanding of the current style and character of American educational practice and purpose lies in the history of the professions--the growth of the professionalized specialists who define modern society. (MLW)

Analysis of curriculum, enrollment, and faculty data from four private liberal arts colleges and two private research universities investigates the most cost-effective curriculum design, using simulation models. It is concluded that simpler college curricula, with fewer courses, less specialization, and more consolidation will yield smaller, less…

The current baccalaureate trend toward professsionalization is lamented because it responds to the superficial and ultimately meaningless accouterments of professional life. The mission of developing broadly applicable intellectual capabilities must be maintained. (MLW)

A conversation with a noted historian of the American West concerns his own career and writing, and changes and trends in the college curriculum and profession of teaching. (MSE)

The history of liberal education in the United States is a reflection of U.S. History. Among the influences on its existence and development are the needs of the church and of science, the rise of specialization, changing campus life-styles, and the need to correct and build on secondary education. (MSE)

The quest for the powers and skills of informed judgment, for the dual capacities of appreciation and criticism should stand as the goal of every level of the college curriculum. The fundamentals of a college education are seen as decisions between interpretations and the skill of understanding interpretations. (MLW)

Issues in the question of a college or university hiring its own graduates as faculty are considered: productivity, inbreeding as a way of building specialty, occupational mobility, and overall contribution to institutional vitality. (MSE)

Accreditation of specialized college programs would be improved by increasing communication and specific reform agendas; longer intervals between comprehensive self-studies; improved site-visit and accreditation-decision teams; greater consistency; opportunities to form new accrediting agencies; easing documentation burdens; measuring quality by…