This study explores the perception of critical thinking (CT) among students in undergraduate humanities programs. It uncovers a strong alignment between the learning objectives of CT within the curriculum and students' perceptions. Students not only recognize CT but also underscore its importance, affirming their perceived improvement in critical…

Universities across the country are experiencing a decline in the number of undergraduates choosing to major in the humanities in general, and similar trends have been observed specifically in the study of foreign languages (FLs), cultures, and literatures. The educational and social psychological literature has explored uptake, or a student's…

Familiarization with the thoughts and creations of great minds, past and present, is a significant function of education. Many students, however, are effectively denied such opportunity for intellectual growth by the identification of education with job-training. Much of the curriculum neglects the past and the foreign. Humanists approach this…

The knowledge explosion, the growth of technology, and the development of new teaching methodologies seem to the author to have led to a sense of unrelatedness, insignificance, and a loss of personal identity. The implications of this position for language teachers are viewed in terms of communication and motivation. Weaknesses of the scientific,…

The current interest in relevance in education has encouraged many deletions in curriculum. The author declares that every subject is relevant to some person's life; therefore, there are no irrelevant subjects. (PG)

Originally presented as a speech at the Annual Meeting of the Commission on Curriculum of the National Council of Teachers of English, November 25, 1969, in Washington, D.C. (DS)

THE STERILITY OF THE LIBERAL ARTS IN MOST COLLEGES TODAY IS BECOMING MORE EVIDENT. STUDENTS ARE TURNING TO "POT," LSD, OR IMMERSIONS IN ANOTHER CULTURE IN THEIR QUESTS TO EXPAND THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. THE STUDENT'S NEED FOR A HEIGHTENED AWARENESS AND LARGER FRAME OF REFERENCE CAN BE FULFILLED BY A STUDY OF THE LIBERAL ARTS ONLY IF THESE STUDIES ARE…

Broad changes in the academic culture and the curriculum since the 1960s are reviewed, and the need is emphasized for a re-formation of the curriculum to bring the student back into focus and to rebuild the humanities. (MSE)

When the introductory philosophy course evokes cognitive dissonance over philsophical problems in which students are already interested, it can help develop students' skills in reasoning and assessing arguments. This kind of course should play a key role in the undergraduate curriculum. (MSE)

Discusses classical theory as a modernist endeavor to apprehend the phenomenon of "unity of disunity." Presents three ways that classical theory approaches the philosophy views of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber. Concludes that postmodernism validates the relevancy of classical theory. (CFR)

Discusses efforts by Agnes Scott College to develop a languages-across-the-curriculum program and other initiatives to link language study with other disciplines, and examines the strengths and weaknesses of the program after three years and plans for future expansion. (Contains eight references.) (MDM)

THE UNRESOLVED PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY--WHETHER ACADEMIC OR PRAGMATIC GOALS SHOULD PREVAIL--IS IDENTIFIED AS THE BASIC CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. SINCE WORLD WAR II, FEDERAL SUPPORT HAS BEEN INCREASINGLY DIRECTED TOWARD ACTION PROGRAMS, INCLUDING SPECIAL…

This article presents the dialogue from a roundtable discussion on the principles of science education in today's school held by "Pedagogika" in March 2004. Participants were as follows: from the Russian Academy of Education: V.P. Borisenkov, doctor of pedagogical sciences, professor, vice president of the Russian Academy of Education,…

Collected readings by noted writers in the field of language instruction develop a case for the study of foreign languages. Discussion largely focuses on the problem of the language requirement, the place of foreign languages in the curriculum, methods, philosophy, and interdisciplinary studies. Articles included are: (1) "Should Foreign Language…