In November 2011, the author--Ivan Fuller, a professor of theatre and associate dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University--attended a joint symposium of the American Conference of Academic Deans and Phi Beta Kappa that was designed to wrestle with the question of why the humanities matter. At one session, participants…

The use of a learning community approach to college curriculum design is explored, and examples are drawn from the following Temple University (Pennsylvania) and the following Washington colleges: Evergreen State College, North Seattle and Seattle Central Community College, Tacoma Community College, and Lower Columbia College. Contacts for further…

A review of college courses on the philanthropic tradition includes descriptions of programs at Babson College, Chapman College, the City University of New York's Bernard Baruch College, Georgetown University, Illinois State University, Northwestern University, Regis College, and Seton Hall University. (MSE)

Chronicles the process of reforming the liberal education program at Franklin Pierce College (New Hampshire), organized around the theme of the individual and community. Discusses objectives in integrating the "civic arts" into the core curriculum and challenges encountered in balancing "individual" and "community"…

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…

The history of Arizona International College, a four-year public institution with a multicultural and global emphasis, is chronicled. The college evolved as an alternative to Arizona's existing public institutions, with a curriculum emphasizing communication skills, problem solving, quantitative and qualitative analysis, technical literacy, moral…

The New American College is a model of higher education and adult learning which stresses an integrated academic culture, connecting general education with specialized education, including professional education, and theoretical learning with practical application. It provides a highly intentional learning environment and individual attention,…

The evolution and design of an interdisciplinary honors course at the University of Maryland at College Park are described. The course, on knowledge and its human consequences, brings together faculty experts, "teacher-learner" faculty, and first-year honors students to explore different kinds of knowledge and their philosophical,…

The study of liberal arts and sciences and teacher training have drifted apart, reinforcing polarities between theory and practice, intellect and action, collaboration and competition. Brooklyn College (New York) has reorganized its curriculum to bring them back together. Students write and reexamine autobiographical accounts of their own…