Courses in western or world civilization are sometimes required of college undergraduates in the United States. Many teachers depend on a standard textbook to teach these courses. If these texts are examined, certain patterns begin to emerge. The typical world civilization text and course devote the greater part of their space to the western…

These conference proceedings examine the future of humanities education in Texas and are part of the "Preparing for Texas in the 21st Century Project." The papers presented focused on such critical issues as state support for community sponsored cultural programming and the need for increased citizen understanding of other nations and…

Problems associated with overspecialization in U.S. higher education are considered, based on the view that colleges provide training for an advanced society but fail to clarify how a particular career will be part of a larger social and global system that has many serious problems. An education that seeks to integrate ideas across disciplinary…

The results of several studies of the humanities and social sciences in undergraduate engineering education are presented and discussed. The first chapter explains the value of humanities and social sciences coursework and describes briefly some of the obstacles confronting efforts to improve it. The second chapter summarizes the findings of two…

Designed for use in a one-semester course in U.S. history or literature at the intermediate or secondary level, this collection of the Civil War letters of Lewis Bissell, a Union soldier, is divided into two major parts. Part I (chapters 1 though 5) covers the period of time Bissell spent guarding Washington, District of Columbia. Each chapter…

This report discusses the structures, procedures, outcomes, and evaluation of the Tier One Project (TOP), which was conducted at Los Medanos College from July 1981 to February 1983 to develop general education courses embodying humanities concerns. Background to the project is provided first, delineating TOP's objectives of examining general…

Arguing that a successful general education program depends upon an integrated curriculum, this paper urges community colleges to take a strong leadership role in developing a curriculum that is consistent with historical, cultural, and biological realities. After underscoring the need for interdisciplinary education, the paper provides a…

Enrollments of students over 18 years old in part-time education and training programs were studied in 1981, with special emphasis on adults studying the humanities. Information is provided on: the characteristics of adult students enrolled in humanities courses, the subjects that they studied, reasons adult students studied the humanities, the…

The Interdisciplinary General Education (IGE) Program at California State Polytechnic University is described in this report. The program is designed students in professional and math-based degree programs and offers an integrative-thematic approach to the humanities and social sciences components of the University General Education Program. It…

This report presents a proposal and plan for the use of contemporary technology at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC). Part I provides an overview of the use of contemporary technology in business, industry, and postsecondary education; highlights NIACC's contemporary technology strategic planning initiative; and outlines NIACC's proposal…

Interim programs at nine colleges are described. An introductory essay by Lee M. Swan, "The Interim: Potential for Quality Learning," emphasizes the potential for unique learning through the interim approach. At Augustana College (South Dakota), interim experiences are required, including core courses, internships, travel experiences,…

Variations in the number of doctoral degrees awarded by Swedish universities since 1890 are being studied. Within a certain field of study, variations are found both at a national level between different periods, and at an institutional level between different universities. The focus is on the faculties of liberal arts, divinity, social science,…

Focusing on the influence of cultural background on learning among black children, this book examines black culture and its effects on childrearing, play behavior, and cognition and explores the development of curricula relevant to blacks. Chapter 1 examines distinctive features of black life in the United States, emphasizing their West African…

In 1979, a study was conducted at Palomar College (PC) to measure student reading levels; to determine textbook readability in humanities, science, and vocational education courses; and to make recommendations for adjusting the curriculum and/or screening procedures in order to facilitate increased student success in reading technical content-area…

A freshman humanities course in reading and research was used by three English instructors to investigate the appropriateness of having students use an online database as a research tool. The results show that the acquisition of basic online database search skills is not qualitatively different from that of more traditional research skills.…