Redesigning liberal education requires both pragmatic approaches to discover what works and radical visions of what is possible.
The future of liberal education in the United States, in its current form, is fraught but full of possibility. Today's institutions are struggling to maintain viability, sustain revenue, and assert value in the face of rising costs. But we should not abandon the model of pragmatic liberal learning that has made America's colleges and universities the envy of the world. Instead, Redesigning Liberal Education argues, we owe it to students to reform liberal education in ways that put broad and measurable student learning as the highest priority.
Written by experts in higher education, the book is organized into two sections. The first section focuses on innovations at 13 institutions: Brown University, College of the Holy Cross, Connecticut College, Elon University, Florida International University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Lasell College, Northeastern University, Rollins College, Smith College, Susquehanna University, and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Chapters about these institutions consider the vast spectrum of opportunities and challenges currently faced by students, faculty, staff, and administrators, while also offering "radical visions" of the future of liberal education in the United States. Accompanying vision chapters written by some of the foremost leaders in higher education touch on a wide array of subjects and themes, from artificial intelligence and machines to the role that human dispositions, mindsets, resilience, and time play in how we guide students to ideas for bringing playful concepts of creativity and openness into our work.
Ultimately, Redesigning Liberal Education reveals how humanizing forces, including critical thinking, collaboration, cross-cultural competencies, resilience, and empathy, can help drive our world. This uplifting collection is a celebration of the innovative work being done to achieve the promise of a valuable, engaging, and practical undergraduate liberal education.
Isis Artze-Vega, Denise S. Bartell, Randy Bass, John Bodinger de Uriarte, Laurie Ann Britt-Smith, Jacquelyn Dively Brown, Phillip M. Carter, Nancy L. Chick, Michael J. Daley, Maggie Debelius, Janelle Papay Decato, Peter Felten, Ashley Finley, Dennis A. Frey Jr., Chris W. Gallagher, Evan A. Gatti, Lisa Gring-Pemble, Kristína Moss Gudrún Gunnarsdóttir, Anthony Hatcher, Toni Strollo Holbrook, Derek Lackaff, Leo Lambert, Kristin Lange, Sherry Lee Linkon, Anne M. Magro, Maud S. Mandel, Jessica Metzler, Borjana Mikic, William Moner, Phillip Motley, Matthew Pavesich, Uta G. Poiger, Rebecca Pope-Ruark, Michael Reder, Michael S. Roth, Emily Russell, Heather Russell, Ann Schenk, Michael Shanks, Susan Rundell Singer, Andrea A. Sinn, Christina Smith, Allison K. Staudinger, William M. Sullivan, Connie Svabo, Meredith Twombly, Betsy Verhoeven, David J. Voelker, Scott Windham, Mary C. Wright, Catherine Zeek
Table of Contents:
Foreword, by Michael S. Roth
Acknowledgments
Introduction. A Radical Vision for Redesigning Liberal Education
William Moner, Phillip Motley, and Rebecca Pope-Ruark
Part I. Case Studies
Chapter 1. Problem-Focused Liberal Education in a First-Year Learning Community at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
Denise S. Bartell, Alison K. Staudinger, and David J. Voelker
Chapter 2. Attending to Local Context, Culture, and Language at Florida International University
Isis Artze-Vega, Phillip M. Carter, and Heather Russell
Chapter 3. The Experiential Liberal Arts: An Integrative Model for Twenty-First-Century Education at Northeastern University
Chris W. Gallagher and Uta G. Poiger
Chapter 4. Creating Connections: An Intentional, Integrated Liberal Education at Connecticut College
Michael Reder and Ann Schenk
Chapter 5. Building a Developmental, Interdisciplinary General Education Curriculum for the Future: Foundations in the Liberal Arts at Rollins College
Emily Russell, Susan Rundell Singer, and Toni Strollo Holbrook
Chapter 6. Exploring the Borderlands: Using Interdisciplinarity to Build Civic Literacy at the College of the Holy Cross
Laurie Ann Britt-Smith
Chapter 7. Redesigning Learning through Multidisciplinary Teaching: Voices from a Sophomore Core Experience at Lasell University
Michael J. Daley, Dennis A. Frey Jr., and Catherine Zeek
Chapter 8. Intergenerational Partnerships to Support Liberal Learning Goals at Brown University
Mary C. Wright, Maud S. Mandel, Jessica Metzler, and Christina Smith
Chapter 9. The Design Thinking Initiative at Smith College
Borjana Mikic
Chapter 10. Immersive Learning in the Studio for Social Innovation at Elon University
Rebecca Pope-Ruark, William Moner, and Phillip Motley
Chapter 11. Failing Forward: Writing, Design, and Organic Curricular Change at Georgetown University
Maggie Debelius, Sherry Lee Linkon, and Matthew Pavesich
Chapter 12. Educating Business Leaders for a Better World at George Mason University
Lisa Gring-Pemble, Anne M. Magro, and Jacquelyn Dively Brown
Chapter 13. Educating for Global Civic Participation and a Career: German Studies in the Twenty-First Century at Elon University
Scott Windham, Andrea A. Sinn, Kristin Lange, Derek Lackaff, Anthony Hatcher, Evan A. Gatti, and Janelle Papay Decato
Chapter 14. Pursuing Major Passions: Innovative Minors That Blend Professional Skills and Liberal Education Values for Civic Pursuits at Susquehanna University
John Bodinger de Uriarte and Betsy Verhoeven
Part II. Visions for the Future of Liberal Education
Chapter 15. The Future Has Gone Soft on Skills: Why Campuses Should Be Working Harder to Cement Personal and Social Development with Learning
Ashley Finley
Chapter 16. Can We Liberate Liberal Education?
Randy Bass
Chapter 17. Aligning Liberal Education for an Age of Inequality
William M. Sullivan
Chapter 18. Slow: Liberal Learning for and in a Fast-Paced World
Nancy L. Chick and Peter Felten
Chapter 19. Shifting Paradigms: College Admissions as a Lever for Systemic Change in Liberal Education
Kristína Moss Gudrún Gunnarsdóttir and Meredith Twombly
Chapter 20. Scholartistry: Creativity and the Future of the Liberal Arts
Michael Shanks and Connie Svabo
Afterword. The Age of Connectedness
Leo Lambert
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Contributors
Index
About the Author :
William Moner is an assistant professor of communication design at Elon University. Phillip Motley is an associate professor of communications at Elon University. Rebecca Pope-Ruark is a faculty teaching and learning specialist in the Center for Teaching and Learning at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is the author of Agile Faculty: Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching.
