Global perspective-taking involves three critical, developmentally based questions: (1) How do I know?; (2) Who am I?; and (3) How do I relate? As students grapple with these questions, their answers mutually reinforce the cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal domains of human development, highlighting its holistic and integrated nature.…

In the face of limited resources, administrators and policy makers are urged to invest more in science, engineering, and technology programs; meanwhile, liberal arts colleges are on their way to becoming an endangered species. But what might look like an inevitable market trend could itself have negative economic effects. In this article, the…

An effective higher education curriculum is woven from threads that unite into a whole cloth for students, as demonstrated by the new Civic Innovations program at Wagner College on Staten Island in New York City. Civic Innovations embodies an intensive system of college and community collaborations that focus the college's commitment to civic…

One of the more intriguing trends at the turn of the twenty-first century is the ascendant influence of religion in various aspects of American life. The renewed interest in religion and spirituality is not just a function of aging baby boomers acknowledging their mortality. The University of Pennsylvania reported that 86 percent of those between…

At the time of the founding of the Association of American Colleges in 1915, the role of the four-year, residential, undergraduate college in American higher education was being challenged by the expansion of the state universities. In some regions of the country, leaders of the undergraduate colleges, whether denominational or independent, saw…

As a public good, universities have a rare and critical role to play. While Universities educate leaders for the future, they also address important societal issues of the day. The discoveries can and do change the world. The groundwork is laid for the future as work is done to preserve the culture of the past. The university?s role is "rare"…

Leaders at every university agree that educating students in the practice of open-minded inquiry is a key component of undergraduate education, but creating a classroom and wider campus climate that is truly open to multiple perspectives on hot-button political issues is extremely difficult to accomplish. This is true whether the majority opinion…

There are some notable gestures to inculcate the "will to peace." General approval by all the nations of the world seems now to be given to the World Court. The League of Nations, though not approved officially by the U.S., is generally admitted as approaching the ideal of its originator, the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. forces during the World War.…

Addresses the important role education has played in raising standards of living and the particular role of the liberal arts in promoting the creative intellectual energy that is an increasingly important part of the economy. (EV)

Asserts that a sense of vocation implies knowing one's self, one's beliefs and values, and one's position in the world. Suggests that a central goal of contemporary undergraduate education should be to cultivate an initial sense of vocation. (EV)

Asserts that the moral imperative for higher education is to prepare citizen-leaders for society. Suggests that this imperative must respond to the challenges of relevance and economics that confront higher education today. (EV)

Discusses changes in ethics' role in public life: (1) many people who live morally are insisting that institutions do the same; (2) while ethics have been used to humanize power, ethics now are power; and (3) private values that provided moral strength at the dawning of nation states must be transformed into public values for an interdependent…

Asserts that the unity that comes out of a diverse society depends on the development of cognitive, social, and democratic skills, dispositions, and values. Explains that research is in progress as to how this can take place during the college years. (EV)

Asserts that an intellectual community is called upon to educate students to become morally sophisticated and to take their moral reasoning capacity into a society with complex pressures. Explores key questions that must be addressed to create a space where such learning can happen. (EV)

Asserts that the interdependence that characterizes the contemporary world is undermined by the commercialization and privatization pervading U.S. society with consumerist pressures reaching even into school programs, but that terrorism has dramatically underlined global interdependence and public responsibilities. Explores what makes an adequate…