Despite research showing the broad impact that the study of foreign languages has on the cognitive development of young people, and despite the importance of language expertise for America's economic and geopolitical interests in the twenty-first century, the teaching of world languages has been marginalized within the American educational system…

As far as the foundational education of artists and designers is concerned, there is a sense that the natural sciences are of marginal importance, that they deal primarily with matters of material fact rather than the concerns of critical thought or cultural discourse. The author contends that the natural sciences can be quintessential liberal…

Saint Mary's College, a single-gender Catholic institution in northern Indiana with approximately 1,600 students, has just revised a general education curriculum that had been in place for nearly forty years. The board of trustees unanimously approved the new curriculum in April 2010. In this article, the author discusses seven key lessons learned…

At the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, a new vision for college learning is clearly in view. Through its Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has outlined what contemporary college students need to know and be able to do--in…

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…

Think of the United States Military Academy and the typical images are of duty, character, leadership, and possibly even regimented conformity. Intellectual liberation, integrative innovation, and holistic development--hallmarks of a liberal education--are not always associated with the public's perception of the West Point experience. Yet,…

The defining task for undergraduate departments is the design of a major, including the number and content of courses as well as other requirements. Department members must weigh the desire to produce graduates superbly prepared for further study against the charge that the major requires too large a share of an undergraduate's course options.…

In this article, the author describes the challenge of profound curriculum reform for Wagner College. Unlike many institutions that tinker with course offerings, the salvation of the college could come only through dramatic refocusing and revitalization of not just what the faculty members teach, but the way they teach. The resurrection of Wagner…

This article discusses a relatively new and decidedly healthy educational movement emerging across the United States, from grade schools to high schools, from community colleges to graduate programs at the nation's most prestigious universities. The movement goes by the name of "engaged learning." The authors describe two experiments to integrate…

Business educators and colleagues in the liberal arts have not found the ideal bridge, from the student's perspective, that provides a meaningful connection between the two domains. Over the years, challenges to effectively bridge the divide between liberal arts and business have come from leaders in education, the professional business community,…

Undergraduate education has not kept pace with knowledge about the role of culture in shaping human and social behavior. The deficiencies can and should be repaired, but some real innovations are essential to the process. Despite the challenge, there is a real opportunity to parlay research advances emerging out of the recent "cultural turn" in a…

Describes the ways in which educators can play a leading role in promoting civic engagement through curricular and institutional innovations in which students encounter the theory and practice of participatory democracy. (SLD)

Describes the ways in which students' intellectual engagement can be achieved by teaching through the subject of study to the social issues relevant to student interests. Discusses the process of designing this type of curriculum. Makes the discussion more concrete through the description of science education reform effort. (SLD)

Describes the challenges involved in creating digitally rich courses in the humanities, courses that can include opportunities for learning that are more effective than traditional approaches. Considers course development and the new skills required by faculty and students. (SLD)

Discusses curricular tradition in liberal higher education and proposes a schema of curricular principles emphasizing the character of the learner, the world to be known, a common heritage of humanity, and kinds of disciplines. Uses the University of Chicago's past and current curricula to illustrate the ongoing search for curricular coherence.…