As higher education seeks to define and justify itself in a "post-pandemic" world, it is important to understand the role of centripetal and centrifugal forces. The centrifugal approach suggests engagement facing outward and away from the classroom, from curricula, and from campus in favor of service learning, internships, political…

This article shares the key feature of a successful general education curriculum reform effort: the creation and approval of Guiding Principles that governed both the process of reform and the design of the curriculum. The author pays special attention to the role of Guiding Principles in shaping the design and content of curricula. The Guiding…

This article presents a reflection on a seven-year general education reform process. The authors divide and explain the process of reform in four stages: Review and Recommendation for Reform; Building Conceptual Foundations; Moving from Theory to Practice; and Implementation. The authors discuss the value of establishing goals and markers of…

The author uses ethnographic data from a project at one institution of higher education to analyze the culture surrounding general education from students in an occupational-professional major. This study provides qualitative insight into the culture of general education by studying how a group of engineering majors at one institution view their…

This article explores the function and value of considering Black Studies coursework as part of the general education curriculum. In the current cultural antiracist moment, it is important to consider the role academia plays not only in historicizing its own complicity in institutions of racism but also in offering contemporary solutions to such.…

Although there are many reasons why one could consider current manifestations of general education a disaster area, this article focuses on its ethical failures. First, I will demonstrate the central importance of moral purposes to justifications for general education. Second, I will describe how the failure to connect the moral aims that…

To be effective citizens, students need a great deal of epistemological sophistication. This need has become increasingly visible in curricular, research, and pedagogical efforts in higher education. This reflection considers how "citizen epistemology" across the curriculum might enhance student learning about the politics and ethics of…

This article reports a quasi-experimental study that assessed whether purposeful political engagement efforts in the general education classroom, coupled with co-curricular programming, enhances student interest in politics and political efficacy. The subjects of the study were students in political science general education courses at a…

Both large lectures and online formats are encouraged as viable options for the delivery of course material in higher education today, especially in large general education courses. However, how do such delivery formats impact student learning? In an effort to understand how lecture format impacts cognitive learning, this study investigated how…

Despite efforts of both administration and faculty, the intent and the execution of new curricular initiatives are not always in alignment. To understand how the declaration of a campus-wide general education initiative was being implemented, this article combines analyses of syllabi and courses from across disciplines. In an initial review, the…

This article is an ethnodrama playscript that examines the role of positionality in an interdisciplinary general education program called University Studies at Portland State University. Drawing from both the literature and from the practice of critical reflection, the authors share their experiences as faculty members relative to their…

This retrospective on service learning in the development of University Studies Capstones, the senior-level requirement in the University Studies general education program at Portland State University, explores how the original framers of University Studies anticipated the pitfalls of "pedagogies of whiteness" in deploying service…

This article begins with a review of relevant literature and a brief introduction to dependency theory and center-periphery theory, and then it will outline major changes in general education in the United States. In the third part, the article analyzes how U.S. general education has been transferred to Japan, China, and Hong Kong; its impact on…

Higher education institutions are increasingly interested in infusing sustainability content into their curricula. This can be accomplished through general education programs, which the University of Vermont recently established. The implementation of this new requirement created a unique opportunity to investigate sustainability- related teaching…

American higher education is facing several significant challenges: rapidly rising tuitions, a lack of support from politicians and the public in general, a demand for higher graduation rates, and the lack of a clear articulation of mission. Coping with these issues and many others is a formidable task. No matter what possible solutions and…