Problems and considerations in developing interdisciplinary programs in higher education are examined, and the evolution of several new programs linking humanities and teacher education is discussed. Programs at Georgia Southern University, Salem College (North Carolina), and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are highlighted. (MSE)

Philosophical origins and evolution of a Brooklyn College (New York) early childhood/elementary teacher education curriculum that integrates studies in liberal arts/sciences and teacher education are described. The curriculum includes a humanities, social sciences, and mathematics/sciences strand. It was developed in response to local realities…

This article argues that liberal education can not thrive as a backward-looking set of principles, but must adapt to social change if it is to continue to be central to higher education. Educational leaders are urged to reexamine, and structurally reform, undergraduate education to preserve the centrality of general education. (MSE)

This article argues that in an increasingly multicultural society, liberal education is more important than ever, and that ethnic studies are a significant contribution to the college curriculum. Because ethnic studies faculty have been drawn from other disciplines, programs have not become independent academic units, rendering them weak. A deeper…

Plans of some to reduce the time for completing the traditional undergraduate degree or to redefine it to require fewer credits are examined critically. Reasons for considering time-shortened degrees and responses to the idea are considered. A reexamination of the meaning of the undergraduate degree is recommended. (MSE)

The Association of American Colleges and Universities' national initiative for college curriculum and faculty development, entitled "American Commitments: Diversity, Democracy, and Liberal Learning," is described; and a panel discussion of two central themes, which concern cultural pluralism in higher education, is summarized. (MSE)

Describes the efforts of the General Education Working Group, formed in fall 1992 to set forth the purpose and goals for general education at Portland State University and develop a curricular model designed to achieve those goals. Provides detailed results of the assessment and of the proposed general education program. (34 references) (MAB)

Because of the rapid evolution of electronic publishing and information technology, books will be only one of a wide variety of formats for information exchange. In undergraduate study as in other areas, the future of books is dependent on the continuing habitual tendency and preference of adults to read text. (MSE)

Two recent reports, the Association of American Colleges'"The Challenge of Connecting Learning" and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate," urge higher education to reshape the college curriculum and refocus its attention on what constitutes faculty…

Undergraduate education is illiberal because the progression from general to specialized learning does not support students in learning how to make choices or explore their consequences. Courses late in the student's program, rather than at the outset, that explore disciplinary boundaries and interconnections could be useful. (MSE)

According to this author, it may not be the first instinct of the typical professor to ask trustees to become involved in issues of academic quality. Most professors' instincts were formed in a different time and they may have forgotten how much the academic world has changed. Professors used to defend high academic standards, the liberal arts,…

These proceedings focus on the role of the liberal arts in the development of leadership, focusing on college programs and activities designed to enhance the leadership skills of college students. Four keynote addresses are reproduced: (1) "Empowering and Collective Leadership" (Helen S. Astin); (2) "Jefferson vs Higher Education" (Don Bigelow);…

This book examines the American experience in liberal education and demonstrates that there has been a "crisis" surrounding the curriculum of the modern U.S. university for the past two centuries. It points out where and how contemporary critics of the curriculum are wrong, historically speaking, and shows how American ideals of "liberal…

Proceedings of a conference on Virginia's undergraduate curriculum are presented. Attention is focused on the future of the traditional arts and sciences disciplines. Contents include: (1) a keynote address on benefits of studying the humanities, along with answers to audience questions (William H. Bennett, head of the National Endowment for the…

Undergraduate engineering students and their advisors are provided with a handbook to help improve the quality and coherence of the humanities and social sciences (H&SS) component of undergraduate engineering education (fostering more purposeful H&SS course selection). The first of this handbook's three sections has an engineering major…