Rethinking Liberal Education

Liberal education has always had its share of theorists, believers, and detractors, both inside and outside the academy. The best of these have been responsible for the development of the concept, and of its changing tradition.

Drawn from a symposium jointly sponsored by the Educational Leadership program and the American Council of Learned Societies, this work looks at the requirements of liberal education for the next century and the strategies for getting there. With contributions from Leon Botstein, Ernest Boyer, Howard Gardner, Stanley Katz, Bruce Kimball, Peter Lyman, Susan Resneck Pierce, Adam Yarmolinsky and Frank Wong, Rethinking Liberal Education proposes better ways of connecting the curriculum and organization of liberal arts colleges with today's challenging economic and social realities. The authors push for greater flexibility in the organizational structure of academic departments, and argue that faculty should play a greater role in the hard discussions that shape their institutions. Through the implementation of interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to learning, along with better integration of the curriculum with the professional and vocational aspects of the institution, this work proposes to restore vitality to the curriculum.

The concept of rethinking liberal education does not mean the same thing to every educator. To one, it may mean a strategic shift in requirements, to another the reformulation of the underlying philosophy to meet changing times. Any significant reform in education needs careful thought and discussion. Rethinking Liberal Education makes a substantial contribution to such debates. It will be of interest to scholars and students, administrators, and anyone concerned with the issues of modern education.

Nicholas H. Farnham, Director of the Educational Leadership Program for the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation in New York, is an educational consultant and researcher who has spent many years conducting seminars for college leaders. Adam Yarmolinsky is an educational administrator and former government official. He is currently Regents Professor for Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He is former Provost of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, as well as a lawyer.