Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts

by Rebecca Chopp, Susan Frost, Daniel H. Weiss

Overview

Experts discuss the disruptive changes faced by liberal arts colleges.

As one of the most successful educational enterprises in American history, the residential liberal arts college has long been emulated across all spectrums of undergraduate education in the United States and increasingly around the world. These schools are characterized by broad-based curricula, small class size, and interaction between students and faculty. Aimed at developing students’ intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills rather than specific professional preparation, the value proposition made by these colleges has recently come under intense pressure.

Remaking College brings together a distinguished group of higher education leaders to define the American liberal arts model, to describe the challenges these institutions face, and to propose sustainable solutions. These essays elucidate the shifting economic and financial models for liberal arts colleges and consider the opportunities afforded by technology, globalism, and intercollegiate cooperative models. By exploring new ideas, offering bold proposals, and identifying emerging lessons, the authors consider the unique position these schools can play in their communities and in the larger world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421411347
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	12/20/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rebecca Chopp is the chancellor of the University of Denver, where she is leading a comprehensive effort to transform the student experience, expand the design of knowledge, and engage with the liberal arts in new ways. Previously she served as the president of Swarthmore College and Colgate University.

Susan Frost is a consultant and researcher who works with college and university leaders to help them form and execute strategic plans, engage faculty in shaping their institutions' futures, and develop academic programs as major fundraising targets.

Daniel H. Weiss is the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For over a decade, he led liberal arts institutions, serving as the president of Haverford College and Lafayette College.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments i

Introduction: Updating the Liberal Arts Mission for the Twenty-First Century 1

Part I Reimagining the Liberal Arts College in America

1 Remaking, Renewing, Reimagining: The Liberal Arts College Takes Advantage of Change Rebecca Chopp 13

2 Challenges and Opportunities in the Changing Landscape Daniel H. Weiss 25

Part II An Opportunity to Lead

3 Economics and Affordability Catharine Bond Hill Jill Tiefenthaler Suzanne P. Welsh 43

4 Using Governance to Strengthen the Liberal Arts Susan Frost Shelly Weiss Storbeck 59

5 Orchestrating Shared Governance Joanne V. Creighton 69

Part III Knowledge, Learning, and New Technologies

6 Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges in Teaching David W. Oxtoby 77

7 Interdisciplinary Perspectives and the Liberal Arts Wendy L. Hill 85

8 Technology in Education: Revolution or Evolution? Adam F. Falk 96

9 You Can Run, but You Can't Hide Kevin M. Guthrie 105

10 Technology, Learning, and Campus Culture Daniel R. Porterfield 115

Part IV Collaboration and Partnerships

11 The Future of Liberal Arts Colleges Begins with Collaboration Eugene M. Tobin 125

12 The College without Walls: Partnerships at Home and Abroad Carol T. Christ 135

13 The Networked College-Local, Global, Virtual Jane Dammen McAuliffe 144

Part V Residential Communities and Social Purpose

14 The Liberal Arts College Unbound Brian Rosenberg 157

15 "Glowing against the Gray, Sober against the Fire": Residential Academic Communities in the Twenty-First Century John M. McCardell 169

16 The Intercultural Connection: Students and the Liberal Arts Ronald A. Crutcher 180

Part VI Future Prospects for the Liberal Arts College

17 More to Hope Than to Fear: The Future of the Liberal Arts College William G. Bowen 189

Contributors 203

Index 207

What People are Saying About This

S. Georgia Nugent

This collection of essays by presidents and other leaders in higher education is both clear sighted about challenges facing small, liberal arts colleges and inspiring for the ways in which it clearly illustrates both the great flexibility of the sector and the deeply held values that fuel its continuing creativity.

From the Publisher

This collection of essays by presidents and other leaders in higher education is both clear sighted about challenges facing small, liberal arts colleges and inspiring for the ways in which it clearly illustrates both the great flexibility of the sector and the deeply held values that fuel its continuing creativity.
—S. Georgia Nugent, Interim President, The College of Wooster

Editorial Reviews

Higher education is going under the microscope to prove its value. Add to that a growing chorus of pundits who believe that a liberal arts education is a waste of time and a relic of the past. But two college presidents argue in [Remaking College] that a liberal arts education is, in fact, crucial to not just boosting the economy but to solving many of the world’s problems.

University Business

"This spirited collection of essays offers lessons in what the rhetorician Richard Lanham once called ‘the oldest class in American education, the Seminar on the Future of the Liberal Arts.’ Across varying discussions, these leaders argue that ‘flexibility’ will continue to characterize the agility and adaptability that the liberal arts college produces in its graduates and reflects in its own longevity."

The Key Reporter

"Two presidents assert that higher education will have to address spiraling costs and that some college—particularly regional liberal arts colleges—will have trouble surviving if they don't."

Philadelphia Inquirer

Two presidents assert that higher education will have to address spiraling costs and that some college—particularly regional liberal arts colleges—will have trouble surviving if they don't.
—Philadelphia Inquirer

Higher education is going under the microscope to prove its value. Add to that a growing chorus of pundits who believe that a liberal arts education is a waste of time and a relic of the past. But two college presidents argue in [Remaking College] that a liberal arts education is, in fact, crucial to not just boosting the economy but to solving many of the world’s problems.
—University Business

This spirited collection of essays offers lessons in what the rhetorician Richard Lanham once called ‘the oldest class in American education, the Seminar on the Future of the Liberal Arts.’ Across varying discussions, these leaders argue that ‘flexibility’ will continue to characterize the agility and adaptability that the liberal arts college produces in its graduates and reflects in its own longevity.
—The Key Reporter

From the Publisher