The following articles were originally published in Daedalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in the Winter 1999 issue entitled "Distinctively American: The Residential Liberal Arts Colleges," Vol. 128, No. 1. They are republished here by permission.
From the Preface
For most Americans, the residential liberal arts colleges lack visibility. They have neither famous athletic programs nor large numbers of alumni. The media tend to ignore them. The colleges themselves have been buffeted by the main cross-currents of American higher education: the dominance of the large public and private universities; increased specialization of the professoriate; the creation of a highly competitive national market for higher education; the economics of the education sector; and a growing public demand for training and certification rather than the preparation of our youth for lives that will be satisfying, professionally and intellectually. Today, small residential liberal arts colleges, even the strongest of them, face an uncertain future.
This issue of Daedalus seeks to examine the residential liberal arts colleges - where they have come from, their current condition, and their future prospects. The reader needs to appreciate that the 212 remaining residential liberal arts colleges represent an amazing diversity of institutions ... These differences do not undermine their common characteristics: residential, small (five hundred to three thousand students), educationally comprehensive, close interaction between student and teacher, and totally dedicated to undergraduate education. They are distinctively American; no other country has schools committed so clearly to the highest quality of undergraduate education.
CONTENTS
Preface
Stephen R. Graubard, Editor of Daedalus
Foreword
Steven Koblik
The Making of the Liberal Arts College Identity
Hugh Hawkins
The Threats to Liberal Arts Colleges
Paul Neely
The Future Economic Challenges for the Liberal Arts Colleges
Michael S. McPherson and Morton Owen Schapiro
How the Liberal Arts College Affects Students
Alexander W. Astin
Affirmation and Adaptation: Values and the Elite Residential College
Peter J. Gomes
The Currents of Democracy: The Role of Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Geoffrey Canada
Distinctively American: The Liberal Arts College
Eugene M. Lang
The American College as the Place for Liberal Learning
Eva T. H. Brann
Generating Ideals and Transforming Lives: A Contemporary Case for the Residential Liberal Arts College
Richard H. Hersh
Science at Liberal Arts Colleges: A Better Education?
Thomas R. Cech
New Approaches to Science and Mathematics Teaching at Liberal Arts Colleges
Priscilla W. Laws
"Vortex, Clouds, and Tongue": New Problems in the Humanities?
Christina Elliott Sorum
Reassessing Research: Liberal Arts Colleges and the Social Sciences
Susan C. Bourque |
