Rhodes is joining Ursinus College, College of the Holy Cross, and Lawrence University to further the national conversation about the role of liberal arts colleges in the 21st century, to identify best practices in core curricula, and to communicate the value of a liberal arts education to wider audiences. The two-year project is being led by Ursinus College and is underwritten by a grant from The Teagle Foundation.
Discussions will be held at four conferences beginning this summer at Ursinus College. Rhodes will host one of the conferences in the fall of 2014. Rhodes faculty participating are Professors Amy Jasperson, Tom McGowan and Milton Moreland. Dr. Suzanne Bonefas serves as the Rhodes team facilitator and project coordinator.
For the last decade, Rhodes has been revising its curriculum to emphasize students’ integrating their in-class work with research and experiential learning outside the classroom. One of the college’s goals in participating in the Teagle project is to devote attention to the question of how students can communicate and demonstrate the significant benefits of a liberal arts education to parents, employers, fellowship and graduate school officers, and other audiences as they continue lifelong processes of intellectual development and individual discernment.
An anticipated outcome of the project is the publication of a volume of essays directed at academia and prospective parents and students that makes the case for liberal education in the 21st century.