Alive at the Core Exemplary Approaches to General Education in the Humanities

This timely volume makes a key contribution to the national debate on humanities education and what higher education must do to encourage greater breadth of knowledge, improved critical thinking skills, and lifelong competence in its undergraduate students. Written for faculty and administrators, Alive at the Core reveals the fundamental importance of general education in the humanities, lays the groundwork for meaningful learning in college, and offers different approaches to changing the core curriculum into a powerful tool for lifelong learning. Based on real-world practice at thirteen colleges and universities, each original chapter provides an in-depth examination of a creative program in the humanities, detailing the principles and strategies that were used to develop cross-disciplinary models of learning. The authors describe how each program began, how it changed and evolved, how students connected their growing knowledge to the world outside the classroom, how computer-based educational technology was integrated, and how faculty members were recruited and became motivated to teach in the program. In many cases, the contributors examine the struggles of programs that made drastic changes in order to equip their students with a wider awareness of the world. Alive at the Core also discusses the challenge of creating courses that successfully link the past and present in human culture, customs, and values. Each engaging account will inspire colleges and universities to reconsider and revitalize general education curricula through innovative, thoughtful practice.Michael Nelson and Associates Staff is the author of 'Alive at the Core Exemplary Approaches to General Education in the Humanities', published 2000 under ISBN 9780787947606 and ISBN 0787947601.