Faith, the Real World, and Liberal Arts: Turning College on Its Head at Hildegard

Apr 27, 2022 · · Comments Off on Faith, the Real World, and Liberal Arts: Turning College on Its Head at Hildegard

A new college is opening its doors to students in the fall of 2023. In Costa Mesa, California, Hildegard College is offering students the chance to take their faith and combine it with rigorous academics focused on the liberal arts. This liberal arts Christian college seeks to change the ways of both secular education and … Continue reading “Faith, the Real World, and Liberal Arts: Turning College on Its Head at Hildegard”

A Life-Changing Meeting of Minds

Mar 4, 2022 · · Comments Off on A Life-Changing Meeting of Minds

In 1985, Roosevelt Montás arrived in the United States aged twelve, speaking no English, accustomed to life in a rural mountain village of the Dominican Republic where he had passed his boyhood—a village with one shared telephone. Six years later, he matriculated to Columbia University. He went on to earn his PhD there, and subsequently … Continue reading “A Life-Changing Meeting of Minds”

Universities Have Forgotten Their Purpose: Pursuing the Contemplative Life

Dec 17, 2021 · · Comments Off on Universities Have Forgotten Their Purpose: Pursuing the Contemplative Life

Editor’s note: this essay is adapted from a talk delivered by Jessica Hooten Wilson at Word on Fire’s Good News Conference on November 7, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. Universities are suffering an identity crisis. They don’t know what they are or what they are for. Nearly forty years ago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn proclaimed, “Men have forgotten … Continue reading “Universities Have Forgotten Their Purpose: Pursuing the Contemplative Life”

Education with a Vision: A Curriculum Worth Following

Sep 13, 2021 · · Comments Off on Education with a Vision: A Curriculum Worth Following

At the start of students’ college careers, there are both good and bad unknowns. The good unknowns are the people they will meet, the different instructors, courses on subjects they have heard about but never studied, and experiences that expand their perspectives. The bad unknowns include the problem that they do not know is brewing, … Continue reading “Education with a Vision: A Curriculum Worth Following”

Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts

Jul 30, 2021 · · Comments Off on Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts

Universities are in dire need of reform. They are too expensive; the classwork is too easy; the curriculum too unfocused. Too many students drop out or don’t care. Indeed, many of today’s universities have strayed so far from their original purpose that creating a path for reform and renewal seems impossible. But a new book … Continue reading “Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts”

Blowing the Boiler of American Education

Jul 21, 2021 · · Comments Off on Blowing the Boiler of American Education

The need for change in the visual arts may offer a way to fix two of the many fundamental problems afflicting American liberal arts education in general. These are the related problems of grade inflation and providing students with degrees that may lead to a good career. Over the last decade, the number of Americans … Continue reading “Blowing the Boiler of American Education”

Letter to the Editor: Scuba certification vs. college education

May 23, 2021 · · Comments Off on Letter to the Editor: Scuba certification vs. college education

To the editor: The ‘Scuba Model’ of learning is not the model used in College education….or HSchool….or GSchool….because Scuba Certification is all about skill development critical to the survival of the diver….and a scholastic education is all about information transfer (with the hope that some of it actually accretes).  Information Transfer is significantly NOT critical … Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Scuba certification vs. college education”

The Liberal Arts: What We Don’t Know

Apr 21, 2021 · · Comments Off on The Liberal Arts: What We Don’t Know

What is the value of a liberal arts education? At a time when parents are wary of taking on loads of debt to finance their children’s college degrees, it was inevitable that the language of the market would become more pronounced, especially during a pandemic. For my money, the cleverest answer came from a former … Continue reading “The Liberal Arts: What We Don’t Know”

Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them

Mar 31, 2021 · · Comments Off on Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them

The loss of public trust in universities that has risen to front page news did not suddenly emerge in 2020. In 2018 the non-partisan Gallup organization found that, for the first time, less than half of Americans have “a lot of confidence” in higher education. Even more pointedly, Gallup reported that “No other institution has … Continue reading “Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them”

Did You Know? 86 Colleges Have Closed or Merged Since 2016

Sep 19, 2019 · · Comments Off on Did You Know? 86 Colleges Have Closed or Merged Since 2016

Since 2016, colleges and universities have fought to stay open as enrollments fall, especially liberal arts colleges. Many colleges are adding more certificate programs in technology fields and dropping low-enrollment humanities programs. The threat has been most acute for small liberal-arts colleges with small endowments that rely on tuition for most of their revenue. To … Continue reading “Did You Know? 86 Colleges Have Closed or Merged Since 2016”