Introductory description

This is a core preparatory module on the Liberal Arts course which aims to introduce students to into Liberal Arts thinking.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Term 1—

a) "Seeing and Perceiving:" Plato's Cave and Problem-Based Learning
b) "The Arts Worthy of a Free Person:" Liberal Arts Education from the Ancient World to the Renaissance
c) "A Natural Aristocracy?" Liberal Arts from the Renaissance to Present Day
d) Revolution! Education and Equality
e) Educated: Identity and Higher Education

Term 2 —
a) Key debates in Liberal Arts Thinking: Case Studies
b) International Approaches to Liberal Arts
c) Theoretical Benefits to Liberal Arts Education
d) Practical Benefits to Liberal Arts Education
e) Employability: Marketing a Liberal Arts Degree

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• By the end of the ten-week period of lectures students will be expected to have learnt a brief history of Liberal Arts Education.
• By the end of the ten-week period of lectures students will be expected to have learnt the key principle that inform a Liberal Arts Education.
• By the end of the ten-week period of lectures students will be expected to have learnt the key debates that guide Liberal Arts thinking.
• By the end of the ten-week period of lectures students will be expected to have learnt the theoretical benefits of a Liberal Arts Education.
• By the end of the ten-week period of lectures students will be expected to have learnt the practical benefits of a Liberal Arts Education.

Indicative reading list

Apple, W. "A Narrow Focus on Vocational Goals" in Edutopia: A Manifesto for the Reform of Public Education
Lane, J. 1987. "The Yale Report of 1828 and Liberal Education: A Neorepublican Manifesto" in History of Education Quarterly 27.3
Veysey, L. 1973. "Stability and Experiment in American Undergraduate Curriculum" in Content and Context: Essays on College Education, ed. Carl Kaysen.
Schmidt, G.P. 1957. The Liberal Arts College: A chapter in American cultural history.
Sloan, D. "Harmony, Chaos, and Consensus: The American College Curriculum" in Teachers College Record 73 (Dec. 1971): 221-51
"The Regina Beach Manifesto": A Policy for the Liberal Arts (1963)
Kimball, B.A. 2010. The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Documentary History
Peterson, P.M. 2012. "Liberal Arts Education in the Undergraduate Curriculum" in Confronting Challenges to the Liberal Arts Curriculum

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Research element

This is a core module on the Liberal Arts course which aims to facilitate the acquisition by students of a range of methods of enquiry from various disciplines and equip them to deploy those skills in research. Research skills are embedded into the teaching strategy of all of the course's modules which, collaboratively, seek to develop and enhance students’ capacity to conduct independently original research into a current problem.

Interdisciplinary

This is a core module on the Liberal Arts course which adopts an interdisciplinary approach spanning the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences fields in order to engage with the major global challenges facing contemporary society, explore these 'big problems,' from a variety of perspectives and consider a range of possible solutions.

International

This is a core module on the Liberal Arts course which adopts an interdisciplinary approach spanning the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences fields in order to engage with debates on topical, local national and international issues. The module also focuses on Liberal Arts around the world, looking at international approaches to the idea of Liberal Arts Education.

Subject specific skills

Oral and written communication
Digital literacy
Professional communication
Working with others
Problem solving
Information technology
Numeracy
Research across various disciplines and using a variety of methods
Peer review

Transferable skills

Complex problem solving skills
Critical thinking
Creativity
People management
Co-coordinating with others
Emotional intelligence
Judgement and decisions making
Service orientation
Negotiation
Cognitive flexibility