Revising the Declension Narrative: Liberal Arts Colleges, Universities, and Honors Programs, 1870s-2010s

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Kimball
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Honors Programs ◽  
College Mission ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diversity In Higher Education ◽  
Arts Programs ◽  
The U.S

This article examines the prominent narrative asserting that liberal arts colleges have continuously declined in number and status over the past 130 years. Bruce A. Kimball identifies problems in this declension narrative and proposes a revision positing that the decline of liberal arts colleges began only after 1970. Further, he maintains that the fraction of the U.S. population enrolling in collegiate liberal arts programs has remained surprisingly consistent over the past two centuries. That same fraction continues after 1970 because universities began to replicate the liberal arts college by establishing honors programs, and student enrollment after 1970 shifted from liberal arts colleges to the new subsidized honors programs in universities. Kimball concludes that this shift does not ensure that the fraction of enrollment in collegiate liberal arts will continue to remain consistent in the future. There is reason to doubt the long-term commitment of universities to supporting honors programs devoted to the traditional liberal arts college mission of fostering culture, community, and character, although this mission grows more important and complex as access to and diversity in higher education increase.

scholarly journals Centering the Margins: Knowledge Production in the Introductory Archaeology Course

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Quave ◽  
Shannon Fie ◽  
AmySue Qing Qing Greiff ◽  
Drew Alis Agnew
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Student Reflection ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us ◽  
Full Picture

Teaching introductory archaeology courses in US higher education typically falls short in two important ways: the courses do not represent the full picture of who contributes to reconstructing the past and do not portray the contemporary and future relevance of the archaeological past. In this paper, we use anti-colonial and decolonial theories to explain the urgency of revising the introductory archaeology curriculum for promoting equity in the discipline and beyond. We detail the pedagogical theories we employed in revising an introductory archaeology course at a small liberal arts college in the US and the specific changes we made to course structure, content, and teaching strategies. To examine the impacts on enrolled students and on who chose to enroll in the revised archaeology curriculum, we analyze student reflection essays and enrollment demographics. We find that students developed more complex understandings of the benefits and harms of archaeological knowledge production and could articulate how to address archaeology’s inequities. We also found that enrollment in archaeology courses at the college shifted to include greater proportions of students of color. These results support the notion that introductory archaeology courses should be substantially and continually revised.

Institutional Commitment to Diversity and Multiculturalism through Institutional Transformation: A Case Study of Olivet College

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evon Walters
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Institutional Transformation ◽  
Institutional Commitment ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
American Council On Education ◽  
American Students ◽  
Changing Demographics

Olivet College is a private, residential liberal arts college in central Michigan that enrolls approximately 900 students. The College was founded in 1844 by abolitionists and was the first college in the nation, by charter, to open to women and people of color. Yet, over the last two decades Olivet College failed to acknowledge changing demographics and problems of intergroup relations. In 1992, a racial brawl involving White and African-American students put the college into crisis. The incident launched the college into a process of reassessment and redefinition that resulted in a major institutional transformation. Diversity was a major part of this initiative. As a result of its success in infusing multiculturalism into its structure, Olivet College was recently selected by the Association of American Colleges and Universities as a Model Institution for its diversity initiatives. Additionally, it was selected as one of 35 institutions out of 675 nationwide to participate in President Clinton's initiative on race and was spotlighted by the American Council on Education for its exemplary work in infusing diversity across the campus. This article presents all aspects of Olivet College's diversity initiative including mission, curriculum, co-curriculum, students, faculty, and staff. These strategies are applicable not only to small private liberal arts colleges, but to other institutions of learning as they attempt to create an action plan that addresses the challenge of diversity/multiculturalism in the higher education system.

Afterword

2021 ◽  
pp. 244-248
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Gay Rights ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Many ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Way

Gay rights and marriage equality have advanced so far in the U.S. in the past decade that it would be all too easy to assume that the struggle is over. The opponents of gay rights, however, remain powerful. Readers can take inspiration from how dramatically attitudes toward gay rights have liberalized in the past two decades and how transformative the liberalization of attitudes has been. We live in a world where political lies often seem to have the upper hand. It is worth remembering that despite the many short term advantages that lies can yield in politics, the truth has some long term advantages as well. The way the marriage equality movement prevailed should be a lesson to anyone who wants to make progressive social change.

scholarly journals Green Construction: Contractor Motivation and Trends in Austin, Texas

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Tinker ◽  
Urs Kreuter ◽  
Richard Burt ◽  
Sherry Bame
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Residential Construction ◽  
Sustainable Communities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Construction Contractor ◽  
Study Population ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Over Time

The purpose of this paper is to describe and assess one of the first comprehensive residential green-builder programs in the U.S. It compares trends of items used in residential construction during the past five years and reports why participating builders chose to incorporate specific items and their level of commitment to the program. This description provides a baseline of strategies to investigate the effect of this program in developing sustainable communities. The builder study population was derived from a database of registered “green” residences built during 1998-2002 in greater Austin, Texas (2,335 homes and 73 listed builders). Almost half the builders constructed just one “green” home, whereas two builders built almost 75% of the green homes during the 5-year study period. Less than 1% of the homes received a perfect 5-star rating, whereas 87% were rated 1 or 2 stars. The frequency of implementing the 122 green features were compared over time and analyzed for correlation with cost and their associated star-value. Cost was the primary factor determining item use frequency. Participating builders generally concurred that the program was successful and beneficial to homeowners but that the additional work required for participation provided little financial reward for builders. While much can be done with low-cost interventions to reduce the negative environmental impacts of residential construction, builder participation may be enhanced by promotion of some of the higher cost features. In addition, public education about the long-term benefits of green homes is needed to increase homeowner participation, and encourage builders to incorporate more environmentally friendly features in the homes they construct.

scholarly journals The evolving relationship between airline profitability and passenger satisfaction

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Kent N Gourdin
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Past ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Passenger Satisfaction ◽  
The U.S

This paper examines the ongoing evolution of the U.S. airline industry under deregulation. After losing money for most of the past 35 years, carriers have made structural changes to their business models that have proven to be, at least in the short term, very profitable. After delineating these management actions, the paper examines their impact on passengers. The author utilizes the Service Quality Model to analyze the long-term implications of this new operating paradigm for passenger satisfaction. Based on this analysis the paper goes on to suggest several actions management could take to improve satisfaction. Finally, conclusions are offered and areas for additional research suggested.

The Exposure of Undergraduate Students to Human Factors/Ergonomics Instruction

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 470-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Martin ◽  
Michael S. Wogalter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Human Factors And Ergonomics ◽  
Doctoral Institutions ◽  
The U.S

The present study examined the availability of human factors/ergonomics courses to students in the U.S. Fifty schools were selected randomly from each of four categories of universities and colleges (Research I and II, Doctoral I and II, Masters I and II, and Baccalaureate/Liberal Arts I and II). Only one human factors/ergonomics (HFE) course was found in the sample of liberal arts colleges and only 10% of the master's universities had such a course. Of the doctoral institutions 62% had no HFE courses and 44% of the research institutions had no HFE courses. The possible reasons for these results are discussed as well as some possible actions that might be taken within the context of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's strategic plan to ameliorate this problem and expose students in higher education environments to the field, not only for the students' benefit but also for the discipline.

scholarly journals Aberdeen's ‘Toun College’: Marischal College, 1593–1623

2007 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195
Author(s):  
Steven John Reid
Keyword(s):  
Educational Reform ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
The Past ◽  
King's College ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Long Line ◽  
New Type ◽  
Type Of Institution ◽  
The Church

While debate has arisen in the past two decades regarding the foundation of Edinburgh University, by contrast the foundation and early development of Marischal College, Aberdeen, has received little attention. This is particularly surprising when one considers it is perhaps the closest Scottish parallel to the Edinburgh foundation. Founded in April 1593 by George Keith, fifth Earl Marischal in the burgh of New Aberdeen ‘to do the utmost good to the Church, the Country and the Commonwealth’,1 like Edinburgh Marischal was a new type of institution that had more in common with the Protestant ‘arts colleges’ springing up across the continent than with the papally sanctioned Scottish universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and King's College in Old Aberdeen.2 James Kirk is the most recent in a long line of historians to argue that the impetus for founding ‘ane college of theologe’ in Edinburgh in 1579 was carried forward by the radical presbyterian James Lawson, which led to the eventual opening on 14 October 1583 of a liberal arts college in the burgh, as part of an educational reform programme devised and rolled out across the Scottish universities by the divine and educational reformer, Andrew Melville.3

A Primer on Applying to the Liberal Arts College

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 809-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Teaching College ◽  
Academic Job Market ◽  
The Many ◽  
Job Prospects

Being on the academic job market is one of the greatest horrors of scholarly life. An applicant submits dozens of applications and all too frequently receives no response at all from the majority of places to which she applies. The lack of feedback makes it impossible to know why one was not considered good enough for an interview, making it difficult to improve one's applications and job prospects in the future. A recent review of applications for a tenure-track job at a liberal arts college convinced me that many of the applicants lacked a basic understanding of how to market themselves to a search committee at a teaching college. A part of the problem is likely the many years of assimilation into the research culture of their graduate programs; a process that creates a greater intuitive understanding of the culture of major research institutions than of teaching institutions. Nevertheless many applicants do apply for jobs at liberal arts colleges, so a primer is needed for job seekers who want to maximize their chances of getting an interview for those jobs.

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