College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Liberal Arts Matters

Butler University Resources

Gregory, Marshall, A Liberal Education is Not a Luxury . Published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/12-03. ( PDF )

Gregory, Marshall, A Radical Criticism of the Platonic Foundation of Liberal Education (or, "The soul wants what it wants") . Published by the Association of American Colleges, Liberal Education, 1983, Vol. 69/Number 1. ( PDF )

Gregory, Marshall, Introductory Courses, Student Ethos, and Living the Life of the Mind . Published in College Teaching, Vol. 45/Number 2, Spring 1997. ( PDF )

Gregory, Marshall, Why Are Liberal Education's Friends of So Little Help? . Published by the Association of American Colleges, Liberal Education, Spring 2005. ( PDF )

Kanis, Ed, Liberal arts-educated individuals offer a range of talent to a fast changing workplace . This piece was prepared for Dr. Robert Gervasi, dean of McKendree College (Kentucky campuses) and ran in Business First, June 4, 1999.

Kanis, Ed, The Value of Liberal Arts . This piece was prepared for Dr. Joseph McGowan, president of Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY), and ran in various Kentucky daily newspapers, August 1998.

McGowan, Richard J., Teaching Business Ethics . Published in Fulfilling Our Obligation: Perspectives on teaching business ethics, 2005, Kennesaw State University Press.

McGowan, Richard J., The Three Cultures and Children's Television . Published in The Lion and the Unicorn 11.2, October 1987, The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Morrel, Judith and Michael Zimmerman Liberal Arts Matters at Butler University: An Experiment in Institutional Transformation . Published in Peer Review, Vol. 10, No. 4, Fall 2008

Valliere, Paul, The First Last Lecture . A lecture presented by Dr. Valliere to the LAS faculty and Board of Visitors on May 4, 1999.

Zimmerman, Michael, Learning how to think has never been worth more . Published in the Oshkosh Northwestern 10-3-00.

National Resources

Commentaries

Dunn,Gregory, C.S. Lewis on Liberal Arts Education . Dunn, previously the Director of Publications at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Michigan, addresses the question, "what good are the liberal arts?"

Fadiman, Clifton, The Lifetime Reading Plan , (3rd edition, 1988). A liberal education reading list offered by Fadiman, writer, critic, editor, and moderator of the top-10 radio hit "Information Please" from 1938 to 1952.

Josefson, J., Learning is Not Fun: Reflections on the Liberal Arts and Living Your Best Life . This essay was written for first-year students in a 3-credit course introducing the liberal arts and the Personal Development Portfolio program at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia.

Parker, Jo Ellen, What's So "Liberal" About Higher Ed? An essay asking the question, "Are new digital technologies compatible with the aims and traditions of "liberal education?""

Schneider, Carol Geary, and Humphreys, Debra, Putting Liberal Education on the Radar Screen . Schneider is the president and Humphreys is the vice president for communications and public affairs at the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Standler, Ronald B., Why Attend College? (2001). A personal response to this question, including the statement expressing the belief that "Education is about learning to think - learning different ways to analyze a problem and find a solution."

 

Organizations

Association of American Colleges and Universities : the home page of an organization that bills itself as "A voice and a force for liberal education in the 21 st century. See especially their LEAP (Liberal Education and America's Promise) campaign.

Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College : the home page for a Center that defines its mission as "to explore, test, and promote liberal arts education."

Grinnell College : a nice statement about the value of a liberal arts education with some useful links.