Perspectives and Points of View:

In an effort to underline the importance of the Core and its principles, we would like to provide a forum for ideas and viewpoints.

As a member of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the University of Nevada, Reno supports the following Statement on Liberal Learning .

“A truly liberal education is one that prepares us to live responsible, productive, and creative lives in a dramatically changing world. It is an education that fosters a well-grounded intellectual resilience, a disposition toward lifelong learning, and an acceptance of responsibility for the ethical consequences of our ideas and actions. Liberal education requires that we understand the foundations of knowledge and inquiry about nature, culture and society; that we master core skills of perception, analysis, and expression; that we cultivate a respect for truth; that we recognize the importance of historical and cultural context; and that we explore connections among formal learning, citizenship, and service to our communities.”

The Liberal Arts as a Bulwark of Business Education

By WILLIAM G. DURDEN

Published in The Chronicle of Higher Education

July 18, 2003

“It is also time for education leaders to affirm publicly that a liberal-arts education is not a mere luxury without practical consequence, but rather encompasses a distinctive preparing of students for positions of corporate leadership. It is time for administrators and faculty members to embrace with pride their graduates who pursue careers in business and finance and to incorporate, both philosophically and structurally, business into the intellectual core of the liberal-arts curriculum.”

Northwestern U. Course Finds 'Something' in the Beatles

By THOMAS BARTLETT

Published in The Chronicle of Higher Education

July 18, 2003

              ‘When Gary Kendall, an associate professor of music at Northwestern University, told higher-ups in his department that he wanted to teach a course on the Beatles, they were skeptical. It might be too narrow a topic for a full course, they said. Maybe students wouldn't be interested.
               They were mistaken.
Too narrow? Not at all, says Mr. Kendall. "It connects to social history, film history, issues about songwriting and its relevance to people's lives -- there are a million things tied to this class."
                 Not enough student interest? The course, "The Beatles: an Interdisciplinary Mystery Tour," has become the most requested offering in the history of the university. Mr. Kendall has to turn away hundreds of students each semester. "There's something about the Beatles," he says.
That something is more than the music, though the group's songs are certainly a big part of the attraction. "For students, the class becomes a mythic journey," the professor says. "The arc of the story of the Beatles makes students feel like they're participating in what happened. What they learn becomes really relevant to their own lives."

The Challenge of Liberal Education: Past, Present and Future, Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, author. From Liberal Education , Vol. 89, No. 2, Spring 2003 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities:

“The word vocation implies more than earning a living or having a career. The word vocation implies having a calling: knowing who one is, what one believes, what one values, and where one stands in the world.”