• What does ‘liberal’ mean to us in Arts and Humanities HE?
• [How] Are the Arts and Humanities ‘liberal’/’liberalising’/’liberating’?
• Does ‘liberal education’ translate?

This month we’re featuring contributions to the discussion around Liberal Education with and from the Association of American Colleges and Universities Centennial meeting “Liberal Education, Global Flourishing, and the Equity Imperative” and with its President, Senior Scholars and the winners of the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award.

The US with its tradition of Liberal Arts colleges has a live concern with and debate around the ideas and ideals of ‘liberal’ university education. How does this translate in other countries and other systems?
We would value responses from the community of Arts and Humanities teachers and researchers: from countries with distinct traditions of liberalism and liberal arts education, concerned as we are with higher education as transformative, with the Humanities and Arts as disciplines teaching and developing as well as theorising and practising ‘liberal values’.

AAC&U’s definition
http://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education:
Liberal Education: An approach to college learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. This approach emphasizes broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g., science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth achievement in a specific field of interest. It helps students develop a sense of social responsibility; strong intellectual and practical skills that span all major fields of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills; and the demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.

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