Curricular Visions

The Disappearance of the Bookish Kid—and What Colleges Must Do

An article in the Atlantic about college students not reading books got a lot of circulation this month. Even at top schools such as Columbia University, undergraduates struggle with works of more than short-story length. Some of them tell their professors that in all their high school years, they never had to read a hefty book from […]

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“Techne”: The Future Students—and Parents—Want

The continuing changes at the New College of Florida (NCF) have involved the concept of techne. It’s coursework that promises to connect students to real-world opportunities. What might techne mean, either at NCF or elsewhere? Recall this claim from my suggestion for the NCF Mission Statement: “No college does more to increase your odds of getting […]

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Curricular Visions: Technology as Human Nature

What are the important topics that make a university education valuable? And even while the student traverses the various courses? Or in the future, when the student takes his or her place in society? I attended Columbia College in the 1960s. I took the foundational classes in Western Civilization and Humanities, but I failed to […]

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Curricular Visions: Revitalizing the Great Books

Editor’s Note: David Randall’s Curriculum of Liberty illuminates the pressing demand for American higher education to equip students with essential knowledge, character, and tools needed to confront contemporary challenges, revitalize the American republic, and safeguard Western heritage alongside the principles of free inquiry. This essay draws inspiration from his groundbreaking work and marks the inaugural […]

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