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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Debra Humphreys, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760, ext. 422
Humphreys@aacu.org
New Publication Explores U.S. Military Academies' Commitment to Liberal Education and its Importance for Educating Future Leaders
Association of American Colleges and Universities Highlights Liberal Education and Military Leadership with Articles by Educators at West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy in New Issue of
Liberal Education
Washington, DC—June 30, 2010—The Association of American Colleges and Universities released today a new issue of its award-winning journal, Liberal Education, with lead articles focused on the role of liberal education at the nation’s military service academies. With articles by educational leaders at West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy, the issue explores how and why a particularly unique type of higher education institution—the service academy—is emphasizing the American tradition of liberal education as it seeks to accommodate the changing demands of twenty-first-century military service.
As one author in the issue, West Point’s Bruce Keith, puts it, “Today’s military operates in contexts where uncertainty and ambiguity are commonplace.” For this reason, Keith suggests, “The Army needs officers who have benefitted from a liberal education.”
The issue’s authors reaffirm the service academies’ longstanding commitment to liberal education and explore specific curricular reform efforts designed to ensure that students gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be effective military leaders in a changing global environment. West Point, for example, is creating intentional, hands-on cocurricular learning experiences that connect to aspects of the core curriculum and disciplinary majors. To achieve greater integration of effort and curricular coherence, the Air Force Academy is working to operationalize and instill a set of institutional outcomes that combine the essential learning outcomes developed as part of AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative with an emerging set of parallel Air Force “core competencies.” And the Naval Academy is changing its curriculum to make understanding of global and cross-cultural dynamics one of the central elements in the liberal education of midshipmen. Both West Point and the Air Force Academy are also involved in AAC&U’s initiative, Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility, an initiative that is reclaiming and revitalizing the academy’s role in fostering students’ development of personal and social responsibility as an essential component of undergraduate education.
“At a moment in public discourse where too many policy leaders confuse college with trade school, the military academies are staking their futures on liberal education—recognizing its importance to our nation’s security,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. “What’s best for our military men and women is also what’s best for every American.”
The three lead articles in the issue are all available online at www.aacu.org/liberaleducation.
They include:
“The Transformation of West Point as a Liberal Arts College,” by Bruce Keith, professor of sociology and associate dean for academic affairs at the United States Military Academy
“Commitment to Liberal Education at the United States Air Force Academy,” by Rolf C. Enger, director of education, Steven K. Jones, director of academic assessment, and Dana H. Born, dean of the faculty, all at the United States Air Force Academy
“Educating Warriors: Globally Engaged and Culturally Aware,” by Maochun Miles Yu, professor of history, Timothy Disher, director of international programs office, and Andrew T. Phillips, academic dean and provost, all at the United States Naval Academy
For information about obtaining print copies or subscriptions to Liberal Education, contact Debra Humphreys at 202-387-3760, ext. 422 or humphreys@aacu.org. To see these articles and others from back issues, see www.aacu.org/liberaleducation.
About AAC&U
AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,200 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.
AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.
Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.
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