Difference between revisions of "Liberal Arts college"

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In the United States, a '''liberal arts college''' refers to an institution of higher learning which exclusively or mainly grants undergraduate degrees, such as the Bachelor of Arts (B. A.) and Bachelor of Sciences (B. S.)
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In the United States, the term '''liberal arts college''' refers to an institution of higher learning which exclusively or mainly grants undergraduate degrees, and which focuses on a traditional general education rather than on specific career-oriented specialties. Historically, some liberal arts colleges in the United States began as divinity schools designed to train Protestant ministers for a life of service.
  
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A ''university,'' in constrast, which usually has one (or more) undergraduate "colleges," and also has "graduate schools," which require an undergraduate degree for entrance. A university might have a medical school, a law school, a business school, possibly schools of agriculture, music, veterinary medicine, divinity, etc.
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A ''university,'' in contrast, has one (or more) undergraduate "colleges," but also has "graduate schools" which require an undergraduate degree for entrance. A university might have a medical school, a law school, a business school, and possibly schools of agriculture, music, veterinary medicine, divinity, and others.  
  
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The phrase "liberal arts" was coined in classical times. It traditionally included the "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the "quadrivium" of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. One liberal arts college expresses its modern meaning thus:
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The phrase "liberal arts" was coined in classical times. It traditionally included the "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the "quadrivium" of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. One dictionary definition of "liberal arts" in the modern sense is:
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:Academic disciplines, such as languages, [[literature]], history, [[philosophy]], mathematics, and [[science]], that provide information of general cultural concern.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/88/L0148800.html Liberal arts], American Heritage Dictionary online</ref>
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One liberal arts college expresses its modern meaning thus:
 
:A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others&mdash;the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.<ref>[http://www.williams.edu/admission/academics.php Williams College: Academics], Williams College website</ref>
 
:A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others&mdash;the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.<ref>[http://www.williams.edu/admission/academics.php Williams College: Academics], Williams College website</ref>
  
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Top-ranked liberal arts colleges include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, and Davidson.<ref>[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1libartco_brief.php Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools], U. S. News and World Report]</ref> The colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)<ref>[http://www.nescac.com/ NESCAC]: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams</ref> are called the "little Ivies" and are sometimes seen analogous to the universities of the [[Ivy League]]. Most of them were historically men's colleges. The "Seven Sisters," another famous group, were historically women's liberal arts colleges; of the original seven, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard remain women's colleges; Wellesley and Vassar are coeducational; and Radcliffe no longer exists as an undergraduate college.<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/about/12812.shtml The Seven Sisters], Mount Holyoke's website</ref>
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Famous liberal arts colleges include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, and Davidson.<ref>[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1libartco_brief.php Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools], U. S. News and World Report]</ref> The colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)<ref>[http://www.nescac.com/ NESCAC]: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams</ref> are called the "little Ivies" and are sometimes seen analogous to the universities of the [[Ivy League]]. Most of them were historically men's colleges. The "Seven Sisters," another famous group, were historically women's liberal arts colleges; of the original seven, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Barnard remain women's colleges (Barnard with an affiliation with Columbia University); Vassar is coeducational; and Radcliffe no longer exists as an independent undergraduate college (it is part of Harvard University).<ref>[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/about/12812.shtml The Seven Sisters], Mount Holyoke's website</ref>
  
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St. John's College<ref>Not to be confused with several other institutions of higher learning with similar names, such as St. John's University in New York. St. John's College is nominally a very venerable institution, founded in 1696, but not considered a "colonial college" because it was not chartered until 1784. However, it came close to closing in the 1930s and the present institution really dates back to the founding of the "new program" in 1937.</ref>, with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a very unusual example of the liberal arts tradition. St. John's follows a "great books" curriculum, in which the entire course of study is based on the direct study of original source texts. Students literally learn geometry from Euclid's ''Elements,'' physics from Galileo's ''Two New Sciences,'' and political science from ''The Federalist'' papers. The works in the reading list<ref>[http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/asp/main.aspx?page=1302 Reading list], St. John's college</ref> are read in their entirety. (The instructional environment ensures that students do emerge with an up-to-date understanding of scientific and other topics).
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==See also==
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*[[Bellarmine University]]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
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[[Category:Education]]

Revision as of 17:57, November 26, 2014

In the United States, the term liberal arts college refers to an institution of higher learning which exclusively or mainly grants undergraduate degrees, and which focuses on a traditional general education rather than on specific career-oriented specialties. Historically, some liberal arts colleges in the United States began as divinity schools designed to train Protestant ministers for a life of service.

A university, in contrast, has one (or more) undergraduate "colleges," but also has "graduate schools" which require an undergraduate degree for entrance. A university might have a medical school, a law school, a business school, and possibly schools of agriculture, music, veterinary medicine, divinity, and others.

The phrase "liberal arts" was coined in classical times. It traditionally included the "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the "quadrivium" of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. One dictionary definition of "liberal arts" in the modern sense is:

Academic disciplines, such as languages, literature, history, philosophy, mathematics, and science, that provide information of general cultural concern.[1]

One liberal arts college expresses its modern meaning thus:

A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others—the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.[2]

Famous liberal arts colleges include Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Pomona, Haverford, and Davidson.[3] The colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)[4] are called the "little Ivies" and are sometimes seen analogous to the universities of the Ivy League. Most of them were historically men's colleges. The "Seven Sisters," another famous group, were historically women's liberal arts colleges; of the original seven, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Barnard remain women's colleges (Barnard with an affiliation with Columbia University); Vassar is coeducational; and Radcliffe no longer exists as an independent undergraduate college (it is part of Harvard University).[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Liberal arts, American Heritage Dictionary online
  2. ↑ Williams College: Academics, Williams College website
  3. ↑ Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools, U. S. News and World Report]
  4. ↑ NESCAC: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams
  5. ↑ The Seven Sisters, Mount Holyoke's website
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