INTRODUCTION

The curriculum of a university serves as its hallmark: within it are reflected the values of the faculty, the capabilities of its students, and the aspirations of the institution. Curricula evolve through a continuing process of change. As institutions and areas of knowledge develop, so do courses of study and faculty interests. Such has been the case from the medieval trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic which formed the lower division of the seven liberal arts in medieval universities) to the open curricula of the 60's and 70's to the emphasis on active and experiential learning of the 80's and 90's. So it must also be today.

We are currently living in a time of extraordinary and extraordinarily rapid change. This is signaled in everyday life by the technological advances of computers, e-mail, and instructional technologies, to the globalization of nations and markets, to advances in science and genetics, to the emergence of entirely new fields of scholarly investigation. All of these are transforming our world. As a result, the society into which our students will graduate and in which they will live is significantly different and more complicated than was true for generations past or even for us.

These transforming changes bring with them exciting challenges. Students are challenged to think in new ways and to bring multiple perspectives to bear on complex issues. Faculty are challenged to use new approaches to understand emerging fields of inquiry and to teach an increasingly diverse student body with new pedagogical methodologies. And institutions are challenged to re-examine their missions as well as priorities and practices.

Preparing to meet these challenges will require more both of students and of the educational institutions they attend. To lead productive and satisfying lives, students will need to have the capacity to deal with constant change and more complicated choices. They will need to be open-minded and see issues from a variety of perspectives, often global and cross-cultural. They will also need skills of integration to deal with the increased fragmentation of knowledge and specialization, on the one hand, and to be able to synthesize new issues and information, on the other. They will have to be even better at evaluating information and weighing competing claims to make reasoned choices and responsible decisions. Finally, they must learn how to learn, so that they develop fully the capacity for intellectual curiosity, lifelong learning, and community responsibility.

Faculty and the colleges and universities in which they work are already beginning to respond to this dynamic environment. This requires change both in what is taught and in how it is taught. American higher education is incorporating new substantive concerns into curricula, assuring that students are exposed to the dynamic areas of knowledge and connections of these to the social, economic, cultural, and political processes in which the changes are embedded. Faculty and their institutions are also working to assure that how they teach incorporates the shifts in the teaching and learning paradigm, combining collaborative, active, and experiential teaching and learning with the more traditional modes. They are also affirming commitment to the more distant international and global communities as well as to their nearby neighborhood and local ones.

The curriculum can serve as a fulcrum for these changes, reflecting and promoting responsive substantive and pedagogical innovations. Many of our peer institutions have recognized this opportunity and have been adapting their curricula to contend with the challenges posed by this dynamic environment. Some, such as Princeton, have restructured and re-categorized general education requirements, while others, such as Stanford, have instituted non-Western requirements. Still others, such as Harvard and the University of Chicago, have instituted a common core, identifying both the areas and approaches to knowledge that all students should experience. And still others, such as Dartmouth, have endorsed senior culminating experiences, while Northwestern has mandated language requirements. Appendix/Link 1 provides Selected COFHE Undergraduate Degree Requirements.

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