Purdue’s Cornerstone program is going global
Purdue College of Liberal Arts’ Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts and the Teagle Foundation are holding an international symposium later in June at Oxford University’s Oriel College. “Comparative Perspectives on Liberal Education in the U.S., U.K., and Europe in the 21st Century” will bring together leading humanists from the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe to discuss the state of the humanities, reaching students across our campuses, and the future of liberal education and democratic rights as well as current administrative challenges for liberal education.
Germaine Seelye Oesterle Professor of History and Director of Cornerstone, Melinda Zook will be taking the journey across the pond to share how Purdue’s integrated liberal arts program reaches students across campus through general education. “Having had some success here, we’ve decided to take our act on the road,” Zook said with a smile. “More seriously,” she told the College of Liberal Arts, “our goal with this symposium is to share what we have learned at Purdue and learn from our colleagues both here in the US and abroad. Considering all the issues facing liberal education, we expect a robust discussion.”
Speakers include Eric Adler (University of Maryland), Andrew Delbanco (Columbia University), Greg Dunaway (West Virginia University), Bryan Garsten (Yale University), Sarah Igo (Vanderbilt University), Aishwary Kumar (Cal Poly Pomona), Roosevelt Montas (Bard College), Christopher Snyder (Mississippi State University), Marion Thain (University of Edinburgh), Frits van Oostrom (Utrecht University), and Kristiaan Versluys (Ghent University).
“We very deliberately crafted this as a symposium, in which topics are introduced by panelists, but the majority of the time in each session is open to discussion, allowing us to grapple with the issues,” said Zook.
Since its inception, Cornerstone has redefined the standard for infusing humanities into general education. With over 80 U.S. schools adapting the model for their own liberal arts programs, Purdue is ready to take the Cornerstone concept to the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond.