"Fresh Thinking" in General Education

In May 2007, Barnard College was awarded $100,000 from the Teagle Foundation to support a general education initiative directed by Professor Mark C. Carnes. A subset of institutions in the "Reacting to the Past" Consortium--Barnard College, Drake University, Loras College, Queens College (CUNY), Smith College, Trinity College (CT), University of Georgia, and University of Texas at Austin--will develop ways to construct and implement a coherent general education curriculum based on the "Reacting to the Past" pedagogy. The project will assemble four working groups of faculty to address curriculum design and implementation issues. Each group will construct curriculum modules that can be grouped together in various configurations to fulfill specific general education objectives. A final White Paper will provide the foundation for a "Reacting" general education curriculum, as well as an outline for future curriculum development and faculty training opportunities. More generally it will serve as a model for engaged pedagogy that can be adapted to various institutional and curricular contexts.