This workshop will provide a sandbox for creatively thinking about general education and how we might implement institutional change. In this minds-on-hands-on workshop, participants will grapple with the issue of what general education should (needs to) be in today's rapidly changing global world. Participants will be asked if the current models are sufficient; if there is a need for a new vision for GE; if so, what it should look like; and if the purpose of GE has changed. The workshop will focus on: What are the questions we should be asking about GE in higher education for today's and tomorrow's worlds? How might we address these questions? If we were given a clean slate, what might general education look like in various institution types?
Is there a need for a new GE paradigm? The origins of "General Education" date back more than a hundred years and GE was widely adopted in US higher education institutions more than half a century ago. In Asia, general education is a more recent component of higher education and to a large degree, current Asian models of general education reflect a strong Western influence despite cultural differences and norms. This talk will briefly review some of the history of GE, its historic and current models, its recent developments in both the West and in Asia, how GE interconnects with whole person education, and introduce the challenges that current and future GE programs face. Participants will be asked to think about and design what a general education program might look like at a brand new university in 2020.
In this workshop, we will model methods of critical reading. After laying out our foundational principles, we will engage participants in hands-on exercises and group work using examples from different genres and cultures. We will turn the tables and have participants be students for a day, so that everyone can experience the empowerment that comes from rigorously grappling with an unfamiliar text.
In this workshop, we will elaborate on how learning through practice would enrich a student's GE experience, and hence his well-being.
