From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olin Library and the Andrus Center on the campus of
Wesleyan
University, an American liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary
emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts.
A "liberal arts" institution can be defined as a "college or university curriculum aimed at
imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual
capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical
curriculum."[1]
Although what is known today as the liberal arts college began in
Europe[2], the
term is commonly associated with the United States. Prominent examples in the
US include the so-called Little Three and Little Ivy colleges in
New England and the
surviving, predominantly female Seven Sisters
colleges along the northeastern seaboard, but similar
institutions are found all over the country.
Liberal arts colleges are found in countries all over the world
as well. Examples of such colleges are Bishop's
University in Canada, European College of
Liberal Arts in Germany and Roosevelt Academy, University College Utrecht
and Amsterdam University
College in the Netherlands. The “liberal arts college
experience”, however, is typically American. Indeed, it is a key
feature of a college career in the United States.
The “liberal arts college experience” in the US is characterized
by three main aspects that demarcates it from undergraduate
experience in other countries:
(1) smaller size than universities, which usually means more
individual attention is given to each student;
(2) residential, which means students live and learn away from
home, often for the first time, and learn to live well with others
additionally, the residential experience of living on campus brings
a wide variety of cultural, political, and intellectual events to
students who might not otherwise seek them out in a non-residential
setting; and
(3) a typically two-year exploration of the liberal arts or general
knowledge before declaring a major.
Lists of
schools
See also
References
Further
reading
External
links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
