Liberal Education Initiative

 
The Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Rethinking Liberal Education in Wisconsin is an initiative of the University of Wisconsin System that seeks to increase the awareness of the value of liberal arts education for UW System students and Wisconsin citizens.

Why the painting?

• The majority of the undergraduate degrees earned by UW System students are in liberal arts and science disciplines.
• All UW students, even those in professional degree programs, are required to take courses in the liberal arts and sciences.
• This initiative addresses the liberal arts and sciences, as well as liberal education.
• We view the outcomes for both liberal arts education and liberal education as identical.
• The initiative seeks to make the goals and outcomes of liberal education, which we view as essential to productive citizenship in 21st century global society, accessible and valuable to all UW students, regardless of chosen major or type of degree earned.
• Additionally, the initiative seeks to spark public debate about the kinds of knowledge, skills, habits of mind, and values needed to prepare today's students for their future roles as citizens.
• We seek to make the outcomes of a liberal education widely recognized as the foundation for advancing human potential, economic growth and stability, and an engaged citizenry.

The initiative seeks to achieve its goals through the following strategies:

• Campus Action: making the teaching and learning of liberal education goals intentional among faculty, staff and students at UW institutions;
   
• Public Outreach and Advocacy: spreading the word to the public and in UW System communities, through campus-community dialogues, outreach programs to Wisconsin citizens, promotion and fund-raising;
   
• Leadership: the development of an Advisory or Leadership Council, composed of decision-makers in Wisconsin from politics, business and industry, the Arts, the non-profit sector, and all educational sectors.