Liberal Education Initiative

The Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Rethinking Liberal Education in Wisconsin

Photo by Jeff Miller, 2002 © UW-Madison University Communications

Two undergraduate students from University of Wisconsin System campuses have been named recipients of the second annual UW System Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition, established to support and promote liberal arts and science education throughout the state's public university system. Students were invited to write an essay demonstrating how their liberal education helped them to understand, contextualize and address a contemporary and significant issue or problem.

This year's winners (with links to their essays) are:

• Rebecca Ford, UW-Madison, for “Interrogating Rajasthan:  Poverty in the Developing World and the Liberal Arts”; and
• Brian Reisinger, UW-Eau Claire, for “My Liberal Education: Repairing the Foundation of Journalism."

In addition, honorable mentions were awarded to essay writers Matthew Brewer of UW-Eau Claire; Chelsea Craig of UW-La Crosse; and Rebecca Szucs of UW-Madison.

“The UW System Liberal Arts Scholarship Competition highlights for all of us the outstanding caliber of students at each of our colleges and universities,” said UW System President Kevin P. Reilly. “These students make clear that a liberal arts and science education provides the critical-thinking, communication and problem-solving skills that graduates need to succeed in the global knowledge economy of the 21st century.”

Sponsored by the UW System Advisory Group on the Liberal Arts, the second annual Liberal Arts Scholarship Competition was privately funded and modeled after a similar competition at UW-Oshkosh. The competition is one of many activities of the UW System's Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Initiative, which seeks to make the goals and outcomes of liberal arts education accessible and valuable to all UW students, regardless of major or degree program.