{"id":20112,"date":"2016-09-01T15:06:53","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T19:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/?page_id=20112"},"modified":"2017-02-23T09:06:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T14:06:14","slug":"workshops","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/conversations\/workshops\/","title":{"rendered":"Workshops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join us for a series of conversations about the challenges and opportunities facing liberal arts institutions in the decades to come. Participation is open to colleagues (faculty or staff) at participating liberal arts institutions in the Boston area who have an interest in the given topic. Food\u00a0and drinks will be provided, and seating is limited. For more information, contact the BU Arts & Sciences Communications Office at 617-358-1056 or cascom@bu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Participating colleges include: Boston University College of Arts & Sciences; Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College; College of Arts and Sciences at Brandeis University; Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences; College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Northeastern University; and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Massachusetts\u00a0Boston.<\/p>\n

Recent\u00a0workshops<\/h3>\n

Justice, Civic Engagement, and Liberal Education<\/h4>\n

Date:<\/strong> February 17, 2017
\nTime:<\/strong>\u00a08-9:30 AM
\nLocation:<\/strong> Boston College Conference Center, 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA<\/p>\n

Participants enjoyed\u00a0breakfast and a round-table conversation about the role of liberal education in engaging students with questions of justice, character, and civic engagement in the 21st<\/sup>-century. In a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Professor Richard Wolin of the City University of New York reminded us that \u201c[h]istorically, one of the central missions of higher education, in addition to preparing students for the rigors of the job market, has been to nurture the values of active citizenship \u2013 the encouragement and cultivation of character traits that are epitomized by the idea of \u2018autonomy.\u2019 Brusquely put, this means producing individuals who are capable of making thoughtful and mature political judgments as well as intelligent life decisions.\u201d Other voices question whether character formation or the promotion of virtuous citizenship should be seen as legitimate dimensions of the mission of higher education.<\/p>\n

Many colleges of arts and sciences embrace a vision of liberal education that strives to promote authentic freedom and engaged citizenship. Such schools can play a critical role in helping students to develop a distinctive set of virtues or character traits — the habits of mind, heart, and imagination that will equip them to live meaningful lives in service of the common good. Event participants joined\u00a0with faculty members from BC\u2019s Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences for a conversation exploring ways to implement this vision now and in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

The Digital Revolution and the Liberal Arts and Sciences<\/h4>\n

Date:<\/strong> November 17, 2016
\nTime:<\/strong>\u00a08-9:30 AM
\nLocation:<\/strong> Boston University Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary\u2019s Street, 9th Floor Colloquium Room, Boston<\/p>\n

Participants enjoyed\u00a0breakfast and a round-table conversation about the role of the liberal arts and sciences in understanding, advancing, and critiquing the digital revolution. Institutions of liberal arts and sciences draw on a long tradition of bringing together a range of ways of interpreting the world, from the scientific to the philosophical. Do new approaches to data\u2014and the pervasiveness of their uses\u2014threaten the foundation of a liberal education? Or, alternatively, do they open up new avenues of inquiry that may enhance existing fields?<\/p>\n

We posit that colleges of arts and sciences are uniquely positioned both to facilitate a profound understanding of the digital revolution and to exploit the new ways of thinking that it enables. Drawing on their potential for interdisciplinary inquiry and integration across disciplines, colleges of arts and sciences can foster the growth of data science both as a new field in the liberal arts and as an essential way of thinking about existing disciplines.<\/p>\n

Participants and\u00a0faculty members from BU\u2019s College of Arts & Sciences enjoyed\u00a0a wide-ranging conversation as we work together to shape this vision.<\/p>\n

Other events of interest<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Liberal Arts Imperative in the Digital Age: a Higher Education Summit<\/h4>\n

Date:<\/strong>\u00a0October 20-21, 2016
\nTime:<\/strong>\u00a06-7:30 PM Oct. 20; 9 AM-4 PM Oct. 21
\nLocation:<\/strong>\u00a0Northeastern University<\/p>\n

Northeastern University, in partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities<\/a>, convened leading thinkers on higher education to explore this proposition: the liberal arts matter more than ever in the 21st century, and they matter for everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n

The critical and creative capacities that the liberal arts teach are crucial to addressing the complex challenges of today\u2019s world\u2014from managing increased automation to building resilient communities.\u00a0Led by Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun<\/a> and AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella<\/a>, \u00a0summit speakers<\/a> and the audience discussed\u00a0innovative educational models that simultaneously assert the value of the liberal arts and anticipate rapid economic, technological, and cultural change.<\/p>\n

The summit was designed to discuss these questions:<\/p>\n