Grant Summary
$74,912 over 13 months. To examine the place of classics as a discipline within the enterprise of liberal education, the Center for Hellenic Studies proposes to construct a database of information on major programs of study and their relationship to the general curricula at approximately 150 colleges and universities in the United States. At a small subset (6) of these institutions, the working group will conduct an assessment of learning outcomes among majors and non-majors, as well as conduct focus groups of majors, non-majors, and other individuals connected with the programs (i.e., stakeholders such as alumni, contributing faculty members, administrators, parents of students, and others) to explore the connection between perceived and actual outcomes. The research on these campuses will form the basis of case studies, which the group will present—along with findings from the process of building the database—to a variety of audiences in venues designed to generate conversations about the role of classics in liberal education. The overall goal of this initiative is to generate reflection and discussion among practitioners and stakeholders in the field as a means of better understanding the actual practices of the discipline and creatively developing ways to improve approaches to the study of classics. In these ways, the group hopes to contribute more effectively to the goals of liberal education.