Zoom Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zEh0Z-xfRlWl91e2I2wkmQ
Lecture Description: The liberal arts are under fire. Declining enrollment, shrinking resources, and skepticism about “return on investment” have put the humanities, arts, and social sciences on the defensive. But are we missing the point? What does today’s AI-driven economy truly need—and what kind of higher education can deliver it? Join Ned Scott Laff and Scott Carlson, authors of Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter—and What Really Does; Daniel Chambliss, co-author of How College Works; and Mary Ruiz, Chair of AltLiberalArts and sponsor of the Five Disruptive Principles of the Liberal Arts Project, for a conversation on the future of learning and the role of the liberal arts. Moderated by Scott Carlson, of The Chronicle of Higher Education, this panel will confront the challenges facing the liberal-arts brand and explore whether its enduring strengths—curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability, creativity—are exactly what the modern workforce requires. Far from obsolete, the liberal arts may yet hold the winning hand—if educators can show how timeless skills translate into contemporary success.
Scott Carlson is a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education who explores where higher education is headed. Since 1999, he has covered a range of issues for the publication: college management and finance, facilities, campus planning, energy, sustainability, libraries, work-force development, the value of a college degree, and other subjects. He writes the twice-monthly column The Edge, and he is the author of Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter — and What Really Does. Carlson has won awards from the Education Writers Association and is a frequent speaker at colleges and conferences around the country. His work has also appeared in The Baltimore Sun and Dwell, among other publications. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Scott Carlson | LinkedIn | scott.carlson@chronicle.com
Homepage on The Chronicle: https://www.chronicle.com/author/scott-carlson Scott’s column The Edge: https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/the-edge
Dr. Ned Scott Laff has over 35 years of experience in college and university settings in administrative and faculty roles. He has worked in curriculum development, program assessment, general education review and revision, self-designed majors, and developing centers that integrate advising, mentoring, and career development. He was awarded the Civic Engagement Award from The Washington Center for his work in service- and community-based learning. He has broad interests in improving the quality of undergraduate education and revitalizing the liberal arts. He has a special interest in the role mentoring plays in helping students design and integrate their educational, professional, and personal goals into a successful undergraduate education. Ned Laff, Ph.D. | LinkedIn | ned.laff@gmail.com
Daniel F. Chambliss (B.A. New College, 1975; PhD Yale University, 1982) is the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Hamilton College, and co-author, with his former student Chris Takacs, of How College Works. In 1991 Chambliss’s book Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, was named “Book of the Year” by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and he has received the American Sociological Association’s Theory section prize for his work on organizational excellence. In 1998 he won the ASA’s Eliot Freidson prize for his book Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses, and the Social Organization of Ethics. He is also co-author, with Russell Schutt, of Making Sense of the Social World, a research methods text currently in its fifth edition.
Mary L. Ruiz is CEO of Ruiz Strategic Advisors, a management consultancy specializing in strategic planning for growth. She is a senior healthcare chief executive officer, chief strategy officer and a respected leader in impacting public behavioral health policy. Ruiz has a BA from New College and an MBA from USF. She is past Chair of the New College Board of Trustees and the founding President of the New College Alumni Association.