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Powers of the Mind

The Reinvention of Liberal Learning in America

Donald N Levine author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The University of Chicago Press

Published:11th Sep '07

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Powers of the Mind cover

In "Powers of the Mind", former University of Chicago dean Donald N. Levine considers the liberal education that our universities purport to offer, finds it lacking, and in response proposes fresh and invigorating ways to think about liberal learning that are more suited to our times. Levine begins by defining basic values of modernity and then considering pertinent curricular principles. The principles he favors are powers of the mind - disciplines understood as fields of study defined less by their subject matter than by the distinct intellectual capacities they embody. To illustrate, Levine draws on his own lifetime of teaching and educational leadership, while providing a marvelous summary of exemplary educational thinkers at the University of Chicago who continue to inspire. Out of this vital tradition, "Powers of the Mind" constructs a paradigm for liberal arts today, inclusive of all perspectives and applicable to all settings in the modern world.

"Writing as scholar, teacher, and dean, Levine provides rich evidence that current debates in the world of liberal education are part of a continuing negotiation that has deep but frequently forgotten roots." - Carol Schneider, president, Association of American Colleges and Universities "A fascinating history of curricular debates at the University of Chicago, reaching back to its founding more than a century ago. It is a story of serious teachers responding to continuous change in the world and in particular academic disciplines while always keeping in view the enduring goal of liberal education, which Levine succinctly calls the 'cultivation of human powers.'" - Andrew Delbanco, New York Review of Books"

ISBN: 9780226475547

Dimensions: 23mm x 15mm x 2mm

Weight: 482g

318 pages