Second Annual CUNY General Education Conference

General Education in the Professions and Disciplines:
New Approaches to Old Debates
Friday, May 5, 2006
Humanities Theatre
Queensborough Community College, CUNY 

Conversations about General Education have long been entwined with those about the Liberal Arts and academic study in the disciplines. Equally important though less thoroughly discussed is the role and significance of General Education in professional programs, where a high percentage of CUNY students are enrolled. We invite the CUNY faculty to submit proposals for interactive presentations that extend national debates about the shape and scope of General Education and illustrate new approaches to old questions, bringing disciplinary perspectives on general education and those from professional programs into conversation, dialogue, and debate.

We encourage presentations from each CUNY campus that illuminate:

• How and why campuses define and understand general education and what are the implications that follow for discipline based majors and professional programs
• How specific classes and assignments approach the idea(ls) of general education as part of a course of study or professional degree program
• How CUNY students understand and experience General Education, in relation to their academic and professional goals
• How campuses/departments/faculty members approach the assessment of general education
• How advisors and counselors contribute to, complicate, and extend faculty and student awareness of the importance of general education
• How student support services ( Writing Centers, language labs, career services, etc.) extend the meaning and implementation of general education
• CUNY cross-campus collaboration on presentation proposals is encouraged.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Lee Shulman, President of Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. A panel of CUNY College Presidents and members of the business community will close the conference by responding to the conference theme and engaging with conference participants.

Faculty members and administrators from CUNY and other New York City area higher education institutions are invited to attend.

For additional information on registration, call Dora Caputo at 718-631-6344 or by e-mail at dcaputo@qcc.cuny.edu. Direct specific questions to Dr. Belle Gironda (718) 281-5160 or to Dr. Michael Roggow (718) 281-5468.