(Atlanta, September 16, 2014) – The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has selected Oglethorpe University to receive a sizable three-year grant to support its “Explorations in the Core,” program, which evaluates and implements innovations in the Oglethorpe Core curriculum. The grant is awarded through the foundation’s Liberal Arts Colleges Program.
Oglethorpe’s award-winning, innovative core curriculum has been a unifying academic experience for all students since its inception seventy years ago. The Oglethorpe Core is a sequential four-year general education program deeply rooted in the liberal arts tradition, and has been recognized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and funded twice by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The “Explorations in the Core” program will enable Oglethorpe faculty to pilot variations of standard courses by testing new methods, texts, and pedagogies. The grant from the Mellon Foundation will directly support resources for planning, creating, and implementing the new courses.
“The Mellon Foundation grant will allow Oglethorpe to preserve our Core’s fundamentals while incorporating new ideas, approaches, and perspectives,” said Dr. Charles Baube, professor of biology and director of the Oglethorpe Core. “Our goal is to ensure that this rigorous, interdisciplinary course of study in the arts and sciences remains relevant and continues to be a model for liberal arts instruction in the 21st century.”
“This initiative is critical to the ongoing development of the Oglethorpe Core, and builds on seven decades of delivering an interdisciplinary education program that is at the heart of our university,” said Oglethorpe President Lawrence M. Schall. “While the Core has evolved significantly over time, its goals have largely remained the same: to educate our students to make not only a good living, but an enriching life and a significant difference in their communities.”
About Oglethorpe University
Founded in 1835, Oglethorpe is Atlanta’s liberal arts and sciences university of 1100 students representing 34 states and 28 countries. Renowned for its groundbreaking Core program, Oglethorpe is a member of the Annapolis Group, comprised of America’s most selective liberal arts institutions, and has been named among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Liberal Arts Colleges, Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges, and Princeton Review’s Best Southeastern Colleges. Oglethorpe is home to the Atlanta Laboratory for Learning (A_LAB), an incubator for students’ real-world experiential learning through civic engagement, global education, professional development, and undergraduate research. Oglethorpe is the only Georgia university to be named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for commitment to and achievement in community service since 2006. In 2014, Oglethorpe opened GO: Rome, a summer study center in Italy, following two strategic partnerships in 2012 with study abroad provider Global LEAD and EF (Education First), the world leader in international education. EF’s Atlanta headquarters is located on Oglethorpe’s campus, also home to the OU Museum of Art and Georgia Shakespeare, a professional theatre-in-residence. The Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels compete in the NCAA Division III Southern Athletic Association. Website: www.oglethorpe.edu
Contact: Renee Vary, 404-364-8868 or [email protected]
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