Professor Abraham Unger has a unique vision for liberal arts education. Long before before spending a decade as Director of Urban Programs at Wagner College in New York, he was an undergraduate student concentrating on classical guitar at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. In this episode of Higher Ed Now, he sits down with ACTA’s president Michael Poliakoff and producer Doug Sprei to reflect on the precarious condition of colleges and universities today, and to explore the concept he is shaping for liberal arts education based on the conservatory model he experienced as an undergraduate.
ACTA presented our 19th annual Philip Merrill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Arts Education to Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and the first female president of the American Civil Liberties Union.
It started in 2017, before which many Purdue graduates went their entire academic career having never set foot in a literature or history class, Dr. Melinda Zook recalls. Now, they all do.
Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.
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