The Liberal Learning Curriculum is designed to develop and refine facility in the following essential skills rooted in the timeless tradition of the liberal arts:
THE LIBERAL LEARNING SKILLS
• Self-assessment and self-managed learning.
• Critical, systemic and creative thinking.
• Applying moral reasoning to issues of values and ethics.
• Facility in various modes of communication.
• Interpersonal relations.
These five Liberal Learning Skills are addressed through a series of six seminars, each of which meets once a week for six weeks, or three Saturday’s, one seminar per quarter. In addition, each seminar emphasizes a specific topic area deemed critical for all professionals. The seminars provide opportunities for students to interact with one another as professionals from diverse fields, to experience a variety of perspectives regarding major professional issues, and to develop and refine their Liberal Learning Skills in relation both to their Focus Areas and personal experiences.
725 APPLYING RESEARCH METHODS (second quarter; six weeks or three Saturday’s; three quarter hours). This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through applying research methods. Basic concepts, principles and methods of research, analysis of relevant literature in students’ individualized Focus Areas, and the adaptation of traditional models of academic research to the workplace are discussed. Students are provided with opportunities both to further their skills in critical thinking, conceptualization and problem-solving and to develop strategies for the successful management of independent research and self-managed learning.
735 UNDERSTANDING PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE (third quarter; six weeks
or three Saturday’s; three quarter hours).
This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through understanding personal and organizational change. Multiple dimensions and dynamics of change and the roles and responsibilities of professionals as change agents are explored. Special emphasis is placed on analyzing change processes using both linear and systems models and formulating interventions to facilitate productive change in the workplace (profit and nonprofit).
745 IMPROVING TEAM EFFECTIVENESS (fourth quarter; six weeks or three Saturday’s; three quarter hours).
This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through improving team effectiveness. Key concepts and models are explored regarding characteristics and dynamics of effectively functioning teams including patterns of group interaction, trust, openness, influence, conflict and decision-making. Strategies for both resolving (or minimizing) barriers to effective group effort and improving team functioning are addressed.
755 VALUING HUMAN DIFFERENCES (fifth quarter; six weeks or three Saturday’s; three quarter hours).
This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through valuing human differences. The origins, nature and costs of prejudice and other barriers that interfere with the valuing of human differences are explored in and of themselves and in relation to the increasingly diverse workforce in today’s organizations. In addition, through group discussions and interviews, students are provided with opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of their own assumptions and to develop a rationale for revaluing human differences in their own lives.
765 ENGAGING ETHICAL REASONING (sixth quarter; six weeks or three Saturday’s; three
quarter hours).
This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through engaging ethical reasoning. A variety of ethical decision-making frameworks are explored as well as the nature and impact of ethical issues and questions pertinent to social and organizational contexts. Case studies are used to stimulate reflection on individual and societal moral values. In addition, particular attention is given to designing a personal model of ethical decision-making for application within various contexts.
775 EXERCISING EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP (seventh quarter; six weeks or three Saturday’s; three quarter hours).
This seminar provides students with an opportunity to develop the Liberal Learning Skills through exercising effective leadership. Major themes of each of the previous seminars are integrated within the concept of effective leadership in a changing world. Key theories and principles relative to the management/leadership continuum are examined as well as the implications of current trends for the future of leadership both in general and within students’ personal/professional contexts.
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The Curriculum Plan 
