Powers of the Mind : The Reinvention of Liberal Learning in America

InPowers 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 minddisciplines 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 Mindconstructs 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

Donald N. Levine is the Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, where he served as dean of the College from 1982 to 1987. He is the author of several books, including Visions of the Sociological Tradition, The Flight from Ambiguity, and Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture.