GC&SU

 

A conference exploring the connections between the Liberal Arts, civic reform, and the development of character.

February 24-26, 2000

Sponsored by

the Interdisciplinary Studies Program
at
Georgia College & State University

with funding from

The Georgia Humanities Council

Institutions of higher education have become increasingly concerned about the connection of theory to practice. The interest in service learning and other related movements reflects a need to examine the very nature of knowledge, and the role of the liberal arts in promoting civic reform and the development of character.

A central aspect of the conference will be breakout discussions of Martha Nussbaum's recent text Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education (Harvard: 1997), which won the Frederick Ness Award in 1998. Nussbaum focuses on the Senecan view of education as producing free members of society who respect traditions and cultivate humanity, and reminds us of the powerful roles that can be played by educational institutions in society.

The February conference will feature two keynote presentations by Dr. Harry Boyte and The Honorable Kathy Ashe, which will be featured on this web site; other conference papers will also be published on this web site in early March.

.

Harry Boyte is senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Hubert Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. He also was national coordinator for the New Citizenship, a bipartisan effort to bridge the citizen-government gap. He presented New Citizenship findings to President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, and other administration leaders at a 1995 Camp David seminar on the future of democracy.

Most recently, Boyte was a senior adviser to the National Commission for Civic Renewal, headed by former Senator Sam Nunn and former U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett.

In the 1960s, Boyte worked for Martin Luther King Jr. as a field secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He has written seven books on community organizing, citizen action, and citizenship, including Building America: The Democratic Promise of Public Work and Commonwealth: A Return to Citizen Politics. His writings have appeared in over seventy publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Christian Science Monitor.

His commentaries on democracy have appeared on National Public Radio and the CBS Evening News. Boyte holds a doctorate in political and social thought from the Union Institute.

The Honorable Kathy Ashe is a member of the Georgia State Legislature representing Fulton County District 46. Once a Middle School Teacher, she was first elected to the house in 1991, and reelected in 1992, 1994 and 1996.

She is the ranking Republican member of the House Education Committee, and also serves on the Banks & Banking, Education, MARTOC, and Natural Resources Committees.

She is an active member of the Women's Caucus and the Republican Caucus. Kathy Ashe has served in leadership roles in numerous community organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Junior League of Atlanta, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the United Way of Atlanta, Vote Choice, the City of Atlanta Charter Review Commission, the City of Atlanta Child Care Task Force, the Children's School, the Central Health Center, the Fulton County Republican Executive Committee, and the Rhodes Hall Board.

She is also a member of Leadership Atlanta (1988), Regional Leadership Institute (1994), the Atlanta Women's Network, the Atlanta Civilian Review Board, the Komen Foundation, the Midtown Alliance, the Buckhead Business Association, the Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, Planned Parenthood of Atlanta, and Georgia Citizens for the Arts. Kathy Ashe is a member of the State Bar of Georgia's Investigative (discipline) Panel and serves on the Governor's Privatization Commission.

Her legislative agenda has included revision of the Charter School law, revisions to the City of Atlanta's Charter, higher standards for teacher certification testing, and she was one of the supporters of the bill which authorized the creation of a Character Education Center in Georgia.

Papers and panels are invited on the following topics:

*Classical statements on the examined life and social responsibility

*Classical philosophical statements on the development of moral reasoning, character, and civic responsibility

*The Arts and Empathy for the Other

*The Arts as advocate of social criticism/reform

*Role of the Arts in development of character

*Literature, film, and social reform

*Interdisciplinary education and the development of empathy/critical thinking

*Service learning as a form of civic education

*Theories of social justice and human rights in classical texts

The conference encourages dialog between educators at all levels of public and private education, as well as leaders of the civic community.

Conference Committee:

Dr. Deborah Vess, Chair; Director of Interdisciplinary Studies, Associate Professor of History.

Dr. Hank Edmondson, Professor of Political Science

Dr. Steven Payne, Associate Professor of Management

Dr. Beth Rushing, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Sociology

Dr. Dee Russell, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education

Grant Committee:

Dr. Les Crawford, Dean of the John S. Lounsbury School of Education
Dr. Bernie Patterson, Dean of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Beth Rushing, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology
Dr. Deborah Vess, Director of Interdisciplinary Studies and Associate Professor of History

This conference is supported by the Georgia Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and though appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly.