News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University is listed in The Princeton Review’s The Best 376 Colleges, a ranking that includes the top 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges. “Each of our 376 best colleges offers outstanding academics,” says Robert Franek, the book’s author and Princeton Review senior vp/publisher. “We don’t rank them hierarchically, 1 to 376, because they differ widely—and importantly—in their program offerings and campus culture, and that is their strength. Our goal is not to crown one college ‘best’ overall, but to help applicants find and get in to the college best for them.” The book’s two-page profile of Transylvania includes comments from Transylvania students surveyed for the book. According to students, Transylvania strives to provide “a holistic educational experience where one can grow intellectually and academically while participating in a vibrant social community.” Professors “are both very knowledgeable and fun to be around” and their accessibility is “amazing.” When it comes to social life on campus, students were quoted as saying “every social event is practically an open invitation” and Transylvania’s location in downtown Lexington means students are often found “walking downtown to theaters, art exhibits, or other downtown events.” Students commented that their classmates come “from different backgrounds including differences in sexual orientation, class, religion, region and political orientation” meaning “most students will find themselves right at home on campus.” The Princeton Review, a New York-based education services company known for its education, admission and test-prep services, is

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Seminar participants took a tour of Elmendorf Farm. LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University, an early leader in liberal arts education, will host an annual seminar titled “Twenty-first Century Liberal Education: A Contested Concept” July 28-31, for 15 faculty members from liberal arts colleges around the country. The participants were selected from a pool of over 45 applicants and they reflect the diversity within the professorate at liberal arts colleges. They included faculty members from Washington and Lee, DePauw, Randolph-Macon and Middlebury College among others. Seminar sessions include “Modernizing Liberal Education,” “The Historical Background to the Contemporary Debates” and “The Purposes of Liberal Education: Varieties of Social Engagement.” Participants are asked to consider the application of liberal education principles to enhance their own effectiveness as college and university teachers—in the classroom, in the preparation of course offerings and in the construction of curricula at their academic institutions. Donal O’Shea, Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mt. Holyoke College will give the opening address, “Geometry, Space, and the Liberal Arts.” The plenary speaker is Cecilia A. Conrad, Stedman-Sumner Professor of Economics and vice president and dean of the college at Pomona College. Her speech is titled “Is a Liberal Arts College Education a Luxury Good?” With this annual seminar, Transylvania University, with assistance from The Phi Beta Kappa, seeks to contribute to a national conversation on the idea of liberal

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