Ranging from Plato in antiquity to Martha Nussbaum in the present era, the authors of the seventy readings included in The Liberal Arts Tradition present significant and exemplary views addressing liberal arts education over the course of its history, particularly in the United States. Most of the documents are newly translated or no longer available in print. Arranged chronologically, each selection is accompanied by an informative introduction and extensive explanatory notes discussing its place within the liberal arts tradition. Based upon the author's twenty-five years of experience leading seminars concerning the history of liberal education, this collection presents a uniquely comprehensive and salient set of documents, while incorporating the neglected portrayal and discussion of women within the history of the liberal arts.

By Bruce A. Kimball

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction: The Disputed Origins
Chapter 3 Section I: Debates in Antiquity
Chapter 4 Section II: Late Antiquity and Middle Ages: Christian Appropriation, Codification, and Female Imagery
Chapter 5 Section III: In the modernus University, 1100s -1500
Chapter 6 Section IV: The Humanist and Collegiate Traditions
Chapter 7 Section V: Humanist, Scholastic, and Sectarian Strains in the Colonial College
Chapter 8 Section VI: Intellectual and Social Challenges to the College, 1790s-1850s
Chapter 9 Section VII: Struggle between the University and the College, 1860s-1900s
Chapter 10 Section VIII: Experimentation and Search for Coherence, 1910s-1930s
Chapter 11 Section IX: The "Emerging Curricular Blueprint" of the Mid-Twentieth Century
Chapter 12 Section X: Approaching the Past in the New Millennium
Chapter 13 Glossary of Names
Chapter 14 Index