Department
Geography and Anthropology
Additional Department
School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
Neoliberal values are dramatically affecting higher education in the United States, with a focus on running these institutions as businesses and molding students into productive workers. This shift toward training and away from traditional liberal arts education at U.S. universities and colleges has occurred even as studies demonstrate that the ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving marketplace promotes long-term professional success. While neoliberalism and traditional liberal arts education are often seen as antithetical, we show how one anthropology program has combined these values into pedagogical practice through a select subset of high impact practices to improve academic outcomes for low achieving students. Student feedback shows that they value our approach as a positive feature of our major. This study finds that neoliberal skills-based training and academically rigorous liberal arts education are not mutually exclusive and, in conjunction, can lead to improved student outcomes.
Journal Title
Georgia Journal of Science
Journal ISSN
0147-9396
Volume
75
Issue
2
First Page
1
Last Page
16