Linfield College recently created the Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement (PLACE), which provides rich, integrated learning experiences while heightening global and multicultural awareness.
Each year, PLACE will identify a broad, campus-wide theme that highlights two or more modes of inquiry within the Linfield curriculum. The program provides a platform for the integration of courses across disciplines and offers a focal point for lectures and guest speakers, January Term offerings, conversation and film series, readings, capstone projects, service learning, extracurricular activities, connections with local and regional partners, and engagement with national and global communities.
Students will not be the only beneficiaries of this theme-driven inquiry. Faculty will have an additional incentive to connect across disciplines and link to the many extracurricular activities on campus. The program will promote the free exchange of ideas and integrated learning experiences. Above all, PLACE aims to promote an even more dynamic intellectual environment and a greater sense of citizenship in the Linfield College community and beyond.
This year’s pilot project, coordinated by political science Professor Patrick Cottrell, explores the theme, “Legacies of War.” Wars have constituted perhaps the most defining, important and tragic events in human history. Through integrated course offerings, guest speakers and lectures, and other activities, members of the Linfield community will have the opportunity to learn about and discuss the causes, consequences and legacies of war from a variety of perspectives.
