Carleen Vande Zande, assistant vice chancellor for curricular affairs and student academic achievement, recently presented a paper at a faculty seminar at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford University in Oxford, England.

The seminar focused on the theme “Early Modern Worlds: Middle Ages to Renaissance” and was part of a two-week seminar designed for American scholars to share ideas, pursue research, hear keynote lectures and participate in open-house discussions.

Vande Zande’s paper title, “A New Paidea for Higher Education: Enlightened Thinking for the Twenty-first Century,” highlighted liberal education movements in higher education in the U.S. from colonial times to the present-day initiatives of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Her analysis included the elements of purpose, voice, control, coherence, context and challenges within the study of liberal arts and liberal education.

Additionally, Vande Zande traced the evolution of Enlightenment influences in curricular movements.

The presentation highlighted the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh learning outcomes as an example of today’s view of liberal education. This is the third year of participation in this seminar for Vande Zande, who hopes to collaborate with faculty to promote participation by other members of the UW Oshkosh community.

Vande Zande is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she received a doctorate in curriculum theory and educational policy studies. She joined UW Oshkosh’s Provost’s Office in May.

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