A HISTORY OF ACTC
The Association for Core Texts and Courses, ACTC, was first formed
because of the efforts of Stephen Zelnick and Scott Lee of Temple
University in the fall and spring of 1994. Zelnick, now Vice Provost
for Undergraduate Studies, had, at the time, recently become director
of Temple’s core-text Intellectual Heritage program. He began to
consider what sort of professional organization might be developed
to fill the need for addressing the scholarly, pedagogical, and
administrative issues involved in undergraduate core text curricula.
He asked Lee to join him in the development of such an organization
and together they organized the first conference, in 1995, of what
was to become an important liberal arts professional association
for North American institutions of higher education.
Speaking to the Association five years later, Zelnick
remarked, “When I look back…, it is clear to me that much of
ACTC’s success results from the membership. Our model from the beginning
was democratic all the way. We depended on the people coming to
our conference to provide intelligent presentations and discussion
and, most important, to work in a collegial manner.” Zelnick was
right.
Thirty-three individuals from twenty-three institutions attended
that first conference. Representatives from each institution presented
descriptions of their various programs. Participants discussed whether
there were enough shared concerns with texts, administration, teaching,
and the development of sound liberal education to warrant formation
of an organization. All agreed these concerns were vital to the
improvement of liberal, general education as it seemed to exist
in the mid-90’s in North America. And, given the wide differences
in programs and institutions, all agreed that though our aim was
better liberal education, based in the best of readings from the
West and the World, ACTC would be an organization that welcomed
and encouraged a wide range of text, course, and program developments
from its diverse institutions. The range of programs displayed in
that first conference meant that ACTC would be an “inductive” organization.
Hence, shortly after the conference, ACTC adopted its organizing
statement which read, in part,
The Association for Core Texts and Courses brings together colleges
and universities that promote the integrated and common study
of world classics and other texts of major cultural significance.
Members of ACTC advocate the growth of such programs in order
to strengthen undergraduate education in the United States and
Canada. ACTC challenges both aimless curricular choice and the
current dominance of vocational, professional and specialized
curricula. ACTC is committed to the education of free citizens,
equipped to conduct their public and private lives informed by
the best that has been thought and expressed in Western and other
traditions. ACTC advocates core text programs at all undergraduate
institutions. ACTC helps initiate such programs and develops networks
to support existing programs.
ACTC wanted each individual member and each institution to contribute
to a productive discussion about the possibilities of developing
core text education as it would fit and work with the traditions
of each institution as well as the broader traditions of liberal
education. That the programs and texts discussed in ACTC are wide
and diverse can be seen by examining some of our agendas of previous
conferences.
The democratic and voluntary nature of ACTC has been, in many ways,
the story of its growth. And, as ACTC has grown, it has taken on
many projects to aid the development of core text, general liberal
education.
For the first conference, Temple University provided all the institutional
support and it has continued to provide infrastructure support to
this day. But in the second conference, other institutions began
to support ACTC; these included: Adelphi University, Boston University,
Brooklyn College, Providence College, Saint Anselm College, St.
John’s College, St. Mary’s College (Minnesota), Skidmore College,
Trenton State College, the University of North Carolina at Asheville,
and Villanova University. From these 12 institutions, including
Temple, institutional membership
has grown to 46. At the second conference, ACTC established its
Board. Over time the Board has
grown. We see in both the Board and the attendees to our conference,
faculty and administrators of North American institutions, who have
remained committed to ACTC for the decade of its growth. Over the
years, these ACTC members have offered to ACTC sound advice and
counsel that has allowed ACTC to mature and flourish. In that second
conference, also, Zelnick was elected Director (later President)
and Lee Associate Director (later Executive Director).
Individual attendance at the conference has grown enormously. Recruitment
has depended much on Lee’s efforts to build the base of membership
with many sponsoring institution volunteers, in recent years, helping
to bring new members to the conference. At the second conference,
we attracted 82 individuals from 53 institutions. In 2003, we had
210 from 97 institutions. Each year, about 65% of these individuals
join ACTC with individual memberships
without which the conference would simply not be a reality.
The growth in attendance has meant growth in participation in ACTC
activities. From the very first, ACTC intended to provide a forum
for publication on core texts and liberal education and a network
which would enhance the careers of those who dedicated themselves
to core text education. With Lee as series editor, ACTC began to
publish selected proceedings with
its third annual conference. To date, four volumes have been published
and three more are in process of being edited and published, with
one coming out this fall (2003). Aside from the many individuals
who have contributed essays and have come to look upon these peer-reviewed
publications as a real resource for building and enhancing programs,
many ACTC members volunteered their time to edit these volumes and
make them available. These include: Darrel Colson, Bainard Cowan,
Jane Rodeheffer, Allen Speight, David Sokolowski, and Don Thompson.
Rodeheffer constructed our first website, Zelnick our second, and
Zelnick put together our listserv.
Similarly, beyond institutional membership, individuals and institutions
have helped to build the conferences with support and volunteer
effort. Our first non-Philadelphia conference was hosted by the
University of North Carolina at Asheville, under the able leadership
of Peg Downes. New Orleans offered an exciting venue, with Bainard
Cowan of Louisiana State University and James Walter of Southeastern
Louisiana leading the support for the conference. In San Francisco,
Theo Carlisle of St. Mary’s College of Moraga, Jane Rodeheffer of
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Keith Francis of Pacific Union
College, Don Thompson of Pepperdine University, and Dale Donathan
of Truckee Meadows Community College built an exciting conference,
there. We traveled to Notre Dame in 2001, with Phillip Sloan leading
UND’s effort, and Don Whitfield provided valuable co-sponsorship
from the Great Books Foundation. In 2002 we crossed the border north
into Montreal, Canada, where Harvey Shulman of the Liberal Arts
College of Concordia University and Peggy Heller, with Angus Johnston’s
support, led the volunteer effort of the University of King’s College.
During this year, ACTC also had its first student conference, which
was sponsored by Colorado College through the generous help of Timothy
Fuller and his able-bodied students. Charlotte Thomas led a large
team of Mercer University volunteers in Atlanta in 2003, and these
were ably assisted by Alan Woolfolk at Oglethorpe University and
his team, and Gretchen Schulz of Oxford College at Emory University.
This coming year, Thomas Lindsay and Louise Cowan of the University
of Dallas, along with David Hendon of the Baylor Interdisciplinary
Core/Honors program at Baylor University and Ron Weber of Western
Cultural Heritage Program of the University of Texas at El Paso
will lead faculty in the voluntary effort to create our Tenth
Annual Conference in Dallas.
If the long list of volunteers and supporting institutions indicate
the continuous building support by members, ACTC has also grown
through specific projects and the support of outside agencies. In
2000 ACTC won a $ 15,000 Andrew W. Mellon
travel grant to support its cooperative curriculum development
work with the Aga Khan Humanities Project (AKHP) in Central Asia.
Five representatives traveled to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan
to observe the progress of the new core curriculum being developed
by the AKHP in nine former Soviet universities. Grant writer and
project director Lee joined Zelnick who headed the site visit team
of Peg Downes of UNC Asheville, Susan Gillespie of Bard College,
and Thomas Barfield of Boston University.
In the spring of 2002, Stephen Zelnick, after eight years in the
Presidency of ACTC announced his retirement. Zelnick remarked in
the ACTC newsletter that year, “here we are with over one hundred
institutions joined together in our own wider search for turning
souls to the light through reading the very best books.” Indeed,
Zelnick inspired the conference with a closing address which captured
the essence of that spirit of ACTC which has led to so many contributing
so much to this organization. Fortunately, he remains on the Board
to offer ACTC his wisdom and advice.
In 2002, ACTC began the second phase of one of the largest general
education review projects in the country, Trends
in the Liberal Arts Core. Trends had been a FIPSE sponsored
project of the American Academy for Liberal Education. As part of
the project's development, Trends has, one of the largest databases
on general education structures and support in the country. In the
summer of 2002 Lee approached the University of Dallas about creating
a Liberal Arts Institute. Through
the generosity and institutional direction provided by Provost Thomas
Lindsay, with considerable moral support from Louise Cowan, the
Liberal Arts Institute became a reality in the fall.
As a direct result of establishing the Institute, in spring of
2003, ACTC won its first NEH grant for the three-year, $ 229,000
proposal, “Bridging the Gap Between the
Humanities and Sciences: An Exemplary Education Model of Core Text,
Humanistic Education.” Nine institutions joined ACTC in this
grant which held its first seminar of readings and curriculum building
in June 2003, at St. John’s College. The nine institutions are Benedictine
University, Mercer University, Norfolk State University, Samford
University, Saint Bonaventure University, Saint Olaf College, Seton
Hall University, Truckee Meadows Community College, and the University
of Dallas.
In the fall of 2003, Phil Sloan was elected
President of ACTC. A long-time supporter of ACTC, Phil immediately
contributed to the phenomenal growth of ACTC within the last year,
helping to co-write (with Kalkavage and Lee) the Bridging proposal,
and, at our largest conference ever, giving a thoughtful address,
calling for a renewed understanding of the function of core text
courses within the modern university and collegiate setting.
This year, ACTC will head into its second decade. More projects
are in the works, later to be added to this history. And, April
15th-18th, 2004, the 10th Annual Conference at Dallas will celebrate
an organization which has grown and matured primarily because of
the spirit of core text liberal education which animates its members
and staff.
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