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Connecticut College to expand curriculum collaboration initiative with $300k grant

September 15, 2009

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Connecticut College has received a $300,000 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to expand a popular arts curriculum collaboration initiative to all disciplines across campus.

The grant will build on the success of a 2005 initiative, also funded by a Sherman Fairchild grant, in which the college created a series of new multidisciplinary art courses taught by faculty teams. These popular courses explored everything from the collaborations between theater and dance to the process of creating site-specific works of art based on the history of a place. Now, the initiative will be launched college-wide, allowing students and faculty from all disciplines to benefit from this unique opportunity for multidisciplinary study. Each year, the new courses will be developed around a theme; "documentaries" will be the theme for the 2010-2011 academic year.

"The 2005 Sherman Fairchild grant invigorated our curricular thinking and forged strong connections among arts faculty," Dean of the Faculty Roger Brooks said. "Expanding this initiative to the entire college will have a powerful impact on the curriculum and faculty development, and will foster multidisciplinary opportunities for student engagement that will best prepare them for the contemporary world."

Additionally, the grant will be used to integrate arts programming into the curriculum and help faculty take advantage of the technology resources of the college's Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology and the Tempel Summer Institute, a two-week workshop for faculty on designing courses that incorporate Web-based technologies to enhance student learning.

About Connecticut College

Situated on the coast of southern New England, Connecticut College is a highly selective private liberal arts college with 1900 students from all across the country and throughout the world. On the college's 750-acre arboretum campus overlooking Long Island Sound, students and faculty create a vibrant social, cultural and intellectual community enriched by diverse perspectives. The college, founded in 1911, is known for its unique combination of interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu