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Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to attend the 2025 Liberal Arts Core Curriculum Retreat on Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14, at the  in Hamilton, N.Y. Our theme for this year’s retreat is “Paying Attention: Teaching and Learning in an Age of Distraction and Change.” We aim to highlight and engage the challenge of pursuing key liberal arts skills in an era when trends, technologies, and time commitments draw our students — and ourselves — in myriad directions. At the same time, new tools and teaching practices present opportunities for us to develop new techniques as we consider the balance between traditional modes of teaching and learning and the pressures to adapt. 

As some of you know, this spring a group of colleagues led by Connie Harsh, the inaugural CLTR Teaching Fellow, has been exploring the subjects of reading and attention span. Our retreat will operate in conversation with the observations and tentative conclusions they have developed during the course of the term.

The retreat returns to the White Eagle Conference Center location that was for so many years synonymous with the event itself, but all of our meetings will take place in the Appley Center, which features newly renovated meeting spaces. Our team is working to develop an engaging and useful set of sessions and will share more details about the retreat agenda and schedule in mid-April. As in years past, the retreat will be organized around a series of panels and breakout sessions on Tuesday, and on Wednesday faculty will meet with their component colleagues (Communities, Conversations, or Sciences).  A lunchtime session on Wednesday will be devoted to First Year Seminars. Breakfast and lunch will be provided on both days. Tuesday’s program ends with a social hour and evening meal.

Please be in touch if you have questions about the retreat or any suggestions about session topics in line with this year’s theme. We look forward to seeing you at the retreat!

Sincerely,

Chris Henke, Director of the Division of University Studies
Teo Ballvé, University Professor, Core Communities
Anthony Chianese, University Professor, Liberal Arts Practices and Core Distinction
Ben Child, University Professor, Core Conversations
Xan Karn, University Professor, First-Year Seminars
Jennifer Tomlinson, University Professor, Core Sciences