Alverno College History department to take part in a nationwide project

The History department at Alverno College has been selected as one of 60 history departments from across the country to participate in the American Historical Association’s (AHA) History Tuning Project. The goal of the project is to create a disciplinary core describing what history students should know and be able to do when they complete a history degree. Over the next two years, Tuning Project participants will gather in Washington, D.C. to work with each other. After working at the national level to develop a history core, they’ll work with faculty on their own campuses to tune their history curriculum in order to better fit the mission of their institutions. The Tuning Project is supported by a grant from the Lumina Foundation.
“Alverno College is a global leader in higher education curriculum design, and we are excited to add our knowledge and expertise to this collaboration,” said Dr. John C. Savagian, chair of Alverno College’s History department and a Tuning Project participant. “We anticipate a fruitful exchange of ideas toward improving students’ study of history and developing the skills to be successful 21st century citizens.”
The AHA has identified three objectives for the project:
• To articulate core abilities, habits of mind and knowledge required of their discipline.
• To develop a clear, common language to express the distinctive values of history for students, employers and the public. Students who can clearly see what they are learning and why, are better prepared to direct their studies toward lifelong learning, meaningful employment and civic participation.
• To provide a nationwide framework in which historians can design the systems used by their institution to measure their achievements as teachers.

About Alverno College
Alverno College, a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college for women, exists to promote the personal and professional development of its students. Founded in 1887 by the School Sisters of St. Francis, the college has earned accolades and respect internationally for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, and has consulted with three U.S. presidential administrations on accountability and outcomes in higher education. For two years in a
row, Alverno College has been ranked first in the Midwest for doing “the best job of educating undergrads” by U.S. News & World Report. Educators from throughout the world visit Alverno to learn about its proven, student-centered teaching methods.
Alverno offers more than 35 major program areas of study, including graduate programs in education, nursing, community psychology and business that are open to women and men. For more information about Alverno, visit our Web site at www.alverno.edu or call 414-382-6100.