The focus of this conference is to examine the critical role of culture / broad education * for developing students and teachers who think broadly, who recognize and respect cultural diversity and heritage, and whose engagement in the arts serves as a conduit to personal authenticity and innovation. This dialogue on the significance of culture for fostering global citizenship comes in the context of wavering support for the value of a liberal education ** in both the US and Europe.

Economic constraints in both societies put pressure on policy makers, educators and students to consider whether a liberal arts curriculum vs. one focused more narrowly on vocational preparation is central to the educational mission or, rather, an ideal that is no longer relevant or affordable.

The goal of the conference is to dig deeply into key questions that help assess the value of embedding culture into higher respectively basic education curricula.