The Great Questions
Foundation

Seeks to promote liberal education and core-text and discussion-based learning at the community college

We help promote liberal education and core-text and discussion-based learning at the community colleges by...

supporting faculty development

Helping community college faculty focus core-curriculum courses on the discussion-based study of transformative texts.

course redesign

Providing training and mentorship for faculty from all disciplines in their continued exploration of texts that investigate persistent human questions and the discussion-based approach to teaching them.

support core-text programs & courses

Organizing and supporting convenings, reading groups, speaker series and mentoring relationships directed to the improvement of discussion-based teaching and learning.

TGQF has helped faculty from the following institutions redesign core-curriculum courses to center the discussion based study of transformative texts:

Transform the Community College General Education Experience

Help make general education, liberal education at your institution. Participate in one of our multiple programs to shape your teaching and curriculum by incorporating the discussion based study of transformative texts and ideas into the general educational journey of students at your community college.

The Fellowship Program

Supporting Faculty Leaders in Community College Liberal Education

Help make general education liberal education in this fellowship program, supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation. Assemble a team at your institution to collaborate with others in this national project to expand discussion-based liberal education opportunities for community college students. Find out more below. 

The Community College

Course Redesign Institute in American Political & Social Thought

Federalist Papers

New Program!

The Community College Course Redesign Institute in American Political and Social Thought aims to help instructors in history, political science, and related social sciences explore discussion-based approaches to studying transformative works in American political and social thought. Learn more about this support for curriculum exploration and course redesign, which includes both on-line and in-person activities.

Course Redesign Workshops

Application Deadline for Fall 2024: October 2

The Great Questions Foundation organizes course redesign workshops each year, which are geared toward helping faculty members incorporate the discussion-based study of texts from our list in general education courses at community colleges where they teach. Expect great discussion with community college faculty colleagues from all over the US. 

Faculty Say

owl on books

Confidence that I have the tools to facilitate student-centered, discussion-based courses, and to teach with a more diverse materials that might be somewhat out of my comfort zone or field of study.

TGQF Workshop Participant

owl on books

I LOVED being a part of TGQF. It opened my eyes on how I was/am teaching my readings and how to discuss them with students. I now focus on broader, more connecting discussion questions and have noticed a big uptick in participation and engagement.

TGQF Workshop Participant

owl on books

Combing through these great texts with the mindset of creating discussions that reflect the current world instead of trying to get my students to answer “correctly” and/or recite a quote from the reading.

TGQF Workshop Participant

Explore the Texts

What are the texts that faculty might explore with students in a discussion-based classroom that address these great questions most productively, which could be easily integrated into general education courses already present in most community college course catalogues? This is a list of 100 transformative texts that faculty representing 12 different institutions have identified as important in this regard.

Impact

TGQF in the News

OCTOBER 5, 2023
chronicle of higher ed logo

Community College Is The Future Of Liberal Education

It’s time to support the humanities there.

By Ted Hadzi-Antich Jr.
Sept. 4, 2023
New York Times

College Students: School Is Not Your Job

College is a unique time in your life to discover just how much your mind can do.

By Jonathan Malesic
June 9, 2023
The wall street journal

Great Books Can Heal Our Divided Campuses

Colleges need more programs where students of different backgrounds can wrestle together with the big questions posed by the humanities.

By Andrew Delbanco