- Dec 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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Encouraged therefore by the sentiments of the Legislature, manifested in this statute, we present the following tabular statement of the branches of learning which we think should be taught in the University, forming them into groups, each of which are within the powers of a single professor.
In modern education, students are essentially encouraged to specialize within a particular field the moment they declare their major. This table shows how the Jeffersonian vision of education is incredibly well-rounded and encompasses every field present during the early 19th century. However, the College of Arts and Sciences at UVA still has general education requirements, and students are highly encouraged to explore different fields with a variety of classes in their first and second years. The New College Curriculum takes this initiative to an entirely new level, with classes in different areas that captivate the modern intellectual world, including poverty, extinction, and implications of art. These two curriculums serve as a testament to the original Jeffersonian vision of education, and allows current University of Virginia students to graduate with an education so broad and varied that graduates are far more well equipped for life beyond college.
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The board having thus agreed on a proper site for the University to be reported to the legislature, proceeded to the second of the duties assigned to them, that of proposing a plan for its buildings; and they are of opinion that it should consist of distinct houses or pavilions, arranged at proper distances on each side of a lawn of a proper breadth, & of indefinite extent in one direction at least, in each of which should be a lecturing room with from two to four apartments for the accommodation of a professor and his family: that these pavilions should be united by a range of Dormitories, sufficient each for the accommodation of two students only, this provision being deemed advantageous to morals, to order, & to uninterrupted study;
This description of the general design of the Lawn exhibits Jefferson's idealized concept of how a university should be properly arranged; his firm convictions on the morals of education and his idea of professors and students living and learning together really set the University of Virginia apart from other universities of the time. Even in the present, I for one cannot name a single university that features something similar to the Lawn and rotunda, and the amount of thought regarding educational morals that went into their design. The University of Virginia stands out from its academic peers across the country in the foundations of its creation, and the continuation of the community of trust that seeks to live up to these values that Jefferson envisioned two hundred years ago.
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- Sep 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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On the condition that the central College shall be made the site of the University, its whole property real & personal in possession, or in action is offered. This consists of a parcel of land of 47 acres whereon the buildings of the College are begun, one pavilion and its appendix of dormitories, being already far advanced, and with one other pavilion, & equal annexation of dormitories, being expected to be compleated during the present season. Of another parcel of 153 acres near the former, and including a considerable eminence very favorable for the erection of a future observatory.
It is interesting to see that this exhibits the very beginning ideas of the lawn and central grounds. Already, we see Thomas Jefferson and others discussing "pavilions," which make up most of the structure of the lawn today. They note that there is a suitable place nearby for an observatory; this could be Observatory Hill for all we know!
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The tender age at which this part of education commences, generaly about the tenth year, would weigh heavily with parents in sending their sons to a school so distant as the Central establishment would be from most of them.
This suggests that during this period of time, an education at a University could begin at a much younger age. "Tender age" sounds like an age less than adulthood (or even late teen years); perhaps between the ages of twelve and fifteen. This could offer some insight into the early 19th century concept of higher education, being offered to a greater age range (and to fewer people).
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