- Nov 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express & preserve his ideas, his contracts & accounts in writing. To improve by reading, his morals and faculties.
It is important and intentional that the first objectives of education in the entire document all have to do with engaged citizenship and morals. Each of these objects aims to shape students into more competent and active community members with thoughtful opinions and the ability act out of the betterment of society with their knowledge. I think that this is something well reflected in the engagements curriculum as we strive to understand different modes for perceiving the world around us rather than striving to gain skills. Our practice with critically reflecting on knowledge will help us apply knowledge and skills gained as engaged citizens both now and in the future.
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To these should be added the arts, which embellish life, dancing music & drawing; the last more especially, as an important part of military education. These innocent arts furnish amusement & happiness to those who, having time on their hands, might less inoffensively employ it; needing, at the same time, no regular incorporation with the institution, they may be left to accessory teachers, who will be paid by the individuals employing them; the university only providing proper apartments for their exercise.
I find this paragraph interesting because, despite fine attention to details of professional fields, Jefferson leaves much of the university's future unsettled in order to foster an institution that will change in order to best meet the needs of the students and of society as a whole. Despite diction that trivializes the arts as only auxiliary and for "amusement and happiness," Jefferson acknowledges that it is important to have passions and interests in a vast array of subjects, as opposed to one vocational path. This has fostered UVa students over the past two centuries to engage in a range of interests and helps shape well rounded students.
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- Oct 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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The best mode of government for youth in large collections, is certainly a desideratum not yet attained with us
It is interesting that, despite the specificity of the document in describing the physical and academical structure of the school, no definite structure is given for the governing of students. This was left open for discussion because the founders of UVa believed in the character, ambitions, and "moral dispositions" of the students who would attend this school as sufficient for correcting behaviors. This belief is still evident in UVa's honor system and strong sense of student self-governance.
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To instruct the mass of our citizens in these their rights, interests and duties, as men and citizens,
Although the university has changed quite a bit in its values, priorities, and structure since this document was written, I believe this statement still rings true and is vital to everything we do at UVa. Becoming more aware citizens is an integral part of our higher education experience. This spirit of civic engagement is especially palpable in our engagements courses, as we strive to better understand our society and our place in it as citizens.
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