Throughout its existence, the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) has asserted its commitment to the need for humans to come together to speak about the scientific, the political, and the artistic in order to live together in an enlightened fashion. In 2004, ACTC's Tenth Annual Conference convened to re-affirm and re-examine the value of serious reading and discussion focused through core texts. Participants articulated the various ways by which core text education in the liberal arts constructs and supports different expressions of community on college campuses around the world. Presenters asked whether it is better to contemplate the arts simply as expressions of cultures and traditions or to cultivate them, taking the risk that what is valued in artistic expressions might be changed by the inventions of teachers and the students they encourage. The essays collected here reflect the responses of the diverse group of ACTC's members, all of whom support the idea of liberal core text education with the self-conscious awareness of the challenges facing liberal education in the modern academy.

What particular form of liberal education should a college or university institute? Reform in general liberal education is an inevitable reality for faculty and the administration. Core texts are at the heart of that reform debate. Establishing an institution's core texts requires extensive research and discussion. At the 2002 Association for Core Texts and Courses conference over 100 institutions explored the relevance and role of the core texts to a 21st century education. This collection of essays captures the excitement of this debate and allows serious thinkers and practitioners of liberal arts education to see what other colleagues and institutions are developing.