UCLA’s Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions opens with Lincoln celebration
By Sarah Ravani
Nov. 18, 2009 11:01 p.m.
The recently created Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions is holding its first event this week celebrating Abraham Lincoln.
The center was created to provide students with an education of great works and achievements from Western civilizations and other civilizations, said Daniel Lowenstein, director of the Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions.
For the first time, the center will be offering two Honors seminar courses in the winter that will focus on American political thought and European political thinkers that are influential in America.
“There’s an obvious connection between those two. What is the purpose of life? What is the nature of our society? What is the nature of the physical world we live in?” said Lowenstein, professor emeritus of the law school.
According to Andrew Sabl, professor of public policy and political science, this center will allow UCLA students and professors to share ideas with one another.
“That’s a common experience at a liberal arts college, but it’s become very uncommon at UCLA. This will lead to a different and richer learning experience for both the students and the teachers,” Sabl said.
Sabl said they are encouraging students to create a community in which they talk to each other about different ideas and how they relate to one another.
Lowenstein said he hopes the center will eventually feature more courses that would provide an introduction to Western history and its ideas.
Although it has been difficult to raise money, the center has been offered generous grants from foundations like the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which offered a grant in support of the Lincoln celebration, Lowenstein said. Lowenstein said he hopes to continue to gain support from different foundations and other individuals who can make larger contributions so the center can offer more courses and events for students.
“Maybe we will just go on having a few courses a year, or we can do more than that. We have some general ideas, and if we do attain the resources, we can improve and flush out those ideas,” Lowenstein said.
Lowenstein encourages students to attend the programs in honor of Lincoln because there has not been an event focused on Lincoln at UCLA yet.
“We feel that this is a subject that enables us to really feature a wide variety of things that our center is interested in,” Lowenstein said. “Lincoln is just so fascinating; the period of his life and career is so pivotal in American history.”
Events will include a classical concert and a panel on Lincoln as a politician and his political thoughts, along with a few other events that will be held until Nov. 21.
The event is co-sponsored by the UCLA School of Law and the center along with participation from the UCLA Music Department and the Interact Theatre Company.
Reem Hanna-Harwell, the assistant dean of humanities, said the College Development Office and event staff in the law school have been very helpful with the Lincoln event.
“We believe that what we are interested in and what we have to offer would be a real contribution to a place like UCLA,” Lowenstein said.
