Dr. Paul Ranieri, Exectutive Director for the Association of General and Liberal Studies at Ball State, will present "The Importance of a Liberal Arts Education" on February 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bass Mansion.
Dr. Ranieri describes himself as a generalist, though his specific training was in first-year writing, cognitive development and classical rhetorical theory. Soon after coming to Ball State in 1983, however, he was given a chance to engage his interest in the Liberal Arts by teaching the three-course Humanities sequence in the Honors College. He describes the perfect teaching semester as a course in freshman writing, a course in Honors Humanities and a doctoral course in Classical Rhetoric.
A Midwesterner by birth and by choice, he received his BA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, a Master's of Arts in Teaching from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a doctorate in English Education and Rhetoric from the University of Texas at Austin. Along the way he managed to teach high school for four years, remain married to Lynn for 30, and help raise a daughter, Claire, now a senior at Ball State. Professionally, he enjoys serving as Executive Director for the Association for General and Liberal Studies.
He welcomes any opportunity to talk with colleagues about his favorite topics: Liberal Education, writing, cognitive development, logos, kairos, and teaching undergraduates.
