Supporting academic freedom for students and scholars
About AltLiberalArts
OUR MISSION
AltLiberalArts is a nonprofit education initiative offering alternative and online learning platforms to fill the gaps created by bans, censorship and threats that result in self-censorship in college and early college studies in the United States. We are academicians concerned with academics. We support students and faculty in the interest of promoting academic freedom and free inquiry. We believe that if a democracy does not have freedom in education, it cannot preserve freedom in any part of society.
AltLiberalArts invites collaboration with students and scholars who share our beliefs in support of academic freedom. Internationally we have seen assaults on academic freedom and limits on teaching and scholarship in places such as Hungary, Myanmar, and Russia, where the liberal arts and sciences have been particularly under threat. This trend has hit home in the United States. New College of Florida, a top-ranked, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, gained national attention on January 6, 2023 when newly appointed trustees made decisions to disfavor certain academic subjects and close administrative departments, contributing to the exodus of many faculty and students. Other Florida colleges face the same threats now spreading to other states.
Now more than ever, it is time to support open inquiry and civic engagement for students and scholars.
“Free universities are a free society. We’re here for free inquiry. We’re here to give kids degrees in neuroscience and economics and social sciences and [to] treat and teach each of them as free citizens.”
Michael Ignatieff, Former Rector, Central European University
Our Founding Board
AltLiberalArts is an educational non-profit led by members of the New College community.
ROBERT BENEDETTI | Former Provost of New College of Florida
Robert Benedetti is a retired academic administrator and teacher. He graduated from Amherst College, attended Union Theological Seminary, and has his masters and doctorate in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught and served as the Provost at New College, Sarasota FL from 1970 - 1989. From 1989 to 2013 he was Dean of the College and then Director of the Jacoby Center for Public Service and Civic Leadership at the University of the Pacific. Dr. Benedetti served as the chair of two State Humanities Councils, Florida and California. He has published on local politics in California and Florida as well as on the history of the Sacramento-San Joaquin river Delta.
BRIAN CODY | NCF Alumnus, former NCF Student President
Brian Cody is originally from Live Oak, Florida and attended New College from 2002 to 2006. Brian pursued doctoral work in sociology at the University of Chicago, then pivoted to becoming the co-founder and CEO of Scholastica, a provider of academic journal publishing software. Brian has served on the board of multiple nonprofits, including the New College Foundation and Catapult Chicago, and has experience with nonprofit fundraising, grant writing, budgeting, board composition strategy, and governance best practices. He is a self-taught Ruby on Rails programmer, and father of two young children.
DR. MARGEE ENSIGN | NCF Alumni, President of AUBG
Dr. Margee Ensign is currently the president of the American University of Bulgaria (AUBG) after serving as the president of the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Ensign previously served as president at two other universities: Dickinson College in the United States and the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Adamawa State. She is the author and editor of six books, including Rwanda: History and Hope and Confronting Genocide: Dehumanization, Denial and Strategies for Prevention. Dr. Ensign earned her BA from New College in Florida and her Ph.D. in International Political Economy from the University of Maryland, with a dissertation in Artificial Intelligence and Economics.
DR. STEPHEN MILES | Former Provost and Professor Emeritus
Dr. Stephen Miles is Professor Emeritus of Music at New College of Florida, where he served as Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs from 2011 to 2017. He is the Founding Director of New Music New College, which for 24 years served as a laboratory for interdisciplinary research and performance of contemporary music. As a composer, Miles has focused on experimental music for voice. As a theorist, Miles presents regularly at the annual conference on Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts, and has published articles in such journals as Perspectives of New Music.
MARY L. RUIZ | Alumni, former Chair NCF Board of Trustees
Mary L. Ruiz is CEO of Ruiz Strategic Advisors, a management consultancy specializing in strategic planning for growth. She is a senior healthcare chief executive officer, chief strategy officer and a respected leader in impacting public behavioral health policy. Ruiz has a BA from New College and an MBA from USF. She is past Chair of the New College Board of Trustees and the founding President of the New College Alumni Association.
Our Partners
AltLiberalArts is inspired by the goodwill of scholars from all over the world who have been moved to support our mission by giving lectures and teaching online. The Open Society University Network has made its entire curriculum available to students around the globe who are facing similar challenges related to suppression and censorship. AltLiberalArts is also supporting the efforts of Bard College efforts to offer early college courses to high school students in Florida as it does in many other states.
AltLiberalArts is not associated, affiliated with or endorsed by New College of Florida, New College of University of Oxford, New College of California, New College of Arizona State University, New College of the University of Alabama or the many other institutions and organizations which have the words “new” and “college” in their names.
We invite you to the cause.
There are many ways you can help:
• Sign on here to receive updates and course offerings.
• Promote our educational initiatives on your social media.
• Sign up here to offer to teach.
• Connect us to resources and sponsors.
• Donate here to support our aim to offer free courses to students and payment to teaching scholars (Donations are not yet tax deductible but are essential in our start up operations.)