Liberal Education in Nigeria

Abstract

Liberal education is a product of the Western academy and is today most prominent in the USA, but in recent years has been described in various national contexts where it has seldom existed before. However, the spread of liberal education has been underexplored in some regions, such as sub-Sharan Africa, and empirical research is limited on how liberal education curricula are adapted in African contexts. In this qualitative case study, I explore the global, national, and local forces that have influenced an African liberal education program—the General Studies curriculum at the University of Nigeria Nsukka—over time. Analysis of primary and secondary textual sources indicates that at the global level the legacies of colonialism, dynamics of globalization, and agency of transnational partners and actors have influenced the character and evolution of General Studies in Nigeria since its inception.