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Rhode Island School of Design was founded in 1877. Today, RISD is a vibrant community of artists and designers, including 2,200 students from around the world, approximately 350 faculty and curators, and 400 staff members. Each year, more than 200 prominent artists, critics, authors, and philosophers visit the historic RISD College Hill campus. RISD's curriculum recognizes the need for ecological sensitivity and encourages student artists and designers to consider environmental issues in creating works of cultural aesthetic benefit. RISD understands the need to think globally, to teach its students about the many cultures and ways of thinking that will give them the necessary perspective to help shape the world in which we live. Philosophically, the College believes in the value of a holistic education, one that balances the emphasis on the professional major with an equally important expectation that a student be versed in the humanities, literature and the social sciences. RISD recognizes that not all students will ultimately be practicing in their professions: they may in fact choose other professional endeavors. Students receive an educational experience underscored by rigorous requirements and reviews, complemented by fully one-third of their program concentrated in the Liberal Arts. This combination ensures that focused study is supplemented by a broad understanding of the context in which artists, designers and art educators pursue their chosen fields of work. As strong advocates for the arts, RISD administrators, faculty, alumni and visiting speakers constantly reinforce the need for public support of the arts and provide a context within which the arts may be understood and appreciated by the larger public.