One of the highlights of the Fall 2009 semester was the celebration of 100 years of Liberal Arts education at Penn State.
Edwin Erle Sparks, the 8th President of Penn State, established the College of the Liberal Arts in 1909 by bringing art and mathematics together with the School of Language and Literature and the School of History and Political Science. (For more on our history, see the CLA website.)
Who in 1909 would have imagined that their work and the values they embodied would be written about in media that, with the click of a button, makes their words and deeds instantly accessible to an infinite number of people, each of whom is empowered to respond directly to what they have done?
As we begin our second century, it is perhaps fitting to pause a moment to consider: how will liberal arts students, faculty, staff, and alums commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the College; what will have changed; and what will endure?
In considering this, I am confident of only two things:
- Education in the liberal arts will have been transformed by the digital media revolution through which we are living; and
- The values and abilities taught by the liberal arts – respect for diversity, ethical leadership, excellence in communication, and creative, critical thinking – will remain of decisive importance for a successful and meaningful life in 2109.
Let me end by inviting you to respond to any or all of the following questions:
- How has the liberal arts experience at Penn State changed over the past 100 years?
- What are the values, skills, and ideas that endure?
- How will an education in the liberal arts change in the next 5, 10, 50, 100 years?
- What forms of communication will the College community use to commemorate our bicentennial?
Tenants of the Liberal Arts education have endured for over 100 years, and they will exist for another 100 years. There will be many revolutions in education over the next 100 years; we are living through one right now: the coming of age for digital media. However, a Liberal Arts education has progressed through multiple changes in technology and communication and will continue to progress through other innovative technologies.
The values stressed by the Liberal Arts will not be diminished; rather, they will be augmented by these innovations in technology and the digital community. Ethical values, critical thinking, and critical writing skills will always be prominent planks in a well rounded individual. The year could be 2010 or 2109, value will still be placed on a student – an individual – who displays these abilities. The quality education received in the College of Liberal Arts at Penn State will endure.
Thanks, Gil!
What you say about continuing education is very important. But what this means is not only that students will continue their education after they graduate, but also that specific courses will have a life beyond the semester in which they are offered.
This is already happening. In my course last semester on Socratic Politics (PHIL200), we used a co-authored course blog to build a community of learning around the Platonic texts we were reading.
The online discussion of the course material not only extended beyond the classroom during the semester, it has now, to my great excitement, extended into the next semester! Some of my students are still blogging on our course blog despite the fact that the semester is over. I think this is because the blog became a learning community the students helped build and so they remain interested in sustaining that discussion even after the official class was over.
If you have a moment, check out the blog here:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/cpl2/blogs/digitaldialogue/blog/
I have tried to articulate the model I used to teach this course in a presentation I gave in Utah last fall.
This model has exciting and far reaching implications for what it means to teach a course. In a sense, my course has not ended although the semester has. This is a new definition of continuing education – and it will have important implications for teachers and students alike.
Chris: Congratulations on your appointment.
In the future I see significantly greater attention to continuing education. Graduates of Liberal Arts will be offered opportunities to take a large number of courses via internet. All will be encouraged to take course work forever.
Almost every undergraduate student will have experienced foreign travel experience during 4 years in Liberal Arts.
There will be even greater integration among the colleges so that all technical degree candidates will have significant Liberal Arts exposure.
Students will be offered improved guidance in designing their college program so that they will be prepared for enhanced employment opportunities upon graduation.
Degree programs will be constantly revised so that students will be prepared for the job opportunities that are going to exist when they graduate.
Ben, it is good to hear you emphasize the fact that traditional liberal arts values not only continue to be important but also gain relevance in the digital revolution.
The quantity and diversity of information to which we now have access makes it ever more critical that students and faculty alike develop habits of discernment and good judgment.
I would agree that the principles of a sound liberal arts education have remained the same: excellence in communication, creative, and critical thinking. The advent of the digital revolution has only changed the context in which we connect with others. In fact, the digital revolution of social media has made it more important than ever to understand the diversity of social and political thought.
I think that one of the most important things we can draw from is the idea that our education doesn’t have an expiration date. Largely, the University setting – and, I like to think, the College of Liberal Arts particularly, introduces a method for learning. We begin to understand what questions ought to be asked and when while we begin to learn how to communicate and with whom to communicate.
In my lifetime, the methods through which those skills are taught may change, but the driving force behind them – the reason that those who are successful in the college and university are successful – will remain the same: people want to succeed. To do so, they need knowledge. And what’s more valuable than developing a mechanism to take in and retain knowledge?