LAUSDeanLong: Over the past two years, I have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue about the culture of drinking at Penn State with the presidents of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council.
College Mourns the Loss of a True Friend
Photo of the Paterno Statue, January 2012
Photo taken by Paterno Fellow Carolyn Lasky
Originally uploaded by LAUSatPSU
Dear Liberal Arts Student Colleagues:
Joe Paterno said that he wanted to be remembered as an educator who made Penn State a better place. However impressive his record as a football coach, his most lasting and meaningful legacy remains the contributions he has made to enrich the educational lives of our students. Nowhere has this legacy been more palpably felt or more deeply appreciated than in the College of the Liberal Arts.
Joe, Sue, and the entire Paterno family have established scholarships supporting students who could not otherwise afford a Penn State education; they have funded graduate student fellowships, the Richards Civil War Center, and the Paterno Family Professorship. The Paternos have found ways to support the academic mission of our College at every level.
It is fitting, therefore, that their greatest contribution has been their visionary support for the Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program. With one hundred students set to graduate in the spring of 2012, over two hundred others who have performed their way into the Schreyer Honors College by aspiring to be a Paterno Fellow, and almost four hundred students still aspiring, the Paterno Fellows program is well positioned to enrich the educational lives of our undergraduates for generations to come.
The program embodies these words Joe Paterno spoke to the graduates of the class of 1973:
“It is being involved in a common cause which brings us joy and memories which endure. It is making our very best effort, that we have stretched to the very limit of our ability, which makes us bigger and able to stretch again: to reach even higher as we undertake new challenges.”
Our common cause is education, and Joe Paterno has made us bigger and stretched us to higher achievement. Now, he has left us and we miss him. But his legacy, our common cause, endures.
Dialogue on Going Home
LAUSDeanLong: Returning home is always fraught with complex emotions and feelings, for you return to a familiar place a changed person.
I wonder how students are feeling about their return home for Thanksgiving this week in the wake of the complex emotional, intellectual and psychological experiences of the past two weeks.
LaurenPerrotti: Some students have already made up their minds by posting facebook statuses warning friends not to bring up the Sanudsky case. Others plan to tell family and friends that it is their week off and they are taking a break from addressing the issue. Thursday evening at the LAUC meeting, our very own Doug Dooling (@DailyDiplomat) posed the question to the council. I am fortunate that my family has been patient and understanding of both the situation and my reaction toward it. However, I know that this is not the case for every student.
LAUSDeanLong: Last week in my letter to students I appealed to Rilke who spoke about the need to “live the questions.” This week, as you return home, I thought perhaps this quotation from D.H. Lawrence might speak to you as it has to me over the past two weeks:
“The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.”
Our attempts to live the questions among the ruins really is difficult work. But it is work for which you all are prepared; it is the work of a liberal arts education, the work of growth and maturity. And you have resources to help you with it: your family, your professors, your friends, and our Liberal Arts academic advisers.
My hope for us this week away is that we find ways to renew our energy and refocus our attention. For when you return, we will need our collective talents, our best selves, to move forward with integrity.
LaurenPerrotti: Yes, and we thought that we might provide a space below in the comment section for students who are at home for the break who want to continue to talk through their experiences with other students on our blog. Over the course of the next week, we invite you to do just that.
- 814-863-0395
- For an appointment: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/schedule_appointment.shtml
- For emergencies: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/crisis.shtml
Dialogue on Penn State Crisis
LAUSDeanLong: Lauren, we have been talking in person over the last week or so about how to respond to the crisis at Penn State in the wake of the grand jury indictments in the Sandusky case. I have admired your leadership with students in trying to keep the focus on the more important elements of this experience: first, the abused children, then the question of an institutional culture and character that seems to have allowed abuse to continue. How are students processing all of this?
Lauren Perrotti (Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council President): Thank you for your compliment. After the news broke (and continued to break daily) about the Sandusky case, students have been facing a multitude of emotions. It is difficult to process all the major issues surrounding the case. First and foremost, it is the case itself, the horrific allegations, and the sadness we feel for the victims. Then there is the firing of a beloved figure, the responses of the administration, the swift acts of the Board of Trustees, the incessant media presence, and the lack of communication from the University to the students. As students, we are trying to comprehend everything, but it is difficult.
The recent email from you reached out to students, yet treated us as adults. Do you foresee more communication between administration and students as this long process continues?
LAUSDeanLong: When I wrote that email, I tried to think about what I would want to hear as a student … then I checked with you. Thank you for looking it over.
Students have a lot of resources to bring to bear on this situation, and administrators and faculty have much to learn from how you are processing the diversity of emotions on the multiple levels you mention. Perhaps the sort of public, honest, mature and open exchange we are having here, and have had in the past, can be a model for ongoing student/administrative communication.
We have both tried to think about what a just and ethical response to all of this might look like. Certainly, it will require us not to lose sight of the crimes at the root of it, nor to forget the victims of those crimes who continue to suffer. But it will also require that we take up the question of institutional ethics in earnest, and not in name only.
What sorts of responses to this would you consider just and ethical?
LaurenPerrotti: I think that the best way to frame a just and ethical response is by promoting truth and respect. Over the course of the past week, we’ve felt in the dark and unclear about what is going on. I think that as you mentioned, these types of transparent dialogues are necessary. It is not us and them, but rather We Are all part of a community coming together as one.
It is important to treat this situation with the complexity it deserves. Thoughtful responses to the current situation include the Friday’s vigil on Old Main lawn, the response of everyone at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and the choice of the THON 2012 logo. Even the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council (LAUC) called a meeting on Thursday to openly discuss the events surrounding Penn State and to reflect on how we are feeling.
The more we communicate and deliberate together, the more we can reach just and ethical conclusions. How are other students, faculty and staff within the Liberal Arts and Penn State community responding to this crisis? What just and ethical responses would promote truth and respect?
Open Letter to Liberal Arts Undergraduates at Penn State
Dear Liberal Arts Student Colleagues:
As we process the events of the past week, it is difficult to grapple with what we and others are thinking and feeling. Each of us responds to these events from where we live, from our perspectives as individuals and as members of an educational community to which we have dedicated our time, our energy, our lives.
As students in the liberal arts, you have many resources to bring to bear on these difficult experiences. As humanists, you know something of the finite nature of human existence, of the complex and often tragic nature of human relationships, and of the healing power of words well placed; as social scientists, you know something about the role power plays in social interactions, the nature of psychological and physical trauma, and the intricacies of healthy human communities. I ask you to bring to bear on this difficult situation the wisdom of your disciplines, the power of your learning and the depth of your commitment to your friends, your teachers and your institution.
As we try to come to some terms with this experience in all its complexity, I hope we find ways to notice the beautiful and good things that are done at Penn State everyday even as we face the things we must as we learn more about what happened. Your good academic work, your integrity as students and your well placed energy contribute to what is valuable about Penn State.
Thank you.
If you or any of your colleagues need to talk with a professional counsellor, please don’t hesitate to call Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 814-863-0395 or go online at: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/schedule_appointment.shtml For emergencies: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/crisis.shtml
Once, in the course of my own education in the liberal arts, I came across a passage from Rilke. My wife reminded me of it last night and it seems to be helping me at the moment; perhaps it might be of some help to you today:
“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903 in Letters to a Young Poet
Sincerely,
Christopher Long
Christopher P. Long
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Classics
College of the Liberal Arts
The Pennsylvania State University
http://www.la.psu.edu/chrislong
L A101H Spring 2012
I am very happy to remind all Freshmen Paterno Fellows and aspirants that you are required to take L A 101H “Rhetoric and Civic Life” this spring 2012 semester.
- analyzing civic rhetoric on campus and in their communities (including their networked communities),
- researching current issues, and
- developing and presenting arguments in oral, written, visual, and digital form.
Welcome to the Liberal Arts 2011
Hello Liberal Arts Undergraduates:
Over the past few years, we in the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies (LAUS) office have sought to create a living online presence that is designed to cultivate community around the undergraduate experience in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State.
While many see social media as a marketing strategy that pushes information out to “clients,” we in LAUS have sought to use social media technologies as an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to engage one another and to reflect in public about the liberal arts experience at Penn State.
With the excellent support of our students, staff and faculty, our online community is thriving. But for its continued success, we need your voice.
As we begin this new academic year, I want to invite you to participate in our online community.
Our LAUS website and our newly redesigned College of the Liberal Arts website serve as a HUB for all the activities in the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies office. I hope you will visit it frequently and make it a favorite bookmark.
Our main LAUSatPSU blog is co-authored by liberal arts faculty, students, and staff. This blog focuses on the undergraduate experience in the College of the Liberal Arts. Here you will find posts from students writing about recent internship experiences; tips about advising from CLA advisers; episodes of Liberal Arts Voices, a bi-weekly podcast produced by the LAUS Office which highlights undergraduate life in the College; and much more.
Our LAUS Announcements blog draws attention to news, updates, and announcements that are important for CLA undergraduates. You should subscribe to LAUS Announcements to get the most recent internship postings, study abroad application deadlines, dates for a variety of College events, and other information related to life in the College.
The Education Abroad Experience blog is generated by the stories and experiences of Liberal Arts undergraduates as they study abroad and travel around the world. If you are interested in studying abroad this is a great opportunity to hear directly from your fellow students and to start thinking about the type of program that is right for you.
If you are an admitted or aspiring Paterno Fellow, make sure to check out the Paterno Fellows Program blog. You will receive direct messages from the PFP Director Jack Selzer and read posts written by students involved in the program when you subscribe to this blog.
I invite you to follow me (@LAUSDeanLong) and the LAUS office (@LAUSatPSU) on Twitter, to become our fan on Facebook, to subscribe to all of our blogs, to listen to the Liberal Arts Voices podcast and, most importantly, to join the ongoing conversation about the Liberal Arts undergraduate experience.
Sincerely,
Dean Long
Liberal Arts Commencement 2011
On Saturday, May 14th, we gathered to celebrate the 2011 graduating class from the College of the Liberal Arts. Rain threatened all day, but somehow Robin Robinson and Andrea Crews, who did an excellent job coordinating the events, managed to arrange for the rain to hold off until everyone was safely inside a packed Bryce Jordan Center.
Collegian Article Under Review
The front page article of today’s edition of the Daily Collegian begins with the provocative suggestion that the “women’s studies, religious studies, Jewish studies, and African and African American studies programs may be the next Penn State majors on the chopping block.”
The article was a speculative commentary on the alleged implications of the Academic Program and Administrative Services Review Core Council memo to the College of the Liberal Arts. It has generated significant student, staff and faculty anxiety, so it is important to clarify the ways the College has responded to the Core Council recommendations about these programs.
The programs mentioned were singled out as ones that ought to be reviewed “to determine the most appropriate arrangements for their administrative homes, organizational structures, and delivery of their curricula.” This is precisely what the College has done.
The Women’s Studies program is undertaking a very exciting review of their curriculum. It is designed to make it easier for students to navigate the major even as the course of study is updated to speak more directly to the most leading-edge scholarship in the field. We look forward to moving these curricular initiatives through the Faculty Senate process next year. The Women’s Studies program is not “on the chopping block.” To learn more about the major, visit the Women’s Studies website.
In Jewish Studies, we are engaged in an ongoing review of the curriculum to ensure that all students interested in learning more about the origins of the Jewish people and the forces that have shaped the Jewish experience have a strong and dynamic major to pursue. To get a sense of one exciting and dynamic course in Jewish Studies, check out this Seminar with an embedded study abroad in Cairo and Alexandria. The Jewish Studies program is not “on the chopping block.” To learn more about the major, visit the Jewish Studies website.
The African and African American Studies department has decided to split into two majors: African Studies and African-American and Diaspora. The African Studies major will be designed to give students the opportunity to examine the geographical, cultural, historical, political, and economic aspects of Africa. The African-American and Diaspora major is being redesigned to give students an integrated and critical understanding of the experiences and contributions of African-Americans.
Finally, student interest in the Religious Studies major has been very low for some time. Moreover, due to changes in the faculty over the past few years, there are fewer faculty teaching in the Religious Studies program. Because of the low student interest, we have decided to recommend the discontinuation of the religious studies major. As was stated in this Collegian article in February, this decision will not affect current majors’ ability to complete their chosen curriculum.
So the sensationalistic lede in the Daily Collegian was wrong on all fronts: The Religious Studies program has already been slated for discontinuation, while Women’s Studies, African-American and Diaspora Studies, African Studies and Jewish Studies are not on the chopping block, but in fact are being reinvigorated to attract new majors. The long term viability of all of these important paths of study depends, of course, on student interest in the fields. So, if you are a student concerned that these majors continue to be offered at Penn State, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with your advisor to declare one of these majors.
Reflections on a Year as Associate Dean
Today marks the first day of my second year as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State. Such moments invite reflection, and since I have been encouraging students to reflect upon their undergraduate experience here on the blog, I thought I would pause to consider my own experience.
It begins and ends with students. The most rewarding aspect of my experience as Associate Dean has been the opportunity to get to know our remarkable undergraduate students.
Whether it was engaging in a Dialogue on Drinking with LAUC President Geoff Halberstadt and former President Sam Loewner, or talking poetry with PSU Laureate Robin Becker and her students Natalie Kovak and William Woolfit on the Liberal Arts Voices Podcast, or experiencing vicariously the transformative study abroad experiences of students like Nicole Zinni and Justin Ogden, I have been struck and encouraged by the integrity, passion, thoughtfulness and maturity of our students in the College of the Liberal Arts.
The rich LAUS website, with its student bloggers, pictures, videos and podcasts, has been the medium through which the undergraduate student experience has been articulated and, I hope, amplified. My commitment to the strategy with which I began my tenure as Associate Dean – to use social media technologies to deepen and enrich our community of education – has strengthened as students have embraced the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in public.
Justin Ogden, who blogged for us as he spent the summer of 2010 as an intern at a shoe factory in China, gives eloquent voice to the power of blogging to focus our thoughts, slow us down and deepen our appreciation of the experiences we are having: