Liberal Arts Voices

Read the perspectives of our current students

Special Collections Special Tour

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View of the Pattee Library in the 1940s
Penn State University Archives
Originally uploaded by pennstatelive

As I mentioned briefly in my previous post this summer, and covered more extensively in my posts this past fall, I have previous experience in working with Special Collections libraries. This, combined with the total book nerd part of my personality that led me to major in English in the first place gives me quite a fondness for any place that stores, works with, or has a collection of large amounts of rare books. Conveniently enough for my book loving self, such a place  exists right on the Penn State Campus and is accessible for all undergraduate students. I met one of the archivists in the special collections part of the library, Michelle, and she took me on a guided tour of many of the places in the library that special collections encompasses.

We started in the main room of the Paterno library special collections, which generally has displays open for the public to enjoy. Currently, a Civil War display is up and running, with many facts, photos, and interesting memorabilia from the time period. Pictures of the display will soon be on Flickr as well. After browsing the display, Michelle and I headed up to the third floor of Pattee library, where the Fred Waring’s America and the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora are housed.

Fred Waring was a bit of a Renaissance man, who made a name for himself in music, television, and radio as well as being a connoisseur of comics. Many of Waring’s music and memorabilia are on display, but the most interesting part of his collection that I saw was behind the scenes. In the Waring back room, there were all kinds of recording equipment, everything from records to disc, wire, tape, kinescopes, videotape to a large soundboard, which is used to convert all of the other types of recordings into things that can be listened to and appreciated in the digital age. I was amazed that such a small back room could be full of so many different types of audio recordings (and the gigantic soundboard, of course). The whole Fred Waring collection is worth seeing, but just knowing that our library hosts that kind of technological power is amazing.

After leaving the Fred Waring collection, Michelle took me to see the Charles Blockson collection. This one we only stopped at briefly, because it has more limited hours and therefore was not open when we went to see it. Once inside, I saw a room full of all kinds of memorabilia, from figurines to books to displays all about Africa and the African Diaspora. Though we only stayed a short while, I’d love to go back during open hours and explore the room at my leisure.

It was only after touring these two collections that we got to the really cool stuff. Not to say that the collections weren’t cool, and I would highly recommend checking them out, but this is when Michelle took me behind the scenes. We went to the map room, which intuitively houses maps, and apparently those of Central Pennsylvania get a lot of use around here. We went into a room that housed a lot of the records of Penn State itself – records on buildings and the people who shaped Penn State over the years. And this is where we encountered one of my favorite types of book storage: movable bookshelves. At the push of a button and pull of a lever, these shelves collapse on themselves to create more room for storage. Michelle confessed that she thought they were fun too. Though this is quite a digression from the point of this post, I couldn’t help but mention the bookshelves.

We traveled down into cold storage, which, trust me, was quite cold, and full of all kinds of good stuff like color photographs (the black and white ones are kept upstairs because they need to be accessed so often) as well as things like VHS tapes and other forms of media. Many of the pictures are logs of the campus and surrounding areas. Central Pennsylvanian history is apparently a very popular and researched subject.

Outside of cold storage was another storage room for books, in which Michelle specifically showed me the collection of older fantasy and sci fi books.  We looked at these books mainly because their covers were so ridiculous. Between that and Michelle’s favorite illustrator/author Edward Gorey, we had quite a good time going through the books in this area. As my dream in life pretty much consists of spending as much time as possible being surrounded by books, this was a little slice of heaven for me.

I absolutely loved my tour of the special collections library here at Penn State. Besides the rooms I saw, there are also three warehouses full of material. All of these things are at our disposal as undergraduate students. Though one who wants to work with the special collections materials in the library probably needs to have a clear idea of what materials they want to work with, it is completely worth it to check out special collections materials the next time you research a topic. Thanks again to Michelle for my tour of all things special collections! Check out the special collections website for more information.

LionSearch Explorations

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Untitled
Originally uploaded by pennstatelive

The first time I posted for LAUS@PSU, I wrote about my experiences researching in Special Collections libraries in Philadelphia for a Penn State professor.  This summer, however, I’m staying in State College and I’m looking for resources a little closer to home.  In this respect, the Penn State Libraries deliver.  One of the newest and most innovative features to be rolled out by PSU libraries is LionSearch.  It is a search engine that combines all the other searches in the library– the CAT and all the journals searches so it is easy to find any material in the libraries on a particular subject. One search, all potential possibilities.

In order to test out this new search engine for hyping and creative purposes alike, I decided to search for a random topic that I find interesting and see where LionSearch takes me. I decided to search “Prometheus” as my keyword. I am currently quite invested in the myth of Prometheus in all its forms, as I am planning to write my senior thesis about adaptations of the Prometheus myth. Unsurprisingly, this keyword search turned up 34,928 results. Both the myth and the name “Prometheus” are quite well known, especially in scholarly circles, so the barrage of results is no shock. Luckily, the LionSearch sidebar provides me with ways to narrow down my search.

Under the “Refine your search” sidebar, I decided to check the “Items in the library catalogue” box and the search was narrowed down to 3,087 results, which is a much more manageable than the nearly 35,000 that bombarded me before. In order to play around a bit more with the search results, I returned to the sidebar.

I started with the “Content Type” selections, which showed me that the materials that showed up for my search of “Prometheus” range from books, the most common (2,875 materials) to kit (whatever that is) which only turned up one item. Interested in this mysterious “kit” I looked for it specifically. Turns out it is a children’s book, a collection of illustrated creation myths from all over the world. What earned it the label of “kit” I think is because that the one on the University Park campus is both a book and an audio CD. Also, James Earl Jones is a narrator for the CD, so I think I might need go to listen to this recording.

After going back to my original search of materials in the library catalogue, in order to find out what else may be lurking around the library, I checked out the feature called “Author” and saw that after Aeschylus, the author of “Prometheus Bound,” one of the first and longest documentations of the Promethean myth, the next author with the most work incorporated in the search was Ludwig Van Beethoven. Curious, I pursued this next. After including only Beethoven in my search, I found that most of his work held in the library and responsive to the keyword search “Prometheus” is audio recordings of his music for the ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus.” Most of these recordings seem to be available in the Arts and Humanities library, but there is at least one online resource. I followed up on this online resource, and I am currently listening to “The Creatures of Prometheus” on my computer as I type this. Oh, and this material is also available as a CD.

With new background music accompanying me, I forayed back to the search page and checked out the languages available for “Prometheus” texts. I didn’t follow up on any strange language texts, mostly because I would be unable to understand them even if I did, but plenty of languages were represented. English swept the top prize with 2,993 materials and German came in second with 106 titles (I actually find this fact interesting because I am reading some German works in translation for aforementioned Prometheus thesis, but I digress). The list goes on, with representations of Greek and Latin works and many European languages, until we get to some rather random inclusions, such as Bengali and Church Slavic (?).

I then took a look at the genres represented (did you know that “controversial literature” is a genre?) which quickly showed me that pretty much anything you can imagine is covered here. I was interested that the top genre was biography, as Prometheus is a figure of myth, so I took a look and quickly found my confusing factor– a publishing company called Prometheus Books. I would like to believe that this speaks to the pervasiveness of Promethean legend in modern culture, and I also note that these could easily be weeded out in a more direct and less ramble-y search than mine.

The last two filters also prove interesting and useful in a search with actual direction: a regional search and a time period search. The time period search alone shows me the way that Prometheus was represented through the ages. All the filters on the site are easy to use and manipulate, and just from this post you can see the interesting directions exploring LionSearch and the Penn State libraries can take you. So use the new technology well, post your feedback, and enjoy your explorations!

Love thy Language(s): Unlocking New Perspectives

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Globe
Originally uploaded by steveritchie

مرحبا

Bonjour!

Hello, I should say. My name is Chris Tutolo, and I am a junior at Penn State majoring in International Politics and seeking a minor in both French and Middle East Studies. In the first of my posts, I’d like to emphasize the benefits of studying languages, especially as a student in the Liberal Arts at Penn State.

The College of the Liberal Arts is home to over 10 languages available for study at Penn State. I strongly encourage others within the college to pick up a minor in one of them. Not only is learning a foreign language an awakening, fun, and incredibly rewarding experience, but it also perfectly complements the academic track of a liberal arts degree.

Also, if boredom has plagued the best of your midsummer days, direct your attention toward a great opportunity to both master a language and earn credits next summer with the Language Institute at Penn State. The Language Institute offers intensive language sequences in more than 10 languages and students can earn up to 12 credits in just 8 weeks.  Many of the courses required for a foreign language minor are now offered in the summer and eight weeks of summer language study can help students make great strides towards a language minor. Past and present participants: feel free to comment below on your experience with the Language Institute.

To echo what Rebekka Egger, Academic Director of the Language Institute, wrote in an earlier post, foreign language skills are developing as exceedingly practical tools in the globalized, multicultural marketplace that marks the 21st century. Increasing, too, with this trend is the number of firms, NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and other American companies that operate outside U.S. borders. Intuitively, getting ahead in this form of marketplace frequently includes knowledge of at least one foreign language.

Foreign language proficiency can even help you in the application process, as a number of graduate and law schools, government jobs, nonprofits and even scholarships and grants weigh language skills into their decision. Even in recreational traveling through foreign countries where English is commonly used, a cultured tourist beats an ignorant one. The list of benefits goes on, but one of the most interesting of them is the suspected advantages of the bilingual brain (Go figure.).

Fellow readers, I challenge you to challenge yourselves. In my lifetime, I have found myself enclosed in a bubble of sorts, constricted further by narrow minds and unfaltering outlooks on life. Since engaging in International Politics, French, and Middle East Studies, I find myself reaching toward endless horizons with an open mind, open arms, and open eyes. From within the Penn State community, I now feel connected on a much broader scale.

I hope to complete my French minor requirements while abroad at a Penn State affiliated institution in France. What’s more, I may even stay with a Tunisian family, where I would learn more about both French and Arab culture. Granted, not even I could have expected opportunities so picture perfect. But it started with a piqued interest in language. The room for creation, exploration, and discovery that ensued is what led me down a chance-filled path and, to be sure, toward what great things await.

You, too, have the chance to spring into the opportunities available to you through Penn State. Explore them. Exceed your boundaries. You may find yourself fascinated by the prospect of traveling, studying abroad, and meeting international students (field experience, you might say). And if you’re anything like me, you’ll never turn back.

Look out for more posts from me throughout the next couple of months. Some of the topics include: debunking the Language Acquisition Device and stress-free escapes on and around Penn State’s campus just in time for the fall semester.

The Liberal Arts in a Time of Crisis: Opening Discussion

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Sparks Building
Originally uploaded by LAUSatPSU

My name is Rob Turchick, a rising senior studying English and Vice President of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council. I write today what will be the first blog in a series of posts focused on the importance of higher education; more specifically, a liberal arts education. Recent budget cuts and (what seemed like a flurry of) disbanded majors, such as Religious Studies, have many questioning the value of the liberal arts, as well as the direction that higher education is taking. Through this series of posts, we will hear what members of Penn State’s liberal arts community have to say.

At the close of the 2011 spring semester, Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts hosted a conference that served to highlight a crisis in the liberal arts, and to identify potential solutions. Personally, I think our outgoing LAUC President Geoff Halberstadt summed up the problem in question best in a blog post titled “Crisis in the Liberal Arts: Cynical Faculty”:

“The problem I see lies in the turning away from a liberal arts education, and, to me at the very least, a repudiation of the values that education offers its students.”

A liberal arts education instills in all of its students leadership, understanding, and ethics, and has been the foundation of higher education since its inception. It is becoming more apparent, especially now with constricting monetary limitations, that these qualities are being devalued by politicians and the public alike. A recent PEW study, “Is College Worth It?”, reported that 57% of Americans believe that the higher education system in the U.S. fails to give students good value for the money that they dish out for college. Furthermore, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices will have you believe that “preparing a state’s work force for 21st-century jobs” will require the governors to wean colleges and universities from their “emphasis on broad liberal-arts education” (see Carol Schneider’s article “Degrees for What Jobs?’ Wrong Question, Wrong Answers” for more information). It seems to me that higher education as a whole is being criticized, and the liberal arts are sure to receive the heaviest critical blow.

This should be alarming to the entire nation, not just liberal arts students, teachers, or administrators. Liberal arts students consistently perform astronomically better than students in other areas of study in reading, writing, and analytical thinking. For some reason, these skills are being kicked to the curb in exchange for extremely narrow fields of study which have short term pay offs, but give students no real room to grow. The liberal arts provide the best avenue for personal growth and a better understanding of the world we live in, giving its students a foundation for success in any field of work. When did we begin thinking of education in terms of dollar signs and pay offs? A few other questions must be addressed, as well. How do the liberal arts contribute to society? Why does higher education have a bad name with the majority of the American public? How can we reverse these beliefs?

We are very fortunate to also be hearing from former LAUC President Sam Loewner in the very near future, who will offer his own insight into how we might measure the value of education. I implore everyone to follow along in a series of posts that will hopefully validate my belief that a liberal arts education is something to be celebrated and encourage.

I now invite everyone in the Penn State community to take part in this discussion. Please feel free to support or refute any ideas that I have put forth in the comments.

Exploring Law: Trial Run

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Lewis Katz Building
Originally uploaded by Penn State Law

I, along with about 35 other Penn State undergrads with majors ranging from English to Electrical Engineering, participated in Penn State Law’s second annual Explore Law program held May 15-20, 2011 in the Katz building. This program is designed for students who are interested in possibly pursuing futures in Law to gain insight into what it means to be a Law student and eventually an attorney. Before the program even started, we had homework assignments–these assignments were (1) a personal statement for admission to Law School, (2) a practice LSAT essay exam, and (3) reading five different cases and writing “briefs” for them. When I saw these assignments, I knew I was going to be in for a rigorous week at law school camp!

Throughout the span of the program, I was consistently impressed with the lineup of presentations, panelists, and activities that kept us busy from 9 am to 5 pm (just like in real Law School). Much of the days’ presentations featured Law Professors, Deans, Attorneys, and Judges who spoke about their professional specialties as well as their career paths and experiences in the field of Law. While that may seem to be a monotonous way to spend each day, it definitely was not. Not only did their stories inspire me (let me tell you, these people are successful with a capital S), but I enjoyed the honest and candid testimonials about their journeys. Each presenter shared their successes, but also took time to highlight the many challenges they faced along the way. For instance, they noted several difficulties of Law School such as professors’ use of the Socratic Method, emphasis on analytical reasoning, the competitive atmosphere, and long lonely hours reading and studying, to name a few. Despite the challenges, each professional who spoke was very happy in their career and could also highlight many joyful times in Law School and afterward. Throughout the week, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that not all Law graduates take the same path; not every graduate ends up in courtrooms or works in a large firm in a high pressure setting. Many different people spoke to us throughout the week from all different paths; we heard from Law students and professors (legal writing, torts, and criminal procedure), Litigators, Judges, Deans, Transactional Lawyers, and Academic Advisors in the Law School. Hearing the diverse perspectives reinforced the claim that you can do a lot of different things with a J.D.

When we weren’t listening to those very informational presentations, we were engaged in mock classes and workshops. We took two mock Law classes, one on “torts” and the other on criminal procedure. Those are two “1L” classes that are prescribed in the first year of Law School. In our Case Briefing Workshops, we worked on the briefs that we submitted as early homework assignments which were then used in the mock classes we participated in. One of my favorite activities was the “Lawyer Simulation Exercise,” which was a simulation in negotiation and conflict management. Professors Welsh and Shea gave a presentation on the work of lawyers as “negotiators” in contracts and other deals, and the Law School campers participated in a simulation which I really enjoyed–maybe it’s the Resident Assistant in me who loves managing conflict! Our final, big activity was the Litigation Workshop, or “mock trial,” where we all got to play a part in a classic slip-and-fall” case. Some of us were lawyers, some judges and jurors, and the rest witnesses (plaintiffs or defendants/appellants/appellees). This activity was a lot of fun, and we got to work together in groups based on our roles. For example, I was the “witness” Danielle Fox, who was also the plaintiff. I had two lawyers (for two separate trials), so I was able to work with those students on my direct examination. It was a lot of fun! After our trials were over, real lawyers stepped into the student lawyers’ shoes and performed direct and cross examinations of the same case. It was amazing to see them do what they do best!

Some other things that were discussed throughout the week were of course admissions and logistical questions about the LSAT, percentiles, transcripts, and financial aid, as well as information on joint degree programs and career services information. We were also given a personal tour of the Katz building and we got to hang out with two Penn State Law students–one who just finished her first year and the other who is now a graduate!

All in all, I am so glad I participated in this program. It gave me wonderful insight into life as a law student and to where a degree in Law can take a person in their career. I initially wanted to participate in Explore Law for just that–to explore the possibilities of Law, and this program definitely enhanced my knowledge of the experience. Not only was I surrounded by 34 other super ambitious undergraduate students, but I got to meet and mingle with some highly impressive lawyers, judges, and professors to talk about Law. The days were definitely long and the homework was not easy (at least for a student not accustomed to that kind of homework), but that helped make the week’s activities more realistic and useful. For now, my future plans are not concrete, however Law School is most definitely in the mix of potential pathways to pursue and because of Explore Law I no longer feel quite as lost as to what that means. I highly encourage other students to apply for this program next year. Information can be found on Penn State Law’s website.

Many thanks to Professor Michele Vollmer at Penn State Law for coordinating and facilitating the whole program. She did a wonderful job!

Into The Looking Glass: Henri Vever in 1878

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Paris (c.1907)
Originally uploaded by postaletrice

During my research I have had the opportunity to work with the diaries Vever kept in 1878 and 1900. This has provided me with a view of both his young adult life, as he was born in 1854, and his life in middle age. Two separate blog entries will provide a look first into his life in his mid-twenties, then into his life in the mid-forties. Vever filled his diaries with details about his personal and social lives, and the beginning of his career. With his brother Paul, he ran the family jewelry business, the Maison Vever, founded by his father when the family moved to Paris from Nancy during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. In the 1878 diary, Vever focuses mainly on his preparation for the Paris World’s Fair of that year. He also discusses other jewelers and their creations, as well as paintings and objets d’art that he acquires as a young art collector.

For a young, relatively affluent Parisian bourgeois, life couldn’t seem to get any better. He visited the Opera almost every night, where he would watch the performances (which he critiqued afterwards in his diary) and often go backstage to visit the performers. As a twenty-four year-old man, he paid most of his attention to the women, with whom he would exchange small portraits–similar to the way we exchange business cards or friend someone on Facebook.

Indeed, the diaries recount in detail Vever’s private life, including accounts of the many women he visited along with the one steady “girlfriend,” Henriette, to whom he was not yet ready to commit. Although he would never explicitly kiss and tell, it was obvious that he knew how to charm a woman. His social life also included visits to caf�s with his male friends and frequent dinners with his friends and family.

It has been fascinating for me to learn how modern Vever’s life seemed, or maybe just how much things have stayed the same over time. While technology is different now and we send e-mails and text messages when he was sending letters, Vever’s life seemed remarkably similar to my life at twenty years old. His journals made me realize that the past is not a foreign concept that we can never fully understand or relate to, but a previous time that has only just evolved in to the present.

Earn Penn State Credits No Matter Where You Spend Your Summer

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Penn State Summer Courses
Originally uploaded by LAUSatPSU

Do your summer plans include taking classes? If not, there are many reasons you could consider adding summer credits–you don’t even have to stay in town!

  • Gen ed courses that have watch lists during the fall and spring have availability in the summer. Courses such as CAS 100 (Effective Speech–GWS), ENGL 202 (Effective Writing–GWS), PHIL 012 (Symbolic Logic–GQ), and 400-level PL SC, which students often have to wait to take, are easier to schedule during the summer.
  • Have you had trouble fitting in a lab science? ANTH 021 (Biological Anthropology–GN) is available during the summer, and it fulfills the lab requirement for Liberal Arts.
  • Still need foreign language credits? You have the opportunity to complete one, two, or three levels of language in the summer. Because the educational objectives vary somewhat from traditional language courses, the language placement policy enforced during the fall and spring is not in place for these summer courses. That means that if your previous units place you in a higher level of a language than you are comfortable with, you would still receive credit if you take a lower-level language in the summer.
  • Class sizes are small. As an example, CRIM/SOC 012 (Criminology–GS) could have 300 students during the spring and just 20 students during the summer.
  • Courses are offered during different sessions and different formats, so you choose what works best with your schedule:
    • Online, six-week courses: Courses are available in two different sessions–May 16 to June 24 and June 29 to August 10. Examples are AAA S 110 (Introduction to Contemporary Africa–GS, IL, Other Cultures), CMLIT 108 (Myths and Mythologies–GH, IL, Other Cultures), ECON 102 (Introductory Microeconomics Analysis and Policy–GS, Business and the Liberal Arts Minor), LER 100 (Employment Relations–GS, Business and the Liberal Arts Minor), and WMNST 003 (Introduction to Women, the Humanities, and the Arts–GH, US, IL).
    • Online, summer-long courses: Courses are available from May 16 to August 10. Examples are ENGL 202 (Effective Writing–GWS), PHIL 103W (Introduction to Ethics–GH, Writing Across the Curriculum), PL SC 014 (International Relations–GS, IL), and PSYCH 100 (Introductory Psychology–GS). The educational objectives are the same for the summer-long courses as the six-week offerings–you are doing less work per week, though, since the lessons are spread across more weeks. 

(NOTE: For a complete listing of online offerings, search both the University Park and World Campus listings on the Schedule of Courses. You do not need residency at University Park for any portion of the online courses.)

    • Resident instruction six-week courses:Courses are available on campus during two different sessions–May 16 – June 24 and June 29 – August 10. Examples are ANTH 045 (Cultural Anthropology–GS, US, IL, Other Cultures), CAS 100 (Effective Speech–GWS), CAS 450W (Group Communication Theory and Research–Writing Across the Curriculum), CRIM 100 (Introduction to Criminal Justice–GS), ENGL 050 (Introduction to Creative Writing–GA), HIST 010 (World History I–GH, IL, Other Cultures), LER 201 (Employment Relationship: Law and Policy–GS), PHIL 105 (Introduction to Philosophy of Law and Legal Ethics–GH), and PSYCH 100 (Introductory Psychology–GS).
  • You can catch up on credits if you are behind, or you can get ahead so you have more flexibility in future scheduling. If you have late dropped credits or taken smaller semester loads and are looking at a heavier credit average for your remaining semesters, summer credits are a way to get back on track. Maybe you are completing a concurrent major or minor and want to take some of your minor credits or 400-level major credits in the summer to make things easier in your final semesters. Some students even plan for full-time enrollment in the summer in an effort to graduate a semester early.
  • Students pay the current tuition rate for summer credits. You may use the tuition calculator on the Bursar’s site to determine your costs based on the number of credits, and you would check with Student Aid to determine if you are eligible for financial aid during the summer.

You may register for summer courses through eLion. If you have questions about whether or not taking summer credits is a good idea for you, consult with your adviser.

For more information about Penn State Summer Courses, visit the outreach website.

End of the Semester Advising Check-In

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…and in last place.
Originally uploaded by ….Tim

Where has the time gone! Only two weeks remaining in the Fall semester! Congratulations to all of you for making it this far. How exciting for the graduating seniors! I am sure most of you graduating seniors are amazed at how fast time has gone by at Penn State! Below are a few tips to help you all end your semester on a good note:

Studying for the Finals: Have you started preparing for your final exams yet? Keep your minds alert by making sure that you get enough sleep and that you are eating well. It wouldn’t hurt to create a study time table. Allocate enough time to each subject according to levels of difficulty. Be consistent and study a little each day to prepare. The university offers many resources to help you succeed, so be proactive and reach out for help if you are experiencing difficulties in preparing for your finals.

The Penn State Learning Center: Having trouble understanding the material in the following subjects: MATH 110, ACCTG. 211, CHEM 201, STAT. 200 or a foreign language, as well as many others? Did you know that you can receive tutoring in many subjects or be a part of a guided study group free of charge through the Penn State learning center? It is not too late to seek help. You can go to their website to learn more about their hours, what they have to offer and how to contact them. You can also reach them by calling: 814-865-1841.

Graduating Seniors for Fall 2010: Most of you probably can’t wait to join the real world! I would suggest running a current degree audit to see if all requirements have been met or showing that they are in progress. Meet with your adviser to discuss options available to you, if for example, you are experiencing academic difficulties with a class or classes, and you feel that you might not be able to successfully complete all your scheduled classes. You should have activated your intent to graduate during the activation period, but if you missed it, you can call the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies office at: 814-865-2545 or contact your academic adviser as soon as possible to have your name added to the graduation list. Congratulations you are almost there!

Returning Seniors: You should have your Spring 2011 classes scheduled by now. Run a current degree audit on eLion and check to make sure that all degree requirements are showing either as “OK” or “IP” (in progress). Meet with your academic adviser if you see any missing requirements as you might need to adjust your schedule. Make sure you make plans to complete any deferred or incomplete work. Meet with your academic adviser to discuss any incoming course work such as transfer credits, study abroad credits, or if you need course substitutions. Also be sure to activate your intent to graduate during the activation period (January 2-24, 2011).

Juniors: You should also have your Spring 2011 schedule in place. You should at this point, have a plan as to what your senior year will look like (e.g. remaining credits and how they will fit into your remaining semesters). You should also review your audit to make sure it is current and accurate.

Sophomores: Remember to declare your major through e-lion in the spring of 2011 through the Entrance to Major process (ETM). You should also have your Spring 2011 schedule in place by now. It is not too early to start thinking of a possible minor. If you are pursuing the Paterno Fellows program (PFP), remember to work closely with your academic adviser to ensure that you are completing the PFP requirements.

Freshmen: You should all have your schedules for Spring 2011 completed by now. If not, you need to meet with your academic adviser as soon as possible to discuss what courses you should take to continue making good progress towards your intended major. For those of you who needed, but were unable to schedule English 015 and the first year seminar for the fall of 2010, make sure that you schedule these classes in the Spring of 2011. If you are aspiring to becoming a Paterno Fellow (PFP), LA 101H should be your choice in place of English 015 or 30. If you are not sure, plan to check in with your academic adviser as soon as possible for guidance.

Finally, wishing you all the best and success in your exams! Remember to manage your time wisely and not to leave everything until the last minute. Happy Holidays! We will see you next year!

Minors: More Than Just a Mini-Major

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Last week Ben Whitesell wrote a great blog on choosing your major which I am sure you all put to great use. So once you have chosen your major, what comes next? You build upon that foundation. As an adviser, I encourage my students to think about their record of their time here at Penn State and to consider what you can do to make that record a reflection of yourself. If I were to look at your transcript, major, minor, clubs, letters to the editor, and all of your other activities, would I have a good picture of you? If I were looking to make a hiring choice and I based it on your record, would you be a good fit for a job you would love?

Minors are absolutely not required for graduation or graduate school admission. They are an opportunity to do a little extra by taking a significant number of courses, typically 6-8, including a few upper level courses in a field outside your major. In some cases the minor will directly support what you need to learn in your major. A great example of this is one of my economics majors choosing the math minor. In other cases minors will set students apart from the rest of the students in their major or will give students a chance to explore an outside interest. For example that same economics student may add a minor in philosophy because he truly enjoyed something he tried out while working on his general education requirements.

Courses you take to meet your major, general education or Bachelor of Arts requirements can all be used to satisfy a minor as well. You will find a list of minors offered by the university as well as the requirements for each minor on the University Bulletin website. Minors are listed on your transcript and you do receive a certificate with your diploma for each minor you complete. If you are interested in a minor, stop by to see your adviser to start the process of adding a minor by getting your application to a minor form signed.

I would like to invite our students who have declared minors to share their major/minor combinations and let the students who are currently working on these decisions know why you chose your particular combination. I’ll go first – I started off with a French major and a psychology minor simply because those are the things I enjoyed studying.

Equipping Yourself for a World of Change

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Graphic Conversation
Originally uploaded by Marc Wathieu
In her recent blog posting about “Where You Can Take Your Liberal Arts Degree“, my colleague Mary Cameron wrote about the importance of maximizing your educational experiences while a student at Penn State.  I completely agree: take full advantage of the wide range of resources available to you at Penn State, and seek out every opportunity to learn and build skills in the classroom and elsewhere (through extracurricular activities such as internships, student clubs, and so forth).  This type of multifaceted engagement with a Penn State education and the resources available on campus is a terrific investment in your future.  It can open up exciting and unexpected opportunities, and bring you closer to your personal goals after graduation.

One skill that is bound to give you an edge, no matter what path you pursue after Penn State, is the ability to speak a foreign language. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of foreign language skills in the 21st century, an era that has already been marked by increasing globalization, dramatic shifts in global power and demographic trends, and ever-evolving challenges in the political arena.

You may think to yourself that “so many people throughout the world speak English” so you don’t need to learn a second language. Well, the former may be true (although many Americans overestimate the proportion of the world’s population that speaks English); the latter likely is not. Whether you plan to pursue a career in business, government, non-profit, law, or academia, there is a good chance that your employer will work with clients, constituents, or partners from across the globe.

Try this exercise: think of an American blue-chip employer (such as Pfizer, Omnicon, Procter & Gamble, Google, Bank of New York/Mellon, or MasterCard) and then try to guess what proportion of its revenues comes from outside the US. For the companies listed above, the proportions approach 50% or more. In fact, recent data suggests that for US companies as a whole the proportion of revenues that are derived internationally is about 30%, while for companies in the S&P 500, the proportion is along the lines of 45-50% (MSN Market Watch, 2007).*  These rates are expected to increase over the next several years. Certainly foreign language skills would be an asset for individuals seeking a position in the private sector after college, particularly as the global economy continues to evolve and other regions of the world assume greater economic and political influence.

Knowledge of a foreign language is also a great asset for those considering careers in government, the non-profit sector, law or law enforcement, and related fields. Currently, the fastest growing regions of the world are outside of North America, and are not predominantly English-speaking. Certainly some of the most pressing humanitarian and geopolitical challenges of our era are in non-English speaking areas of the world. In this regard, one might think particularly of the former Soviet republics (where Russian is widely spoken), the Middle East, Latin America, or Eastern Europe. Students interested in careers or research in these fields who possess a working knowledge of a foreign language will be able to take advantage of a wider range of opportunities to serve others, and will undoubtedly have access to a broader range of resources to draw upon in building their careers.

Even if your interests are more local, foreign language skills are still a plus given the increasingly multicultural nature of the modern workplace. Most young people in college today will one day work in an environment where they are required to interact with people from other cultural backgrounds or whose first language is not English. In the multicultural workplace employees who know another language and have developed an understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures that the study of a foreign language promotes are an asset.

Finally, if you plan further education after college, you may already know that many graduate programs require a certain level of fluency in one or two foreign languages. This is because important research is often published in professional journals and books in languages other than English. Language skills can also boost your application to law or business school, and make you more competitive for any grant or scholarship that you may wish to apply for. In addition to making you a better communicator, knowledge of a foreign language showcases your capacity to assimilate complex systems of information, as well as your flexibility and ability to “get outside your own head” and adapt to how other people think.

Penn State offers a variety of ways to integrate foreign languages into existing programs of study.  How might you get started? Penn State University Park offers courses in many languages ranging from the more familiar, such as German, to the less commonly taught, such as Hindi. For many of these languages, University Park also offers a range of summer courses (see for example, the many offerings in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, and new next summer, Turkish and Portuguese). Thus foreign language study can complement and fit readily into most educational plans. For many of the languages offered here you can earn a minor which will give you a formal credential to attest to your skills.

Descriptions of Penn State minors, including language minors, can be found on the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies website.  Language minors typically require 18 – 19 credits in language courses, with 6 – 7 credits at the 400 level.  However, introductory language courses (LANG 001, sometimes LANG 002 and 003) do not count towards all minors. It is always good to consult with the departmental adviser to make sure that you understand the requirements.

Good luck!  Bonne chance! Viel Gl�ck!
 

*These data are taken from company websites and quarterly reports, as well as from MSN Market Watch (April 6, 2007).  Secrets of the S&P 500.  Retrieved from on MSN’s website.  
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