Thoughts for the Class of 2014
Each year a faculty member is asked to write a statement for the
incoming class about the value of a liberal arts education here at
Butler. This year's essay, "Going Global," was written by Dr. Jay
Howard, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Professor
of Sociology.
Going Global
As you are well aware, the world around you keeps changing. It
also keeps getting smaller in the sense of being interconnected
with people around the globe. You can be Facebook friends with
people in other countries as well as the person in the dorm room
across the hall. You can text friends around the country as well as
instant message people around the world. So what's the big deal
about the world getting smaller? Well, not only does global
interconnectedness have implications for your social contacts, it
will characterize the world you enter upon graduation from Butler
University.
In a publication called College Learning for the New Global
Century (2007), The American Association of Colleges and
Universities (AAC&U) argues that you will enter a world where
broad-based knowledge is the key. This knowledge must prepare you
to innovate and adapt to ever changing circumstances. You must also
be prepared to act as a citizen, not only of your country but also
of the diverse global community. This world will continue to
change. Most Americans change jobs ten times during the first two
decades following college. Your experience will be quite different
from that of your parents or grandparents who may have spent
decades working for the same company.
So what will Butler University do to help prepare you for this
complex, ever-changing, diverse global community you will enter? At
Butler we believe the best way to prepare you to be citizens of
this world is through a university education that is infused with
the Liberal Arts. In higher education, Liberal Arts does not refer
to where one falls along the political spectrum from right to left.
Instead the Liberal Arts are a set of core disciplines that develop
key skills required to be an active, engaged citizen. These
disciplines include the humanities (e.g., English, Philosophy,
etc.), the social sciences (e.g., Psychology, Sociology, etc.), and
the natural sciences (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc.).
Regardless of your major area of study, a curriculum that is
infused with the Liberal Arts will help you develop the skills that
are needed for meaningful participation in this increasingly
interconnected world in which we find ourselves.
A Liberal Arts education will stretch your thinking abilities.
Often in high school, the path to an "A" grade is to memorize what
the teacher or the book says and then repeat it back in exams or
other assignments. Sometimes you will find a university education
to be frustrating and challenging because memorizing all the right
facts is not enough! Very often you must weigh the evidence and
grapple with competing explanations and perspectives. This doesn't
mean that all perspectives are equal or that one person's "opinion"
is as good as anyone else's opinion. Critical thinking is not about
opinions. It is about weighing evidence and marking arguments. It
is about learning that one can gain insights from multiple and
competing perspectives. It also means you recognize that sometimes
there is not a single correct answer to be memorized. This is often
a difficult transition for students who have been very successful
in high school by memorizing the "right" answers. But it is the key
to becoming an educated individual who can contribute as an engaged
citizen in a complex world. You will find there are few easy issues
with a single right answer. There will be better and worse answers
to the challenges you face. As a citizen of the planet, your task
will be to sort out the better from the worse and make informed,
ethical decisions with the interests of others as well as yourself
in mind.
A university education infused with the Liberal Arts will also
teach you how to learn. As the rate of expansion of new knowledge
continues to accelerate, you must leave Butler with well refined
skills in how to learn and solve problems. Your faculty members
will push you and challenge you to develop this ability using the
myriad of resources available to you. It will not always be a
comfortable process. If it were always comfortable, your faculty
would be letting you down. Just as with athletic and fitness
training, without some pain from exercising and strengthening your
body there is no gain. Academically and intellectually the same is
true. Your faculty should be pushing you to think and learn in ways
you may not have thought possible. This education will cause you to
identify and analyze underlying principles, assumptions, and issues
as you work with your faculty and classmates to broaden your
understanding of the world.
Rather than being narrowly focused on training for a specific
job, a Liberal Arts infused education will broaden your knowledge
base while giving you the skills necessary for engaging in a
complex world. Your linear thinking and analytical skills will be
developed, but you will also be pushed to learn to think
creatively. You will be challenged to pull together disparate ideas
and information in new ways. And you will do so in a context that
seeks to increase your appreciation for and ability to work with
diverse groups and individuals.
Again, it won't always be an easy or comfortable process. But
the best things in life only come through effort and perseverance.
It is a journey filled with excitement that takes place in a
community of classmates and faculty who are with you each step of
the way. With your investment of energy and effort, it will be one
of the most rewarding experiences of your life. All of us at Butler
University welcome you to the journey that is a Liberal Arts
infused education!
Jay Howard, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Butler University
August 2010