A recurrent theme in the contemporary conversation
about higher education is the need for more research and more graduates in
disciplines associated with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Rightfully so. These are critical areas of knowledge for facing and resolving
the global challenges of our time.
Furthermore, a compelling case is readily made that such disciplines are
crucial to economic competitiveness and job creation. Finally, creating the necessary understanding of the
difficult challenges and choices ahead will depend upon increased scientific
and quantitative literacy.
Less well understood, I think, is the
equally critical importance of education in the liberal arts. We are no longer merely a part of the
global economy; we live in an increasingly global society. Thomas Friedman (of
“The World is Flat” fame) makes the point that we now live in a
“hyper-connected” and “interdependent” world. Consequently, the global society thereby created is
exceedingly complex. It is a shared, 24/7 society layered on an enormous and
frequently incompatible array of cultures, languages, histories, religions, and
governments. In such a world,
studies of history, religion, philosophy, economics, sociology, communications,
languages, and numerous other subjects commonly thought of as comprising the
liberal arts, are important components of higher
education.
The skills of critical analysis, expository or thematic writing, presentation,
research, and communication are essential for success. Music, art, literature, and their
manifestations on the global web are increasingly the means by which culture is
translated, assimilated, and understood.
The ways in which we teach and engage
students with the liberal arts must necessarily adapt. John Dewey presciently
observed: “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them
of tomorrow.” The global context
should be at the forefront of our pedagogical strategies. Many entering
students sense that a global perspective is important in areas such as economics,
political science, and history, but may be less aware of the connections and
impacts in other domains important to their studies, their lives, and their
futures. Uncovering and
illuminating the rapidly expanding connections and relationships among cultures
and nations is an important role of liberal arts education in the 21st
century. To achieve this goal, education in the liberal arts needs to be both
rigorous in its exposition of the nature and contributions of the various
disciplines involved, and consistently interdisciplinary in its approach to the
new reality of an interdependent world.
The University of Rhode Island is making
excellent progress toward this global vision for liberal arts education. For example, it is a key feature of our
academic strategic plan and of much of the scholarship and creative work
conducted in the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts. The Harrington School of Communication and
Media has a global orientation and emphasis for all its programs, and views
communications in the 21st century as an interconnected,
interdisciplinary realm of expertise and activities. Our emphasis on the study of language in combination with
other disciplines, going well beyond introductory language instruction to
include literature, cultural studies, and time abroad, is an exemplary approach
for students to gain true global competencies. URI’s increasing success in bringing students from across
the world to help build a diverse community on our campus is essential to
develop resilient multicultural understanding.
The nations, societies, and cultures of
our world are now intimately connected and mutually dependent. Misunderstanding
and miscommunication can be catastrophic. Peace, health, and economic
prosperity depend on people and places that were once remote, but are no
longer. The study of humanity – its history, behavior, thought, and creativity
– which is the focus of the liberal arts, has never been more important than in
the world of the 21st century.
