Since our first meeting this summer, I have been pondering this
question, “What should a Furman student know and be upon graduation?” It seems to me that an answer to
this question should capture the essence of a liberal arts education. After
identifying some of what I believe are the defining values and principles of a
sound liberal arts education, I will offer suggestions for a curriculum based
on such values and principles. As you will see, these are rough, initial
ramblings!
Understanding and Tolerance
Our students enter Furman as a fairly homogeneous bunch. I
suspect that few have had their religious, social, or economic values and
beliefs challenged by an educational experience or by any other experience. If
asked, I’m sure that they would consider themselves understanding and
tolerant of others. I’m also
sure that much of this
tolerance and understanding is superficial “political correctness”
that lacks substance.
This is not a criticism of the Furman student, but rather a statement about the
average eighteen-year-old, upper-middle-class American. Given this assumption,
I argue that a liberal education should expose students to a variety of other
cultures, values, and belief systems. Study of other cultures should encompass
historical, religious, social, economic, scientific and political perspectives.
The objective would be to create (per Nussbaum) “world citizens” who have
knowledge of viewpoints other than their own.
Responsibility to Society
A Furman education should instill the belief that educated world
citizens have the duty to improve the quality of their immediate communities as
well as the planet at large. I am inspired by John Muir who said, “Most
people are on the world, not in it – have no conscious sympathy or relationship
to anything about them – undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but
separate.” So our students must begin to view their roles in the
planetary “web of life.”
And, as homo sapiens, they must begin learning the importance of compassion,
respect and empathy in a civilized society. This goal seems to me as important
as learning facts and figures. However, classroom exposure to issues, problems,
and concerns facing mankind may be too passive an approach to encourage a life
of caring service. Some sort of immersion experience may be required to achieve
this objective (more about this later).
Passion for Lifelong Learning
Graduates should appreciate that a great benefit of an
undergraduate education is that it prepares them for lifelong learning. An
undergraduate education should leave more questions unanswered than answered.
At the same time, it should inspire the confidence to search for answers.
Exposure to, and tolerance of differing viewpoints, critical analysis of
arguments, effective communication, skill to discern the important from the unimportant,
and a passion for knowledge and discovery are probably some key elements in
creating graduates who desire a lifetime of learning.
Curriculum
A strong general education core, designed to incorporate the
values and principles noted above, would benefit from the addition of two
seminars. The first would be in the freshman year and would be taught as an
interdisciplinary year-long course. It would be designed to expose students to
important issues. The issues would be chosen by the faculty teaching the course
and would be approached from a variety of perspectives (e.g., historical,
political, religious, economic, and scientific). Panel discussions, group
discussions, and debates among the faculty teaching the course would provide an
outstanding model for student learning. Further, divergent opinions within each
topic’s dimensions, e.g., its economic attributes, should be
encouraged. This approach would better highlight the complexity of most issues
better than the single-subject approach. It would begin the process of teaching students to think in a
multi-dimensional manner. And finally, it would provide a way for faculty to
model critical analysis. It is often difficult to do this when teaching
unopposed from one’s own point of view. This seminar would be somewhat similar to the current
humanities sequence, but would be required of all freshmen.
The sophomore year seems to be the “lost
year”. Students have
lost the initial enthusiasm of being college students, yet they aren’t yet
immersed in their majors.
The sophomore year is one of transition and may be the time to broaden, deepen,
and otherwise enhance students’ initial experiences in their
coursework. One way to
accomplish this would be to create a sophomore year-long seminar. The seminar
would be similar to the freshmen seminar in that it would provide a
multi-disciplinary approach for the study of important issues. However, the
students would be required to engage in critical analysis and discourse –
hopefully an easier task after having watched professors do the same in the prior year.
Furman’s current general education curriculum has aspects that
I believe should be retained in some form. First, certain courses in the current core, perhaps composition
and foreign language among others, should be retained. These courses would
provide the necessary foundation of skills and knowledge necessary for “higher
thinking”.
Second, the concept of “engaged learning” is vital – although it would need to
be substantially expanded – an immersion experience- to adequately encourage tolerance and
responsibility. All students should be required to engage in foreign study or
to undertake a community project that is designed to “open
their eyes” to other cultures and community concerns. It seems that a student will learn
best through such first-hand experiences the feelings that will characterize
her as liberally educated person.
Posted by love at
September 20, 2004 08:38 AM
Discuss
this proposal in the forum, or leave a comment below!