Basically, you learn two kinds of things in college: 1.Things you will need to know in later life (two hours). These include how to make collect telephone calls and get beer and crepe-paper stains out of your pajamas. 2.Things you will not need to know in later life (1,998 hours). These are the things you learn in classes whose names end in -ology, -osophy, -istry, -ics, and so on. The idea is, you memorize these things, then write them down in little exam books, then forget them. If you fail to forget them, you become a professor and have to stay in college for the rest of your life.
In this joke the university is an ivory tower, where absent minded professors spend their lives far above the realities of life and where students briefly study out-of-the-way subjects, emerging at the end of four years to take on "real world" challenges. As Dean of Arts and Sciences (where you will find the -ologies, -osophies, etc.), I often speak with parents of incoming students (alumni-to-be!), who ask, "What IS the use of a major in English, or Anthropology, or Geology?" My answer is that a liberal arts education is absolutely practical in the way it prepares us for our jobs, and for the career changes that most of us will experience in a lifetime. Then I add that--just as important--a liberal arts education also cultivates both the intellectual aptitudes and the capacity to follow through on those other commitments that enrich our lives.
"The Class of 1997 Placement Survey," a study of the employment of recent Oswego graduates prepared by our Career Services Office, shows that many Arts and Sciences graduates put their education immediately to use in their jobs. Most have landed positions that are directly related to the fields in which they studied-for example, in Broadcasting, Computer Science, Writing Arts, and Public Justice. In Anthropology, a graduate reports working for a museum; in Biology, students have gone on to work in laboratories (one in a cosmetics company); and in Zoology, students have found employment in veterinary clinics and zoos. One music graduate is playing in the U.S. Army Band! But there are also graduates who have found jobs that have no obvious connection to their college majors, but which draw on their broad skills and knowledge: for example, another Anthropology major is working for an executive search firm; students who have majored in History, Biology, etc., are working for banks and other financial institutions; and a handful of graduates in a variety of majors have gone into the Peace Corps, the Army, or Americorps. I wish that we could similarly survey our graduates to learn how their Oswego studies add meaning to a walk in the woods or a museum, enable them to respond to problems in their neighborhoods, equip them to serve their churches and civic organizations, and entertain them in their idle moments.
When I talk with alumni who have returned to campus, I can see the ways in which SUNY at Oswego extends itself into the world through its graduates--their interests and their commitments, as well as their work. Tim Cooper'73, who last spring received the Oswego Alumni Association's Anniversary Class Award, draws on his training in music history and musicianship to write musical productions for a major Las Vegas hotel, and continues to play the organ for a large church there. Bruce Coville'73. recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award), is the well-known author of children's books and an eloquent advocate for the importance of reading and the stimulation of children's imaginations. And Steven Specht '82 who, if the joke is at all accurate, remembered too much of what he learned in college, has become a Professor of Psychology at Lebanon Valley College. He is a challenging teacher, but also is careful to respond to the personal needs of individual students. These are only three of the thousands of Arts and Sciences alumni who carry their Oswego education into their workplaces and indeed, into all of the pursuits that delight, intrigue, and compel them. To use another metaphor, through our alumni the College of Arts and Sciences becomes part of the fabric of the "real world."
In recent years, the focus on career preparation among students, parents, and policy makers has given rise to much discussion in higher education circles of the "outcomes" of a liberal arts education. Of course, the value of the basic skills and knowledge of a general education is widely recognized. But what are the benefits of in-depth study in a liberal arts major? Some commentators, like Carolyn T. Adams, stress the practical benefits of study in the liberal arts: the ability to derive meaning from information, knowing how to learn, and the ability to understand and work with people different from ourselves.1 Others, like William Cronon, see in a liberal arts education a means of achieving the greatest human good: educated people can talk to anyone "because they are genuinely interested in others"; they "love learning, but they love wisdom more"; "they practice humility, tolerance, and self-criticism"; and "they can solve a wide variety of puzzles and problems." Cronon summarizes, ". . .Each of these qualities I have described. . . . frees us to act with greater knowledge or power. But each of these qualities also makes us ever more aware of the connections we have with other people and the rest of creation. . . . ."2 The ultimate benefits of a liberal arts education are efficacy and fulfillment in our work, in our communities, and in our personal pursuits.
This year, department chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences have begun to review the ways in which our advanced students exercise their "expert" status-and hone the higher capacities that their disciplines instill in them. Many of you may remember the honors productions in Theatre, the B.A. and B.F.A. exhibits in Art, and the senior recitals in Music. Over the years, other departments have regularly involved students in basic research or internships in places of work. (Recently, a number of faculty and students in the sciences have received grants to collaborate on research projects, and each year our Environmental Research Center offers research fellowships to undergraduates.) Still other departments bring seniors together in advanced seminars. These capstone experiences empower our majors to synthesize all of their academic knowledge and skills and employ them in formulating and advanced problems or projects. Capstones are therefore a good opportunity for us to gauge how well our students are able to use the background that they have gained through four years of college-level study. They also immerse students in issues of intellectual and ethical complexity, and challenge them to make sense of them. Carol Geary Schneider and Robert Schoenberg say that a liberal arts education is not a silo but a matrix of interconnected knowledge and experiences.3 Likewise, capstone courses are a matrix in which knowledge, skill, motivation, and passion come together for our students as they research, create, practice, and serve. I believe that this synthesis is a hallmark of the programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.
1Carolyn T. Adams, "Presidential Address: The Liberal Arts In A Culture of Careerism," CCAS Newsletter 20:1 (January-February 1999), p. 2.
2William Cronin, "'Only Connect': The Goals of a Liberal Education," The Key Reporter 64:2 (Winter 1998-99), pp. 3-4.
3Carol Geary Schneider and Robert Schoenberg, Contemporary Understandings of Liberal Education, The Academy in Transition, AAC&U Discussion Paper, 1998, p. 24.