Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

that young adults rate as the most serious, according to Business Insider, a broad, integrated perspective is es- sential. Scholars of the future agree that to reduce and reverse climate change, to grow economic opportunities, to enhance health, productivity and success for all, the world needs leaders who understand what critical think- ing is and how it can be applied to identify solutions. Skidmore just broke ground for the Center for Integrated Sciences, a transformational learning space designed to nurture interdisciplinary connections among the sciences, as well as among arts, humanities and social sciences. One of the key faculty planners for the building, environmental scientist Karen Kellogg, points out that “many of today’s most interesting scientific questions are at the intersections”—for example, the mathematics of cli- mate or the psychology of artificial intelligence. Her field and many other disciplines at Skidmore are shaped by the conviction that only scientists partnering with nonscien- tists can result in full solutions to 21st-century prob- lems. In fact President Philip A. Glotzbach asserts, “Our intensely interdisciplinary, relentlessly creative approach offers not simply a welcome but a necessary contribution to our national conversations” on issues from climate to health care to energy. Skidmore fosters both disciplinary and cross-disciplinary cognitive skills for discovering and analyzing facts, inter- preting narratives and biases, and forging a comprehensive approach that’s both creative and realistic. AMonster.com article on “soft” career skills echoes other career experts in concluding that liberal arts graduates tend to be well equipped with the capacities that employers demand: communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving, critical observation, conflict resolution and leadership. It’s no coincidence that Skidmore’s curriculum “emphasizes critical thinking, significant reading and writing skills, and quantitative reasoning abilities,” says Glotzbach. Lately some Americans are voicing doubts about the value of liberal arts education. Especially as tuition fees have climbed, more parents and students want assurances that they can recoup their investment in tangible ways—a well-paid job and a productive career. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics charts America’s highest-paying jobs (mostly in medical fields), fastest-growing jobs (led by solar-energy installers) and fields that will generate the most new jobs (personal and home care). Searching the BLS for a tally of liberal arts jobs, it’s hard to find statistics that are easily grouped for analysis, because liberal arts grads work in so many sectors of the economy. But, for instance, fields such as market research analysis and management, which attract a large number of liberal arts majors, are on the BLS’s most-new-jobs list. Court judges —typically holding degrees in fields like history, English and political science—rank among the BLS’s highest-paid professionals. Skidmore’s Zankel Professor of Management and Liberal Arts Pushkala Prasad argues that “a liberal arts background gives business majors a broad perspective for incorporating political, economic and cultural factors into decision-making. This is of enormous value to manag- ers and entrepreneurs, and it should come as no surprise that a majority of business leaders have had considerable exposure to liberal arts thinking as part of their formal education.” According to Michael Orr, Skidmore’s new dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, “Prepar- ing students to understand multiple perspectives and be persuasive communicators, together with instilling a lifelong love of learning, maps directly onto employers’ expectations that their employees will train themselves and be able to handle a variety of tasks.” In an era of tax caps and government budget cuts, legislation has been proposed “that would base funding for public colleges and universities exclusively on job acquisition” for their graduates, reports Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, in the spring 2018 AACU magazine Liberal Education . But concern about quantifiable ROI—return on investment—may overshadow an appreciation for higher education as a public good. Pasquerella laments that some government leaders call for “stripping out so-called frills—such as ‘the search for truth,’ ‘public service,’ and ‘improv[ing] the human condition’—from their university system’s mission statement. Any disciplines not consid- ered economic engines are reduced to the status of mere luxuries and are in danger of being excised.” For her, “The rhetoric at the basis of these proposals not only posits a false dichotomy between a liberal education and prepa- ration for work and life,” but it obscures the reality that such education remains a powerful force “in catalyzing individual and societal transformation.” Skidmore’s Prasad agrees: “The kind of curiosity fos- tered by a liberal arts program is only matched by its abil- ity to give students a comfort with ambiguity, change and contradiction—invaluable to anyone working in today’s globalized and volatile world.” Orr further maintains that “inquisitiveness allied with cultural competence can best be fostered in a close-knit but diverse community where all are learning, in person, from one another, navigating differences and growing into cooperative citizens.” Online interactions have their place, he says, “but I think we’ve seen that email and social media require even more sensitive and thoughtful discourse. Liberal arts skills are crucial for navigating the fraught terrain of communica- tions across cultural divides, technological media and personal difference.” Glotzbach says Skidmore seeks to arm graduates with “both richness of imagination and clarity of thought, to TO TACKLE THE WORLD PROBLEMS Preparing students to understand multiple perspectives and be persuasive communicators, together with instilling a lifelong love of learning, maps directly onto employers’ expectations SCOPE FALL 2018 26