University of Virginia Library

Re-orienting The Consciousness Of Educators

By JESSICA SMITH

Are we college students
attaining a genuine liberal arts
education in the true sense of
the word?

William Buchanan,
professor in the Politics
Department at Washington and
Lee, says no.

In an article published in
the autumn issue of American
Associations of University
Professors, What Can Be Done
For The Liberal Arts
Curriculum?. Mr. Buchanah
wrote "the phrase 'liberal arts'
has lost its meaning when
applied to the curriculum, and
it now refers only to a sort of
residual administrative entity
or a kind of small college. It
has taken on a pejorative
connotation of 'elitism' in the
worst sense of the word,
suggesting effete middle-class
cultural pretensions."

Presently the feeble attempt
by Universities to provide a
liberal arts education starts and
stops with the general
requirements, which can easily
be filled by taking
Introductory courses in several
departments. Upon completion
of the second-year, all must
declare a major. The remaining
time is devoted to learning all
there is to know about one
particular subject. We have
become specialized.

Versed In Trivia

And what does this mean?
Mr. Buchanan says, "Most
degrees guarantee merely that
the holder has been around for
four years and has spent his
time studying one thing more
than the others."

Yes, we are well versed in
the trivia of one subject, be it
history, English, or any other
department that comes under
the category of "liberal arts".

The system of requirements
and departmental
specializations has
been ingrained in our practices
for so long that the possibility
of eliminating them completely
and Instating a total "liberal
arts" program is small.

The need for a broader,
more diverse, curriculum still
exists, however. The answer,
according to Mr. Buchanan,
involves presenting an optional
major, "Bachelor of Liberal
Arts".

The course plan of this
major "takes into account
assumptions about the sort of
society the graduate will live
in. This would include
recognition of such trends as
urbanization, aggrandizement
of large organizations but
diminution of trust and
confidence in them, reduced
production but increased
services and leisure, continued
anxiety and alienation, more
diversity and less
conventionalism, more concern
about the value consequences
of political decisions,
continued inadequacy of health
care, increasing specialization
of occupation, and so on."

Six Blocks

The primary objective is to
prepare the graduate to analyze
and to cope with human dilemmas.
Mr. Buchanan proposes six
required courses or blocks of
study to satisfactorily achieve a
truly "liberal arts" degree.

The first two suggested
areas of concentration are
expository communication and
logical and statistical inference,
which should be taken the first
year.

Expository communication
requires the student to answer
present day problems by
observation or documented
sources. Videotaped document
and a written report are
submitted by each student.
"These presentations should
give the students experience
with the two media they will
later need to use."

The result of logical and
statistical inference should give
"experience with the processes
by which researchers reach
conclusions." To achieve this
the student would study the
processes of inductive and
deductive reasoning, testing of
hypotheses, and the
philosophies of natural and
social sciences.

The Body

The second year of study
begins with an in-depth
concentration of two critically
neglected areas in today's
"liberal arts" program: human
psychology and physiology and
a non-Western language and
culture.

By studying the major
functions and systems of the
body, human psychology and
physiology would advance the
student to a level of a
professional nurse. This
category is exceptionally
important because "many who
profess to be humanists know
so little of that most basic of
human possessions, the body."

Mr. Buchanan emphasizes
studying a non-Western
language and culture to prepare
the graduates with a brief
introduction to societies which
will be more and more
prominent as world
communications continue to
improve.

Block five attempts "to
give. some perspective on
their own beliefs and their
consequences" through study
of political ideologies, literary
movements, and religious
studies under a broader
heading; ideas and their
consequences in the Western
culture.

The final area to be dealt
with to attain a "Bachelor of
Liberal Arts" degree is systems.
All types are incorporated:
solar, logical, ecological, and
history.

This well-defined
curriculum is geared to a
"potential elite". Hopefully, it
will prepare the graduate to
cope with human affairs. Not
all students are ready to
specialize as required by most
colleges; some are still in quest
of a better understanding of
their ideals and surroundings,
yet they need fundamental
guidelines to direct their
efforts in their pursuit. Mr.
Buchanan's reformed
curriculum constitutes this
type of learning experience.

With the present structure
the individual departments can
continue to gain prominence in
national ranking and each
professor can strive to achieve
reputation among his
colleagues. The reformed
curriculum does not abolish
departmental majors entirely.
It is merely attempting to shift
the emphasis from total
specialization to a more
well-rounded education for
those of use who are not as
directed as others. Although
this proposal is well thought
out, it is merely an outline to
orient the consciousness of
educators away from
specialization and towards a
more diverse program that
would prepare the graduates in
more than just one aspect of
our society. Consequently, a
"liberal arts" degree will be
awarded in the true sense of
the word.