How to Make Good on the Promise of the Liberal Arts (89831)

Session Information:

Saturday, 4 January 2025 17:00
Session: Poster Session 1
Room: 3F Hallway
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

All presentation times are UTC-10 (Pacific/Honolulu)

Liberal arts institutions promise to equip graduates with a competitive edge in both society and the job market, often emphasizing the development of leaders. Fulfilling this promise requires a dual commitment. First, students must embrace the opportunity to liberate their minds, making decisions rooted in ethical reasoning, critical analysis, and accountability, while solving problems with empathy and values-based judgment. Second, institutions must allocate resources to interdisciplinary approaches, measure the outcomes they claim to develop, and align these with employer and community needs. Additionally, they must guide students in understanding and articulating their unique advantages. Although this may seem straightforward, the reality often diverges from these ideals. Students may choose liberal arts institutions for reasons unrelated to their academic mission, while institutions, under pressure, may compromise the very foundations of liberal arts education. This is evident in the narrowing of curricula, program cuts—particularly in disciplines like philosophy—and reactive responses to societal and technological changes (such as AI), often at the expense of integrating the humanities. To truly deliver on the promise of a liberal arts education, institutions must recommit to their foundational values, ensuring alignment across all departments (academic and administrative), and operationalize, measure and report the outcomes they pledge to provide.

Authors:
Julianna Grabianowski, Doane University, United States


About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Julianna Grabianowski is an Assistant Professor of Business at Doane University (Nebraska,
USA).Her scholarly interest is anchored in the field of leadership and showcased through publication and
presentations that explore intersections of lead

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianna-grabianowski-phd-a1855841/

See this presentation on the full scheduleSaturday Schedule



Conference Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

Comments

Share on activity feed

Powered by WP LinkPress

Share this Presentation

Posted by Clive Staples Lewis

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00