Bring it on!

The summer is over, but what an interesting time it has been. On a personal level, it has been a welcome opportunity for much travel: a research trip to Italy, conferences in Victoria (BC) and Leeds (UK), and long weekends spent with family in both Toronto and Thunder Bay.  But it has also been a surprisingly busy time in the office, a view that has been echoed by many on our campus in recent weeks, as we have scrambled to manage registration (fortunately numbers are up in most first-year FASS programs), deal with a variety of administrative issues, including the development of unit-specific tenure and promotion criteria (more on this in a subsequent blog!), and plan all the special events that are already filling the fall term calendar.  It used to be that July and August were “down” time, a period in which to recharge and catch up … but not this year.

And this also holds true more generally for “news”.  The “dog days of summer” are usually bereft of meaningful fodder for the cranium, but recent weeks have produced many stories which belie that norm, fascinating those of us who till in the pastures of the human sciences: from the ethics of intervening to protect innocent lives in Syria, to the current debate on religious accommodation in Quebec; from the need to balance economic and environmental issues, dramatically brought into the realm of public discourse by the tragedy at Lac Mégantic, to the value to both individuals and the larger society of a liberal arts education.

That last issue, in particular, seems to have engaged columnists of all persuasions in both Canada and the United States, reflecting a much larger debate within North American society, and surely one in which universities have a very large interest … which makes our comparative and collective silence all the more puzzling.  To be frank, it was chilling to read about the closure last month of so many humanities programs at the University of Alberta, with barely a peep of regret.  Are we undertaking a form of self-censorship, one wonders, because we realize only too well the precariousness of our finances and the necessity of not biting the proverbial hand that feeds us?  And if so, where is the line between pragmatism and complicity?  Do we meekly accept the argument that the value of a university degree is measured by how much one will earn afterwards?  Jim Sleeper of Yale University sounded the alarm in an op-ed piece published in the Sunday August 31st edition of the New York Times: “At its best, a liberal education imbues future citizen-leaders with the values and skills that are necessary to question, not merely serve, concentrations of power and profit. Universities that abandon this ideal are lending their good names to the decline of liberal education; turning themselves into career-networking centers for a global managerial work force that answers to no republican polity or moral code; and cheapening the value of the diplomas they hand out, at home and abroad.” His specific target was universities which compromise the principles of academic freedom in order to open new campuses in countries, such as Singapore, where there is no tradition or practice of anything resembling “freedom of expression”. But I think the statement can be applied much more broadly.

In the coming year, I propose that we be guided by two fundamental meta-narratives.  The first is to combat more directly those who scorn the “liberal arts”, with the aim of rebuilding public confidence … and perhaps also our own self-confidence … in the value of what we do, and more specifically in the value of the BA degree.  We need to challenge the argument that the primary purpose of a post-secondary education is to secure a well-paid job afterwards.  It is not … although that may well turn out to be a collateral outcome.  And with that in mind FASS has adopted “The Power of the Arts” as its “theme” for the coming academic year.  You will hear that phrase often in the weeks and months ahead.

And the second overarching thrust of our activities will be “sustainability”: economic, intellectual, administrative.  In order to ensure that our voices will continue be heard, not only in the coming year but for many more to come, we need to plan for survival in a world that no longer takes for granted the value of our continued presence, and hence questions the “return on investment”.  On the home front, we need to take a long and hard look at our curriculum and our organizational structures.  Do they foster or inhibit the increasing breakdown of disciplinary boundaries, and the continued advancement of knowledge and understanding?  Are we maximizing the use of those precious resources which are granted to us? And is a 20th-century model best suited to the challenges of the 21st century, or does it require some new thinking?  It is perhaps telling that the second biggest “major” for incoming first-year BA students, after Psychology, is “undeclared” … and it is not that far behind!

There is much to ponder, and much to be done, as the new academic year surges out of the starting blocks.  But it is certainly a race worth running, so it is with both determination and enthusiasm that I say “Bring it on!”.