Communication and the Liberal Arts Education

The Nature and Purpose of a Liberal Arts Education

To act in useful ways and to create beauty in the world are two of humanity's deepest impulses, and it is to these impulses that we owe virtually every good and beautiful thing in the world.

--Page Smith, Killing the Spirit, Penguin Books, 1990

So what exactly is a "liberal arts" education? In its essence a liberal education is about a process: the process of learning to learn, of ever-expanding your concept of reality, your comprehension of self and the greater universe you inhabit. A liberal education is all about truth-seeking. It is about defining a world view and a philosophy of life. It is about gaining ethical and civic maturity and embracing your responsibility to humankind. It is about intellectual, ethical, and spiritual growth. It is about freedom of thought -- but a freedom predicated upon sound judgments and disciplined argumentation and understanding. It embraces the "lively mind." The "questioning mind." It is about living consciously and fully. It is about life-long learning. It's not about skills, though learning skills may be part of the experience. Its not about memorizing, though occasionally memorization may be necessary. It's not about finding a job or making lots of money, though students who do well in a liberal arts program are sought after by employers and generally do very well in their career lives.

The Nature of the Communication and Media Studies Department

As a new major you might ask yourself, "why did I choose communication studies as a major?" What factors led you in this direction? Do you know what the academic discipline of communication studies is? What is it that you expect to "learn?" What do you plan to do with your future? How will this major help? Is it the right major for you? What kind of personal and intellectual growth is important to you? Again, how will this major help fulfill these goals? You will need to be clear about your goals and motivations in order to get the most out of your education.

The Communication and Media Studies Department at Goucher is an integral part of the liberal arts. It is not a pre-professional program. It is not oriented or framed upon a "skills" acquisition philosophy: such a framework would work counter to a liberal arts education and counter to Goucher's mission as a liberal arts college. At the root of our philosophy is, simply, the pursuit of truth. All of our coursework seeks to raise and perhaps answer fundamental questions about human nature, social organization, and cultural forces. Fundamental questions can seldom be considered without reference to ethical dimensions. Truth seeking and ethics dance together, not separately, in the greater pageant of life.

The most important thing a student can do in her/his education is to learn to learn: to learn to ask probing questions; to learn what resources are available to aid in exploring these questions; to really "hear" other people, other ideas, new ways of seeing and being: to explore the universe we all inhabit to the best of your ability. This is an awesome and endless task--a process more than a goal. It is an awesome task that above all requires openness and a love for humankind and nature. The currently "fashionable" cynicism (I'm just too cool to ever be enthusiastic about anything) will not help you! It will hinder you. Lack of motivation will not help you. It will hinder you. Dismissiveness and narrow-mindedness will not help you. They will hinder you.

Are you lost? Good! Getting lost is part of growth! Finding your way out of the forest (at least for awhile) is basic problem solving! Learning!

To sum up, what we hope for for all of our students is that they leave Goucher and our department as lifelong learners; as thinking, caring human beings; as critical problem solvers; as creators who can think outside the box; as independent, intelligent people who view life through the filter of history and a multi-cultural understanding, not through a void of ephemeral here-today gone-tomorrow misconceptions or their own narcissistic myopia.

We also hope our students will leave here with some life "skills" such as the ability to write well and to communicate well in oral form. Though our program stresses critical thinking and theory, we do offer elective coursework in some skills/creative oriented areas such as public relations, news writing, audio and video production, screenwriting, and so forth. We maintain high expectations and hope that you will also challenge yourself continuously, strive to work independently, realize that what you get out of your coursework is entirely dependent upon what YOU put into your coursework.

Finally, it is essential that you understand that the Communication and Media Studies Department at Goucher is a rigorous academic program like any other academic program such as history or political science. Yes, we watch films. But no, we do not watch films for pleasure. We watch them to practice analysis, to apply theory, to achieve greater understanding of cultural forces. All of our classes require significant writing and research. All of our courses require extensive and often very difficult reading. If you think being a communication major will be fun, this is not the major for you. If you think being a communication major will be easy, this is not the major for you. If you think being a communication major will not challenge you constantly, then this is not the major for you. If you think studying communication and media studies is about knowing who's in what film or how many sons Ben Cartwright had on Bonanza, this is definitely not the major for you. If you think it's not necessary to have knowledge of history or to strive to understand the nuances of human nature, it's time to move on to another major.