From the Desk of the Dean
Description
Deans and former deans map the recent past and contemplate the immediate future of liberal arts and sciences education
For those who have devoted their lives to teaching, learning, and innovation in the arts and sciences, it likely comes as no surprise that there has been a revaluing and devaluing of the work of students and faculty in the arts and sciences fields. In response Mary Anne Fitzpatrick and Elizabeth A. Say offer From the Desk of the Dean, an anthology of original essays by arts and sciences deans and former deans addressing the increasing demands for vocational education at the expense of the liberal arts and sciences. This informative collection examines the challenges in higher education and offers a compelling case for the value of the liberal arts and sciences.
To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), the largest association of arts and sciences deans in the country, editors Fitzpatrick and Say, both past presidents of CCAS, have assembled nine essays as well as three section introductions to create From the Desk of the Dean. Their goal is to prompt open discussions about American higher education and the perceived value of degrees in the basic arts and science fields. Many agree that to the public an accounting degree is of greater value than an art history degree and a civil engineering degree has more value than a degree in physics.
The contributors to the volume include deans with experience working at public and private universities, large research universities, comprehensive teaching institutions, as well as scholarly and advocacy groups. Their essays, informed by their experiences as leaders who support excellence in teaching, research, and creative activity in the basic fields of human knowledge, examine the many criticisms of higher education and of the faculty and programs in arts and sciences.
Sally Mason, president emerita of the University of Iowa, provides a foreword.
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Persons
Mary Anne Fitzpatrick is an Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology, the vice president for system planning, and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her appointment at the University of South Carolina, Fitzpatrick served in various administrative roles at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she also held the WARF Kellett Professorship. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2012. Fitzpatrick also served as the president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (2012-2013). An internationally recognized authority on interpersonal communication, Fitzpatrick is the author of more than one hundred articles, chapters, and books.
Content
- Cover
- From the Desk of the Dean
- Title
- Copyright
- CONTENTS
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART 1
- The Liberal Arts Agenda, Deans, and Deaning
- Past Is Prologue: CCAS and Deaning after Fifty Years
- Storytelling and the Deanship
- Pursuit of a Liberal Education-a Personal Story
- PART 2
- Calls to Action
- The Role of Community Colleges in Liberal Arts Education
- Advocating for the Humanities and Social Sciences
- The Academic Arms Race, Individualism, and the Arts and Sciences
- PART 3
- Predicting the Future: The Next Fifty Years for Education in the Arts and Sciences
- Narratives of the Humanities
- Pathways, Potholes, and Partnerships: Rethinking the Future of Graduate Education
- Enhancing Global-U.S. Academic Partnerships:The Case of South Africa
- Epilogue: Interdisciplinary Education through the Liberal Arts
- Contributors
- Index
