»≈‘ ª«‘∑¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√°‘ “ Liberal Arts Education in the united States I donût want to oversell this liberal arts trend in China. Indeed, proponents for expanded liberal arts opportunities face formidable challenges ahead, not the least of which is a public relations problem. When UIC opened its doors six years ago, few Chinese high school seniors even knew what the term liberal arts meant. UIC hoped for an inaugural class of 500 students; it received little over half-and its curriculum is still regarded as idiosyncratic and experimental. Many Chinese high school students dream of attending college in the United States, but heretofore most have been attracted to big-name, Ivy-League universities and not to small liberal arts colleges. Last year, Chen Yongfang, a Chinese student who happened to find himself at Bowdoin College, coauthored a book published in China called, A True Liberal Arts Education, the purpose of which was to basically explain the whole concept of liberal arts education to Chinese students and their parents. The book praises the benefits of small college life such as intimate classes with small professor-to-student ratios and with professors who focus on teaching rather than research. Chen claims that Bowdoinûs commitment to nurturing skills for life rather than simply for the immediate workplace has made him a passionate convert: çLiberal arts is about fostering your identity. They want to cultivate your mind. You may not remember all the knowledge youûve learned after four years, but they want you to know how to learn.é The book received wide media coverage in China and now awaits a 46
second print run. Meanwhile, Chinese applications to Bowdoin are up 300 percent from just a few years ago. Still, Chen admits that the liberal arts may be, overall, a hard sell in China where many demand practical employment directly upon graduation-yet Chen counters that that liberal arts graduates will perform better over the long term and have flexible skill sets allowing one to adapt to changing conditions over the long haul. Even though these foreign universities are looking to big name American universities for assistance with the liberal arts-Yale, NYU, Duke, and so on-instead of Americaûs premier small colleges-Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, and so on-I do see that the small-college model, as opposed to the R-1 model has influenced many of these new initiatives abroad. A few weeks ago I took a quick tally of the list of country where, in the past 12 years, new undergraduate liberal arts colleges have been founded, each modeled explicitly after that distinctively American institution, the small residential undergraduate liberal arts college. This is a list of countries officially and unofficially hosting brand new liberal arts colleges, not just new liberal arts programs housed within larger universities and many of the new colleges on this list have sprung up very recently, only in the last few years. Here goes: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, Russia, Qatar, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thatûs 47
»≈‘ ª«‘∑¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√∞— Õ‡¡√°‘ “ Liberal Arts Education in the united States an impressive list of many of the top players on the international scene of global trade. I want to say that those initiatives are starting out on the right track-with the small residential approach-rather than looking to enhance international reputations through a branding partnership with a big-name, prestigious U.S. university. I should add that the President of Yale recently made the bold prediction that Yale College in Singapore holds the potential for transforming higher education throughout Asia in the 21st century. Anyway, hereûs why I believe what I believe, the secret key to the liberal arts in a small college setting. First, the key to the liberal arts x-factor-the creative, critical thinking factor-is not simply a curriculum featuring various subject matters. The liberal arts is not simply a curriculum, rather it is, or becomes, an ethos and eventually, a way of life. Allow me to explain: yes, a typical liberal arts curriculum features a broad-based approach to learning, drawing upon history, upon literature, upon science and math, upon economics and so on. These disciplinary rubrics, which really are the legacy of professional graduate training, tend to break down pretty quickly at the undergraduate level, such that experimental forays into interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary or maybe call it post-disciplinary purviews and approaches start to become the norm rather than the exception. One starts to pursue knowledge wherever curiosity suggests and logic dictates rather than following a script or methodology predetermined elsewhere. I want to say that 48
once liberated from those pre-professional strictures, a professor and his class are free to explore a topic wherever it may lead. Such becomes the integrity of oneûs learning and research, namely that you are pursuing your studies according to their intrinsic purposes, pleasures, and procedures rather than according to extrinsic goals, designs, and methods. I used to call that a non-utilitarian approach to learning, but Iûve dropped that terminology, because I think a liberal arts education produces a great deal of utility, but not according to some short-term metric. Instead, lately Iûve begun touting the benefits of a non-utilitarian, non-professional pedagogy in the classroom, which is separate from the short-term or long-term benefits of such an education. And oddly enough, placing a priority on an ostensibly non-utilitarian pedagogy is what ultimately delivers results. Imagine a class of very smart, very hard working, very ambitious undergraduates turning off their cell phones and poring into the intensive reading of a long, abstruse novel such as James Joyceûs Ulysses and then coming to class to discuss that work. How do you create the educational conditions for that scenario? I donût think you do that by incentivizing such activity. In fact, according to most cost-benefit analyses, reading James Joyceûs Ulysses will seem like an absolute waste of time, a silly indulgence. As well, doing most scientific research is a wasteful pursuit. Somehow youûve got to convince those students that they should 49
»≈‘ ª«‘∑¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√‘°“ Liberal Arts Education in the united States devote their considerable energies to reading Ulysses nonetheless; it means essentially that they will need to suspend their career concerns for the duration of that reading period and the discussion thereafter. In that space of suspension, many wonders, many ideas, many insights, many formative connections and conversations, ensue; and I think, no I know, that there are many ulterior benefits to such a rarefied situation. How do you get a liberal arts student to play in the orchestra? You donût tell them that, according to neuroscientists, playing music enlarges brain activity or that Einstein claimed that he made many of his discoveries while playing the violin. You donût tell the student that playing in the orchestra will lead to a great job. Rather, you try to instill the love of music, the thrill of the performance and the joys of rigorous practice, for its own sake as it were, and you let all the ulterior benefits be merely derivative and secondary. Have faith that they will follow. But thatûs point number one: pedagogical ethos. Point number two: small classes. Why are these so crucial to the teaching of the liberal arts? Some of it is obvious: You donût learn how to play the trombone by listening to a master trombone player lecturing to a class of 800 student trombonists. And you donût ultimately learn how to play the trombone by watching an on-line video of a master trombone player. Rather, you learn how to play the trombone by sitting next to a teacher, picking up pointers in the back-and-forth exchange, and then by playing in a small 50
band, with others. So, too, with learning how to perform in a theatre group, or to do scientific research: small is better. One clear benefit our Pomona College students have these days is that our science (and other) professors now involve undergraduates in their research groups, rather than relying upon graduate students; our undergraduates now co-author papers with their professors, which is a huge benefit of such an intimate place. Still, thereûs more to the small classes than simply the smallness. I want to say that much liberal arts teaching and learning is teaching and learning according to an apprentice model, and the apprentice model requires face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations and interactions. When Iûm teaching someone, Iûm not just lecturing at them, Iûm not simply imparting knowledge to them, rather, Iûm trying to get them to think. And thinking is an entire process, which doesnût follow a formula. I teach thinking by enacting it, by modeling it. I teach curiosity, and I hope the joys of rigorous study, and I teach students how to encounter and negotiate mystery, frustration, and ambivalence. At every turn, I have to rethink my own field, I have to examine my own working assumptions; thereûs no magic-bullet methodology for pursuing the worldûs knowledge. Those of us who actually teach in the classrooms know that one of the best ways of teaching is to turn the tables on the student, finding a way to reverse the traditional roles of teacher versus student, so that the student starts teaching the professor. In fact, thatûs the apprentice 51
»≈‘ ª«‘∑¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√‘°“ Liberal Arts Education in the united States model in a nutshell: We learn together, we teach each other. The professor remains open to learning, the professor remains essentially a student, instead of being a know-it-all authority. To be sure, I may know a little bit more than the undergraduate student, but I also know that most of the truths and discoveries from my generation will probably be obsolete for his or her generation. Students provide various models of learning for each other in those small seminars-those small classrooms become workshops for figuring out with others from your generation what will matter, for now and in the near future, and how to go about getting there, what the right questions are, what matters, what ideas have legs. You canût conduct those intergenerational learning workshops in a large lecture hall. You canût conduct those learning workshops completely via on-line education. Not yet. If you want to be a lab scientist, you have to be there in the lab conducting the experiment and observing the results and discussing the methods with your colleagues. If you want to fine-tune the orchestra, your ears need to hear the actual, true-frequency sound waves right there in person. So, second point: smallness. Final point: independence. When we say that the liberal arts encourage critical thinking, what are we saying, exactly? Yes, the liberal arts approach is usually Socratic, rather than didactic, but whatûs the point and purpose of a Socratic approach? What I want from my students is not their agreement with my point of view, 52
rather I want them ultimately to draw judgments about the material on their own. I want them to gain the confidence in their own ability to delve into a matter and assess it. By definition, I canût do that for them. By definition, I cannot think for them. As Socrates contended, an imitated thought is no thought at all. So how do you teach independent judgment and thinking? Liberal education, I want to say, involves a paradox at its core. Itûs the paradox of how an older generation can pass on the virtues of independent, critical thinking, that is, thinking as such. If I, as your authoritative professor figure, tell you, lecture at you, beseech you, think for yourself; if I say to you as your authority figure, question authority, thereûs no way for you as dutiful follower to uphold both the letter and spirit of my directives. If, for instance, you question authority but only because I, as your authority figure, told you to do so, then youûre not really questioning authority. But if you cease to question authority in order to question and to rebel against my authority, then you end up just being stupid. Thus the paradox: how do we get students to think on their own, as it were? My own answer is, obliquely, by example, and by creating a venue hospitable to and welcoming of such questioning and experimentation, the free play of ideas. Some professors see teaching through the metaphor of piggyback riding: hop on my back and Iûll take you for a ride somewhere. I see teaching through the metaphor of learning how to ride a bicycle. When my own children were little, before they could ride a bike 53
»≈‘ ª«‘∑¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√°‘ “ Liberal Arts Education in the united States without training wheels, I had to hold onto the back of their bicycle seat and hold them upright. They would start to pedal, then get nervous, and then look back to make sure I was still there, running alongside of them and holding them up. But then thereûs a magical moment when they çget it,é and achieve balance and can ride on their own, and they take off, without my guidance. I knew this before they did, that they had achieved independence, and I could let go of the bike and watch them ride off. What a great feeling when they looked back and realized that I wasnût holding on anymore! My friends, I think I will end this talk on that note, leaving you with that bike-riding image. Iûm not going to try to extend the metaphor into a larger lesson about the impending need for a sustainable post-fossil fuel economy, insinuating thereby that we all should to start riding bikes rather than driving gas-guzzling cars. Yet the next generation will face a number of very large challenges ahead and will need to be able to think through them. My aim for this talk has been much more modest. Instead I will invite you to think, when you think about the liberal arts, to think first and foremost in terms of small intrinsic virtues, habits of the heart and mind, and key metaphors rather than by way of big fancy brand names and worldly benefits. Thank you very much for listening to me, I am thrilled to be here in Thailand, and I greatly look forward to our conversations in the days ahead. 54
»“ µ√“®“√¬å ¥√.®ÕÀåπ Õ’«“π ´’√Ë’ °“√»÷°…“ ª√‘≠≠“‡Õ° “¢“√—∞»“ µ√å 2528 ¡À“«∑‘ ¬“≈—¬·§≈‘øÕ√‡å π¬’ ‡∫‘√°å ≈’¬å (University of California, Berkeley) 2524 ª√‘≠≠“‚∑ “¢“√—∞»“ µ√å 2523 ¡À“«∑‘ ¬“≈—¬·§≈‘øÕ√‡å π’¬ ‡∫‘√°å ≈¬’ å ª√≠‘ ≠“µ√’ “¢“∑ƒ…Æ’·≈–ª√—™≠“°“√‡¡◊Õß 2522 °“√ª°§√Õß ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬·Õ¡‡Œ‘√ å µå (Amherst University) »°÷ …“ ≥ ‡¡Õ◊ ß ‰Œ‡¥≈‡∫√‘ å° (Heidelberg) ª√–‡∑» Àæπ— ∏å “∏“√≥√∞— ‡¬Õ√¡π’ ª√– ∫°“√≥å°“√∑”ß“π 2553-2554 »“ µ√“®“√¬å摇»…ª√–®”»Ÿπ¬å‡æ◊ËÕ§ÿ≥§à“¡πÿ…¬å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬æ√‘π´åµ—π (University Center for Human Values, Princeton) 2545-ªí®®ÿ∫—π »“ µ√“®“√¬ªå √–®”¿“§«‘™“√—∞»“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ (Pomona College) 2535-ªí®®ÿ∫—π Õ“®“√¬å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬·§≈√å¡Õßµå (Claremont Graduate University) 2550-2551 À—«Àπ“â ¿“§«‘™“√—∞»“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ 2543-2546 À«— Àπâ“¿“§«™‘ “√—∞»“ µ√å ¡À“«∑‘ ¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ 2542-2545 À—«Àπâ“À≈—° Ÿµ√ ÕË◊ »÷°…“ ¡À“«∑‘ ¬“≈—¬‚æ‚¡π“ 55
»‘≈ª«∑‘ ¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√°‘ “ Liberal Arts Education in the united States 2537-2545 √Õß»“ µ√“®“√¬å ¿“§«‘™“√∞— »“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬‚æ‚¡π“ 2533-2536 º™Ÿâ ૬»“ µ√“®“√¬å ¿“§«™‘ “√∞— »“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ 2532-2533 ºŸâ™«à ¬»“ µ√“®“√¬å ¿“§«‘™“√—∞»“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬∑—ø å (Tufts University) 2531-2532 ºŸâ™«à ¬»“ µ√“®“√¬æå ‡‘ »… ¿“§«™‘ “√∞— »“ µ√å ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬·§≈ø‘ Õ√‡å π¬’ ´“𵓠§√Ÿ´ (University of California, Santa Cruz) 2528-2531 Õ“®“√¬ªå √–®”À≈°— µŸ √«≤— π∏√√¡µ–«—πµ° ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬ ·µπøÕ√å¥ (Stanford University) 2524-2526 º™âŸ ૬ Õπ ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬·§≈‘øÕ√‡å π’¬ ‡∫‘√°å ≈¬’ å ¿“§ƒ¥Ÿ√Õâ π ºâ™Ÿ «à ¬«‘®—¬ ¿“§«™‘ “®’π»÷°…“ 2528 ¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬·§≈‘øÕ√å‡π’¬ ‡∫√‘ å°≈¬’ å ¿“§ƒ¥ÀŸ π“« º™Ÿâ ૬«‘®—¬ ¡≈Ÿ π∏‘ ‘‡Õ‡™’¬ (The Asia Foundation) 2526 ´“πø√“π´ ‘ ‚° ¡≈√∞— ·§≈‘øÕ√å‡π¬’ ‡°¬’ √µ§‘ ≥ÿ ·≈–√“ß«≈— 2552 ‰¥â√—∫√“ß«—≈ Sidney Hook Memorial Award ®“° ¡“§¡‡°’¬√µ‘π‘¬¡ Ÿß ÿ¥ Phi Beta Kappa ´÷Ëß¡Õ∫√“ß«—≈¥—ß°≈à“«„π∑ÿ° “¡ªï·°à∫ÿ§§≈∑’Ë¡’ §«“¡‚¥¥‡¥πà ·≈–§«“¡‡ªπì ‡≈»‘ „π¥“â π„¥¥“â πÀπßË÷ ¥—ßπ’È ¥â“𧫓¡‡ªìππ—°«‘™“°“√ ¥â“π°“√ Õπ„π √–¥—∫ª√‘≠≠“µ√’ ·≈–§«“¡‡ªìπºâŸπ”„π “¢“ »‘≈ª«∑‘ ¬“»“ µ√å 56
2552 ‰¥â√—∫√“ß«—≈ Special Commendation ®“° —ß°—¥ Gamma Chapter ¡“§¡‡°’¬√µ‘π‘¬¡ Ÿß ÿ¥ Phi Beta Kappa ‡æ◊ÕË ‡ªìπ‡°¬’ √µ‘„π°“√∑”§«“¡¥’ ·≈–∑”ª√–‚¬™πå ‡æÕ◊Ë ¡“§¡ 2549 - 2550 ‰¥â√—∫°“√·µàßµ—Èß„À⇪ìπª√–∏“π —ß°—¥ Gamma Chapter ¡“§¡‡°¬’ √µπ‘ ¬‘ ¡ ߟ ¥ÿ Phi Beta Kappa 2549 ‰¥â√—∫°“√‚À«µ„À⇪ìπ çLast Lectureré À√◊Õ Õ“®“√¬¥å ‡’ ¥πà ¢Õß¡À“«∑‘ ¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ (ªØ‡‘ ∏) 2546 ‰¥â√—∫‡°’¬√µ‘„À⇪ìπºâŸ°≈à“«ª“∞°∂“„π«—𠔇√Á® °“√»÷°…“ ¢Õß¡À“«‘∑¬“≈—¬‚æ‚¡π“ (ªØ‡‘ ∏) 2543 ‰¥â√—∫°“√‚À«µ„À⇪ìπ çLast Lectureré À√◊Õ Õ“®“√¬å¥‡’ ¥àπ ¢Õß¡À“«‘∑¬“≈¬— ‚æ‚¡π“ 57
»≈‘ ª«∑‘ ¬“»“ µ√å„πª√–‡∑» À√—∞Õ‡¡√°‘ “ Liberal Arts Education in the united States §≥–º®âŸ ¥— ∑” ∑’ªË √÷°…“ √». ¥√.§≥ÿ À≠ß‘ ¡ÿ ≥±“ æ√À¡∫≠ÿ º·Ÿâ ª≈ √ªÿ π—°«‘™“°“√»°÷ …“ªØ‘∫—µ°‘ “√ π“ß “««¿‘ “¥“ «“π™‘ ∫√√≥“∏‘°“√ π“߇√Õ◊ ß√—µπå «ß»ªå √“‚¡∑¬å À—«Àπ“â °≈ÿà¡·ºπ°“√»÷°…“·Ààß™“µ‘ ª√– “π°“√®—¥æ‘¡æå π“¬∏√’ –æ®πå §”√≥ƒ∑∏‘»√ π—°«‘™“°“√ª√–®”‚§√ß°“√ Àπ«à ¬ß“π√∫— º¥‘ ™Õ∫ ΩÉ“¬‡≈¢“πÿ°“√‚§√ß°“√ª√–™¡ÿ ‚µä–°≈¡‰∑¬- À√—∞œ °≈¡àÿ ·ºπ°“√»÷°…“·Ààß™“µ‘ ”π—°π‚¬∫“¬¥â“π°“√»÷°…“¡À¿“§ ”π—°ß“π‡≈¢“∏‘°“√ ¿“°“√»°÷ …“ 58
‡æÕË◊ ‡ªìπ°“√„™∑â √æ— ¬“°√„À⧡âÿ §“à À“°∑à“π‰¡à„™âÀπß— Õ◊ ‡≈à¡πÈ’·≈â« ‚ª√¥¡Õ∫„Àºâ Õ⟠πË◊ 𔉪„™âª√–‚¬™πåµÕà ‰ª 59
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