***A New Development in the Liberal Arts***
by Chris Kawecki November 25, 1996

The most valuable learning I have drawn from my liberal arts education
has been to take the world of ideas seriously.  This, I would argue,
is the primary mission of the liberal arts colleges.  But it is an
inherently ambiguous mission.  Does it imply that action -- problem
solving in the physical world -- is not as important an activity as
analysis?  Or perhaps it suggests that the most important idea the
liberal arts can take seriously is that thought and action inform one
another.  This second interpretation is precisely what I believe has
been the essence of my learning.  I challenge the liberal arts
colleges to embrace this interpretation more fully.  In particular, I
propose a new structural development for the liberal arts colleges
that embodies this second interpretation.  This is a structure I am
already working to create in collaboration with several colleges.

Gregory S. Prince, Jr., President of Hampshire College, defines a
liberal arts education as the development of capacities: "to think
clearly, critically, and creatively; to judge wisely and act humanely,
responsibly, and collaboratively; and to communicate effectively."  I
look to these capacities as essential in taking ideas seriously.  But
the liberal arts college can meet these goals more effectively than it
currently does for many students.  For, though I believe the liberal
arts is already effective for those who will become scholars (for whom
analysis is the main kind of action), it still falls short for those
who will not become scholars, but instead will serve society more
directly -- for instance, as educators, farmers, computer programmers,
or social workers.  Action, in particular, is only rarely exercised by
liberal arts students in these fields.

This is my last semeser at Hampshire College.  To demonstrate both
what taking ideas seriously means for me now, as well as to
demonstrate what I believe the liberal arts colleges themselves should
work towards, I will describe the venture I have begun to work on.

This new venture will be a full-time, one-year internship for students
from liberal arts colleges.  Groups of approximately ten students will
be engaging with societal and environmental tasks at both an
intellectual and practical level.  Next fall, the first group of ten
students will work in a small new school in rural Vermont.  Working
with the consultation of experienced educators, the students will be
engaging with the practical tasks of how to plan and administer a new
school, from building codes to curriculum.  This group of students
will be engaged with the planning and preparation for the new school
during the spring and summer before they officially begin their work.
Several will be college graduates.  The others will have completed one
to three years of college.  (Needless to say, for this particularly
sophisticated project, it has been essential to find dependable
students.)

This model is equally applicable to other areas of student interest
besides education.  For instance, a group of students interested in
ecology might spend a year working with city residents developing
community gardens.  A group of students interested in issues of the
urban poor could develop a program for urban youth leadership.
Perhaps programs like this could be like the Junior year abroad: the
sophomore year would be spent in part preparing for the year-long
commitment of the Junior year.

The most essential concept that can only be learned through this kind
of cooperative venture is that society and the world are constantly in
a state of change, and that we as individuals have a tremendous
potential to improve our society.  Ultimately, this realization brings
meaning to our lives and effectiveness to our actions -- the signs
that we have truly learned to take our ideas seriously.  This kind of
opportunity will allow students to understand that Margaret Mead was
writing to them when she wrote, "Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the
only thing that ever has."