November 2010 Archives

Last week Ben Whitesell wrote a great blog on choosing your major which I am sure you all put to great use. So once you have chosen your major, what comes next? You build upon that foundation. As an adviser, I encourage my students to think about their record of their time here at Penn State and to consider what you can do to make that record a reflection of yourself. If I were to look at your transcript, major, minor, clubs, letters to the editor, and all of your other activities, would I have a good picture of you? If I were looking to make a hiring choice and I based it on your record, would you be a good fit for a job you would love?

Minors are absolutely not required for graduation or graduate school admission. They are an opportunity to do a little extra by taking a significant number of courses, typically 6-8, including a few upper level courses in a field outside your major. In some cases the minor will directly support what you need to learn in your major. A great example of this is one of my economics majors choosing the math minor. In other cases minors will set students apart from the rest of the students in their major or will give students a chance to explore an outside interest. For example that same economics student may add a minor in philosophy because he truly enjoyed something he tried out while working on his general education requirements.

Courses you take to meet your major, general education or Bachelor of Arts requirements can all be used to satisfy a minor as well. You will find a list of minors offered by the university as well as the requirements for each minor on the University Bulletin website. Minors are listed on your transcript and you do receive a certificate with your diploma for each minor you complete. If you are interested in a minor, stop by to see your adviser to start the process of adding a minor by getting your application to a minor form signed.

I would like to invite our students who have declared minors to share their major/minor combinations and let the students who are currently working on these decisions know why you chose your particular combination. I'll go first - I started off with a French major and a psychology minor simply because those are the things I enjoyed studying.

Junior Psychology major Porschetta Cody; junior Psychology major Amanda McKoy; sophomore Psychology major Carshena Culmer; freshman International Politics major Lauren Barnes; and CLA's Multicultural Equity Coordinator Earl Merritt join Liberal Arts Voices for our 18th episode.

Porschetta, Amanda, Carshena, and Lauren are all Bunton-Waller fellows.  The students talk about their involvement in the Bunton-Waller Fellows Program and the benefits that they have experienced being involved in this community. The students also discuss the variety of other programs, clubs, and initiatives that they participate in at Penn State.

Earl Merritt talks about his role in the College of the Liberal Arts as the Multicultural Equity Coordinator. Specifically, the mission of Multicultural Equity Programs is to assist the College in providing access and equity to traditionally underrepresented students in higher education. Earl and the students talk about certain challenges that minority students may face on campus. Earl shares his perspective on how students can make the most out of their time in the College of the Liberal Arts by participating in research, other co-curricular activities, and planning ahead for graduate school!

Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 18

To subscribe to Liberal Arts Voices through iTunes, click here.

We encourage all of our listeners to write to us with comments, questions, or suggestions at laus@la.psu.edu. We may even respond to these comments on the next episode of Liberal Arts Voices.

Hi blog world!

I know I'm writing my first post late in the semester, but trust me, I have been super busy this fall. Anyway, excuses are irrelevant and I'm here now (jamming to Whitney Houston as I try to figure out what exactly I'm going to type).

Last week I went to an internship panel discussion at Career Services sponsored by the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council (LAUC) and the College of the Liberal Arts. I found it  very informative. I knew I wanted to do another internship in addition to the one I did at Rep. DePasquale's office in York/Harrisuburg PA, but I wasn't sure what to do or how to do it. I spoke to some people after the meeting and believe it or not, it was my first time in the career and advising center! I learned I need to visit Career Services a lot more often, because they have a million (not to exaggerate) resources. Hopefully I will find a great paid summer internship here in State College related to my major, Political Science!

Also, this weekend was CCSG (Council of Commonwealth Student Governments) council weekend. This is when the SGAs of all 19 commonwealth campuses come up to University Park for a series of meetings aimed at bettering the Pennsylvania State University as a whole. It went amazingly well! I never realized how much more intimidating it is to run a meeting in front of a room full of people, instead of just being a member of the audience. But all went well. I have so much follow-up work to do that I should really be doing right now, but I would rather blog because I feel like I'm writing in my diary right now. (Not that I can keep a  diary, trust me, I've tried, but it gets too demanding).

Tomorrow is my Students Engaging Students meeting! I am so excited to go! I love when we do the Happy Quarters! Getting involved is such a breath of fresh air! Especially on a campus so big where almost everything is overwhelming! It's like a bowl of vanilla ice cream on warm fresh cookies after a good meal.  (Yes I just said that.I was at Red Lobster and the dessert was amazing).

Anyway, this is just my first post, more like a "testing". I'll try to blog every other Sunday night so you can grab a cup of hot chocolate, a Penn State snuggie, get cozy and read all the fantabulous things I have to say! As of now, I need to get my internship search going and head to bed early tonight. I have a long week ahead of me!

I hope from my little blurb here you got to know a little something about me! You will hopefully be hearing a lot more from me in the weeks to come.

PEACE & LOVE ALWAYS!

STAY POSITIVE. STAY MOTIVATED

On Saturday, November 13th, I gave the keynote address at the Media Commons Tailgate, a community organized "unconference" where students, faculty and staff gathered to explore the impact new media technologies are having on teaching and learning.

There is little question that new media technologies are transforming the practice of education, and our practices of education must change in the wake of the emergence of new media technologies.


I conclude the presentation with some examples of how we have sought to cultivate enriching new media literacies with our students in the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies office.  I specifically discuss the work of Nicole Zinni and Justin Ogden, and I highlight some of the things we discussed in Liberal Arts Voices 15, when we focused on our DC interns.

Please take some time to watch the video.  I welcome feedback in the comments on this blog.

For those of you who want to investigate the videos associated with this post a bit further, I have embedded a playlist that includes all the videos I touch upon in the presentation. They give articulate voice to the kinds of enriching literacies our students are cultivating in and through their engagement with social media on our site.
  Finally, I include a link to the Traditional and New Media Literacies Prezi itself for those who want to navigate through in more detail.

One skill that is bound to give you an edge, no matter what path you pursue after Penn State, is the ability to speak a foreign language. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of foreign language skills in the 21st century, an era that has already been marked by increasing globalization, dramatic shifts in global power and demographic trends, and ever-evolving challenges in the political arena.

You may think to yourself that "so many people throughout the world speak English" so you don't need to learn a second language. Well, the former may be true (although many Americans overestimate the proportion of the world's population that speaks English); the latter likely is not. Whether you plan to pursue a career in business, government, non-profit, law, or academia, there is a good chance that your employer will work with clients, constituents, or partners from across the globe.

Try this exercise: think of an American blue-chip employer (such as Pfizer, Omnicon, Procter & Gamble, Google, Bank of New York/Mellon, or MasterCard) and then try to guess what proportion of its revenues comes from outside the US. For the companies listed above, the proportions approach 50% or more. In fact, recent data suggests that for US companies as a whole the proportion of revenues that are derived internationally is about 30%, while for companies in the S&P 500, the proportion is along the lines of 45-50% (MSN Market Watch, 2007).*  These rates are expected to increase over the next several years. Certainly foreign language skills would be an asset for individuals seeking a position in the private sector after college, particularly as the global economy continues to evolve and other regions of the world assume greater economic and political influence.

Knowledge of a foreign language is also a great asset for those considering careers in government, the non-profit sector, law or law enforcement, and related fields. Currently, the fastest growing regions of the world are outside of North America, and are not predominantly English-speaking. Certainly some of the most pressing humanitarian and geopolitical challenges of our era are in non-English speaking areas of the world. In this regard, one might think particularly of the former Soviet republics (where Russian is widely spoken), the Middle East, Latin America, or Eastern Europe. Students interested in careers or research in these fields who possess a working knowledge of a foreign language will be able to take advantage of a wider range of opportunities to serve others, and will undoubtedly have access to a broader range of resources to draw upon in building their careers.

Even if your interests are more local, foreign language skills are still a plus given the increasingly multicultural nature of the modern workplace. Most young people in college today will one day work in an environment where they are required to interact with people from other cultural backgrounds or whose first language is not English. In the multicultural workplace employees who know another language and have developed an understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures that the study of a foreign language promotes are an asset.

Finally, if you plan further education after college, you may already know that many graduate programs require a certain level of fluency in one or two foreign languages. This is because important research is often published in professional journals and books in languages other than English. Language skills can also boost your application to law or business school, and make you more competitive for any grant or scholarship that you may wish to apply for. In addition to making you a better communicator, knowledge of a foreign language showcases your capacity to assimilate complex systems of information, as well as your flexibility and ability to "get outside your own head" and adapt to how other people think.

Penn State offers a variety of ways to integrate foreign languages into existing programs of study.  How might you get started? Penn State University Park offers courses in many languages ranging from the more familiar, such as German, to the less commonly taught, such as Hindi. For many of these languages, University Park also offers a range of summer courses (see for example, the many offerings in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, and new next summer, Turkish and Portuguese). Thus foreign language study can complement and fit readily into most educational plans. For many of the languages offered here you can earn a minor which will give you a formal credential to attest to your skills.

Descriptions of Penn State minors, including language minors, can be found on the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies website.  Language minors typically require 18 - 19 credits in language courses, with 6 - 7 credits at the 400 level.  However, introductory language courses (LANG 001, sometimes LANG 002 and 003) do not count towards all minors. It is always good to consult with the departmental adviser to make sure that you understand the requirements.

Good luck!  Bonne chance! Viel Glück!
 

Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council (LAUC) President Geoff Halberstadt joins our Liberal Arts Voices podcast for episode seventeen.

In this episode, Associate Dean Long and Geoff continue the discussion started in their recent blog post "Opening a Dialogue on Drinking." In this post Dean Long and Geoff asked students, faculty, and staff to begin talking about some of the main issues concerning drinking at Penn State.

Dean Long and Geoff talk about some of the comments and ideas that were generated in their first blog post. They discuss a variety of topics including: Penn State's de-licensing of products like shot glasses; policies that might be appropriate in response to dangerous drinking; and how Penn State and the State College community can begin to approach this subject. Dean Long and Geoff will be writing another blog post next week continuing this conversation, so keep an eye out for it! 

Geoff also updates listeners on LAUC's programs and initiatives for this year. LAUC and the College of the Liberal Arts are co-sponsoring an internship panel tonight, Tuesday, November 9 at 6 p.m. in 103 Career Services Building. LAUC will also be hosting more events in the spring including a "Speed Dating Event" with Liberal Arts Majors. Students should check the LAUS Announcement blog in the spring for more details on upcoming events.

Lastly, Dean Long shares information about his key note speech he will be giving at the Media Commons Tailgate this Saturday, November 13th at 10 a.m.  You can find out more details about this event on the Media Commons Tailgate 2010 wikispace. 
  
Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 17

To subscribe to Liberal Arts Vices through iTunes, click here.

We encourage all of our listeners to write to us with comments, questions, or suggestions at laus@la.psu.edu. We may even respond to these comments on the next episode of Liberal Arts Voices.

During the last couple of months, almost all progress on the Moore building project has been underground.  Workers excavated the basement on the west side of the building and put in footings on the east side. During the last several weeks, they have poured the basement foundation and  walls and put in some utilities.

During the next several weeks, we should see much more above ground progress. A giant crane has arrived, and workers will start hanging the steel structure of the addition. So far, five months into the project, it is on schedule and on budget!

Meanwhile, the work of the department faculty and students is scattered to six buildings, including the Moore building. Other psychology faculty, labs, centers, and projects are located in Thomas,  Ritenour, Keller , Pond,  and University Services Building 2. The undergraduate advising center remains in the Moore building, where it will be until it is relocated to the new addition.

In the wake of a series of issues that have arisen over the past few years regarding the culture of student drinking here at Penn State, LAUC President, Geoff Halberstadt, and I began a conversation about how we as a community could best respond. We both recognize that there are productive roles for students and administrators to play in addressing the issue. But we also felt that these roles can only emerge from a genuine and open dialogue between students and administrators.

So, what began as a face to face conversation, grew through social media as we tweeted ideas and links to one another. We hope the conversation will begin to blossom here on the LAUS blog as we invite others to participate.  So please join us in a Dialogue on Drinking over the next few months.

LAUS Dean Long: I really appreciate the manner in which you responded to my tweet in September about alcohol education on campus. It reminded me of the conversation your predecessor as LAUC President, Sam Loewner and I had last spring in the wake of the State Patty's Day controversy. That discussion and your responses to my questions about alcohol awareness remind me of how insightful students are about the drinking culture on campus.

Geoff Halberstadt: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to become part of the conversation. It certainly was an interesting way for you and I to fall into this topic, but I'm grateful that we have. I recall the conversation that you and Sam generated last spring and I enjoyed following it. All too often, I feel like the conversation is dominated by the extremes, and student insight is overlooked.

Dean Long: I agree. My experience with students both in as a Philosophy professor and as Associate Dean tells me that there are many thoughtful, responsible and creative students at Penn State who have a lot to contribute about how to address the drinking culture here. Haven't leaders from the UPUA and other organizations been included in thinking through solutions?

Geoff: Yes, student leaders from University Park Undergraduate Association, Interfraternity Council, and others are brought into the conversation, but I am left feeling like many students do not enter into the conversation. For this reason, I'm thankful for the conversation you and I had, and the idea that we developed from that meeting. I believe that starting an online discussion is an excellent way for us to broach this topic with a large audience, especially students. I hope that the conversation we cultivate focuses on the issues and the community impacts. I don't want it to become banal. Hopefully, the discussion we had via Twitter can grow and be entered into by other people.

Dean Long: Me too. So, what are the issues, exactly? Maybe we can identify a number here and address them individually in posts to come. I really hope others will join this dialogue on drinking here on the blog and on twitter under the hashtag: #psuDD. What are the main issues concerning the drinking culture at Penn State that we should discuss?

Here are some possibilities Geoff and I thought of:

• How should we, as a community, respond to dangerous drinking habits? Examples: Four Loko or a student who was found sleeping on State College resident's couch.
• The new Penn State initiative to address the Drinking Culture - what is working, what are its limitations? 
• What are the responsibilities of students, faculty, administrators?