November 2011 Archives

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, Gebeba Baderoon and Shailja Patel entered Foster Auditorium like a storm two weeks ago. Thirty minutes before their poetry reading was scheduled to begin, I watched them strategize about microphones and drag the book table from its usual corner to the center of the room. While they were laboring, Wesley readjusted her gold and black head wrap and exhaled, "My son keeps telling me I'm in the 1%, but I promise, I'm a poet, I'm in the 99!"

Even as a professor at Penn State Altoona, Wesley was aware of the Occupy movement in University Park. Again, these poets reminded me how poetry is never far from a social consciousness. Throughout the evening, Wesley, Baderoon and Patel shared poems about their life travels that led them out of Africa. These three poets who represented Africa for an evening gave a unique perspective on America from the outside in.

Baderoon started the evening humbly. Referring to her fellow poets for the evening, she said, "I'm going to read as the opening act to the grown-up poets."

She read a poem called "Old Photographs" about her coming to America, which she admitted she did for love. Because Baderoon started with an open source love poem to South Africa, she paused to contemplate before her next poem: "You might wonder why I left. That's a mysterious question. I don't quite know yet...if I have left."

When she contemplates her lover in "Old Photographs," Baderoon asks, "Was this the beginning of leaving?" It was clear to the audience that we were seeing a South African woman, even in the midst of our American world. She never lost what it was in her to be South African because she continued to mine that identity in her writing.

Wesley came to the podium next with her poem "Home Coming." She gave the popole chant of mourning before she began, which she translated as "The world is ending, come, we finish." In the Liberian civil war, Wesley said her brother, her brother-in-law and her brother-in-law's entire family were drowned by the military. The hurt inspired her to write about what it would be like for her to go home after that tragedy, after so much time away.

She started her poem "Home Coming" with the line, "I don't want to be a stranger when I come home/ I want my brothers to take me in." Wesley later asks, "If they kill all my brothers/ who will welcome me home?" She wants to return to Liberia so her brothers can recite her praise names, in their proper order, to incessant drumming.

Wesley concluded her portion of the reading with a poem "for [her] children growing up in America." For her that was a foreign concept and she said that sometimes it was sad to think that her children were only growing up in America, even though she did ultimately love the country.

Patel went through a similar love-hate relationship with America and closed the evening with a portion of her "Migritude," which she read by memory. Migritude is a word that Patel made up to create the image of a migrant with attitude. Being a third generation Indian in Kenya who was then deported to England and eventually made her way to California, Patel knows a thing or two about being a migrant.

In "Migritude," Patel detailed the story of her parents flying to visit her and her sister in San Francisco. Her parents got detained in the airport, after flying for 17 hours, because of some small inconsistency on their passports. And when her mom hears the customs officer saying he's hungry, she offers him a bit of her sandwich even though she's just been traveling for 17 hours and isn't even allowed to leave the airport in America. But as Patel's Migritude shows, she learned from her mother to love the people around her.

Patel's final offering of the evening was to discuss her open source love poem to Oakland, California, which closed the evening on another Occupy movement reference. She detailed how Occupy Oakland had come for the city she loved and the people she loved. Baderoon and Wesley both praised Patel for the recurrence in her poem of "the city I love" and "the people I love," because, after all, their evening of poetry together was about love - love of each other, love of poetry, and most importantly love of the respective places that these women have found themselves in their lives.  

LAUSDeanLong: Returning home is always fraught with complex emotions and feelings, for you return to a familiar place a changed person.

I wonder how students are feeling about their return home for Thanksgiving this week in the wake of the complex emotional, intellectual and psychological experiences of the past two weeks.

LaurenPerrotti: Some students have already made up their minds by posting facebook statuses warning friends not to bring up the Sanudsky case. Others plan to tell family and friends that it is their week off and they are taking a break from addressing the issue. Thursday evening at the LAUC meeting, our very own Doug Dooling (@DailyDiplomat) posed the question to the council. I am fortunate that my family has been patient and understanding of both the situation and my reaction toward it. However, I know that this is not the case for every student.

LAUSDeanLong: Last week in my letter to students I appealed to Rilke who spoke about the need to "live the questions." This week, as you return home, I thought perhaps this quotation from D.H. Lawrence might speak to you as it has to me over the past two weeks:

"The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen."

Our attempts to live the questions among the ruins really is difficult work. But it is work for which you all are prepared; it is the work of a liberal arts education, the work of growth and maturity. And you have resources to help you with it: your family, your professors, your friends, and our Liberal Arts academic advisers.

My hope for us this week away is that we find ways to renew our energy and refocus our attention. For when you return, we will need our collective talents, our best selves, to move forward with integrity.

LaurenPerrotti: Yes, and we thought that we might provide a space below in the comment section for students who are at home for the break who want to continue to talk through their experiences with other students on our blog. Over the course of the next week, we invite you to do just that.

In Episode 34 of the bi-weekly Liberal Arts Voices podcast, Associate Dean Long; Lecturers in Sociology Laurie Mulvey and Sam Richards; and Liberal Arts Undergraduate President Lauren Perrotti discuss the Penn State crisis.

Approximately two weeks after the release of the grand jury report on the Sandusky case, Dean Long, Laurie, Sam, and Lauren reflect on the recent events, how the campus has been impacted, and where the Penn State community can go from here. 

Laurie and Sam talk about student responses to these issues in their Sociology 119 class and their World in Conversation Project.  Lauren discusses her experiences talking about this crisis in her classes and addressing these issues as a student leader on campus.

The group reflects on the complex set of issues at hand and the variety of ways in which the Penn State community is experiencing them on individual and institutional levels. They discuss the importance of attentive listening, critical thinking, and respectful responses as the Penn State community processes and responds to this crisis.

Liberal Arts voices: Episode 34 "Talking Through the Penn State Crisis"

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.

LAUSDeanLong: Lauren, we have been talking in person over the last week or so about how to respond to the crisis at Penn State in the wake of the grand jury indictments in the Sandusky case. I have admired your leadership with students in trying to keep the focus on the more important elements of this experience: first, the abused children, then the question of an institutional culture and character that seems to have allowed abuse to continue. How are students processing all of this?

Lauren Perrotti (Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council President): Thank you for your compliment. After the news broke (and continued to break daily) about the Sandusky case, students have been facing a multitude of emotions. It is difficult to process all the major issues surrounding the case. First and foremost, it is the case itself, the horrific allegations, and the sadness we feel for the victims. Then there is the firing of a beloved figure, the responses of the administration, the swift acts of the Board of Trustees, the incessant media presence, and the lack of communication from the University to the students. As students, we are trying to comprehend everything, but it is difficult.

The recent email from you reached out to students, yet treated us as adults. Do you foresee more communication between administration and students as this long process continues?

LAUSDeanLong: When I wrote that email, I tried to think about what I would want to hear as a student ... then I checked with you. Thank you for looking it over.

Students have a lot of resources to bring to bear on this situation, and administrators and faculty have much to learn from how you are processing the diversity of emotions on the multiple levels you mention. Perhaps the sort of public, honest, mature and open exchange we are having here, and have had in the past, can be a model for ongoing student/administrative communication.

We have both tried to think about what a just and ethical response to all of this might look like. Certainly, it will require us not to lose sight of the crimes at the root of it, nor to forget the victims of those crimes who continue to suffer. But it will also require that we take up the question of institutional ethics in earnest, and not in name only.

What sorts of responses to this would you consider just and ethical?

LaurenPerrotti: I think that the best way to frame a just and ethical response is by promoting truth and respect. Over the course of the past week, we've felt in the dark and unclear about what is going on. I think that as you mentioned, these types of transparent dialogues are necessary. It is not us and them, but rather We Are all part of a community coming together as one.

It is important to treat this situation with the complexity it deserves. Thoughtful responses to the current situation include the Friday's vigil on Old Main lawn, the response of everyone at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and the choice of the THON 2012 logo. Even the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council (LAUC) called a meeting on Thursday to openly discuss the events surrounding Penn State and to reflect on how we are feeling.

The more we communicate and deliberate together, the more we can reach just and ethical conclusions. How are other students, faculty and staff within the Liberal Arts and Penn State community responding to this crisis? What just and ethical responses would promote truth and respect?

Dear Liberal Arts Student Colleagues:

As we process the events of the past week, it is difficult to grapple with what we and others are thinking and feeling. Each of us responds to these events from where we live, from our perspectives as individuals and as members of an educational community to which we have dedicated our time, our energy, our lives.

As students in the liberal arts, you have many resources to bring to bear on these difficult experiences. As humanists, you know something of the finite nature of human existence, of the complex and often tragic nature of human relationships, and of the healing power of words well placed; as social scientists, you know something about the role power plays in social interactions, the nature of psychological and physical trauma, and the intricacies of healthy human communities. I ask you to bring to bear on this difficult situation the wisdom of your disciplines, the power of your learning and the depth of your commitment to your friends, your teachers and your institution.

As we try to come to some terms with this experience in all its complexity, I hope we find ways to notice the beautiful and good things that are done at Penn State everyday even as we face the things we must as we learn more about what happened. Your good academic work, your integrity as students and your well placed energy contribute to what is valuable about Penn State.

Thank you.

If you or any of your colleagues need to talk with a professional counsellor, please don't hesitate to call Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 814-863-0395 or go online at: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/schedule_appointment.shtml For emergencies: http://www.sa.psu.edu/caps/crisis.shtml

Once, in the course of my own education in the liberal arts, I came across a passage from Rilke. My wife reminded me of it last night and it seems to be helping me at the moment; perhaps it might be of some help to you today:

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
-- Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903 in Letters to a Young Poet


Sincerely,
Christopher Long

Christopher P. Long
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Classics
College of the Liberal Arts
The Pennsylvania State University
http://www.la.psu.edu/chrislong

Every liberal arts major has faced the same dreaded question from nearly everyone they meet, "What are you going to do with that when you graduate?" They act as if "that" - a liberal arts major - is some sort of obstacle between you and a good career. These people are wrong; liberal arts programs have produced some of America's most successful people. A liberal arts education helps to cultivate the skills that nearly every employer is looking for. This was the message of Peter Cloutier, a 1982 Penn State graduate with a degree in English. He recently visited my English 111 class, "The Possibilities of English."

Mr. Cloutier is the President of Catapult Marketing, one of the country's top marketing firms. He gave an awe-inspiring presentation that instilled in me a great sense of confidence in my own English major. Mr. Cloutier brought an unquestionable enthusiasm for the Liberal Arts with him. He stressed the importance of being able to perform a wide variety of tasks, rather than specializing in one specific area. The ability to adapt, a skill that is developed in a liberal arts education, is one of the most important things in the job market today.

Critical thinking, communication skills, and having a broad perspective were three of the things most stressed by Cloutier. These attributes are fundamental aspects of a degree in the liberal arts. Specifically from an English point of view, I know that I have to exercise each of these skills every time I walk into class. Trying to find new things to say about books that have been read by students for a hundred years is very difficult and takes a lot of careful analysis and critical thought. Once I have something worthwhile to say about the text, I then have to communicate it to my peers and professor. I have to do this through speaking in class and writing during exams. These communication skills are vital in the business world as well as many other professional fields.

The broad perspective is the most vague, but arguably the most prized aspect of the liberal arts graduate. Mr. Cloutier used a quote from Sue Kronick, CEO of Federated Department Stores (Macy's, Bloomingdales, JC Penney) to describe just what it means: "You tend to get more narrow in point of view as time marches on. Liberal arts is about approaching problems from a broader point of view, taking into account the subtleties of the situation." This kind of perspective is incredibly important, especially in a world that is evolving as fast as ours is today.

Mr. Cloutier was truly an inspiring and helpful speaker for somebody like me. As a sophomore and newly declared English major, I needed something to help assure me that what I was doing was going to have long-term benefits, in addition to the enjoyment I find in my current coursework. His presentation really stressed not only that is possible to get a job after I graduate, but also that in many cases my background will serve to help me in my job search. The talk definitely helped me to set my head straight for my future and how my major will position me for a career.

Take a look at some of the slides from Peter Cloutier's power point presentation in the slideshow below:

In episode 33 of the bi-weekly Liberal Arts Voices podcast, Kaitlyn Randol discusses her experience as an undergraduate student in the Paterno Fellows Program. 

Kaitlyn did not apply to the Schreyer Honors College in her initial application to Penn State. However, she talks about how the Paterno Fellows Program provided an excellent opportunity for her to perform her way into the Schreyer Honors College.  Kaitlyn explains some of the academic requirements involved in this program, as well as how it allows students to distinguish themselves in areas traditionally associated with the liberal arts: ethics, service, and leadership; excellence in communication; and international and intercultural awareness.

One of the requirements of the program is to complete a study abroad or internship experience.  Kaitlyn spends some time discussing her transformative year-long study abroad experience at the University of Oxford.  She talks about how she had to adjust to the different education model at Oxford, which is structured around a tutorial system where students meet with a faculty member (or tutor) throughout the semester instead attending traditional classes. Kaitlyn talks about how this writing and research intensive system prepared her for her senior research capstone project at Penn State.  Kaitlyn explains how her thesis, focusing on "Just War Theory" in modern theology, allows her to combine her majors in Religious Studies and Political Science, as well as her minor in Philosophy.

Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 33 "The Paterno Fellows Program Experience: Kaitlyn Randol"

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.

This week, I had the good fortune of revisiting my exploration of utopia from this summer by attending a speech presented by the library to kick off the gallery exhibition of the Arthur O. Lewis Utopia Collection in the Special Collections Library. The exhibition was created in honor of the Society for Utopian Studies' annual conference recently held here at Penn State.  Dr. Nathaniel Coleman, of Newcastle University, UK, gave a presentation entitled "Representing Utopia: Images of Ideal Places?" which he presented at the conference earlier in the week.  Dr. Coleman is a senior lecturer in architecture at Newcastle University and has attended the University of Pennsylvania, the City College of New York, and the Rhode Island School of Design. He has had architecture practices in both New York City and Rome, Italy.  I tend to think of the study of "utopia" as a literary pursuit, so I was interested to find out that the speaker was an architect.  If you recall from my previous post, however, a category focusing on architecture was planned on being included in the exhibit (and it is! Go check it out!). Though I was initially drawn to this section of the collection by the beautiful pictures, it turns out that architecture is, in fact, quite an important part of utopia, starting with the very first Utopia by Thomas More, who designed his own island to house the society he described.

Unsurprisingly to me, after my previous brief foray into utopian studies, Dr. Coleman started his talk with a discussion of the definition of "utopia."  It might seem silly to you that a debate about the very definition of "utopia" is still occurring. This debate can really be traced back to the etymology of the word itself.  In his writings, More left the term purposely vague to describe his own version of utopia. Defining the term sets the foundation for the study of the works it inspires.  Dr. Coleman specifically was trying to find a way to define "utopia" in an architectural sense, and he spent some time explaining the differences between ideal, visionary, and utopian.  To the best of my understanding, his idea of utopia must include some kind of social component--utopias must find a way to move society forward.  A design can be "ideal" or "visionary," but to be "utopian" there must be an additional social component.

Dr. Coleman developed his theory on architectural utopia by discussing French architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux's work.  In all honesty, I had never heard of Ledoux before, but it became readily apparent why his works are still considered "utopian."  In his talk, Dr. Coleman debated if and how Ledoux's ideas, particularly his famous Saltworks design, qualify as utopian.  The Saltworks was a town centered on the salt industry that was very similar to Ledoux's theoretical town of Chaux.  Both towns share a focus on industry and a set up that is reminiscent of the Panopticon (a jail consisting of a circle of cells surrounding an observation area, so the prisoners always feel watched even when no one is at the post).  Dr. Coleman explored the utopian and dystopian connotations that accompany the authoritative aspects of Chaux and the Saltworks.  

Dr. Coleman's talk was illuminating and it really opened my eyes to the multidisciplinary approach that one can take to the concept of utopia.  Architecture can be a distinctly utopian practice, especially in city planning, though it still remains tricky to define and identify.  I encourage you all to get out to the Special Collections Library Exhibition Hall, 104 Paterno Library and check out the "This Way to Utopia" exhibition going on now!

I bring good news from the bastions of academic policy that are the University Faculty Senate (UFS), the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education (ACUE) and the University Registrar. Undergraduate students can now declare their minors on eLion, as they have been able to do with their majors. This is a very beneficial development for students as well as the faculty and administrators involved in the minor process.

Before I get too far into the news, I wanted to give you some back-story on the new ability. This development was the result of a University Faculty Senate policy passed during the last academic year. Senate Policy 59-00 (Requirements for the Minor) was amended to add, "Requirements for a minor may be completed at any campus location offering the specified courses for the minor." This change was the result of a Senate push to make minor availability more equal across the many colleges and campuses of Penn State. Once the University Faculty Senate passed this policy amendment, its implementation was left to be decided upon by the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education. During the last academic year, ACUE passed "L-6: Minors Entrance and Certification Procedure." The actual L-6 is more involved than what I imagine any student (myself included) would actually be interested in, so I will try to highlight the most important parts.

The implementation allows students to declare their minors on eLion. Other stipulations included things like substitution protocols, which initially allowed academic units to make substitutions to minors housed in different colleges, but that course of action is being revised to return substitution control to the awarding college. You can imagine the potential confusion involved in the College of Engineering granting a substitution for the College of the Liberal Arts' "Dispute Management and Resolution" minor. Another point involved in the implementation was to emphasize that minors cannot be declared before the declaration of a major and that declaring a minor does not guarantee a student's ability to take the necessary courses for that minor.

Those minor (excuse the pun) things aside, the ability for students to declare minors on eLion is a huge advantage for students at both University Park and at the Commonwealth Campuses. If you have not already tried it, log on to eLion and scroll down the alphabet to "Minor Declaration" where you can look through a list of all the minors offered across the entirety of Penn State. While this new feature will make it much easier to declare a minor, students should still meet with their adviser to make sure they understand and meet the academic requirements for the minor. Check it out and enjoy this new, easier method of getting the most out of your Penn State education.

Episode 32 of Liberal Arts Voices highlights the Excellence in Communication Certificate (ECC).

ECC Director and Lecturer in English Jessica O'Hara, ECC Adviser and Lecturer in Communication, Arts & Sciences Robin Kramer, English major Ryan Fisher, and English major and Paterno Fellow Genevieve Farrell join the program to discuss the Liberal Arts Excellence in Communication Certificate.

ECC Director Jessica O'Hara begins the podcast by explaining more about the Excellence in Communication Certificate, an e-portfolio liberal arts students design to demonstrate their proficiency in various types of communication. Students are able to draw from their experiences inside and outside the classroom to create this e-portfolio which can provide an effective way to articulate their skills and achievements to graduate schools, professional schools, and prospective employers.

ECC Adviser Robin Kramer talks about some of the specific components involved in the e-portfolio, including: examples of written discourse (i.e. essays, research papers, etc.); demonstration of success in oral communication (i.e. speeches, podcasts, etc.); and proficiency with electronic media (i.e. blog posts, visual design, etc.).

Ryan and Genevieve spend some time during the podcast discussing how the ECC has impacted their undergraduate experiences at Penn State. Ryan discusses how the digital components of his e-portfolio, including a blog he kept during his summer study abroad program in Ireland, helped him to cultivate the skill of public writing. Genevieve talks about how the assignments she completed for L A 101H (a course available to freshmen Paterno Fellows) laid the foundation for her e-portfolio, which she plans on using to fulfill the Paterno Fellows Program Communications Requirement.

Ryan and Genevieve discuss how their e-portfolios will function as electronic résumés that will better situate them for post-graduation plans. Both students also agree that the ECC provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on their undergraduate experiences at Penn State and to see how they have grown, developed, and ultimately emerged as more versatile communicators.

For more information about the Excellence in Communication Certificate listen to the podcast below and visit the ECC website.

Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 32 "The Excellence in Communication Certificate"

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.