Give Students a Compass: New Directions for the Global Humanities Montgomery College February 5, 2014 Carol Geary Schneider

Overview  Clarifying Our Terms  Setting the Context: College Learning and the Wider Society  Global Interdependence and the Learning Students Need  The Global Humanities: Preparing Students to Engage Big Questions and Unscripted Problems

Clarifying Our Terms  The Liberal Arts (and Sciences)  The Humanities  General Education  Liberal Education

Clarifying Our Topic A Leadership Role for the Humanities in Remapping the Educational Pathways—to Global Learning and Leadership, For Students and Our Shared Society

Setting the Context: Connecting College Learning with the Wider Society

Connecting College Learning With the Wider Society  The Economy?  Global Engagement and Community?  Civil Society?  Personal Integrity and Development?  A World of Rapid and Fast-Paced Change? What Will Students Need for Success in

The Curriculum in Transition: Rethinking educational purposes and practices to better prepare students for Innovation in the Economy Global Interdependence Healthy, Humane, and Just Societies The Twenty-First Century Academy

Connecting Learning With the Wider Society (cont.)  Economic Challenges  Civic and Global Challenges

College Learning for the 21 st Century Economy  Employers are demanding more – much more  They want and seek many more college- educated workers  They also seek much higher and broader levels of learning in those they employ, retain, and promote

Economic Pressures: Volatility and Complexity  Global interdependence and complex cross- cultural interactions increasingly define modern society and the workplace and call for new levels of knowledge and capacity  Rapid scientific and technological innovations are changing the workplace and demanding more of all employees

Employers Are Raising the Bar  95% of employers say that they “give hiring preference to college graduates with skills that will enable them to contribute to innovation in the workplace.”  93% of employers say that they are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past.”  91% of employers say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.”  88% of employers agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past.” Sources: “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010). “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013).

The Growing Demand for Higher Order Skills Source: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index

Economic Pressures: Innovation and Measured Risk-Taking  In a globalized knowledge economy, the capacity to drive INNOVATION is the key strategic advantage

To Drive Innovation, Employers Seek Employees Who Can “Think Outside the Box”

Employers Do Not Want People Who Can Only See Things From One Point of View “You cannot retreat to a cave and work in isolation until you like the solution.” – Frank Levinson, Managing Director, Small World Group, Singapore

In Their Own Words: Employers Want to Find That “360° Perspective” Hart Research Associates

78% of Employers Agree That, Whatever Their Major, Every Student Should Attain Knowledge About Global Issues and Cultures Outside the U.S.

Connecting Learning With the Wider Society (cont.)  Economic Challenges  Civic and Global Challenges

AS IN THE ECONOMY, THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES WE FACE ARE DAUNTING

Global Challenges  Poverty, War, Suffering… Sustenance and Human Dignity  Illiteracy and Its Effects… Education and Opportunity  Energy and the Environment… Sustainability, Research, and Innovation  Terrorism and Fear… Law, Justice, Self-Determination

We Must Graduate Students Who Are Prepared and Inspired to Take Responsibility for Solving Global Problems – At Home and Abroad

Global Interdependence and the Learning Students Need

The Essential Learning Outcomes  Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World  Intellectual and Practical Skills  Personal and Social Responsibility  Integrative, Adaptive, and Applied Learning (See handout)

Both Faculty and Employers Value the Essential Learning Outcomes; Employers Seek “More Emphasis” on These Capacities

A Catalytic Role for the Humanities  The Humanities Cannot, by Themselves, Prepare Students for a World of Global Interdependence  But They Can Map and Model a Transformative Vision for Students’ Global Learning  They Can, In Sum, Lead the Way

And, They Can Foster Needed Habits of Mind that Only the Humanities Provide  Narrative Imagination  Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspective  Ethical Inquiry and Discernment  Deep Engagement with Ultimate Questions and Values– e.g. of Religion, Memory, and Heritage  Sources of Hope, Consolation, and Joy

The Global Humanities: Preparing Students to Engage Big Questions and Solve Unscripted Problems

To Engage Global Challenges and Responsibilities, Students Need  The Capacity to Envision  Analytical Skills to Test Alternatives  The Desire and Ability to Solve Problems Across Difference  The Ethical Judgment and Wisdom to Consider Larger Contexts and the Consequences of Alternative Choices  The Commitment to Devote Time and Talent to the Making of a Better World

To Ensure Our Global and Our Democratic Future, Students Need… Above All, Students Need Direct Experience— Across the Curriculum—in Probing and Tackling Important, Unscripted Questions of Their Own Choosing

In the Words of the Truman Commission (1947): The goal is to bring “creative imagination and trained intelligence to the solution of social problems”—and to problems in the workplace as well. To achieve this goal, we need to foster integrative, problem-centered learning across the disciplines.

The Humanities Can Lead – in Reclaiming This Vision and Remapping the Pathways

Remapping College Study— To Foreground Cross- Disciplinary Study of Unscripted Questions, Both Contemporary and Enduring

Signature Questions and Projects Suppose We Envisioned College Study as Guided Preparation for Students to Identify and Work on a Signature Topic and Related Work – Courses and Projects

Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and Signature Studies  The First Year Experience Should Introduce Illustrative Questions and Problems  The Entire Educational Experience Should Build Capacity to Grapple with Significant Questions  The Students’ Portfolio Should Demonstrate Deep Engagement with One or More Significant Problems—Problems That Matter to the Student and Problems that Matter to the Wider Society

Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and Signature Studies (cont.)  Disciplinary Inquiry is Still Foundational, and Humanities Perspectives are Essential.  But Students Also Need Experience in Connecting Their Disciplines with Other Perspectives and Voices: Community Perspectives and Cross-Cultural Voices  And, Both for Citizenship and for Work, Students Need Active Engagement in Their Own Inquiry- Centered Studies and Projects

The Key Question for This New Era of Digital Innovation  Will We Use the Digital Revolution as An Opportunity to Flip the Classroom—and Even the Curriculum? –More Time for Collaborative and Cross-Disciplinary Projects, Investigation, and Research? –More Opportunities for Community-Based Learning? –More Opportunity to Work With Faculty on Significant Problems and Questions? –More Student Engagement with Significant Problems That We Need to Solve?

Four Recommendations  Articulate a Compelling Vision—For Liberal Education and the Global Humanities in the Service of Society  Connect General and Specialized Studies with the World’s Big Questions and Urgent Problems  Focus the Curriculum on Developing Powers of the Mind—and Heart  Expect Each Student—Yes, Every One of Them!—To Devote Time and Talent to Signature Questions of Their Own Choosing, Support their Efforts, and Celebrate the Results.