We live in a time when people change jobs and careers often. A college graduate’s major might send them down one path, but then new opportunities arise or new interests develop. A strong liberal arts education prepares graduates for many of life’s changes, including different jobs one may have throughout a lifetime.
A professor long ago once asked a few simple questions of my class (Tom Jackson’s), while I was a young college student. She said, imagine this room without art. Without design. Without color on the walls. Without a decorative carpet. Imagine this room without books on the shelves. She went on to ask all of us in the class to look out the window and describe what we saw and what we heard. As we shared our thoughts, she reframed the conversations into the value of the liberal arts and the importance of knowledge, context, sounds, intersections, people, communication, relationships, and boundaries. The lessons taught that day were not simply limited to a discipline that may be taught on a university campus, It was much more and much deeper.
We have successful graduates across California and around the world. They had life-changing experiences at Humboldt, and then set off to put their education to work in many different ways. They also studied in a wide variety of areas that enabled them to experience college, and life, subtly differently. You also often find that their careers have taken them into fields far different than their initial interests.
A few Cal Poly Humboldt alumni experiences demonstrate this: Cecil Rhambo, who majored in sociology, is now the Chief of Police at LA International Airport. Philip Anton majored in music and went on to have a very successful career in technology. Carin Kaltschmidt majored in computing science, then went on to a career focused on change management in a variety of industries. Robert Romano majored in English, then went on to launch and run successful educational technology companies.
There are many, many more examples. If you’re a Humboldt graduate from a decade or more ago, you’re likely to have changed career directions at least once.
This is not a surprise to us. A Humboldt education includes a broad-based liberal arts curriculum along with hands-on learning and classes in a specific major area of study. It’s meant to prepare graduates for lifelong learning, to teach them to think critically, to enable them to adapt, and to ensure they are able to communicate their ideas.
It’s an approach we will continue to embrace as we develop new programs as a polytechnic institution. In our new polytechnic context, the role of the liberal arts remains critical.
The liberal arts include fields in the humanities and arts, like English literature, philosophy, communications, journalism, world languages, music, religious studies, dance, theater, film, and arts. In addition, there are areas in the social sciences like sociology, criminology, politics, international studies, anthropology, archaeology, Native American studies, geography, critical gender and sexuality studies, ethnic studies, and women studies.
Even if students do not select a degree in a liberal arts field, they still must take many classes in the liberal arts as part of their general education requirements. This is one way a university ensures its graduates have a well-rounded education.
The liberal arts play an important role in how individuals learn and understand the influences of culture and the environment within our communities.
As it turns out, even as employers are predicted to continue hiring graduates in STEM fields, they are also looking for graduates with vital “soft skills” that may often be described as strong writing or communication abilities including verbal skills, collegial skills, critical-thinking skills, and more. More than 9 out of 10 employers agree that a graduate’s major is less important than their ability to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems, according to a recent report from the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Employers are looking for individuals who are flexible and innovative thinkers.
The innovative pathway for Cal Poly Humboldt may well be in creating interdisciplinary collaboration between the liberal arts fields and the science, business, and education fields. This is in part because our world is not neatly packaged by category. We face complex challenges from pandemics to poverty, social justice, and climate change, and no single area of expertise can resolve them.
Cal Poly Humboldt will continue to be, at its core, a teaching university and we will continue to explore new ways to teach and learn. We are focused on hands-on learning, and we are embracing place-based learning.
As a polytechnic, we are working diligently to create new programs and redesign existing programs to serve our students and region. We are also taking this time to rethink our historical offerings, to seize on new opportunities, and explore new ways of teaching, learning, and creating knowledge. Some of this work is challenging our own assumptions about the best ways to provide a positive, meaningful educational experience for students. As we grow and evolve, we have an amazing opportunity to prepare a new generation of professionals who can tackle complex challenges. They will have learned to investigate problems from multiple perspectives using the tools and knowledge provided by the liberal arts disciplines.
A college education grounded in the liberal arts truly changes lives. While rewarding careers are a focus as a polytechnic, and often on top of the mind for college students and their families, this type of education offers much more. It broadens students’ worldviews, adds important meaning, and helps students better understand themselves and the world around them. As Marvin Krislov, president of Pace University, has written. “Successful careers and financial gain are just part of the value of a liberal arts education. Its true worth is measured not in dollars but in meaningful lives well lived.” Be well.
Dr. Tom Jackson Jr. is the president of Cal Poly Humboldt. Dr. Rosamel S. Benavides-Garb is the associate dean for the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.
