What will I learn in the Senior Seminar course?

In the Senior Seminar course, students spend a semester in readings and discussion of how the CORE curriculum relates to their major area of study. The following is an essay written by Amber White in the Humanities Senior Seminar.

More Fully Human       

       Liberal education provides an opportunity to steward life more effectively by becoming more fully a human person in the image of God, by seeing life whole rather than fragmented, by transcending the provincialism of our place in history, our geographic location, or our job (...) It is an opportunity to find meaning for everything I am and do (...) I would think it worthwhile if a student, when asked what he learned in college, could reply, “I learned what it is to see and think and act like the human person God made me to be. (Holmes 36)
       I begin with this quotation from Arthur F. Holmes’ The Idea of a Christian College for two reasons. First, because I read this book for one of my mass communications courses. Upon hearing this, one of the first questions that might arise in someone’s mind is, “Why would you read about THAT in a communications course?” But through my four years in a liberal arts curriculum, I have come to see that it is just this sort of integration among the disciplines that should be a recognizable and encouraged aspect of a liberal arts education.
       Today, as a student at a liberal arts institution, I have been prompted to respond to two other questions of a similar nature: What does our text for this course, Ravitch’s The American Reader, have to do with mass communications? And how can the ideas from that book, as well as the broader ideas from Ouachita’s CORE curriculum, be integrated with what I have learned about mass communications?
       As I examine the works collected by Diane Ravitch in this text, it becomes apparent that these pieces play an important role in the past, the present, and the future. It is in this aspect that I believe mass communications can be most easily understood as relating to these historic readings. In this course, we spent a lot of time discussing how one might choose works for a collection such as this one. What makes this poem or that speech rise above the others as influential and timeless? Mass communications is an integral part of this selection process because of its role in disseminating information. Much of the reason these works are so important is because they were made available to the masses. If they had not been distributed to the public, they could not have influenced the public. Here is where we can see that mass communications influences the past, present, and future. By explaining th past and deciphering the events of the present for the public, the spread of information by mass communications - whether of a journalistic or public relations orientation - impacts the people and the events of the future. In this way, connections between mass communications and any historical readings, but especially those that have been particularly influential, become apparent. Investigating the past and present with a scrutinizing eye is a crucial part of mass communications and studying history, and this examination is what will help us rise above the errors of the past more effectively in the future. In order to study these historical works, a critical reading is necessary. And learning to read effectively is a vital aspect of studying mass communications. Reading allows us to meet with the great minds of the past, but in order to gain the most from that meeting, we must constantly question as we read. This questioning is at the heart of true learning.
       These finds can lead to a discussion of the ways mass communications are connected with the greater ideas of the liberal arts curriculum. This connection is more than just an interaction between the information in the fields - it is an integration of the underlying truths in every academic discipline. An interaction would imply a mere sharing of information, which obviously occurs between mass communications and other fields. Journalists must write about something, and that includes not only history, as discussed above, but also the arts, science, politics, business, and the list goes on. This is one of the primary reasons that mass communications is taught at a liberal arts institution: informing the public requires understanding information from every arena. But an integration of fields involves finding consistencies among the philosophies at the base of each discipline. In searching for answers about the “practical” purpose in studying subjects such as history or philosophy, Albert Speer, who was Hitler’s minister of munitions, found his own answer. After twenty-seven years of reflection in prison, Speer is reported to have said that people “need to be reminded that it is only here that fundamental questions are asked - what is a person, what is a good society, what are the proper ends of civilization, and so on” (Holmes 40). It is at the base of these subjects that integration is developed. And the place this integration begins is with questioning.
       The fact that we are even asking questions about the interplay between the ideas in the CORE curriculum proves that studying in a liberal arts institution has its benefits, one of the most important being that the students learn to ask questions. In fact, this questioning can be broken down into four more specific skills learned while studying in a liberal arts setting. These skills are some of the bases of all study, as well as the ideas that help us discover further connections among the disciplines. Through research, analysis, interpretation, and composition, we learn to think mo responsibly and carefully.
Research is an inevitable part of academics. And because it is necessary in every field, it teaches us about connections among different subjects. When learning to be an effective researcher, students find ways to not only search for a tiny piece of information, but to look at the body of information as a whole, comparing and contrasting different aspects of the topic.        Research was necessary as Ravitch compiled her book, it is necessary in working in the field of journalism, and it is also necessary in every other discipline. This is a skill that is not only a common factor among the fields, but would also allow a person to do any necessary investigation to help them find further connections among broader issues.
       Analysis is what guards research. It encourages a student to not only collect information but also to examine that information in light of the topic itself and the greater body of knowledge. In learning to analyze research material, a student can carry that skill into other areas of life as well. Analyzing develops an eye that looks for details, like the fine focus on a microscope.
       Interpretation makes information applicable. While analysis looks at things close up, interpretation looks at the bigger picture. It finds ways to apply the information to a given situation. This skill is necessary in any field, whether we are interpreting world events for the masses in communications, or interpreting scripture as we study the Bible.
       Composition tests the student’s grasp of information and develops yet another outlet for learning. Writing clarifies thought and teaches us to use words to express ideas more effectively. Holmes explains the importance of composition:
       To write is to become articulate, to express what I feel and explain why I feel as I do, to expound, to argue, to offer good reasons, to explore relationships, to have a sense of the whole, to set things in total context. To teach a person to read and to write is to teach him to think for himself, to develop more fully the possession of his God-given powers. He becomes in fact, not just in possibility, a reflective, thinking, being. (Holmes 31)
       A reflective, thinking being. Each of the aforementioned skills creates a person who is more capable of being a responsible steward of the mind God has given. A student of the liberal arts becomes more fully human. I base this statement on my belief that God’s mandate for humans is to see truth. A liberal education provides an opportunity to see all as a whole. This encompassing worldview takes a long range view of truth and shapes the understanding and values of students.
       As we face the end of our days at Ouachita, which includes the end of the often-dreaded CORE courses, I believe we should take the suggestion once again of Arthur F. Holmes’ treatise. He says, “The question to ask about education is not ‘What can I do with it?’ That is the wrong question because it concentrates on instrumental values and reduces everything else to a useful art. The right question is rather ‘What can it do to me?’” (Holmes 29). As we continue the practice of constantly questioning, we can only benefit from asking “What did that stuff do to me?” “What is it doing to me now?” and “What can it do to me in the future?” While the answers may not be clear, the asking and searching will be our continuing education throughout life.