Thinking Forward, Looking Back
The Declaration of Independence is among the most impactful pieces of writing in human history. It acted as the birth certificate for the United States and a blueprint for others around the globe. More than half of the countries in the United Nations today have a foundational document they call a ‘declaration of independence.’
In the 250 years that have passed since the Declaration, the United States has claimed new territory and gone to war with itself. It has landed on the moon. Its citizens invented the light bulb, the airplane, the assembly line, the transistor, the internet, as well as jazz, rock ’n’ roll and rap. We have handheld devices that can write computer code, produce a short story on command and help us plan what to cook for dinner. The pace is staggering. The question of what it all means remains wide open.
This is what the liberal arts are all about. They teach us to look backward and forward at the same time, to understand what got us here and shape what comes next. They develop the kind of people who can stay in the room when the conversation gets hard, and who know that the hardest questions are usually the ones most worth asking. The problems change. The abiding skills to meet them don’t.
Thomas Jefferson and his co-authors were clear masters of the liberal arts.
Our USC Dornsife community is deeply engaged in this great American project. Historians examine how the founding principles have been interpreted by each generation. Economists and political scientists study the systems that determine who thrive. Writers make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. And our scientists carry forward a tradition of world-leading innovation that continues to expand what we know about the universe and ourselves.
Thomas Jefferson and his co-authors were clear masters of the liberal arts. They provided what might be the Platonic ideal of effective communication. With the written word, they established a new nation and provided a north star that continues to inspire people everywhere to act as their better angels. Of course, the work of this country is far from finished. A more perfect union will require people who know how to think and how to act. This is what we train our students to do. We also empower them to pursue happiness. A true happiness, one that contains financial security as well as lasting intellectual and emotional fulfillment. That is, we help fulfill a promissory note. A note written on parchment in that audacious summer of 1776.
James Bullock
Dean, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair
