{"id":766,"date":"2016-10-06T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=766"},"modified":"2023-05-19T15:39:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T22:39:29","slug":"deans-message-fall-16-winter-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Deans Message Fall ’16 – Winter ’17 – Educating Enlightened Electors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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< Back to Fall 2016\/Winter 2017<\/a><\/p>\n

Educating Enlightened Electors<\/h1>\n

This November, American voters will participate in one of the most important presidential elections of our time. At its core, the word \u201celection\u201d is defined as \u201cthe right, power or privilege of making a choice.\u201d As a scientist and an educator, I am drawn to this lesser-known meaning of the word, which divorces it from conventional politics and links it to the idea that the power to make informed decisions is our most valuable privilege.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

At USC Dornsife, students interact with renowned experts from every possible field of study. The classes students take afford them opportunities to discover which problems and challenges they feel strongly about and which approaches resonate most with their interests and talents. Students passionate about arresting climate change might pursue atmospheric science, nonprofit management or the history of environmental policy and movements, while those hoping to combat disease might study biological sciences, economics or literature (such as Thomas Mann\u2019s The Magic Mountain<\/em>) and criticism (Susan Sontag\u2019s Illness as Metaphor<\/em>). The liberal arts give students the capacity to serve as global citizens, expanding their minds to think analytically, flexibly and with a driving sense of curiosity.<\/p>\n

At Columbia University, one of the most gratifying courses I taught was \u201cScience, Politics and Critical Thinking.\u201d This seminar challenged students to pull headline stories from the news and subject them to rigorous questioning using analytical tools practiced daily in the liberal arts and sciences. The key was not just to learn to draw one\u2019s own conclusions, but to seek the truth, whether it agreed with one\u2019s opinions or not. As dean of USC Dornsife, I am honored to lead this community of current and future thinkers, with the hope that ultimately the elections our students make will generate a stronger, more sustainable and more peaceful future.<\/p>\n

Amber Miller
\nDean of USC Dornsife
\nAnna H. Bing Dean\u2019s Chair<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-message-from-dean"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDeans Message Fall '16 - Winter '17 - Educating Enlightened Electors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deans Message Fall '16 - Winter '17 - Educating Enlightened Electors - USC Dornsife Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USC Dornsife Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T22:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T22:39:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Liu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Liu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d03084ed5319ed7575c96017879a7447\"},\"headline\":\"Deans Message Fall ’16 – Winter ’17 – Educating Enlightened Electors\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-06T22:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T22:39:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\"},\"wordCount\":9,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Message from Dean\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/deans-message-fall-16-winter-17\/\",\"name\":\"Deans Message Fall '16 - 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