USC Dornsife brings the timeless value of the liberal arts to the next generation

While attending university in the United Kingdom, Andrew Stott, now college dean of undergraduate education and academic affairs for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, felt there was a lack of guidance and mentoring services for undergraduates. As a result, many students felt overwhelmed or missed out on learning opportunities they might have enjoyed or benefited from.

This experience, along with the substantial shift in the demographics of college students and their needs today compared with those from decades past, led Stott, in collaboration with other USC Dornsife administrators, to develop “The Dornsife Idea,” a reimagining of the undergraduate experience that focuses on helping students navigate the college curriculum and take advantage of the full spectrum of courses and activities a liberal arts program offers.

“What I found in American liberal arts education is enormous opportunity and value. We need to find the best way for students to find access points to that value so they can experience everything fully before they leave,” Stott said.

Demystifying the curriculum

USC Dornsife currently offers more than 90 majors and over 90 minors, with dozens of classes on offer within each program. A first-year student scrolling through pages upon pages of course descriptions might feel excited and anxious in equal measure. Providing undergraduates, particularly first-year students, with better advising will help preserve that curiosity and excitement while reducing the anxiety, Stott said. In addition, such counseling can help students plot out how to keep on track to gain the necessary credits to graduate, direct others towards classes that match their interests and inform others about what sort of majors would be best for their career plans.

“We want to create more space for exploration during that first year, where they can look at everything Dornsife has to offer and not feel confined by one particular path,” Stott said. “The first year is really about opening up their horizons and showing students the opportunities that do exist.

“For that significant portion of our population that are wandering around, we want to support them so they don’t feel as if they are all alone,” he added.

Approaching challenges from multiple directions

USC Dornsife will also be offering more linked courses, where two classes related to one topic are taught together. For example, a class looking at the economic impact of climate change might be linked to a course exploring the ethical problems of an ecosystem in crisis, which brings situations like mass migration and food scarcity.

Large issues, especially today, are rarely confined to one discourse or subject area. “These are issues you don’t come at from one perspective alone and you need an interdisciplinary approach to be insightful. This is fundamental to the way liberal arts operates,” Stott said.

Part of the desire to strengthen undergraduate advising came from a general feeling that the 2008 recession brought a lasting fear among students and their parents that the liberal arts are not valued in the job market. Advisers are well-equipped to demonstrate how a liberal arts education can lead to satisfying and lucrative employment.

“On the one hand, we are a research institution and believe passionately in the life of the mind, and we want students to enjoy four years of ideation, developing a rich interior life that will serve them well for the rest of their time on Earth. At the same time, students are looking at a return on investment, and why shouldn’t they? Not paying attention to the reality of the world would be a dereliction of our duty towards our students,” Stott said.

A Toolkit for success

Another way the college is demonstrating possible applications of a liberal arts degree is through the Dornsife Toolkit, a program created by Stott and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Richard Fliegel. The toolkit is a collection of classes teaching valuable life and career skills such as grant writing, personal finance management, work-life balance, self-presentation and advocacy — skills that are not only valuable in the job market but essential for personal well-being in adulthood.

“When they are being most candid, business leaders emphasize the need for critical thinking and communicative skills among their employees — both of which are central to a liberal arts education,” Fliegel explained. “Dornsife is committed to student learning in those areas, but also to their practical application in an interconnected world. These Dornsife Toolkit classes help liberal arts students transition to jobs and graduate programs that lead ultimately to rewarding personal lives and successful careers.”

In addition to the Toolkit, USC Dornsife launched the Center for Applied Learning and Life Beyond College, which brings together several pre-existing units within the College. The center is a portal through which students can interact with different opportunities, like internships and networking. Stott described it as “an evolved and expanded concept of a career center” that not only focuses on job skills and interview etiquette, but other opportunities such as study abroad programs, internships or working at a bench in a lab.

“A career center is focused on job hunting skills and etiquette, the resume, leveraging the alumni network. We value all these kinds of things. But applied learning is about preparing you for life after college in the way that expands your horizons in the broadest way possible,” Stott explained.

In short, Stott hopes that stressing the timeless values and interdisciplinary thinking that define a liberal arts education will help prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world.

“We live in an environment in which the liberal arts is perhaps not as appreciated as it should be,” he said. “Our argument is a liberal arts degree is a professional degree, one that not only gives you the tools for citizenship, but a variety of skills that can be leveraged in any number of professional settings.”