Ever need to justify a humanities major to your parents (or yourself)? Well, this is certainly a hot topic nowadays given the assault on liberal arts education in North Carolina and elsewhere. In response to this, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Humanities Network and Consortium, and the Career Services Center at UNCG sponsored a professional development workshop called "The Liberal Arts Advantage: Launching from Campus to Career" on Friday, March 3rd. The event was largely the brainchild of our colleagues Emily Levine and Lisa Levenstein in History, with a huge assist from Career Service Center director Nicole Hall.
The keynote speaker was Laurin Titus, who, in addition to serving as Senior Vice President for Consumer Marketing at Bank of America, majored in English and Art History. She gave a really nice presentation entitled "Art History + English = Foundations for Professional Leadership." One thing that stuck out to me from her emphasis on the need of employers for graduates with "adaptive expertise," a phrase that I loved but had not heard before. Essentially, this is the ability to apply knowledge to novel problems--something that every teacher would love to instill in their students. The reason, Titus pointed out, is that the pace of technological change is so rapid that technical skills quickly become dated and/or irrelevant. The event centered around the so-called 3 Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration) that accompany a Liberal Arts education, and Titus was amazed at how well they matched up with the three characteristics that she feels make up a great leader: (1) challenge the status quo (= critical thinking); (2) articulate a compelling vision (= communication); and (3) create fellowship and partnership (= collaboration).
The workshop continued by providing breakout sessions, all of which stressed for students the 3 Cs and their importance in the 21st century job market. I was surprised to learn, too, that the CEOs of several high profile companies (e.g., Disney, Starbucks, Hewlett-Packard) have liberal arts degrees. Go figure, and don't be afraid to go get a liberal arts degree!
The keynote speaker was Laurin Titus, who, in addition to serving as Senior Vice President for Consumer Marketing at Bank of America, majored in English and Art History. She gave a really nice presentation entitled "Art History + English = Foundations for Professional Leadership." One thing that stuck out to me from her emphasis on the need of employers for graduates with "adaptive expertise," a phrase that I loved but had not heard before. Essentially, this is the ability to apply knowledge to novel problems--something that every teacher would love to instill in their students. The reason, Titus pointed out, is that the pace of technological change is so rapid that technical skills quickly become dated and/or irrelevant. The event centered around the so-called 3 Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration) that accompany a Liberal Arts education, and Titus was amazed at how well they matched up with the three characteristics that she feels make up a great leader: (1) challenge the status quo (= critical thinking); (2) articulate a compelling vision (= communication); and (3) create fellowship and partnership (= collaboration).
The workshop continued by providing breakout sessions, all of which stressed for students the 3 Cs and their importance in the 21st century job market. I was surprised to learn, too, that the CEOs of several high profile companies (e.g., Disney, Starbucks, Hewlett-Packard) have liberal arts degrees. Go figure, and don't be afraid to go get a liberal arts degree!
