Repairing a liberal arts education

By Matthew Meyerhofer

The College of Arts and Sciences is, at first glance, something of an oddity. While "business" and "engineering" seem to describe a set of studies unifying their schools, the rest of us are lumped into an "other" category. In fact, if there is anything that unifies arts and science majors, it's our common lament that we do more work than business students.

But the division of colleges at Santa Clara signifies something more significant than a simple lack of emphasis. In fact, it signifies a fundamental disparity in educational goals, and the business school is, at least arguably, not about giving its students a liberal arts education.

The difference surfaces with the inevitable question -- "What are you going to do with a history major?" It's strange enough to think that a college sophomore, or even senior, should know what his or her life plan is, but the more insidious problem is that this question is asked in the first place. Since when was the purpose of college to plant you in the business world?

In its original concept, a "liberal arts education" was supposed to educate its students so that they could appreciate their responsibilities as members of society. But today a college education is seen as a market transaction: pay your $100,000, and you're certified to hold a high-paying job. It's an investment, and the payout is material wealth rather than social benefit.

It's not the fault of the business school that this idea exists. It's not even outrageous to expect college to prepare students to enter the working world. After all, very few of us will go on to be professors or politicians, and the rest of us will need to succeed in the business world. But to the extent that a business education is supplanting rather than complimenting a liberal arts education, there are problematic consequences.

For example, business tends to work under two models of human behavior that radically limit the way we think of people. First, classical economics treats human behavior as a calculus of market transactions conducted by egoistic individuals. But I think social interaction is about much more than supply and demand -- empathy, love and group identification are part of human life as well.

Also, especially in globally competitive markets, the main business interest tends to be profitability rather than people. Now I understand that this is a complex problem. To simply say "we'll pay all our employees the wage they deserve" is not a business strategy that will keep every company afloat. But, economic disparity in the U.S. and the world at large is a problem, and everybody -- academics and CEOs alike -- should be aware of this.

In its mission statement affirming its "commitment to fashioning a more humane and just world," Santa Clara imagines itself as combating this problem. A liberal arts education is supposed to do this by exposing students to a variety of viewpoints, educating them about what's going on in the world, and instilling in them the ethical responsibility which arises out of seeing humanity as a diverse community. It's interesting to note that the business school's Internet home page says it "produces" (rather than educates) "top-quality graduates." Now it isn't as if we can read this simple statement as a reflection of the business school's core principles. However, it does reflect that business education as geared more towards marketable knowledge than general education.

For example, the "world cultures" requirement is partially fulfilled by the "international business" requirement. The "social science" requirement must be filled by economics. The "technology" requirement must be fulfilled by an OMIS course. The third writing must be a business writing class. Also, business students are waived from having to take a fine arts requirement or a women's/ethnic studies requirement.

This highlights a more general problem with business education, and unfortunately, it is also a problem that comes out of pursuing an engineering degree, and that is the emphasis on technical rather than general knowledge. Technical knowledge is precisely what is marketable because the market demands specialization. However, being an informed member of a democratic society requires the exact opposite: general knowledge about the issues facing one's city, state, nation and world.

All this isn't to suggest that a business education has no place at Santa Clara. In fact, since business figures so centrally in contemporary society, a business education is integral to a contemporary liberal arts education. The crux of my argument is that business education needs to be more carefully integrated with the general knowledge concerns that constitute a liberal arts education.

This isn't a radical demand for business students All we need to do is require the same liberal arts classes arts and science students take. The expanded core will require some transition, but if Santa Clara really prides itself on giving all its students a liberal arts education, it's the right thing to do.

On the flipside, arts and science students need more exposition to the world of business. Business is as big of an issue as race, gender, politics, ethics in today's world, and it is something every graduate of a liberal arts institution needs some experience studying if they really want to claim the broad knowledge base their education is supposed to signify.

Matthew Meyerhofer is a senior English and philosophy major.