Why Liberal Arts Education Matters Now More Than Ever | Donald Pease | TEDxDartmouth
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on Dartmouth's history through four 'refounding' moments, highlighting its evolution from a small college to a world-class institution. Key moments include the 1819 Dartmouth College case, William Jewett Tucker's presidency, and the 1969 transformation to a diverse and inclusive community. The talk emphasizes the enduring value of a liberal arts education in preparing graduates for a meaningful life and its role in shaping leaders who can address global challenges.
Takeaways
- 🏛️ The liberal arts have a significant future in the 21st century, with institutions like Dartmouth adapting and evolving to remain relevant and influential.
- 📚 Dartmouth's history is marked by four refounding moments that have shaped its identity and mission, each reflecting the changing times and societal needs.
- 🛡️ The 1819 Dartmouth College case was pivotal in securing the college's status as a private institution and protecting the rights of private colleges in the U.S.
- 🗣️ Daniel Webster's oratory skills, honed at Dartmouth, played a crucial role in the Supreme Court case, demonstrating the power of liberal arts education in shaping leaders.
- 🏫 William Jewett Tucker's presidency marked a transformation of Dartmouth into a world-class university, expanding its facilities, faculty, and student body.
- 💼 The establishment of the Tuck Business School by Tucker emphasized the integration of useful knowledge with liberal knowledge, challenging the notion that liberal arts are impractical.
- 🌟 Dartmouth's evolution under Tucker's leadership set an example for other liberal arts institutions, highlighting the importance of adapting to societal changes.
- 🌐 The 1969 transformation of Dartmouth aimed to make the college more inclusive and reflective of the world's diversity, addressing the need for a more global perspective.
- 💡 John Kemeny's leadership connected the transformation of Dartmouth with technological advancements, using the Dartmouth Plan to modernize the institution.
- 🌱 Dartmouth's recent efforts have focused on ecological transformation, promoting equality and inclusivity in residential life and academic policies.
- 🌍 The final takeaway questions the survival of humanity and the planet without the influence of liberal arts institutions like Dartmouth, emphasizing their essential role in shaping a better future.
Q & A
What was the significance of the Dartmouth College case in 1819?
-The Dartmouth College case in 1819 was significant because it allowed Dartmouth to survive as a private college. New Hampshire attempted to take away Dartmouth's charter, claiming education should be a public good. Daniel Webster defended Dartmouth, and the Supreme Court's decision in Dartmouth's favor secured its status as a private institution.
How did William Jewett Tucker transform Dartmouth in the early 20th century?
-William Jewett Tucker transformed Dartmouth by adding 13 new buildings, tripling the faculty size, and increasing the student body from fewer than 350 to 1,340 students. He also established the Tuck Business School to demonstrate that there is no distinction between useful and liberating knowledge, emphasizing the value of a liberal arts education.
What was the role of the 'Columbian Orator' in the Dartmouth College case?
-The 'Columbian Orator' was a book of rhetoric by Caleb Bingham, which Daniel Webster credited with helping him discover the power of oratory. It was instrumental in Webster's ability to persuade Chief Justice Marshall in the Dartmouth College case.
Who were the 'great issues' students in 1969, and what did they demand from Dartmouth?
-The 'great issues' students in 1969 were African-American, women, Asian-American, Latino, and Latina students who felt Dartmouth was unwelcoming. They demanded that Dartmouth change its profile to better represent and welcome a diverse student body.
How did John Sloan Dickey's presidency reflect on the Dartmouth College case?
-John Sloan Dickey's presidency reflected on the Dartmouth College case by emphasizing the mandate for every Dartmouth graduate to make the world's troubles their own. He established a 'great issues' course to demonstrate the practical benefit of every discipline within a liberal arts institution.
What was the Dartmouth Plan that John Kemeny introduced?
-The Dartmouth Plan introduced by John Kemeny was a transformation strategy that aimed to change Dartmouth from a predominantly white male institution to a more diverse and inclusive community, making it a microcosm of the world.
What is the connection between the liberal arts education and the concept of 'liberty' as discussed in the script?
-The connection between a liberal arts education and 'liberty' is that a liberal arts education is seen as a means to prepare individuals for everything, including the pursuit of meaningful values and aspirations. It is not just about training for a specific job but about equipping individuals with the capacity to understand and contribute to the broader societal goals of liberty and union.
How did the script address the potential challenges of a liberal arts education in the 21st century?
-The script addressed the potential challenges by reflecting on Dartmouth's history and its ability to adapt and transform. It suggested that the liberal arts can offer a unique perspective and approach to problem-solving, making them essential for the 21st century, rather than obsolete.
What is the 'Mennella protocol' mentioned in the script?
-The 'Mennella protocol' is not explicitly defined in the script, but it seems to refer to a new structure of relationality at Dartmouth aimed at fostering a more inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone within the institution.
How does the script suggest that Dartmouth College has evolved over its 250-year history?
-The script suggests that Dartmouth College has evolved through several 'refounding moments,' each responding to the needs and challenges of its time. These moments include the Dartmouth College case, the transformation under William Jewett Tucker, the 'great issues' movement in 1969, and recent efforts to create a more inclusive and diverse institution.
Outlines
🎓 The Future of Liberal Arts and Dartmouth's Historical Milestones
The speaker addresses the relevance of liberal arts in the 21st century by reflecting on four pivotal moments in Dartmouth's history. Starting with the 1819 Dartmouth College case, which secured the college's future amidst a legal battle with New Hampshire, the speaker highlights the importance of private education and the role of Daniel Webster, a Dartmouth alumnus, in the Supreme Court victory. The narrative then moves to the transformative presidency of William Jewett Tucker, who expanded the college's infrastructure and reputation, and the subsequent efforts to maintain Dartmouth's status as a world-class institution. The speaker emphasizes the enduring value of a liberal arts education in shaping leaders and statesmen.
🏛 The Impact of the Dartmouth College Case and Tucker's Vision
This paragraph delves into the broader implications of the Dartmouth College case, which not only secured Dartmouth's future but also paved the way for other private colleges, including historically black colleges post-Civil War. The speaker then focuses on William Jewett Tucker's presidency, detailing his efforts to elevate Dartmouth to a world-class institution. Tucker's vision included expanding the campus, increasing faculty size, and transforming the student body. His approach to integrating practical business education within a liberal arts framework is highlighted, emphasizing the interconnectedness of useful and liberating knowledge.
🌐 Dartmouth's Transformation and Inclusivity in the 20th Century
The speaker recounts the transformative period of Dartmouth's history in the 1960s, when the college faced the challenge of diversifying its student body and becoming more inclusive. The 1969 transformation is underscored as a response to the demands for a more representative and welcoming institution. The efforts of John Sloan Dickey and the introduction of a 'Great Issues' course are mentioned to illustrate Dartmouth's commitment to addressing global problems through education. The paragraph also discusses the technological advancements and the Dartmouth Plan, which aimed to modernize the college's approach to education and inclusivity.
🌱 Dartmouth's Continued Evolution and the Necessity of Liberal Arts
In the final paragraph, the speaker discusses Dartmouth's ongoing evolution, focusing on recent changes to its residential life, policies, and climate to foster a more inclusive and diverse environment. The speaker argues that these changes reflect a broader ecological transformation necessary for the college to remain relevant and impactful in the 21st century. The question of whether humanity and the planet can survive without institutions like Dartmouth is posed, suggesting that the liberal arts are not just beneficial but essential for societal progress and understanding.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Liberal Arts
💡Dartmouth College Case
💡William Jewett Tucker
💡Caleb Bingham
💡Frederick Douglass
💡Tuck Business School
💡John Sloan Dickey
💡Inclusive Excellence
💡Dartmouth Plan
💡Relationality
💡Ecology of the Institution
Highlights
The liberal arts face questions about their future in the 21st century and immediate job readiness post-graduation.
Dartmouth's history is marked by four refounding moments that shaped its identity and role in higher education.
The 1819 Dartmouth College case was pivotal for the survival of the institution and private colleges in general.
Daniel Webster's oratory skills, honed at Dartmouth, were instrumental in the Supreme Court case that favored Dartmouth.
The Columbian Orator, a book of rhetoric, was key to Webster's and others' powerful oratory and advocacy for liberty.
Dartmouth's identity was shaped by its ability to produce influential statesmen and politicians.
William Jewett Tucker's presidency marked a transformation towards becoming a world-class university.
Tucker's vision included expanding the campus, faculty, and student body to elevate Dartmouth's status.
The establishment of Tuck Business School demonstrated the integration of useful and liberating knowledge.
A liberal arts education is positioned as training for nothing but preparing for everything.
The transformation of Dartmouth under Tucker set an example for other liberal arts institutions.
John Sloan Dickey emphasized the responsibility of Dartmouth graduates to engage with global issues.
1969 marked a significant shift for Dartmouth to reflect the diversity of the world and address inclusivity.
The Dartmouth Plan, linked with technological advancements, aimed to transform the institution's demographics.
Recent changes at Dartmouth focus on creating an inclusive environment for all races, genders, and abilities.
The question of Dartmouth's survival in the 21st century is reframed as the necessity of liberal arts for societal progress.
Applause signifies the end of the speech and the audience's reception of the presented arguments and vision.
Transcripts
[Applause]
does the liberal arts have a future in
the 21st century don't students want to
go to receive training and prepare them
for work immediately after they receive
their degrees I want to use that
question as the basis for reflecting on
a series of four refounding moments in
Dartmouth's 250 year history I'm gonna
begin with 1819 when the Dartmouth
College case made it possible for
Dartmouth to survive the 19th century
I'm going to turn to William Jewett
Tucker's presidency from 1892 to 1909
when Dartmouth had to confront becoming
a world-class University in the 20th
century I'm going to move to 1969 when
Dartmouth had to transform its entire
self representation in order to become a
world-class institution the prelude to
the 21st century and I'm going to
conclude with what we're doing today
were these living bridges have reflected
an image for Dartmouth but it is an
example for liberal arts universities in
the 21st century 1819 New Hampshire
takes away Dartmouth charter says it's
null and void because it was made with
King George the third and education is a
public good that should not be permitted
being the venue of a private college
Daniel Webster class of 1801 emerged
to defend art month against the state of
New Hampshire which had named Dartmouth
Dartmouth University when Webster
explained what gave him the forces
persuade Chief Justice Marshall of the
Supreme Court to decide in Dartmouth
favor he said it was his training at
Dartmouth and specifically the work of
Caleb Bingham Dartmouth class of 1787
written an incredible book of rhetoric
called the Columbian orator Webster said
he discovered the power of oratory as an
Oracle a bridge between the greatest
aspirations for liberty and union of a
country and the capacity to lift the
minds and imaginations of Americans to
achieve that aspiration the Columbian
orator also became the chief text for
Frederick Douglass Samson akhom and his
oration --zz was cited in the Columbian
order as a preceptor for powerful
oration when Daniel Webster arrived at
the moment in his Supreme Court argument
in which he established the distillation
of his claims he described Dartmouth in
a line that every Dartmouth student has
memorized as a small College sir yet
there are those who love it then he
proceeded to say the Dartmouth is one of
the lesser lights in the horizon of
literary institutions but in the very
act of articulating that perish
Daniel Webster had transformed himself
into perhaps the most important literary
figure of the day and by extension
Dartmouth into an institution that
produced statesmen and politicians not
only of the standing of Daniel Webster
and Rufus Choate and Sam salmon chase
and George Ticknor but also as Kate
Stith Cabrales
one of the first women to graduate under
Dartmouth's aegis as a Cohen station
Alinta tution was to explain at this
year's celebration of the Dartmouth
College case the Dartmouth College case
made it possible for private colleges of
the standing of Howard and Fiske
and Morehouse and Spelman the historic
black colleges to emerge after the Civil
War with the protection of their privacy
secured by the Dartmouth College case
Dartmouth College was secured and
guaranteed its status as a private
college from 1819 till 1893 when William
Jewett Tucker became president of
Dartmouth graduated in 1862 the second
year of the civil war a war fought to
transform Daniel Webster's inspiring
coda liberty and union one and
inseparable now and forever
Webster compromised the Civil War turned
the compromise into the realization of
Liberty
and in reflecting on the Dartmouth
College case William Jewett Tucker said
Dartmouth may have fallen in love with
its image as a small college but
Dartmouth's aspiration to become one of
the great liberal arts institutions in
the world requires in this case Tucker
to transform the entire profile of the
institution he added 13 new buildings he
tripled the size of the faculty he
transformed the student body from fewer
than 350 students to thirteen hundred
and forty students in in order to
produce a lesson in 1900 in the midst of
the Gilded Age William Jewett Tucker
took the primary complaint about liberal
arts institutions that they separate
useful knowledge from liberal knowledge
it's the basis for instituting TUC
business school in order to make it
clear to everyone that there is no
distinction between knowledge that is
useful and knowledge that is liberating
a liberal arts education trains you for
nothing but it prepares you for
everything and what constitutes the
liberating aspect of a liberal arts
education is its capacity to demonstrate
how a use like turning your degree into
the basis for a job can become the
foundation for the discovery of a
Liberty when you recognize that the job
may be a livelihood but it can be as
empty and deadening as a prison sentence
if it isn't associated with meaningful
values
that make your life feel worthy of all
of the investment of your energy and
passion in the midst of the Gilded Age
he said I want to take Dartmouth
graduates who have sold their souls for
profit and to rededicate them to the
liberal arts by getting my roommate from
Dartmouth in 1862 Edward tuck to invest
the funds needed and to establish a
mission for tuck business school that
will become the basis for the
transformation of the gilded ages
immorality into a liberating vision Tuck
said the deepest form of egotism is
altruism altruism is what generates the
deepest wealth for a person and a
country William Jewett Tucker had
transformed the small College into an
institution that in the words of Woodrow
Wilson who was president of Princeton
University when Tucker stepped down an
example for every liberal arts
institution in the country Dartmouth had
been decolonized
from a colonial church college in the
provincial back waters of New Hampshire
into a bright light in the firmament of
liberal arts institutions when John
Sloan Dickey became president of
Dartmouth he returned to William Jewett
Tucker career in order to just steal
what he understood to be the primary
lesson
Tucker he said has made it clear that it
is the mandate of every Dartmouth
graduate to make the world's troubles
your troubles and he established a great
issues course to demonstrate the
practical benefit of every discipline in
a liberal arts institution but in 1969 a
great issue came to Dartmouth all of the
african-american students who'd gone to
historic black colleges but may have
wanted to come to Dartmouth all of the
women who had entered into the private
women's colleges the sister schools
surrounding Dartmouth all of the Asian
American and Latino and Latina students
who felt as if Dartmouth was still an
unwelcoming space said the Dartmouth if
you want to make the world's problems
your problems look like the world in
1969 Dartmouth changed its profile and
it founded that transformation of
profile by rededicating itself to the
original Charter which acknowledged the
importance of Native American students
not only to the founding of the
institution there's tutelary presences
who continue to offer it guidance in
order to bring about that change in the
structure of Dartmouth John Kemeny the
inventor of basic took that needed
transformation and linked it with a
technology
his understanding of the work that
computers could serve in inventing a
Dartmouth plan that would enable
Dartmouth to transform itself from a
white male institution in the New
Hampshire wilderness into a microcosm of
the world this time it wasn't a single
person
it wasn't Webster it wasn't Tucker with
all the students and faculty and
administrators who demanded a bridge
that would transform Dartmouth's
aspirations from the 19th century into
the reality of the 20th over the last 13
years Dartmouth has been involved in
transforming what could be called the
ecology of the institution it's added
equality to fraternity and sorority by
making the residential life at least as
hospitable for the formation of bonds as
the co-ed fraternity sorority system is
that was the Dartmouth moving forward
stride second step was to turn what
otherwise is non curated fact into a
distilled policy inclusive excellence in
which Dartmouth says explicitly it is a
welcoming space for persons of every
race of every color of every Creed of
every nationality every gender and every
ability and most recently it's changed
the climate
of the institution in order to make what
this morning was described as the
Mennella
protocol the structure of relationality
for everyone at dartmouth my brother
asked whether a liberal arts institution
of the standing of dartmouth could
survive the 21st century after Dartmouth
has changed its ecology to become a
space that's the image of what could
possibly transform the ecology of the
planet what a close by rephrasing the
question can be humanity and the planet
of the 21st century survive without
liberal arts institutions of the
standing and aspiration of Dartmouth
College
[Applause]
浏览更多相关视频
The Dangers of #AI and Illiberal Thinking with President #HamzaYusuf (2023 Commencement)
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Commencement Address | Harvard Commencement 2017
University of Bohol History
Fareed Zakaria addresses the Class of 2014 at Sarah Lawrence College
The ONLY WAY To Discover Your True Purpose & Build SELF-ESTEEM | Donald Miller & Lewis Howes
5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE TAKING AP WORLD: #2 WHY TAKE AP WORLD HISTORY MODERN?
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)