Imperative
4
4
Build the
Letters, Arts, and Sciences Core
Texas A&M University
has historically placed less emphasis on the letters
and arts. While many of our basic science disciplines
are nationally acclaimed, the best public universities
have stronger and deeper liberal arts programs and
a fuller range of such programs with a significantly
higher institutional commitment. Such strengthening
is necessary for the true, enduring education of our
graduates and the enrichment of their lives. It is
abundantly clear that we will never be seen as a premier
institution nationally without a far stronger letters,
arts, and sciences program.
P
R E C E P T: S T R E N G T H E N T H E
L E T T E R S , A R T S , A N D
S C I E N C E S
All the great universities
exhibit strength in the core arts and sciences programs.
Strong arts and sciences programs provide a foundation
for undergraduate students, no matter their major
or their future educational or career plans. Texas
A&M University has the nucleus of an outstanding arts
and sciences complex, particularly in the sciences.
This nucleus must expand so that all undergraduate
students learn to think critically and build their
intellectual, professional, and civic lives on a broad
and deep understanding of our world. The Vision 2020
process examined multiple models to achieve this precept,
including dramatically different organizational constructs.
While these may merit further review and serious consideration,
at a minimum the model for 2020 should be one that
includes the development of focused excellence at
the Ph.D. level in arts and sciences, especially in
the humanities. Achieving this will require a superb
letters, arts and sciences faculty at the center of
Texas A&M University and an expansion of arts and
sciences programs.
Letters,
Arts, and Sciences teach the fundamental and transferable
life skills required for the many adaptations to
career and life changes that will be necessary in
the 21st Century. Students who have mastered these
skills will be able to think critically and creatively,
to analyze and synthesize ideas in order to make
decisions and solve problems, and to communicate
effectively through writing and speaking. They will
produce a student body more dedicated to the pursuit
of knowledge and scholarship, with the flexibility
and adaptability to become community and national
leaders and better able to assume places in the
most prestigious graduate and professional schools
in the country.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
-
Generate
a range of programs that compares favorably with
the nation’s best public universities.
Establish doctoral-level faculties in appropriate
arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines.
-
Create an academic beacon of great intellectual
value for innovative learning and teaching. Establish
an Honors College.
-
Provide opportunity for breadth in undergraduate
study. Develop a campus-wide undergraduate interdisciplinary-studies
degree with a strong arts and sciences core.
P R E C E P
T: E S T A B L I S H A F I N E A
RT S P R O G R A M
Texas A&M University needs
visual and performing arts programs, freshly conceived
and fitted to the university’s distinctive competencies.
Fine arts programs will broaden the experience of all
students, faculty, and staff. They will prove to be
an invaluable source of advancement that demand and
create new forms of technology and communication, and
breed higher levels of creative thought and action in
many disciplines.
Develop
a phased plan for instituting degree programs in
the visual and performing arts that are consistent
with the needs of the state and the strengths of
Texas A&M University.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
P R E C E P T: I N
F U S E F I N E A R T S I N T O
T H E L I F E O F T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
The desire and need to express
ourselves and our understanding of our world creatively
through visual and performing arts is an intensely
human trait. While satisfying to the creator, the
products of such creativity can also be enriching,
challenging, and satisfying for those who observe
them. Experiencing the thrill of hearing an exquisitely
felt and performed musical piece, the challenge of
seeing a work of visual art that asks us to look at
the world in an unaccustomed way, or the insight into
human behavior and motivations found in a stage performance—these
experiences made possible by a vibrant arts community
contribute immeasurably to our quality of life and
enrich our humanity. A fine arts program at the university
will be important far beyond its impact on those who
enroll in its classes. The fine arts program will
provide the nucleus for an arts community that will
enrich the life of the university and the larger community.
The university should actively support the integration
of visual and performing arts into the life of the
university.
Increase cultural and
entertainment opportunities and access to
the campus.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
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T
H E U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S F U T
U R E I S A B O U T
E D U C AT I O N F O R L I F E :
Character
skills are the basic arts of democracy. I believe
this university’s distinctiveness can be a central
role in cultivating character and inculcating
self-discipline and empathy. These “liberal”
arts enable and empower true commitment to civic
and moral values. I think Distinguished Professor
Howard Kaplan was right yesterday when he said
there is no university of prominence that does
not have a strong arts and sciences program,
and there is no other program in the university
that would not benefit from a strong arts and
sciences program.
Jon
Hagler, Vision for 2020
June 5, 1998
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