Prof. Sean Decatur, dean and professor of Oberlin College, spoke of the importance of liberal arts education and its influences on science on 26 March at UIC’s 53rd High Table Dinner.
In the speech titled “Liberal Education in a Global Context: The Challenges and Rewards of Undergraduate Science Research at a Liberal Arts College”, the speaker Prof. Sean Decatur took Oberlin College as an example and interlinked the topics of liberal arts, science, and undergraduate research.
Prof. Sean Decatur delivers his speech
With well over two decades of liberal arts education experience and a background in science education and research, Prof. Decatur pointed out that as opposed to most technical schools (e.g. MIT), liberal arts colleges are more effective in producing students that go on to obtain science doctorates.
“The liberal arts colleges in the U.S., which educate a small number of students, have a disproportionately high impact on shaping the way science happens,” said Prof. Decatur.
He also quoted from Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple Inc., “Technology alone is not enough”. It was technology married with liberal arts and the humanities that yielded the company brilliant results.
The success of liberal arts colleges, according to Prof. Decatur, lies in its effective delivery of the essential learning outcomes. Such outcomes include knowledge of human cultures in the physical and natural world, intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and integrative and applied learning.
“Liberal arts are a driver behind innovation,” added Prof. Decatur. “Undergraduate research is an effective mechanism for addressing all four essential learning outcomes.”
The audience is immersed in the speech
To vivify his theory, Prof. Decatur illustrated that a group of Oberlin College students attempted to create “Cataract in a Tube” in their research project, making use of critical thinking skills gain from the liberal arts education and their instructors’ advice, yielded far greater results than expected.
“These students learned to construct abstract models from concrete observations and developed their confidence in the lab, nevertheless, the advice I gave, as a PhD scientist there, wasn’t necessarily the best,” said Prof. Decatur. “Actually learning how to trust your own instincts sometimes can be much more effective than just rigidly following the instructions of the professors.”
Prof. Ng Ching-Fai, President of UIC, presents the souvenir to Prof. Sean Decatur
Prof. Decatur is currently Dean of College of Arts and Sciences and professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Oberlin College. He has been selected as the 19th president of Kenyon College located in Gambier, Ohio and will begin his work in the institution on 1 July 2013.
Reporter: Chiu Wen Chin
Photographer: Chiu Wen Chin, Wei Xiao and Irene Yu
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
