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Fifty years ago, few could have predicted that Ithaca College's School of Humanities and Sciences would become a leading division of New York's largest comprehensive, residential college.
And today, it would be equally bold to predict that the school will become a leader among colleges nationwide. But that's the goal.
As the draft vision statement explains, "The School of Humanities and Sciences aspires to be a nationally recognized model of the study and practice of the liberal arts and selected
professions." This objective is explained in the school's recently completed strategic plan, a document that outlines seven priorities that faculty, students, and administrators will address in coming
years. These priorities revolve around central themes developed by the entire faculty and include
- the desire to foster intellectual curiosity in a supportive, creative, and engaging academic atmosphere, rich in shared experience and diverse in social background;
- the need to articulate and promote the distinctive identity of the School of Humanities and Sciences to the broader community;
- the promise that all departments continue to pursue a student-centered curriculum rich in content, varied in disciplinary perspective, current in scholarship, and deep
in subject coverage; and
- the need to advance the school's vision through a commitment to faculty, facilities, and technology without over-reliance on tuition as a source of funding.
Some of these items are already under way. This year H&S provided leadership for a pilot freshman program, the Ithaca Seminar program. Designed to provide a common intellectual
experience for students College-wide, the program will offer broad-based interdisciplinary study for 400 arriving freshmen this fall. Associate professor of sociology James Rothenberg is
the program coordinator. He will teach one of the seminars—Sustaining Our Worlds: Connecting People, Prosperity, and Our Planet—with four other faculty members from various departments.
The inclusion of sustainability as a topic for the Ithaca Seminar program is not surprising. Sustainability is a growing priority within the College, and much of the effort to involve
it in the College's curriculum has been made by faculty within H&S. Sustainability is a philosophy that seeks to maximize the benefits from human activity while minimizing the negative
consequences. This philosophy bridges subject areas in seeking answers for complex global problems. Graduates with a background in sustainability will have a competitive advantage in
developing the economic, scientific, and social structures to address those issues. "None of us can predict the future, and few of us will be here 50 years from now to see if we reached
our goal," said Howard Erlich, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. "Ultimately, our dream must be carried by others. We only hope that 50 years from now, a new generation can look
back and thank us for building the path."
Fifty-Year Timeline
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