Pulley Tower renews pride in university
I am writing this letter to not only you, but to many students on campus, and to, I imagine, the university as well. It is a thank you of sorts, and an anecdote on the unique spirit we have here at Miami University.
As a first-year, I contracted a horrific case of mononucleosis at the end of August (the origin of which is still unknown). During the course of four months, I lost more than 19 pounds from my inability to swallow food due to my swollen tonsils. I missed more than three and half weeks of class, felt miserable most of the time and worst of all, was mercilessly robbed of the ability to go out and meet a lot of people my first-year. Couple this with a broken heart from a recently-ended relationship, and you had a recipe for a first-year disaster. I, dare I say it, hated Miami. I hated the Sperrys and the Polos and the weather and the punks I lived with. I am from Colorado, and believe me, I didn't even know what a Sperry was and didn't own a Polo.
To make matters worse, I lived with a group of individuals who considered vandalism a sport. And as an avid skier, I desperately missed my mountains. I couldn't stand it here. I had my transfer papers signed to return to the University of Colorado in November, and I was ready to turn them in as soon as they were finished. And then something funny happened. As I was walking to my English 112 class in Bachelor Hall in early December, I heard a familiar tune. It was a Christmas carol "Once in Royal David City." It was a carol I sang as a solo on Christmas Eve as a young boy at home. I knew every word, and found myself weakly singing the words. Every day in December as I walked to that English class, I heard another familiar carol from the one and only Pulley Tower. I felt, if only briefly, as my spirit had been lifted by those bells. For some reason, hearing those songs gave me the courage to give Miami a chance. It was as if the Pulley Tower was telling me that Miami could be my home too. I now cherish hearing those bells. Every time they ring, I am reminded of the comfort and hope that they gave me when I had no reason to believe in this university. I honestly wouldn't be here at Miami if I didn't hear that tower ring that beautiful December morning.
The subtle traditions we have here at Miami, like the songs from Pulley Tower, can be more motivating and inspiring than any class or sporting event. I love Miami hockey, the fantastic Greek Life and the superior academic programs in which we are expected to be engaged. And we should all be proud of those things.
But I imagine that, as an old man, I will remember those bells ringing when I first think of Miami. They embody the hope and the endless possibilities this university provided for me. I still don't own a pair of Sperrys, but I've updated my Miami apparel significantly. I've also learned that the people here are fantastic, and refuse to accept the ordinary as acceptable. Some of my closest friends are here now, something I would have never believed. I now love Miami. I hope that many of you, next time you are near Cook Field or Bachelor Hall, stop and listen to the bells. I hope you are as thankful as I am to have the uplifting experience I have every time I hear them. That tower renews my pride in Miami, one song at a time. I only hope that those songs can do the same for the people who need their hope in Miami renewed.
Joe Viseur viseurjp@muohio.edu
MU must articulate Miami Plan goals
In a recent issue of The Miami Student (Oct. 27, 2009), Karli Kloss raised, in effect, the issue of why the university requires Miami Plan courses. This is an excellent question and finding the answer to it is not a simple matter. In fact, what this question indicates is a failure on the part of the university to provide a clear rationale for the Miami Plan. During the last several years, I have asked my students why they think they are required to take such courses. Of the serious answers, the most common is that such courses enable one to be "well rounded." Mere distribution requirements could meet that goal under one interpretation of "well rounded." The majority of students I have spoken with do not have an understanding of the role of liberal education courses in the curriculum, and too many faculty members do not offer students a more apt explanation.
We need to better articulate a conceptual framework for the Miami Plan, one that explains and justifies its role in the curriculum. Kloss's observation that Miami Plan courses "in all likelihood have nothing to do with your major," indicates that our culture is focused on the economic enterprise where majors are seen as necessary to a career path. What we need to convey to students is education is preparation for more than the economic enterprise, for as human beings we will also need to engage in the moral and the civic enterprises. As educators, our main concern must remain focused not only on the limited goal of training students to develop the required competencies. Our concern is with the education of human beings. As a carpenter, lawyer, educator and so on, one does not satisfy the aims of education if one practices one's trade or profession in such a manner as to be open to condemnation as a person. In the founding documents it states: "The focus dimension of liberal education coursework should include opportunities through liberal learning for reflection, informed action, thoughtful decisions, personal moral commitment, ethical understanding and civic participation." What we hear about most are the four principles divorced from the context of ethical understanding and civic participation. I am not surprised that Kloss states of the principles: "Big words, high ambitions and a whole lot of wasted time." I think she is wrong about the value of a liberal education.
Given the lack of a conceptual framework for understanding the role of the Miami Plan, the four Miami Plan principles are thought of as skills, further divorcing them from course content. Solving a math problem does not satisfy the principle of critical thinking in the context of a liberal education. The subject matter, the content of Miami Plan courses, needs to include opportunities for reflection, informed action, thoughtful decisions, personal moral commitment, ethical understanding and for understanding the importance of civic, including global participation. We need to ask ourselves what distinguishes a Miami Plan course from a departmental course aimed at majors.
Although the well-worn label "critical thinking" is apt as a component of liberal education, as are the other three Miami Plan principles, they are so only when incorporated into a course whose subject has some connection to serious moral, intellectual and civic issues salient in or to the culture. An open or free culture is one that has developed out of ongoing experience and cultural conflicts and challenges under reflection and critical examination. Liberal education is preparation for freedom, for a self-directed life in a self-governing society. In this sense, Miami Plan courses can be central, not ancillary to education. Being liberally educated is much more than simply being well rounded. Careful, informed, critical reflection on these issues by the entire university will redound favorably upon all concerned. I thank Kloss for beginning this conversation.
James S. Kelly Department of Philosophy kellyjs@muohio.edu
