Connection Synthesis Table:
Paragraph-like Units
I believe that through drawing connections from various texts, my major can definitely fit into the definition of Boyers “enriched major.” To start off, I wanted to draw on the liberal arts education preparing students for the career world but also personally as well. The learning outcomes of my major (communications) states that it will…“Prepare students for ethically and socially responsible roles in their chosen professions and society. Help students achieve their personal and career goals. Prepare students for entry-level positions in either the private or public sector and/or to prepare students for coursework at the graduate level. Then adding in another area “..function effectively in the professional world and their personal lives.” A major misperception of the liberal arts education is that it won’t prepare students for a career job. Ungar states “The responsibility of higher education today is to prepare people ‘for jobs that do not yet exist.’ It may be that studying the liberal arts is actually the best form of career education” (Ungar). Boyer uses his reasoning to explain that liberal education should be brought into the curriculum for the reason that it is inevitably used in real life (personal life). Then also adding “Such linkage can be cultivated in all disciplines, and be exemplified in the lives of those who teach them” (Boyer).
I wanted to touch on the social and economics implications which are key in an enriched major, and how these connect in all three-four texts. Boyer starts off saying.. “Specialists must make judgments that are not only technically correct but also include ethical and social considerations. And the values professionals bring to their work are every bit as crucial as the particularities of the work itself” This leads into his example of …“Designing high-powered automobiles, fast trains, and supersonic airplanes requires technological skills, but we are far from designing environments and transportation systems that effectively serve human needs” (Boyer). This relates to an area of text in Scheuer …“Using them without obscuring the underlying connections is another hallmark of higher-level thinking. Climate change and biodiversity, for example, cannot be fully understood unless seen as both distinct and related phenomena”. Both of these texts are describing the idea that an enriched major will allow individuals to not only use their traditional technical skills, but put them to work in a social and economic aspect to solve issues etc. Now, how is this seen in the learning outcomes in my major? “In addition to studying the traditional communications disciplines, such as marketing, public relations, global communications, journalism, and business communications, you will develop highly marketable skills in digital media production – so you’ll be prepared to engage 21st century audiences through multiple media platforms.” I really like how there is emphasis on “in addition to the traditional communications disciplines” because this is not the only thing that is important – because it can be pretty narrow. So there isn’t just focus on the mere technical training, but the ability to broaden your horizons into using your skills in different disciplines.
I believe that my major is preparing me for the real world because we aren’t studying a narrow specialization, but studying multiple arrays of communications, and teaching us how we can use these in other disciplines and to solve everyday problems. An enriched major, such as communications, will open your mind up to different ideas and look at things from different perspectives. As said in Boyer “To keep the undergrad program very general, to look at the larger context, and not get down to the technical aspects of management. We don’t want narrowly trained undergraduates- we think we’re honing minds here. They should see business as a social enterprise.”
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