By E. Thomas Sullivan
September 11, 2006
(opinion article published in newspapers in California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah)
We all live and work in the five year shadow of the acts of terror of September 11th In such heightened times of national security we, in higher education, owe it to the public to clearly articulate how universities can powerfully respond to the world’s new needs for the 21st century.
In his 2006 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush set in motion a plan “to double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next 10 years.” The increase in research support followed upon a series of prominent reports urging, for competitive and national security reasons among others, that greater attention be paid to leading-edge science and engineering research in the United States. Similarly, a number of states also are devoting significant resources to promote discoveries in such areas as nanotechnology, biomedical research, and alternative energy sources. These investments are sound and sorely needed.
But there is another national security challenge in which research universities are highly prepared to help address. Research universities should, in addition to reinvigorating science and engineering research and education, seek to double federal and state support to support transformational cutting-edge research and creative endeavors in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
We must maintain a balance in our greatest universities across the range of excellence in intellectual and artistic endeavor. The threat posed by overlooking or devaluing the arts, humanities, and social sciences is as serious—for competitive and national security reasons among others—as that posed by the need for greater attention to the sciences and engineering.
One need only consider the very few American citizens and leaders who understand the culture, the languages, and the histories of Iraq or Afghanistan where so many resources are being spent today. Or to consider why we haven’t been able to resolve our health care crisis, social security, or immigration issues. Each of these issues have profound implications for our national security and deserve thoughtful and vigorous responses post 9/11.
No single academic discipline or cluster of disciplines can help us fully understand and responsibly solve the pressing issues facing our country and the world today. Increasingly, we recognize that addressing our most urgent problems will require insights and teams of researchers, across a range of disciplines, bridging the continuum of basic science, translational science, social science, and the arts and humanities. Think, for example, of the role of psychology and history in helping us to understand what may trigger acts of monumental hate and terror.
My point is that the truly educated citizen must appreciate the interconnectedness of the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities with public policy. This should be our post 9/11 legacy.
Appreciating and experiencing the interconnectedness across academic disciplines is essential for our graduates to be thoughtful and engaged citizens and to help create a more enlightened, secure world.
For the United States to continue to lead in the decades ahead will require universities to graduate students who have the mental poise, integrity, intellectual nimbleness, balance, and breadth to truly contribute to the public good.
To graduate lifelong learners, leaders, and global citizens necessitates that universities provide students with rich exposure (in the classroom and beyond) to the arts, humanities, and social sciences as well as the sciences, engineering and mathematics. If we fail to graduate well-educated citizens, few leaders will emerge with the competencies or capacities to promote the public good and civic responsibilities and to advance democracy.
We owe our students and our country no less.
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