Author: Arielle Laub
I write this article from my computer. It is this computer which houses all of my work from the past four years, hundreds of megabytes of entertainment, memories and essays crammed onto one hard drive. I, like many other students, am dependent upon technology for numerous aspects of my daily life. It would be foolish, then, to claim that technology somehow serves as a hindrance to my education. It would be ignorant and privileged to resent the pervasiveness of technological advancement.
Yet, one must consider what happens when a college’s ability to provide its students with current technology becomes a greater indication of its prowess than the actual health of its academic departments. As an English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) major, I have watched not only my department, but many other humanities departments, flounder due to under-staffing and under-budgeting. Last year, the Critical Theory and Social Justice department operated with six professors. ECLS has now lost two professors to different departments. The studio art department does not have a working printer and cannot afford new brayers for the print making studio.
Occidental has recently completed a $19 million dollar renovation of Johnson Hall, which includes an interactive world map and digital screens in the elevators that display slideshows of pictures taken around campus.
“Technology is being used for show. For example in [Johnson Hall], so much money was put into the display of the actual place instead of its function,” Studio Art and Geology double major Aya Gerpheide (senior) said. “A lot of artists are into using technology, but the one computer we have in the studio is an old, old PC.”
Although the gift was designated for Johnson, its showy display of Occidental’s technological capabilities is emblematic of the College’s desire to appear to be something it is not. It is important for the college to keep up with the vast shifts in technological advancement. However, what use is new technology if the liberal arts at Occidental must struggle simply to keep classes enrolled or provide materials for their students?
The college’s mission statement is based on the cornerstones of excellence, equity, community and service. The mission claims that these building blocks are meant to create “responsible leaders and citizens for our democratic society.”
In the 21st century, an understanding of technology is necessary in order to excel as a leader. However, technology is merely a tool by which one executes goals and proliferates ideas. There is no point implementing new technology if there is not a pre-existing foundation of academic excellence.
In the long run, a liberal arts college’s proficiency is not gauged by the speed of its internet but the intellectual tenacity of its students. While every student would happily live in a world where Moodle made sense, or simply functioned, they would prefer a world of departmental stability. Students have had the education program ripped out from under them. They have watched the college reject proposals to replace retiring faculty. They have asked again and again for further ethnic diversity in the course offerings. Occidental cannot coat over such necessary advancements. It is not technology which carries us into the future; it is the strength of our progressive academics.
As a humanities major, I recognize that having an understanding of current technology increases my likelihood of being successful in the workforce. But I did not come to Occidental to learn how to create a spreadsheet. It is the college’s responsibility to encourage intellectual curiosity, to maintain the health of its departments and to recognize the absolutely necessity of strong humanities departments. It is in the humanities that students learn how to think critically, grapple the nuances of abstract concepts and glean understanding of other peoples and cultures.
One can easily enroll in the closest community college or extension center in order to refresh their computer skills. They cannot, however, engage in close study of complex texts or theories under the instruction of world-renowned professors anywhere else but established colleges and universities. To pursue technological advancement without concurrently bolstering the humanities is to build a house with no foundation. The house may look beautiful and may impress those who walk by, but it will eventually crumble and be forgotten.
Ari Laub is a senior English and Comparative Literary Studies major. She can be reached at alaub@oxy.edu or on Twitter at @WklyOpinions.
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