Lafayette Journal & CourierLiberal arts very much present at PurdueBy BRIAN WALLHEIMER
The future of liberal arts at Purdue looks good, even if reviews of its recent past have been mixed. Purdue is celebrating the College of Liberal Arts' research and accomplishments during October through a series of events, including speeches by the Dalai Lama and award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates. With Purdue's reputation as an engineering and agricultural college, a perception on campus has been that liberal arts has been an afterthought. But liberal arts Dean John Contreni said the university has been very good to his college over the years. "It's just remarkable how strong we've become and how important we've become to the campus under the strategic plan," Contreni said about the plan that guided the university the last seven years. "We got a fair share of attention." Statistics show that liberal arts, under former President Martin Jischke, fared well in some areas, not so well in others when compared to the colleges of engineering, agriculture and science. For example, in the last seven years, the College of Liberal Arts had
the highest level of enrollment growth, at 10.3 percent, well above the
other colleges that ranged from a loss of 3.6 percent to a growth of 2.1
percent. Liberal arts did fare well in budgeting, however. Over that time period, the liberal arts' budget grew 26 percent, with only engineering getting more at 31 percent. Harry Targ, professor of political science, said he's seen significant growth in liberal arts since he started at the university in the 1960s, but he noted that there's still inequity among the colleges. "We still have been poor relations in terms of faculty and staff salaries and number of faculty for the classroom," Targ said. "On the one hand, there's been an increase in the presence of liberal arts at the university, but it hasn't been met by equal funding." Dwayne Woods, associate professor of political science, said he thought the idea liberal arts has been left behind is a cliché, though. "From my perspective, I don't feel we've been slighted," Woods said, noting liberal arts is the largest college at Purdue in terms of enrollment. "As long as we have liberal arts students, the university is compelled to pay attention to us." President France Córdova gives hope to those who believe liberal arts has been left behind, though. Córdova has a bachelor's degree in English, along with her science background. She's talked about interdisciplinary research at Purdue, integrating liberal arts and other fields into the research of engineers and scientists. Córdova said liberal arts is a little behind on attention compared to some other programs because science and technology have always been focuses and strong suits at Purdue. "What you want to do to build a national reputation is find a way to use your programs of strength to leverage your others," Córdova said. "I want people to say 'I'm going to pick Purdue because I'm also going to get this great liberal arts background.'" Patrice M. Buzzanell, professor of communication, said she's worked in research with science and technology programs and believes Córdova's plan is solid. Buzzanell said research can be more thorough if people from different backgrounds are thinking about the questions from their perspectives. "Often you can't view it from a single disciplinary lens," Buzzanell said. "If it's a very complex situation, you need to look at it from different angles." Buzzanell said an example was researching why more women don't study computer science in college. She said computer scientists alone might not have insights researchers from women's studies, psychology and other departments might have. Contreni said he's excited to see how Córdova's leadership will affect liberal arts in the coming years.
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