The prompt is to say what one phrase of this mission statement means to me:
"Since 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion-Amore ac Studio-we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times."
"The emancipating potential of the liberal arts" is a phrase that represents a Bates education's ability to free someone from the inability to see the world in different ways. It allows for a student to understand differences in people, thus "emancipating" them from intoleration of others. A hallmark of Bates is its close, small community of students dedicated to increasing their understanding. These students possess a variety of cultures, values, and ideas. Knowledge of these differences helps a student to realize that all types of people have amazing abilities that should be respected and encouraged. A student who comes in contact with different races, cultures, and religions on a daily basis will truly understand how each human is unique and . If a student is unable to realize this fact, they may become close-minded, making them intolerant and unaware of others' opinions, values, and emotions. Bates' liberal arts education changes this by forming a melting-pot of a community that aides people's connection with people who are different than them.
"Emancipation" from ignorance is another essential payoff of an education in the liberal arts. The lack of focus on one major subject allows for a student to understand the world around them more clearly. This is done by showing a student how the world works through many different points of view. A business student may see a simple vacant lot as economic opportunity; a biology student may view the exact same scene as a multitude of interactions between organisms and their environment. If you can see the various ways people understand how the world works, you can take each of those lenses and apply them to solve any problem. An info tech-intensive student would never be able to understand crowd dynamics. But if they possessed an understanding of sociology, however, they would easily be able to understand complex human interactions. An education in the liberal arts is able to free one's mind from the constraints of intolerance and ignorance, and a college such as Bates is able to provide this "emancipation."
"Since 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion-Amore ac Studio-we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times."
"The emancipating potential of the liberal arts" is a phrase that represents a Bates education's ability to free someone from the inability to see the world in different ways. It allows for a student to understand differences in people, thus "emancipating" them from intoleration of others. A hallmark of Bates is its close, small community of students dedicated to increasing their understanding. These students possess a variety of cultures, values, and ideas. Knowledge of these differences helps a student to realize that all types of people have amazing abilities that should be respected and encouraged. A student who comes in contact with different races, cultures, and religions on a daily basis will truly understand how each human is unique and . If a student is unable to realize this fact, they may become close-minded, making them intolerant and unaware of others' opinions, values, and emotions. Bates' liberal arts education changes this by forming a melting-pot of a community that aides people's connection with people who are different than them.
"Emancipation" from ignorance is another essential payoff of an education in the liberal arts. The lack of focus on one major subject allows for a student to understand the world around them more clearly. This is done by showing a student how the world works through many different points of view. A business student may see a simple vacant lot as economic opportunity; a biology student may view the exact same scene as a multitude of interactions between organisms and their environment. If you can see the various ways people understand how the world works, you can take each of those lenses and apply them to solve any problem. An info tech-intensive student would never be able to understand crowd dynamics. But if they possessed an understanding of sociology, however, they would easily be able to understand complex human interactions. An education in the liberal arts is able to free one's mind from the constraints of intolerance and ignorance, and a college such as Bates is able to provide this "emancipation."
