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The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Administration
Jay Howard, Ph.D., dean; Stuart Glennan,
Ph.D., associate dean; Jennifer L. Poor,
Ph.D., associate dean for Student Affairs
The power, importance and centrality
of the liberal arts are affirmed daily in the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The
College offers 25 majors and 29 minors
across 12 departments and 7 programs in
the humanities, the social sciences, and the
natural sciences. Students in the College
are encouraged and expected to explore different
ways of understanding the world, to
experience cultures diverse from their own,
to practice critical thinking, to appreciate
the value of and joy associated with learning,
and to recognize the power their education
provides them for personal gain and social
change. A liberal arts degree from Butler
positions students to do almost anything
with their lives beyond Butler and to make
a difference in their lives and in the lives of
those with whom they interact.
We work on a daily basis to strengthen
ties between students and faculty members.
Students and their faculty mentors work
closely together both in and out of the
classroom. They conduct collaborative
research projects, make joint presentations at
professional meetings and publish the results
of their work in the literature of their disciplines.
They talk about ideas, the future, and
the world. And they very frequently remain
in touch long after graduation.
We also believe that learning takes place
in many settings in addition to the classroom.
Students in the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences participate in internships
in Indianapolis and around the world, and
they regularly study abroad and in various
field locations.
Core Values of the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences
The liberal arts’ basic and historic purpose is
at once to teach us to think for ourselves, to act
wisely and well in the world, to undertake occupations
useful to ourselves and others. Liberal
arts education seeks ultimately to open us to the
human condition in its pains and joys, thereby
to nurture our personal integrity, and to foster in
us compassion and respect for those whose lives
we share in our own communities and around
the world.
Liberal arts education rests on a paradox:
thinking soundly oneself means first listening
carefully to the thoughts of others. The liberal
arts urge us to cultivate ourselves through the
consciousness of others; careful attention to their
ideas and actions help us refine our own.
Liberal arts education is pluralistic. It is
composed of many voices, each appropriate to
time and place, some discordant, none absolute.
It seeks to develop in us wit to judge which
skills are appropriate at which times. Liberal arts
education is restless. It takes nothing for granted.
Its characteristic activity is not uncritical assent
but critical judgment. It scrutinizes sacred truths
of every sort.
The liberal arts develop not only critical but
also creative skills, not only rational analysis but
also creative expression. They seek to develop
and realize the fullness of the human personality.
Their exercise aims as well at preparing students
to educate themselves long after they have left
formal school. Liberal arts education is meant
to train its students for public responsibility, not
just private good.
A liberal arts education is as much about the
journey as the destination. It takes as much delight
in the minute by minute quirks of learning
as in the fulfillment of distant goals. It balances
the will to know with empathy and wonderment.
The Latin word ars means at once skill,
knowledge and practice. A liberal arts education
begins with the skills of language and thought.
It teaches us to read well; to listen well; to
write clear, concise prose; to speak privately in
conversation, publicly in discussion, and formally
in speeches; to judge one’s audience and regard
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119 Butler University
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences