July-August 2019

DJROBGORDON/Courtesy Flickr
Liberal Arts
KRISSA CORBETT CAVOURAS/Courtesy Flickr
Reed College
www.reed.edu
Sarah Lawrence College
www.sarahlawrence.edu
Above far left: Reed
College offers Bachelor of
Arts degrees in 40 majors
and programs.
Above and above left:
Sarah Lawrence College
is known for its low
student-to-faculty ratio and
highly personalized course
of study.
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2015, majored in biology at Reed College
and is now a Doctor of Medicine/Ph.D.
student at the University of California, San
Francisco. While the liberal arts are often
viewed as limited to the humanities, for him,
it was the education in the sciences that really
stood out. “The commitment to taking
ownership of scientific research in the lab
and classroom, as an undergraduate, is quite
incredible,” says Swinderman. “And, it may
be hard to find that kind of emphasis in the
sciences in other educational settings.”
Another distinctive aspect of these
colleges is the sense of community, and the
commitment to building it. Mirra Savara
went to Reed College in the 1960’s from
India, and then came back to become a
leader in the women’s rights movement. She
looks back at her time at the college as
“monumental,” as she got her first taste of
movements, organizing and activism by
getting involved in protests and movements.
The campuses nurture a commitment to
causes, whether international, national, local
or even specific to the college, thereby
empowering students to act on behalf of
their communities.
The small student bodies can often be
viewed as a limiting factor, but for Sumudhu
Jayasinghe, that is exactly what she
cherishes. “It teaches you that no matter
where you go, finding and building
community is important,” says the 2013
batch student of Sarah Lawrence College,
New York, “even when you are in much
larger settings that encourage anonymity.”
Small liberal arts colleges may account
for only one percent of the undergraduate
student population in the U.S. higher
education landscape, but for that one
percent, the experience can be an education
for a lifetime.
Archit Guha is an EducationUSA Adviser at
the United States-India Educational Foundation,
New Delhi.
It teaches you that no
matter where you go,
finding and building
community is
important, even when
you are in much
larger settings that
encourage anonymity.
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