Can Evergreen State College become a good university?

[NewJerseyMemories]

Originally Posted by 509

I do believe that we should have more people with inter-disciplinary backgrounds.

So here are my required classes for lower division students in the Liberal Sciences.

One quarter Bio-Chemistry
One quarter Anatomy
One quarter Ecology
Two quarters Organic Chemistry
Two quarters Chemistry
Two quarters Calculus
Two quarters Statistics
One quarter Geology
Two quarters Physics (for non-physics majors)
One year Economics
One elective science....at the non-major level such as astronomy...the other sciences classes are for science majors.
Two quarters English for Scientific writers.
One quarter public speaking
One quarter sociology
One quarter drawing
One year History, including one quarter on the Constitution and history of law in America.

Hows that for a good liberal arts and sciences education??? Know any liberal arts students taking that course work. Really what you need to contribute and participate in the 21st century.

Organic chemistry? Bio-chemistry? Anatomy!!! Physics!!! CALCULUS!!! Good God, no!!!!

With all of those subjects, who would have time for a major???

No, no, no, no, no! Where are foreign languages? Where are literature and writing classes? Many college students today can barely write a coherent sentence!!!

We'd have a many college students dropping out. There is no way I could have studied those subjects in college. I struggled enough taking two semesters of science and one semester of math.

Evergreen alumni have done very well. It sounds like a really cool school.

Here are some of them:

List of The Evergreen State College people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I really wish that math and science obsessed people would STOP trying to cram everyone into math and science tracks. It is not for everyone! I know science and math majors who have absolutely no common sense at all, and they have no idea how to "think outside the box". We need to teach critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills.

[NewJerseyMemories]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Yes, 509, it is a skill set needed by society. It's called "culture," and it would seem to me that you may potentially be lacking in it a small amount.

While vocational skills are crucial, so are critical reasoning skills and the ability to think in an interdisciplinary manner (looking at the "big picture"). This is where a liberal arts comes in handy. Doctors should have some kind of basic psych or sociology background and an ability to write and communicate well (communication studies, English). Biologists and chemists should have some background in ethics (philosophy) et cetera.

Many companies are looking for people who can think, reason, write, communicate, problem solve, and think outside the box. This is where an education like the one at TESC excels as all their subjects are taught in an interdisciplinary manner so that they have more "real world" application and challenge the strict borders of traditional academic subject areas. We should encourage this type of education rather than stifling it in favor of grade inflation and mass production of graduates like at UW, WSU, Central, Western, Eastern, and so on.

So Evergreen isn't a giant university, it's a liberal arts college. And it is a great school with a mixture of great students and not-so-great students like any other school. I think the question should not be "Can Evergreen become a great university?" but rather "Can great universities like UW learn a thing or two from a school like Evergreen?"

I think it sounds like a great school!

We have a state college in New Jersey that offers some "alternative" choices: Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Unfortunately I knew nothing about it until it was too late. It gets very little attention in New Jersey and many people have never heard of it, but apparently Evergreen is rather well-known and controversial in Washington?

I suspect that some people don't approve of Evergreen because they don't approve of the suspected political leanings of many of the students and faculty.

[bettybulwinkle]

Reading through the threads it is surprising that nobody understands the definition of Liberal Arts... How did the Hallmark of western civilization; The Liberal Arts become something negative?

lib·er·al arts
noun
1.
academic subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics, and social and physical sciences as distinct from professional and technical subjects.

For the thinking person, A liberal arts education is the perfect springboard for contributing to the betterment of the world.

[509]

Originally Posted by NewJerseyMemories

I really wish that math and science obsessed people would STOP trying to cram everyone into math and science tracks. It is not for everyone! I know science and math majors who have absolutely no common sense at all, and they have no idea how to "think outside the box". We need to teach critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills.

And what would a Liberal Arts graduate think about??

Thanks for the list of Evergreen grads...one scientist on the entire list. An expert in fungi.

Do you really believe that Science graduates do NOT have critical and creative thinking skills?? By definition science is about thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX.

No, math and science is not for everybody. We have limited tax dollars....they need to be spent wisely.

There are plenty of private liberal arts colleges for those so inclined.

I think we are recycling the arguments at this point. Thanks for the discussion. It was interesting.

[PS90]

I will admit to being fairly ignorant about Evergreen. It's one of those places that I never even considered for doing my undergrad work.

But to me, the question is - what kind of alumni is this place producing? So far, posters have mentioned Matt Groening, who is certainly a pioneer in his field, and Macklemore, who is at best a one-hit-wonder who currently shows no indication of holding any ground historically. So, other than Groening, what is this college producing that is contributing to society? If it's nothing more than more Liberal Arts professors and a few starving artists, then this place worth it to the taxpayers?

[captiv8ed]

Evergreen is a great school. It does not need transforming. I had a rigorous education which included reading graduate-level books instead of watered down textbooks. I was an intern at the state legislature. I was a research assistant and a teaching assistant. I was accepted to several fully funded graduate programs. One of my classmates is now a lawyer. People I graduated with have gone on to DC lobbying firms, agricultural research programs, teaching positions. Many are working for themselves, and they are still in their 20s. The vast majority of Evergreen students I know are willing to take risks and think outside the box to achieve their goals.
Evergreen professors have small classes and spend a lot of time with their students. This allows teachers to really learn about their students in ways that professors at R1 institutions can not.