.

S-90-38

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Senate ?

From: ?

L. Salter

Chair, SCAP

Subject:

?

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies)

?

Date: ?

May 17, 1990

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Academic Planning/Senate Graduate

Studies Committee gives rise to the following motion:

Motion:

"That Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of Governors

as set forth in S. 90-38 the proposed Master of Arts (Liberal Studies)."

r

'10

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SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

MEMORANDUM

•To ........ .

S

c.

t

Y

.

..................................... .

From

.....

.

..E...Clymau

• ?

.Qi. Ac.demic. .?Laurdng

?

Dear'. of.

.C'raduate.Studjes...............

)Date ......

May. .7,. .19.90

................................

Program

The proposed Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) Program

was approved by the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, at

its Meeting on May 7, 1990, and is now being forwarded to

the Senate Committee on Academic Planning for approval.

B.P. Clayman

Dean of Graduate Studies.

mm!

end.

.

(.

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

MEMORANDUM ?

DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES

TO: ?

Senate Graduate Studies

?

FROM: ?

B.P. Clayman

Committee

SUBJECT:

MASTER OF ARTS

?

DATE: ?

2.May 1990

(LIBERAL STUDIES) PROPOSAL

I am pleased to present. the proposal submitted by the Faculty of

Arts for the introduction of a

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies)

program. This proposal, the first draft of which was received on

31 October 1989, has been sent out for external review. The

external reviewers were:

1.

Dr. T. Guinsburg, Dean of Part-time & Continuing Studies,

University of Western Ontario

2.

Dr. J. Kissane, Director, School of General Studies,

Columbia University

3.

Dr. J. Morrison, Professor of Philosophy, University of

Toronto

4.

Dr. P. O'Callaghan, Associate Dean, School for Summer and

Continuing Education, Georgetown University.

5.

Dr. E. Wilson, Dean of Graduate Studies & Continuing

Education, Washington University

Given that there are no programs of this nature in Canada, we

were very fortunate in obtaining reviews from persons in the

United States who have ,

extensive experience in the design,

administration and evaluation of Master of Arts (Liberal

Studies) programs. The reviews are very positive; overall, this

was the most favourable set of reviews received for any new

graduate program proposal with which I have been involved. The

comments of the external reviewers and the written response of

Dr. Alderson are attached to the proposal.

You may notice that the "New Graduate Course Proposal Forms" are

missing signatures. This is the result of minor typographical

revisions being required on the forms; the original submission

has approval signatures from Dr. John W. Ekstedt for the Faculty

Graduate Studies Committee and Dr. R.C. Brown for the Faculty.

.

...

2

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-2-

The Assessment Committee for New Graduate Programs approved the

final proposal and recommended that it

be submitted

to the Senate

. ?

Graduate Studies Committee with the additional

recommendation

that the library funding be increased.

The

Assessment Committee

for New Graduate Programs, a sub-committee

of the S.G.S.C., had

the following membership:

Chair

B.P.

Clayman

Faculty of Arts

R.

Jennings

Faculty of Applied Science

A.

Beale

Faculty of Business Administration

A.

Vining

Faculty of Education

R.

Barrow

Faculty of Science

A.

Lachlan

SGSC (faculty)

T.

Perry

SGSC (faculty)

P.

Percival

SGSC (faculty)

J.

Peters

SGSC (student)

Y.

Marshall

Secretary

N.

Hunter

Registrar's Office

M.

McGinn

I recommend approval of this proposal. It will be an excellent

addition, at the graduate level, to the programs already offered

at our Harbour Centre campus.

cc: E. Alderson

R. Brown, Dean, Faculty of Arts

\CMT\M-SGSC

.

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APR 2719011

DEAN OF GRADUATE

I --

S

STUDIES OFFICE

MEMORANDUM

To: Bruce Clayman

?

From: Evan Alderson

Dean of Graduate Studies

?

Liberal Studies Planning Group

Re: Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) Date: April 25, 1990

As requested, I am summarizing my responses to issues about the

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) discussed by the Assessment Committee for

New Graduate Programs in relation to the external reviews of the proposal.

A) J .

C. Morrison's reservations about the research component of the degree

might be softened if he were fully aware of the specifics of this University's

Extended Essays requirement. In fact, they are examined much as he would

have his suggested Research Essay examined; although Extended Essays are

in practice often derived from course work, as examined they are usually

substantially more thorough than term papers. It is true that this program

is not designed to place as heavy an emphasis on research as many graduate

programs do, but the required research component is designed to be

consistent in its minimum standards with others at this University.

B)

Prof. Morrison's concerns about the dangers of too large a program are

well taken, although his exact calculations are open to some question. We

want healthy enrollments, but is certainly not our intention to have more

students in the system than can be well

taught

and supervised. It seems

most sensible to retain our current enrollment figures as maxima, to monitor

the situation carefully, and to reduce admission limits should individual

courses or the entire program appear to be in danger of overcrowding.

C)

At least two of the reviewers comment on the ambitiousness of the

courses as presently outlined. I believe it is a common phenomenon that in

first conceptualizing a course, potential instructors may include a wide range

of material that they would ideally like to cover, and that when actually

faced with teaching it, they may recognize a need to trim or excerpt it. We

believe, however, that the current sample outlines indicate the richness and

intensity of the courses we intend. The program is deliberately

structured

into a fairly small number of five credit courses so that a wealth of diverse

material can be considered in juxtaposition. We definitely will not follow

Prof. Morrison's suggestion to limit the required reading only to Western or

to traditional materials. The thematic integration that other reviewers

T,

---

praise is specifically designed to bring adequate structure and coherence to

the Study of wide-ranging materials which often are not brought together.

D)

Prof. Morrison points out that there is no philosopher currently connected

with the program, and that there should be. in this he is correct. A political

scientist is among those who have let their names stand as potential

members of the Program Steering Committee, but it ma

y

well be desirable to

have more expertise in political theory brought into the teaching program.

Fortunately, the Program provides for considerable flexibility in bringing to

bear faculty expertise, both in advisory capacities and in substantial or

short-term teaching engagements.

E)

Dr. O'Callaghan points out that the Preliminary Seminar is not thoroughly

described in the proposal. It is frankly a feature of the program that

remains to be planned in detail. The intention is to provide all entering

students, in as much time as reasonably can be demanded during the

summer before enrollment, whether a week or a weekend, with a fairly

rigorous introduction to the nature of the program and to the kinds of

reading, writing and research skills that will be expected. We anticipate that

this requirement will benefit students who have been away from university

for some time, or who may be uncertain about their ability to keep up.

Another issue arose in committee discussions which was not raised

explicitly in the external reviews, but which has arisen in previous

discussions of the proposal and has been carefully considered by the

planning group. The basic question is how best to ensure in a program of

this type that readings, topics and perspectives which have genuine

contemporary significance are given due place within a program oriented

toward the traditions of liberal education, particularly when received

tradition may be perceived to have excluded them unfairly. The issue is a

broad one, and currently contentious within discussions of liberal educaliun;

a case can be made for the mandatory inclusion of national or ethnic

concerns, for environmental issues, or for non-Western perspectives.

Regarding this program in particular, doubts have been expressed as to

whether its current outline gives adequate attention to works by and about

women, and to critical perspectives that have emerged from women's

concerns.

There are really two questions here: what should the appropriate

• ?

balance be, and how should it be decided? On the first matter, this program

deliberately and overtly seeks to balance a deepened awareness of cultural

and intellectual traditions with contemporary critical perspectives; its

7

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4.

educational approach will probably Always be too traditional for some and

not enough so for others. The program makes provision for course offerings

in which material of the types mentioned above can from time to time be

given special emphasis. But more than that, we believe that the program

purposes will best be served by a consistently interdisciplinary approach

that introduces a multiplicity of perspectives, in effect, bringing together

texts that question each other. There are some works by and about women

in the sample course outlines; there

quite reasonably could be more; it is

certain that the matter should be given more thorough attention in planning

the actual offerings. In our

view, the best way to ensure that concerns such

as these, and others as they may arise, are given adequate consideration is

not to prescribe too..much in advance, nor to interfere in the way specific

faculty may best envision their courses. Instead, the Program Director and

the Program Steering Committee on an on-'gong basis and with sensitivity

should monitor individual course offerings and the shape of the program as a

whole in order to ensure that an appropriate breadth of

materials and

perspectives is included and is taught

with adequate cxpertis. This brief

discussion of the maLtcrconstit.uLes

a commitment that these concerns will

be carefully considered in implementing the program and that they will be

brought fully to the attention of the Program Director.

.4 ?

.

14A

ot

3

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PROPOSAL FOR MASTER OF ARTS

(LIBERAL STUDIES)

5 Apr 1989: Approved by Faculty of Arts Graduate

Studies Committee

31 Oct 1989: Received by Dean of Graduate Studies

7 Dec

1989:

Reveiwed by Assessment Committee for

.

?

New Graduate Programs(C)

23 Jan

1990:

Revised proposal received by DGS

19

Apr

1990:

Assessment of external reviewers reviewed

by ACNGP(C)

.

1

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

.k

C

-

çi

OFFICE OF THE DEAN

?

FACULTY OF ARTS

MEMORANDUM

?

1}•J

TO:

Dr. Bruce Clayman

Dean, Graduate Studies

RE: Master

of Arts in

Liberal Studies

FROM: Sheila Roberts,

Administrative

Assistant

DATE: ?

October 24, 1989

The Faculty of Arts .Graduate Studies Committee at its meeting of

April

5,

1989 approvedthe attached

proposa1

for a Master of Arts

program in Liberal Studies. The committee had approved a previous

draft of the proposal in principle in December 1987.

The committee

request

that a copy of all new proposals be returned

for consideration

after the

exteTnr assessment is complete

This

would keep the committee informed of changes made to proposals

prior to approval at the Senate Committee level.

Thank you.

/kcp

end.

C: ?

M. Fellman

History Department

0

01

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0 ?

NEW PROGRAM PROPOSAL

for a

MASTER OF ARTS (LIBERAL STUDIES)

?

at

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

RATIONALE:

The Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) degree will be a graduate degree with a difference.

Unlike conventional postgraduate degrees, it will provide an avenue for students of widely varying

backgrounds and ages to pursue paths of learning which integrate knowledge from many of the

traditional disciplines. The graduate Liberal Studies program will provide an alternative

educational choice for those students who wish in their graduate work to develop not merely

expertise within a single field but a deeper intellectual grounding in the values and traditions

which have shaped our culture as a whole.

Although there are over

75

such graduate programs in the United States, in places as diverse

.

as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Chicago and the University of Oklahoma, this will be the first such

program in Canada. The Liberal Studies Program will not duplicate existing graduate programs,

and it will reach new students, particularly as it will be offered at SFU Harbour Centre.

A program that is conceived for breadth of learning at the graduate level must be designed to

provide education that is focused yet accessible to students of differing backgrounds, selecting an

approach that offers coherence without becoming unduly restrictive. An appendix to this proposal

summarizes some of the curricular choices that other institutions have made regarding programs of

this type. We anticipate that Liberal Studies students at Simon Fraser will be interested both in

deepening their understanding of our common cultural traditions and in furthering their critical

awareness of issues in the contemporary world. Students should be given the opportunity to read,

to savour and to discuss some of the great works of our intellectual and artistic heritage, and

should also be prepared to explore contemporary perspectives on traditional ideas and values.

• At the centre of the Simon Fraser Liberal Studies Program will be the sense of the underlying

ties between the disciplines. This focus is based on the belief that discovering these intrinsic

relationships among the fundamental ideas of our civilization forms a coherent basis for

intellectual growth. The program will provide a rigorously structured, broadly conceived

curriculum which will place learning in the widest available contexts, lending coherence and depth

to issues of perennial human concern.

-1-

I?

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The Liberal Studies curriculum will be based on careful analysis of central intellectual tensions

which are interwoven into the fabric of our culture. An interdisciplinary approach to these

fundamental historical themes will cut through the traditional boundaries that tend to lead

intellectual segregation in many curricula. Because such basic themes of our intellectual culture

as the dialectic of reason and passion in human affairs, the relation of self to society, and the

struggle between tradition and modernity have resonances in many disciplines, a curriculum

structured around the study of such tensions will permit the contribution of faculty from many

parts of the university. Because sUch themes have both an historical dimension and clear

applicability to present concerns, they will provide an effective curricular structure for mature

students who wish to gain intellectual grounding for their action in the contemporary world. The

program will lead students to clearer, more deeply based questioning of contemporary cultural

assumptions understood in the light of cultural traditions. It will provide opportunity for the study

of such issues as the changing roles of women in Canadian Society, the destruction of the

environment, and claims for the conservation of the values of minorities in juxtaposition to the

preservation of the nation, but it will do so within a 'curricular context that brings wide intellectual

perspectives to contemporary issues. The program will draw upon appropriate faculty expertise

from across the university.

STUDENTS

Judging from the experience of other similar programs, the student body will consist largely of

mature students with ages ranging from 23 to

65,

about evenly divided between men and women.

Some will have been out of university for many years, whether in business and professional

careers, or as homemakers and mothers. Others will be more recent university graduates who

have not begun a career and who do not wish to pursue graduate work in a specialized field.

Some will go on to a Ph.D. in a professional field, though for many more the Liberal Studies

Program will be part of a career reorientation or intellectual enrichment for those who feel

constrained by the narrowness of their careers and their earlier educations. For all these students,

the program will offer a far deeper and more structured educational challenge than that offered by

other forms of adult education, and a more flexible and broader program than that given in

traditional, specialized graduate programs. Given Simon Fraser's long tradition of interdisciplinary

innovation to meet the educational needs of a diverse student body, we seem particularly well

suited to this kind of academic program. To be offered at SFU Harbour Centre, this program will

Contribute a strong liberal studies presence within the overall mandate of that campus.

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM:

The structure of the program is detailed in the attached draft calendar entry. The following

notes augment that information.

1. ?

Each seminar

will ?

be for five graduate credits. ?

All students will enter

during the Fall

semester, and will

be required to take the two core seminars in sequence during the first year.

A

brief pre-seminar

for entering students will offer an overview of the program

and sharpen the

scholarly skills of

new students. ?

Each student will also complete four additional

seminars, at

his

or her own pace.

It is anticipated that one or two such additional courses will

be offered each

-2-

/0

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or her own pace. It is anticipated that one or two such additional courses will be offered each

Fall and Spring semester.

2.

In addition to the thirty credit hours earned in this fashion, each student will present two of

his or her essays for formal examination in order to

satisfy

the Simon Fraser extended essays

requirement for a Master's degree. It is anticipated that the defense might take place within a

seminar situation tailored to the program, in order to enhance collegiality within the program.

3.

Normal graduate grading standards will apply throughout the program. To maintain the quality

of seminar discussions, enrolment will be limited to about twenty new students each year.

4.

The touchstone of the Liberal Studies Program will be the two integrated core seminars which

all incoming students will be required to take in sequence. Both courses will deal with texts

which address profound human concerns that have remained fundamental over a long span of

time. A series of brief essays written in these seminars will enable students to elucidate themes

raised during intense and critical class discussions. To maintain coherence the teaching and the

content of the two core seminars will be carefully coordinated. This may involve either team

teaching or a more limited but still intense participation by each teacher in the other's class. In

addition, experts on specific issues, some of whom may teach other courses in the program, will

be invited to join the core seminars from time to time. It is anticipated that as these courses are

refined over time, a substantial number of texts will be regularly used, so that students at different

stages of the program will have some common background.

5.

The other seminar courses will have more variable content, within the general theme of the

.

course. This approach will enable faculty from various disciplines to teach in the program, either

individually or in collaboration. Typically, a faculty member might work out an approach to the

course theme in consultation with the Program Director, and then invite one or more experts to

participate in the instruction at various points in the course. However these courses may be

taught from time to time, they are interdisciplinary in conception and should never include only a

single disciplinary perspective.

STAFFING AND FUNDING:

The program will be guided by a steering committee of senior academics, appointed by the

Dean of Arts (see Appendix 2). This committee will serve as the Graduate Program Committee,

and will approve all individual course offerings. The Dean will also nominate a Director for the

program to the Vice-President, Academic, to serve a term of three years.

Teaching faculty will be drawn from well established scholar-teachers at Simon Fraser,

augmented by distinguished visitors. It will be essential to offer attractive incentives for

participants in the program, and to their home departments when secondment is involved.

..

?

-3-

II

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.

A substantial endowment for the program is being sought, and currently close to a million

dollars has been secured. When complete, the endowment should finance a very substantial

portion of the program's operating costs. We estimate the annual costs of the program at full

operation (6 courses per year) to be distributed as follows:

Director (half time)

4 course secondments per year

Honoraria for guest specialists

Program Assistant (half time)

Office and publicity expenses

Library expenses

TOTAL

$40,000

?

@

$8,000/course ?

32,000

?

@

$550/course ?

3,000

10,000

5,000

10.000

101,000

LIBRARY

The nature of the program is such that few highly specialized library resources will be

required. The Library has been asked to study library requirements in the light of special needs

for programs at Harbour Centre. It is probable that students will find it necessary, especially in

relation to their extended essays, to utilize the resources of the main campus or of the

UBC

library.

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION:

An essential step in the implementation of the Liberal

Studies

Program will be the appointment

of a Director. Following Senate approval of the Program a search for this individual should

begin. Optimally a senior faculty person will be appointed to provide continuing intellectual and

administrative leadership. It may be appropriate to bring a senior scholar to the University, jointly

appointed with a regular Arts department.

The director will be expected to co-ordinate, lead

and

shape the evolution of the Program,

soliciting the interest of faculty across the University and insuring the coherence of course

offerings over time. The following course descriptions have been developed prospectively in order

to help articulate the shape of the Program and to demonstrate the strong Liberal Studies Program

that this University can offer.

When actually mounted, the specific content of the courses may

differ from the attached sample course outlines, within the general shape now proposed.

The Program will be phased in over a three year period, starting in the first semester with one

of the core courses, followed in the second semester by the second core course and one

seminar.

By the start of the second year one of the two core courses should be offered each Fall/Spring

semester, accompanied by at least one of the other seminar courses.

-4- ?

/ 6^

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•

Proposed Calendar Entry

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies)

The Faculty of Arts offers a program of Liberal Studies leading to a Master's Degree. The

program is intended for appropriately prepared individuals who wish to pursue a liberal education

at the graduate level. It offers the opportunity for wide reading, careful reflection and intense

discussions about human thought, values and experience. The program is offered through evening

study at SFU Harbour Centre, and is designed primarily for persons who can only undertake part-

time study.

The central theme of the program is an exploration of significant tensions within our

intellectual culture, tensions that have historical origins and that have practical consequences in

our present world. The required series of seminar courses and the preparation of extended essays

will enable participants to understand the intellectual and cultural contexts of contemporary

problems, to reflect on central dilemmas that have marked human civilization, and to enrich their

lives by encounters with important texts and seminal ideas.

ADMISSION

Applicants must satisfy the Liberal Studies Graduate Program Committee of their academic

suitability for the program.

In

addition to fulfilling the normal university graduate admission

requirements, prospective students must demonstrate their readiness for program through letters of

reference, samples of written work, and normally an interview. Exceptionally, the Graduate

•

Program Committee may recommend for admission applicants who do not meet normal university

requirements, but who by reason of prior experience, strong interest, and demonstrated competence

are particularly suited to the program.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Students are required to complete six seminar courses, and to submit two extended essays for

oral examination. Two of the six required courses are core courses, which normally must be

completed in the first two semesters of attendance. These are: L.S. 800-5, Thinking about Human

Passion, and L.S. 801-5, The Capacity and Limits of Reason. The remaining four courses may be

selected from among those offered within the program. Students may enrol for one or two

courses per semester. Exceptionally, and by agreement of both the Graduate Program Committee

and the department involved, a student may be permitted to take one graduate course in another

department toward the Liberal Studies degree.

The extended essays will normally be developed from papers completed for course work.

They will be examined as for the examination of a Master's thesis under 1.10.1 of the General

Regulations.

The Liberal Studies Program is designed for students who seek educational breadth at the

graduate level. It emphasizes a community of inquiry and discussion over independent research.

For this reason, the program entails several special expectations, within the general regulations for

graduate study at Simon Fraser.

is

13

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I. ?

Students admitted to the program are required to attend an introductory short-course

conducted prior to the beginning of the first core course in the Fall semester.

2.

Supervisory committees will be arranged by the Director of the Program. By approval

of the Dean of Graduate Studies, the supervisory and examination process for the

extended essays requirement may be modified to emphasize collegial exchange.

3.

Students should expect to participate in out of class activities, such as occasional pre-

class dinners, that are designed to encourage interchange among the participants, and to

enhance a sense of intellectual community.

4.

Because the program is designed for individuals having other obligations, and who may

for that reason require greater or lesser amounts of time to complete the program, the

normal SFU graduate tuition fees have been adjusted for this program. See the

appropriate entry under graduate student fees.

LIBERAL STUDIES COURSES

Liberal Studies Courses are designed as intensive seminar courses. The two core courses, L.S.

800 and 801, will develop a common base of readings for all students in the program. The other

six regularly offered seminar courses may be expected to vary considerably in approach and in

specific content on each occasion of their offering. Each of them, however, will address a central

tension in our intellectual lives, trace some of its sources, and consider its impact on our

experience of the present. All the courses are cross-disciplinary in orientation and may draw on

faculty from across the university to contribute expertise to the discussions.

L.S.

800-5

Thinking about Human Passion

The first of two core courses that constitute an extended examination of the tension between

reason and passion in human experience. This course will emphasize close reading and

discussion of works, drawn from different cultures and epochs, that reflect on human passion.

L.S.

801-5 The Capacity and Limits

of

Reason

The second of two core courses that constitute an extended examination of the tension between

reason and passion in human experience. This course will examine writings by some of those

who have insisted on the indispensability of reasoning as a guide to action and the source of

truth, as well as writings by some of those who on various grounds have cast, doubt on this

faith in human reason.

? . .. .

It is proposed that fees should be set on a per course basis, equal to the normal fees

required for a Master's candidate who completes a degree in two years -- currently $3234,

or $539 per course. It is further proposed that from endowment funds dedicated to this

program, a graduate bursary be established for students in this program, with a maximum

value of tuition reimbursement.

-6-

/41

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L.S. 810-5

Self and Society

This course will examine some aspects of the relationship between selfhood, as idea and

experience, and social organization. Approaches to the topic will vary, but may involve

scientific, social scientific, philosophical and aesthetic perspectives.

L.S. 811-5

Tradition and Modernity

This course will examine ways in which ideas of tradition and traditional societies have come

into conflict with forces of modernization and ideas of modernity.

L.S. 812-5

Science and Human Values

This course will deal with issues surrounding the nature of the scientific attitude, the growth of

scientific knowledge and the impact of scientific and technological change. Specific attention

will be give to the value implications of science and technology in relation to other forms of

human understanding and experience.

L.S. 813-5

Religious and Secular World Views

This course will deal with the conflicts and continuities of secular and religious approaches to

such fundamental issues as the origins of the universe and of the human species, human virtue,

and human destiny.

L.S. 814-5

Liberty and Authority

This course will examine the tension between liberty and authority as expressed in some of the

following: political and judicial ideas and systems; conflicting economic ideologies; personal

relationships.

L.S. 815-5 Organizing Social Realities. Gender, Class, Race, Nation

This course will examine how distinctions among people create pattern and conflict, by

studying some of the fundamental organizing concepts of society which both unite and divide

people.

L.S. 819-5

Selected Topics

This course provides an opportunity for the occasional offering of a seminar course appropriate

to the program but on a topic outside the regular courses. Not more than one such offering

may count toward the Liberal Studies degree.

L.S.

829-5 Directed Study

This course provides an opportunity for individual study on a topic of the student's choice,

under the guidance of one or more faculty. Arrangements for this course must be approved by

the Graduate Program Committee in advance of registration. Not more than one such offering

may count toward the Liberal Studies degree.

L.S. 998 M.A. Extended Essays

Students will present two of their essays for formal examination in order to satisfy the Simon

Fraser University requirements for a Master's degree.

-7-

/5,

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.:

L.S. 800-5

Title: ?

Thinking about Human Passion

Description:

The first of two core courses that constitute an extended examination of the tension between

reason and passion in human experience. This course will emphasize close reading and

discussion of works, drawn from different cultures and epochs, that reflect on human passion.

Credit Hours:

5 ?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s) if any:

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment: ?

20

When will the course first be offered:

?

90-3

How often will the course be offered: ?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION:

L.S. 800-5 and L.S. 801-5 will together provide an introduction to the aims and methods of the

program, a common core of reading for all students, and an extended grounding in the tension

between reason and passion

in human experience.

RI'SflI IRCI•

"Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

Program Director (TBA) in conjunction with one or more of the following: Feliman, Alderson, Duguid, Dutton,

Paranjpc or other regular SFU faculty.

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

Sec attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):

Sec attached.

Appended: ?

a) Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c) Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Z

?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

9/5

/?

Senate: ?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

** See

"Program Implementation."

-8- ?

.

16

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Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) ?

Sample Course Outline for Core Course #1

?

L.S. 800-5?

Thinking

about Human Passion

This course will explore a variety of texts that express or reflect upon the human passions. The

readings are grouped thematically, but this does not limit their relevance to a single perspective.

The intent is to derive interlocking issues from the texts themselves. Students will be expected to

keep up with extensive reading as assigned at the beginning of the course. The developing

interests of the group will determine which works will provide the focus for weekly discussions.

The course will provide an opportunity for wide-ranging discussion about the force of feeling in

human experience.

1.

(1 Week) Romantic love -- We will begin with a consideration of the power and limits of

romantic love, and the tradition that gives it a central place in our culture. Reading and

discussion of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet will be accompanied by a brief selection of love

lyrics from the early Renaissance forward.

2.

(1 Week) Passion as an inherent reality -- We will read two Greek tragedies by Euripides, Th e

Medea and The Bacchae, works that examine in disturbing ways the power of passion in our lives

and the costs of failing to acknowledge that power.

3.

(2 Weeks) The divisions of the human soul -- We will study selections from two classic

works, from the traditions of East and West, that discuss the need to control emotion. Plato's

.

Republic and The Bhagavadgita, in different ways, both provide reflections on our cultural

assumptions about the proper place of emotion in human experience.

4.

(1 Week) The philosophy of passion -- We will approach the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche,

primarily through selections from The Birth of Tragedy, as a nineteenth century attempt to re-

envision the centrality of passion for thought and experience. Some attention will be given to the

musical correlatives of Nietzsche's thought in Richard Wagner.

5.

(2 Weeks) Religious passion -- Through a wide variety of religiously inspired texts, we will

explore some of the ways in which religion has elicited, shaped and directed human feeling.

Texts will include: The Book of Job, selections from St. Augustine and Martin Luther, poems by

John Donne, and Gerard Manley Hopkins, and a sermon by Jonathan Edwards. Some attention

will also be given to other expressive forms -- a gothic cathedral painting of the Italian and

Spanish baroque, the music of Handel.

6.

(1 Week) Form and Feeling -- One of the strongest powers of art lies in its ability to express

human feeling, but artistic expression shapes feeling in intricate ways. We will examine the

relationship between form and feeling in art through a consideration of selected works from

European modernism, including selected poems by William Butler Yeats and Rainer Maria Rilke,

prose works by Gertrude Stein, and paintings by Van Gogh, Kandinksy, Kollwitz and Matisse.

.

?

la

/1

---

7. (1 Week) Passion as "the feminine" -- Women have often been viewed, paradoxically both by

feminists and anti-feminists, as in some ways closer than men to the sources of passion -- closer

to bodily experience, less imprisoned within rationality, more emotional in orientation. We will

examine some aspects of this concept of femininity, in its traditional and contemporary variants,

through reading and discussion of essays such as Sherry Ortner, "Is Female to Male as Nature is

to Culture?"; Helene Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa"; Luce Irigaray, This Sex Which is Not

Q p

(selections).

8. (2 Weeks) Passion and neurosis -- We will explore, through both literary sources and

psychological writings, some of the ways in which pathological behaviour can arise through the

distortion or repression of emotion. Readings: Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis"; Sylvia Plath,

The Bell Jar; Bruno Betteiheim, "Individual and Mass Behaviour in Extreme Situations"; Jules

Henry, Pathways to Madness (selections).

9. (2 Weeks) Passion within "a regime of pleasure" -- We will examine some recent imaginative

and theoretical writings that challenge some of our conventional assumptions about passion, by

calling into question the relevance of individual subjectivity under the conditions of

"postmodernism." Possible readings: Jean Genet, The Balcony: Jean Baudrillard, "The Implosion of

Meaning in the Media"; Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"; Roland Barthes,

Image. Music. Text (selections); Paul Smith, Discerning the Subject; Jean-Francois Lyotard, The

Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge.

.

-10-

?

.

T

f,

60

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.: L.S. 801-5

Title: ?

The Capacity of Limits of Reason

Description:

The

second

of

two core courses that constitute an examination

of the tension between reason and

passion in human experience. This course

will

examine writings by some

of

those who have

insisted on the indispensability of reasoning as a guide to action and the source of truth, as well

as writings by some of those who on various grounds have cast doubt on this faith in human

reason.

Credit Hours: 5

?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s)

if

any:L.S. 800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment: ?

20

When will the course

first

be offered: ?

91-1

How often

will

the course be offered: ?

once a

year

JUSTIFICATION: L.S. 800-5

and

L.S. 801-5 will together provide an

introduction to the aims and methods of the

program, a common core

of

reading

for

all

students, and an extended grounding in the tension

between reason and passion in human experience.

RESOURCES:

**Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

Program Director (TBA) in conjunction with one or more of the following: Feliman, Alderson, Duguid, Dutton,

40 ?

Paranjpe or other regular SFU faculty.

What are

the

budgetary implications of mounting the course:

See attached

submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a) Outline

of the

Course

b) An indication of the

competence

of the Faculty

member

to

give

the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

QCo-al^^te:

:i/

/y

Senate:

?

Date:

*

An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

. ?

-11-

Iq

---

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies)

?

Sample course Outline for Core Course #2 ?

L.S. 801-5?

The Capacity and Limits of Reason

The-ongoing debate -about the proper role of reason in human affairs is a peculiarly central issue

within the Western tradition. Our own era mirrors this fundamental tension in our culture

between faith in reason, science and progress on the one hand and, on the other, basic, even

cataclysmic, doubts about the viability of reason as a guide in human affairs. Thus we witness

the expansion of religiosity within an increasingly scientistic/technicist age, evidence of infinite

progress paralleled by evidence of imminent annihilation, "third wave" utopias countered by

popular fantasies of post-armageddon pastoralism or barbarism. This is a recurrent theme in

western culture, reflecting the sophistication of. a cultural system that replicates the essential

duality in each of its members, searching for reconciliation but tolerant of conflict and ambiguity.

This course examines this tension over reason and its manifestations in science, politics and belief

in progress by examining specific cases or eras in which the debate was particularly salient. One

such era begins with the "Scientific Revolution" in the 17th century and proceeds through the era

of the "Enlightenment", followed closely by the rise of "Positivism" and "Modern Science"

through to what some see as the "reactionary modernism" of the Nazi era, the dystopian tradition

of Orwell, Huxley and Zamiatin, and the ecological/political catastrophe eras of Rachel Carson,

Helen Caldicott and E.P. Thompson.

The course begins with a two week introduction to the central issue of the course, the on-going

tension in western culture over the proper role or place' for reason in human affairs. The reading

consists of a major text(s) which focuses on the conceptual rather than the particular. Examples

could include: John Passmore, The Perfectibility of Man, Otto Bird, Cultures in Conflict, Alasdair

Maclntyre, After Virtue, or Willem Vanderburg, The Growth of Minds and Cultures.

Following this introduction, the course unfolds as follows:

1.

(2 Weeks) The Promise of Reason -- The development of the scientific method and faith, in

both its French -- Voltaire's Candide, Descartes' Discourse on Method -- and its English

rationalist forms -- Selections from Newton, Locke's Second Treatise on Government, and A

Letter Concerning Toleration, selections from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Tom - Paine's

Common Sense, and David Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

2.

(2 Weeks) Doubts From Within -- While this new modernism endured attacks from the

existing late medieval institutions, the more important attack came from within the enlightenment

tradition. Readings here would include J.J. Rousseau's Second Discourse and Social Contract,

Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and selections

from Godwin's Enquiry Concerning Political Justice.

-12-

UP]

---

3.

(2 Weeks) Reason Politicized and Mobilized -- The rationalist tradition emerges from the

disarray of the revolutionary/Napoleonic era in a more politicized form, more organized,

empiricist, aggressive and imperialist, vanquishing its reactionary opponents and bypassing the new

romantic and subjectivist modernism. The debate of the enlightenment ends in a temporary world

of two solitudes. Readings include Karl Marx, The Critique of Political Economy and

Th

e

Communist Manifesto, selections from Comte, Bentham, Kant and Hegel, selections from

Wordsworth and Blake, and selections from the Marquis deSade.

4.

(3 Weeks) Reason Triumphant -- It is with the full flowering of 19th century science that

reason assumes it true grip on the imagination of western culture and, coincidentally, on the lives

of all its members. This "scientistic" world view is pervasive in the scientific/technical world as

well as in the realms of political and social philosophy/policy. To illustrate the profound effect of

this scientism on culture we will examine selections from Darwin's work on evolution and Freud's

work on psychology. In literature, the novels of George Eliot show the substitution of positivism

for religion in the search for a moral basis for human action, the political philosophy of John

Stuart Mill offers a utilitarian rationale for behaviour, and B.F. Skinner's behaviourist utopia

Walden Two offers a new rationale for rule by the rational philosopher-king.

5.

(2 Weeks) The Re-Emergence of Doubt -- The First World War shook the foundations of this

cultural comfort with science and reason and by the mid-20th century the tradition of doubt, even

scepticism and cynicism, was laying claim to equal status. The experience of fascism at the very

centre of the culture was central to this. Jeffrey Herf's Reactionary Modernism and Hannah

.

Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem examine the complex nature of the relationship between fascism

and modernity. Within the scientific tradition itself doubts were also being raised. Selections

from Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, and Albert Einstein will be read.

.

?

-13-

4QI

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department:

?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.:

L.S. 810-5

Title: ?

Self and Society

Description: This

course will examine some aspects of the relationships between selfhood, as idea and

experience, and social organization. Approaches to the topic will vary, but may involve

scientific, social scientific, philosophical and aesthetic perspectives.

Credit Hours:

5 ?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s) if any:L.S.

800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment:

?

15

When will the course first be offered:

?

91-1

How often will the course be offered:

?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION: This course is one of six regularly offered optional courses within

the Program, each designed to

be taught with varying emphases, but each offering

a

carefully developed perspective on a

• ?

fundamental tension within our intellectual life.

RESOURCES:

"Which Faculty member will normally teach the course: Anand Paranjpe

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

Sec attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies

?

Date: ) /

7

a

Senate: ?

Date:

*

An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

S

-14- ?

.

90)

---

Sample Course Outline ?

L.S. 810-5 Self and Society

The Quest for Self and Personal Identity?

(Anand Paranjpe)

Rationale: The human quest for self and personal identity began in ancient times and continues

till this date. "Know thyself' was an important injunction of the ancient Greeks, and a yearning

for self knowledge was the driving force behind the Upanisadic texts of ancient India. This quest

is often prompted by the experience of suffering, and aims at the best that one could ever be. As

such, it has incidentally shed light on the gloomy as well as sublime aspects of human experience.

Some of the finest thinkers of history have recorded their thoughts about the self and personal

identity. The readings selected for this course include some of the classic writings from the

Eastern and Western intellectual traditions, as well as some expository writing by contemporary

authors. The approach here is dialectical, with equal emphasis on opposite sides of several related

issues: the assertion versus denial of the self; the impersonal and analytical versus existential,

deeply personal and religious/mystical approaches; the focus on being versus becoming, on

unchanging versus changing aspects of selfhood.

Format and requirements: While the seminars will discuss items selected by the instructor, the

participants are expected to explore other fine writings, and to present their own understanding of

such in oral presentation. By the end of the semester, each participant will complete an essay on

a suitable, mutually agreeable topic within this general area of study. A critical evaluation of

. readings and the development of their own perspective is expected from every participant.

The topics and readings for weekly discussions will be as follows:

1.

Preliminary meeting. Topic, reading list, format and mutual expectations will be discussed.

Participants will introduce themselves and work out the mechanics of the course, including

availability of readings.

2.

Speculations in ancient India and Greece: The hymn of Being and Non-Being in the Rg

Veda. The intense yearning for an inner self in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. Plato's tripartite

soul and the attainment of harmony within the psyche and society. The concept of self-

actualization in Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics.

3.

The Buddhist denial of the self versus its assertion in Vedanta and Yoga: selections from early

(Theravada) and medieval (Mahayana) Buddhist texts, and some writings of the Vedantist Sankara

in refutation of the Buddhist viewpoint.

4.

Some Christian perspectives: St. Augustine's introspective search for, and affirmation

of,

an

inner self in his Confessions and other writings. Descartes' Meditations:

cogito, ergo sum

and

mind-body dualism. St. Thomas Aquinas' reconciliation of the Christian view of the soul with

Aristotelian and Islamic views of the psyche.

. ?

-15-

23

---

5.

The self in British empiricism and Continental rationalism: Selections from Locke, Hume,

Leibniz and Kant. Conze's recent commentary on the serious as well as spurious parallels

between the Buddhist and Humean denial of the self. Kantian transcendental ego compare with

the Vedantic transcendental atman.

6. Some nineteenth century conceptions in Europe and America: Neitzsche's deconstruction of

the self in his Will to Power. William James's classic chapters on the "Self' and the "Stream of

Consciousness" in his Principles of Psychology. Hillis Miller's recent interpretation of Nietzsche's

view in the light of modern hermeneutics and constructivism.

7.

Self and ego in early twentieth century psychology and sociology: Freud's Ego and the Id,

and his self-analysis. Selections from Cooley and G.H. Mead.

8.

The existentialist and phenomenological viewpoints: Heidegger's

Dasein.

Husserl and Sartre on

the transcendental ego. Sartre's journey to the inner self in his Nausea.

9.

Prominent psychological and sociological explorations of self and identity: Erikson's

Problem

of

ego-identity,

and Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. R.D. Laing's Divided Self.

10.

Twentieth century revival of Eastern thought: Ramana Maharshi's inquiry into the age old

question, "Who am I?" Suzuki's modern interpretation of the Zen way. I. Shah and R. Aratesh

on Sufi insights. F.L.K. Hsu on traditional Chinese concept of the self.

11.

The analytical and behaviourist denial of the self: Gilbert Ryle on the

ghost in the machine

in

his The Concept of the Mind. B.F. Skinner's criticism of the "mentalistic" notion of the self in

About Behaviourism.

12.

The great revival in self-interest in the nineteen eighties: The psychologists Greenwald on the

"totalitarian ego", and Hazel Marcus on the "future selves". Philosophers' exploration of the

Humean labyrinth in the age of Artificial Intelligence: Derek Parfit and Bernard Williams'

discussion of the implications for personal identity in case of brain bisection and the possibility of

successful brain transplants.

13.

Overview: General discussions of some persistent issues, e.g. Being versus Becoming, self-

actualization and self-realization.

-16-

2V

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

S

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.: L.S.

811-5

Title: ?

Tradition and Modernity

Description: ?

This course

will examine ways in which ideas of tradition and traditional societies have come in

conflict with forces of modernization and ideas

of

modernity.

Credit Hours: 5

?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s) if

any:L.S. 800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment:

?

15

When will the course first

be offered: ?

91-3

How often will the course be offered:

?

once a

year

JUSTIFICATION:

RESOURCES:

**Which Faculty member will normally teach the

course:

Paul Dutton

and Evan

Alderson

What are the

budgetary implications

of mounting the

course:

See attached

submission.

Are there sufficient Library

resources

(append

details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty

member

to give the

course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

?

^^

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

- ?

Date:

Senate: ?

Date:

*

An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with

responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

.

?

-17-

0?%

/

---

Sample Course Outline

?

L.S. 811-5 Tradition and Modernity

Ancients and Moderns?

(Paul Dutton and Evan Alderson)

A perennial tension in the intellectual life modern western societies is a confrontation between

those who espouse the primacy of traditional wisdom and those who advance the claims of new

knowledge. This intellectual tension, while it reflects competing positive concepts of human

value, is also clearly responsive to changing political and economic circumstances and to scientific

and technological innovation. Increasingly, this tension has come to mark discussions of

humanistic study itself.

This course will examine some variants of these competing claims to loyalty -- to the "party

of the past' and the "party of the future". It will range across the differing epochs and cultures

in order both to bring new perspectives to our experience of modernity, and ultimately to ask

questions about the nature of humanistic inquiry.

1.

(1 Week) -- Introduction

Reading: selections from Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future.

2.

(2 Weeks) -- The Roman case: from Republic to Empire

Within traditional societies, the very concept of tradition, as well as the sense of a possibly

threatening future, may be the product of new conditions. The transition to Empire was an

early case in the West of both a new situation which some "traditionalists" decried, and of the

use of "traditionalism" as a political justification of the new.

Readings: from Sallust, On the Conspiracy of Cataline and Cicero, Catalinarian Orations,

against the new dynastic politics; and from Virgil, Aeneid, justifying new ways by recreating

old ones in the Augustan restoration of Rome.

3.

(2 Weeks) -- The Enlightenment

Growing from new scientific attitudes, and in reaction to monarchical cultural aggrandizement

of the early modern period, enlightenment scepticism and faith in reason led to a welcoming

of modernity and entrenchment of the idea of progress -- but not without a "quarrel" between

ancients and moderns that exemplifies the interaction of scientific, political and cultural

attitudes.

Readings: from Bacon, Novum Organum; Fontanelle On the Ancients and the Moderns;

Perrault, A Comparison of the Ancients and Moderns; Condorcet, An Historical Picture of the

Progress of the Human Mind.

-18-

?

.

2

---

4.

(2 Weeks) -- Aesthetic modernism

S

The pressures of modernity are often revealed through the arts, and were particularly visible in

20th century modernism. Among the many branches of this disruptive break with tradition,

surrealism is especially revelatory, for its attempts at once to radically undermine aesthetic and

social complacencies, to find new sources of authenticity, and to create aesthetic intervention

in the world.

Readings: Jarry, Ubu Roi; Breton, What is Surrealism?; from Peter BUrgen Theory of the

Avant-Garde; and numerous reproductions of art works such as Max Ernst's "The Virgin

Spanks the Christ Child before Three Witnesses" and "Benjamin Peret insulting a Priest."

5.

(2 Weeks) -- Japan and the modern: The case of Mishima

New perspectives on the longstanding tension between ancients and moderns within the

European intellectual tradition are available from the even sharper confrontations of tradition

with modernization in non-western societies. There are a large number of books on the

modernization of Japan, but the sense of alienation and adjustment it has produced is best

expressed in Japanese novels.

Readings: Tanizaki, The Makioka. Sisters; Mishima, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion; or

The Decay of the Angel.

6.

(2 Weeks) -- Nation, dependency and modernity: The case of Canada

The responses to modernity are strongly interwoven with both political and intellectual

attitudes, all the more so where the conservation of values can be equated with the

S ?

preservation of a nation. Differences within the Canadian intellectual tradition are one way to

?

study these interconnections, and to understand them as creating choices for action.

Readings: George Grant, Lament for a Nation, and Technology and Empire; Marshall

McLuhan, Understanding Media, from Harold Innis The Bias of Communication.

7.

(2 Weeks) -- Tradition and modernity in the university

The contemporary debate about educational purpose in the human sciences provides both a

pointed case of the quarrel between ancients and moderns and an opportunity for reflection on

the most important meanings and uses of education, or indeed of a Liberal Studies program.

Readings: From Alan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind; E.D. Hirsch, Jr. Cultural

Literacy; Henry Giroux, Theory and Resistance in Education; Jean Francois Lyotard, The Post-

Modern Condition.

.

?

-19-

0?

1

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.: L.S. 812-5

Title: ?

Science and Human Values

Description: This course will deal with issues surrounding the nature of the scientific attitude, the growth of

scientific knowledge and the impact of scientific and technological change. Specific attention

will be given to the value implications of science and technology in relation to other forms of

human understanding and experience.

Credit Hours: 5

?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s) if any:L.S. 800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment:

?

15

When will the course first

be offered: ?

91-3

How often will

the course be offered:

?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION:

R1SflI

IRCR•

**Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

Fulton Fisher and Hannah Gay

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are there sufficient

Library resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty:

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

9

?

Date: ?

j

Senate:

?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

-20-

.

'S

---

. ?

Sample Course Outline

L.S. 812-5 Science and Human Values

The Human Biological Context ?

(Fulton Fisher)

Today, while science is being utilized more and more successfully to yield profitable contemporary

technologies, it is becoming increasingly divorced from the

human consequences of implementing

those technologies. Many scientists have, in great measure, abjured responsibility for social

consequences on the ground that "science" must remain "value-free" (whatever that means!). As a

result, it has become difficult for even an otherwise "well-rounded" citizen to choose among

conflicting values, neither science itself nor long-standing principles seeming to offer guidance in

a secular age.

There exists, however, a solid body of scientific scholarship that has a direct bearing on such

questions. The aim of this course will be to focus on these customarily unexamined linkages,

particularly those between science and ethical principles, which are directly derivable from well

established biological insights and which, it is suggested, can provide guidance in a search for

human survival imperatives.

1. The Special Position of Biology in the Sciences:

-Historical role of science in society

-The equivalences and differences of biology

-The problem of mankind's biological nature

Readings: R. Bigelow, The Dawn Warriors: Man's Evolution Towards Peace; Stephen Pepper,

The Sources of Value.

2.

The Historical Search for General Principles

-Classical approaches

-

19th century natural philosophers

-Systems theories: strengths and weaknesses

Readings: T. Parsons, The Evolution of Societies; J.A. Passmore, Man's Responsibility for

Nature.

3.

The Contemporary Framework of Evolutionary Ecology

-A critique of biosociology and sociobiology

-Are values social genes and genes biolological values?

Readings: R.D. Alexander, The Biolo gy of Moral Values; E. Wilson, On Human Nature.

O

?

-21-

Q9

---

4.

The Ontogenetic Interactive Process

-The failure of unidirectional paradigms

-The dialectics of development

Readings: E. Feigi (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Unified Sciences: Bibliograph

y

of

Science and Philosophy.

5.

Biological Imperatives

-Exponential growth and carrying capacity

-Trophic ratios and magnification effects

-The relation between complexity and stability

-The crucial role of non-conformity

Readings: E.H. Mercer, The Foundations of Biological Theory; J.D. Robert, Philosophy and

Science.

6. The Widening Spectre of Instabilities

-Population growth: biological and traditional

-Renewable and non-renewable resource depletion

-Environmental degradation

-Frustration, desperation, and terrorism

-The successful failure of education

Readings: C.F. Alford, Science and the Revenge of Nature; Isaac Asimov, Our Crowded

Spaceship; Aspen Institute, Fear of Science and Trust in Science; Pugwash Conference 1980,

Science and Ethical Responsibility.

7.

Criteria for Long-range Human Well-being

-Criteria for self-maintenance

-Criteria for societal health

-Policy and politics

-Where does science fit in?

-Exploration of alternatives

Readings: K. Boulding, Human Betterment; Th. Dobzhansky, The Biology of Ultimate

Concern; Edward Gol, Blueprint for Survival; G.E. Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human

Values; C.H. Waddington, Biology. Purpose and Ethics.

S

-22-

30

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New

Graduate Course

Proposal

Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies ?

Course No.: L.S. 813-5

Title: ?

Religious and Secular World Views

Description: This course

will

deal with the conflicts and continuities

of

secular and religious approaches to

such fundamental issues as

the

origins

of the

universe and of the human species, human virtue,

and human destiny.

Prerequisite(s)

if any:L.S.

800-5

Credit Hours: 5 Vector:

ENROLLMENT

AND

SCHEDULING:

Estimated

Enrollment: ?

15

When

will

the course

first

be offered: ?

92-1

How often

will

the

course

be offered: ?

once a

year

JUSTIFICATION:

RESOURCES:

'Which Faculty member

will

normally teach the course:

Michael Feilman

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are

there

sufficient Library resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline

of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty

member to give the

course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies

Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty:

- ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

^^

Q

?

Date:

Senate:

?

Date:

*

An independent program in the Faculty of

Arts

under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with

responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

.

?

-23-

.

3,

---

Sample Course Outline

?

L.S. 813-5 Religious and Secular World Views

Tensions Within Utopia ?

(Michael Feilman)

Even as the secularists of the Enlightenment turned against organized religions, which they

equated with superstitious authoritarianism, they posited other means of attaining human perfection.

For them worldly means would suffice to attain a Heaven on earth. Secular utopias were efforts,

in part, to replace the telos of religions. For the traditionally religious, such secularism was

blasphemy, the very Antichrist. Yet secular utopianism can best be seen as a religious heresy

rather than as inimical to religion--as an attempt to displace religion rather than to destroy the

religious sentiment.

Today, as in the Eighteenth Century, religious utopians denounce what they now call secular

humanism, while they seek to usher in their total solution, now often through political means. In

many respects their most powerful foes are those technologists and scientists who believe that they

can end want, disease and suffering through correct application of rational means.

This seminar will examine the rise of modern utopianism by focusing on the tensions within

the utopian tradition. Rather than accepting the notion that on the one hand there are secularists

and on the other the religious, we will explore the religious as well as the secular elements in

both. Analysis of attacks on the other will be juxtaposed to claims to correctness. We will

examine these claims and attacks as moral assertions, as the basis for social action and as spiritual

quests.

We will begin with a reading of Frank and Fritzie Manuel's Utopian Thought in the Western

World on the growth of the utopian tradition. We will proceed to explore the tensions within

three important nineteenth century utopian projects, Owenism, Fourierism and the Oneida

Community. In each instance we will discuss the grand blueprints, the attempts to form model,

perfect communities, and the tensions between the world and the utopianists. Next we will

analyze technological utopianism and the counter-utopias of technological nightmare. We will go

on to discuss modern liberalism and its use of the state and the rise of religious fundamentalism,

seen as a counter-attack on the presumptions of secular utopians and liberals. We will end with

plose analysis of the dualistic, anti-secular utopian thought of Ronald Reagan.

WEEKLY SEMINAR TOPICS AND READINGS

Week 1... Children of the Enlightenment, An Overview

Reading: Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, (Cambridge:

Harvard, 1979), pp.413-814

Week 2... The Ideal World of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Readings: The Social Contract and selections from Emile and La Nouvelle Heloise.

.

-24-

?

.

---

Week 3... Utopian Socialism: Robert Owen's New Moral World

. ?

Readings: J.F.C. Harrison, Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America (London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969).

Week 4. ..Utopian Socialism: Fourier and American Fourierism

Readings: Jonathan Beecher and Richard Bienvenue, eds. The Utopian Vision of Charles

Fourier (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971), selections; Carl G. Guarneri, Utopian Socialism and

American Ideas: The Origins and Doctrine of American Fourierism (forthcoming).

Week 5... Utopian Sexuality: The Cases of the Shakers and John Humphrey Noyes

Readings: Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality: Three American Communal Experiments of

the Nineteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press), pp.21-122; Louis J. Kern, An

Ordered Love: Sex Roles and Sexuality in Victorian Utopias (Chapel Hill: The University of

North Carolina Press, 981). pp.71-134, 207-279; Michael Fellman, The Unbounded Frame:

Freedom and Community in 19th Century American Utopianism (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood

Press, 1973), pp.42-61; Dolores Hayden, Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of

Communitarian Socialism (Cambridge: MIT, 1976), pp.64-103, 186-223.

Week 6... Technological Utopianism

Readings: Howard P. Segal, Technological Utopianism in American Culture (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1985).

Week 6... Edward Bellamy's Technological Utopia

Readings: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (1888); Feliman, The Unbound Frame, pp.104-

. 123

Week 7... Technological Utopias as Nightmare

Readings: Aldous Huxley, Brave New World; Ignatius Donnelly, Ceasar's Column (1890).

Week 8... Toward Modem Liberalism, the Progressives

Readings: Walter Lippman, Drift and Mastery (1914); The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens

(1931), selections.

Week 9... The Liberal State as Utopian Agent

Readings: selections from Frances Perkins, The Roosevelt I Knew (1946); Henry A. Wallace,

New Frontiers (1934); Arthur E. Morgan, The Making of the TVA (Buffalo:, Prometheus

Books, 1974).

Week 10.. On to Armageddon: The Fundamentalist Counter-Utopia

Readings: Jerry Falwell, ed., The' Fundamentalist Phenomenon (Garden City: Doubleday, 1981);

Grace Halsell, Prophecy and Politics: Militant Evangelist on the Road to Nuclear War

(Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill, 1986).

.

?

-25

53

---

Week I Ronald Reagan's Counter-Utopia

Readings: selections from Richard M. Sciafe, ed., Ronald Reagan Talks to America (Old

Greenwich, Conn.: Devin Adair, 1983); Fred L. Israel, ed., Ronald Reagans Weekl

y

Radio

Addresses, (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1987); Emil Arca and Gregory J. Pamel,

eds., The Triumph of The American Spirit: The Presidential Speeches of Ronald Reagan

(Detroit: National Reproductions, 1983).

.

-26-

5q

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department:

?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.: L.S. 814-5

Title: ?

Liberty and Authority

Description: This course will examine the tension between liberty and authority as expressed some of the

following:

political and judicial ideas and systems; conflicting economic ideologies; personal

relationships.

Credit Hours:

5 ?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s)

if

any:L.S. 800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment:

?

15

When will the course

first be offered: ?

92-1

How often will the course be offered:

?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION:

RESOURCES:

**Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

Stephen Duguid

What are the budgetary implications

of

mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources

(append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty:

?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:c

(

?

(

I(

?

—Date:

?

/ 5 - /

Senate:

?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty

of

Arts under

the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

* See "Program Implementation."

1]

?

-27-

3S!'

---

Sample Course Outline

?

L.S. 814-5 Liberty and Authority

Individual Freedom vs. Social Equality?

(Stephen Duguid)

In the classic dualist trap of the Western cultural tradition, we seem fated to have to choose

between two obvious "goods": individual freedom on the one hand and social equality on the

other. In contemporary times the dichotomy is presented on the stage of world politics with two

rival

systems

espousing extreme versions of each pole of the dichotomy. There are four basic

approaches to this issue which will be reviewed in this seminar:

1.

The argument for the primacy of equality (the

left)

2.

The argument for the primacy of liberty (the

right)

3.

The argument for an acceptable middle ground (the

liberal)

4.

The argument that the paradigm presents a false thiality (the

other)

The debate is set up nicely in the following from Ralf Dahrendorf, an advocate for a somewhat

right-of-liberal focus on the issue:

"This is the place to recall once again Kant's critical rejoinder to Rousseau, that inequality is a

"rich source of much that is evil, but also of everything that is good". There is certainly

reason to regret that children are ashamed of their parents, that people are anxious and poor,

that they suffer and are made unhappy, and many other consequences of inequality. There are

also many good reasons to strive against the historical and therefore, in an ultimate sense,

arbitrary forces that erect insuperable barriers of caste or estate between men. The very

existence of social inequality, however, is an impetus toward liberty because it guarantees a

society's ongoing dynamic, historical quality. The idea of a perfect egalitarian society is not

only unrealistic; it is terrible. Utopia is not the home of freedom, the forever imperfect

scheme for an uncertain future; it is the home of total terror and absolute boredom.'

The seminar will open with a review of contemporary thinking on the issue of equality, sampling

works from moral philosophy and political theory as well as some exposure to recent sociological

analysis of equality. The origins and evolution of the debate amongst the four approaches will

then be reviewed, starting with Plato and moving through the Western intellectual tradition to

Rousseau, Smith, Mill, and the "modems" with a concluding focus on the nature of the debate in

the 20th century.

2

Ralf Dahrendorf, "On the Origin of Inequality Among Men", in Essays in the

Theory of Society.

-28-

0

.

---

1.

(2 Weeks) -- The debate in contemporary context: political philosophy and the egalitarianism

question.

Readings: Alan Ryan, ed., The Idea of Freedom: Essays in Honour of Isaiah Berlin; Frank

Lucash, ed., Justice and Equality Here and Now selections from John Rawls, A Theory of

Justice and Robert Nozick, Anarch

y

. State and Utopia.

2.

(2 Weeks) -- A review of the extended debate. Explorations in the history of political

philosophy.

Readings: Brian Redhead, Political Thought from Plato to NATO; Plato, The Republic;

Thomas More, Utopia; Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man.

3.

(3 Weeks) -- The first modern crucible; individuality and

fraternite

in the era of the French

Revolution and early modernity.

Readings: J.J. Rousseau, The Social Contract; Adam Smith, Selections from the Wealth of

Nations; Edmund Burke, On Revolution; Anatole France, The Gods Will Have Blood; J.S.

Mill, On Liberty; Judith Shklar, Men and Citizens: A Study of Rousseau's Social Theory;

Carol Blum, Rousseau and the Republic of Virtue.

4.

(2 Weeks) -- Setting the context for revolution in Russia: the second crucible in the debate

over modernity.

.

?

Readings: N.G. Chernyshevsky, What Is To Be Done?; F. Dostoevsky, Notes From

Underground.

5.

(4 Weeks) -- The 20th Century Debate: cynicism and optimism and dystopian experiments.

Readings: Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom; Victor Serge, Conquered City; Ortega v

Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses; George Orwell, 1984; John Steinbeck, The Grapes of

Wrath; B.F. Skinner, Walden II; Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange; Paulo Friere,

Th

e

Pedagogy of the Oppressed; Hannah Arendt, On Revolution; Michael Ignatieff, The Needs of

Strangers: An Essay on Privacy Solidarity and the Politics of Being Human.

0 '

?

29

^1

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.: L.S. 815-5

Title: ?

Organizing Social Realities: Gender, Class, Race, Nation

Description:

?

This

course

will

examine how distinctions among people create pattern and conflict, by studying

some of the fundamental organizing concepts of society which both unite and divide people.

Credit Hours: 5

?

Vector:

?

- Prerequisite(s)

if any:L.S. 800-5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment: ?

15

When

will

the course first be offered:

?

93-1

How often will the

course be offered:

?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION:

R p

sni

iprp.

"Which Faculty member

will

normally teach the course:

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

CQQ.4-y_____Date:

2

/c J9

5

Senate: ?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

-30- ?

40

06

---

Re: L.S. 815-5

Organizing Social Realities: Gender, Class, Race, Nation

No specific sample course outline is offered for this course, but it will follow the pattern of the

other seminar courses, permitting the instructor(s) to frame a specific approach within the general

area of the seminar. It would be possible for individual offerings of the course to focus on the

experience of a single group at a given time (e.g., Women in Nineteenth Century Canada), or to

take a more abstract approach to one social concept (e.g., Theories of Nationality in Modern

Europe), or to examine one or more interactions of different social groupings in a variety of ways

(e.g., The Social Construction of the "Other").

.

.

?

-31-

3q

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate Course Proposal

Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies

?

Course No.:

L.S. 819

Title: ?

Selected Topics

Description: ?

This course provides an opportunity for the occasional offering of a seminar course appropriate

to the program but on a topic outside the regular courses.

?

Not more than one such offering may

count toward the Liberal Studies degree.

Credit Hours:

?

5 ?

Vector: ?

: ?

Prerequisite(s)

if any:L.S. 801

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment: ?

15

When will the course first

be

offered:

How often will the course

be

offered: ?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION: ? - ?

-

This course provides for some variation within the program by making possible the occasional offering of an

appropriate course that does not fit readily within the structure of regular offerings.

RESOURCES:

"Which Faculty

member will normally teach the course:

What are the budgetary implications of

mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are

there sufficient

Library resources (append

details):

Sec attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED ?

-

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

.?

cIi2a

1 _

-

Date: 7

/ /

y

d

Senate: ?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

With responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

32 ?

.

72

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

New Graduate

Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department: ?

Liberal Studies ?

Course No: L.S. 829

Tide:

?

Directed Study

Description: This course provides an opportunity for individual study on a topic of the student's choice, under

the guidance of one or more faculty. Arrangements for this course must be approved by the

Graduate Program Committee in advance of registration. Not more than one such offering may

count toward the Liberal Studies degree.

Credit Hours:

5

?

Vector:

?

Prerequisite(s) if any:L.S. 801

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment: ?

5

When will the course first be offered:

How often will the course be offered: ?

once a year

JUSTIFICATION:

This course provides the opportunity for unusual students to undertake one independent study course within the

program.

RESOURCES:

Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

. What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

See attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library

resources (append details):

See attached.

Appended:

a) Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c) Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee: ?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty: ?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Senate:

?

Date:

* An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for

Graduate Studies.

See "Program Implementation."

1 ?

.33.

'/1

---

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

New Graduate Course Proposal Form

CALENDAR INFORMATION

*Department:

Title:

Description:

Credit Hours:

M.A. Extended Essays

Vector:

Course No.:

L.S. 998

Prerequisite(s) if any:L.S. 800.5

ENROLLMENT AND SCHEDULING:

Estimated Enrollment:

?

5-10

When will the course first be offered:

How often will the course be offered:

?

Every semester

JUSTIFICATION:

This course provides the opportunity for unusual students to undertake one independent study course within the

program.

RESOURCES:

**Which Faculty member will normally teach the course:

All faculty involved in the program.

What are the budgetary implications of mounting the course:

Sec attached submission.

Are there sufficient Library resources (append details):

Sec attached.

Appended:

a)

Outline of the Course

b)

An indication of the competence of the Faculty member to give the course.

c)

Library resources

APPROVED

Departmental Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

Faculty:

?

-

?

Date:

Senate Graduate Studies Committee:

?

Date:

7

/cJ

y

Senate:

?

Date:

*

An independent program in the Faculty of Arts under the general supervision of the Associate Dean of Arts

with responsibility for Graduate Studies.

**

See "Program Implementation."

-34

ILI

---

.

??

APPENDIX 1

Programs in Other Institutions

Over seventy-five universities which have Master of Arts Graduate Liberal Studies programs

belong to the Association of Graduate Liberal Programs, which headquarters at Georgetown

University in Washington, D.C. Most universities offering Graduate Liberal Studies programs are

in large urban setting such as Vancouver and have a broad base of potential participants.

Students in these programs range in age from 22 to 73 with the average age being 36. About

half the students are women. Students come from a variety of educational and professional

backgrounds. They include attorneys, teachers, business administrators, homemakers, health

professionals, engineers, ministers and scientists, among others.

According to most Graduate Liberal Studies administrators, student come to their programs for

a variety of reasons. As the administrators of the Dartmouth College program have written,

students come "... to fill in gaps in their undergraduate training, to strengthen existing expertise in

a subject area, to explore new academic disciplines and to expand career options. Individuals

entering to the program often return to formal academic work after years away from school and

discover new confidence in their intellectual strengths." Although their degree may have a career

or material payoff, for many Graduate Liberal Studies students the rewards are deeply internal.

As the Wake Forest Graduate Liberal Studies educators put it, students "... hone the habits of

mind and perspective essential to living better." They understand more deeply "... the connections

among people and cultures. [They] regrind the lens through which they view the world."

.

Structurally, most of the successful programs are those based on a seminar format. Although

we believe that some students may wish to pursue individual instruction as an element of their

program, we feel that the independent reading course, characteristic of much of the current

graduate work at Simon Fraser, often fails to generate the kind of enthusiasm provided by the

seminar context. Furthermore, most Graduate Liberal Studies programs limit enrolment to a

maximum class size of twenty students, thus ensuring a high level of student participation. Nearly

all offer their courses in the evening, and some on weekends or during intensive "short courses".

Several, particularly those with attractive campuses, offer much of their work in summer terms.

Most Graduate Liberal Studies programs exist independently within arts and science graduate

faculties, and most are staffed by regular, tenured faculty drawn from the host institution. And

nearly all have one or two core seminars as the basis of the program. Beyond these similarities

there are a variety of approaches.

The cheaper and less organized approach is to require the student to enrol in a number of

graduate seminar courses already in existence on campus, with the advice of a Graduate Liberal

Studies advisor. Thus the courses beyond the core seminars are not necessarily interdisciplinary in

nature; the students are expected to supply linkages for themselves, and they are submerged in the

general graduate student population. In our program we have avoided such an approach, in part

to maintain high

esprit de corps

among the students and in part because we believe Graduate

Liberal Studies seminars and the program as a whole are different than disciplinary ones.

.

?

-35-

43

---

However,

if

the student wishes to take one seminar from the regular program because it fits well

into his or her educational needs, we allow for that possibility. Such a student would need to

secure the permission of the program director.

The more disciplined (and more expensive) approach, the one we take, is to make the

Graduate Liberal Studies program an integrated series of seminars designed specifically for the

Graduate Liberal Studies students. Fields of learning are integrated within each course as well as

in the program as a whole. Furthermore, students in such a program get to know each other quite

well, as they share an approach and a corpus of reading, and a seminar experience extending over

several courses.

Such a structure also encourages professors to attempt courses which are more interdisciplinary

and cross-cultural than courses in their home departments. Such a possibility plus the opportunity

to teach disciplined, curious adults who are eager readers and participants, means that in several

universities professors line up to teach in the Graduate Liberal Studies program. Several leading

Graduate Liberal Studies educators have stressed to us that this element of "faculty renewal" has

proven to be one of the greatest unexpected payoffs of their programs.

In several leading Graduate Liberal Studies programs, the History of Ideas is the backbone of

the curriculum. At New York University, for example, each student takes four courses on the

seminal ideas, developed over the long reach of intellectual history, in philosophy, literature,

anthropology/sociology, psychology, political science and economics. Each student takes six

seminars in more specialized reaches of each of these disciplines, such as

literature and rebellion,

the

politics of tragedy,

the

nature of music,

the

psychological novel, or twentieth century political

movements.

Similarly, Johns Hopkins, where Arthur 0. Lovejoy pioneered the history of ideas

approach over fifty years ago uses this method as the base of this program. Seminars at the

Hopkins Graduate Liberal Studies program include topic such as the

ideas of the Italian

Renaissance,

the

platonis: tradition,

the

idea of modernism

in

the twentieth century,

the

splendor of

Venice,

the

scientific revolution,

and the

Iliad.

We have been quite influenced by the history of ideas approach, particularly in our core

courses. We have sought to take a long run over time in these courses, to avoid dealing only

with the work of white, western males, and to consider issues on a topical as well as historical

basis. We also seek to explore the thrust of a variety of disciplines, although we must admire the

integrative qualities of the history of ideas approach. Our central theme is an exploration of

significant tensions within our culture, tensions that have historical origins and that have myriad

consequences in our present world, in particular we believe that issues of science can well be

integrated into a Graduate Liberal Studies program. One of the most successful examples of this

is the primary course at Wake Forest, taught by a distinguished philosopher of science, entitled

"The Universe of Modern Science" which tests the coherence and adequacy of the fit of the

various parts of modem science, physics, biology, chemistry and astronomy.

We depart somewhat from the history of ideas base in our belief that central texts, a canon of

great books and ideas, can limit as well as 'advance education. Profound issues can be formulated

in a variety of ways, combining disciplines and "texts" in a variety of manners. Consider the

titles of two courses at

'Hamline University,

Confronting the Holocaust

and

From Paint to Print:

Art and Literature in the 'Twentieth 'Century.

Washington University in St. Louis offers

Extinction

-36-

?

.

119

---

and Conservation

and

The Logic and Rhetoric of Law in American Society.

None of these courses

40

deals with Great Books from start to end, but all are deeply serious.

Most successful Graduate Liberal Studies programs are highly disciplined while also allowing

for some choice in subjects and approaches. They encourage unexpected combinations of

disciplines and issues, while they also attempt to develop a coherent approach to intellectuality.

Perhaps half of the Graduate Liberal Studies programs require a demonstration of knowledge and

integrative capacities at the conclusion of the program. A few require that the student sit

comprehensive exams, which we will not. Others have a thesis requirement. We will adapt the

Simon Fraser extended essays method, which will require each student to take two pieces of work

to the stage of public defense.

We are heartened by the enthusiasm of the Graduate Liberal Studies student at Johns Hopkins

who said of his experience, "It was, for me, a kind of personal renaissance. The program

affirmed my belief that a love of learning and scholarship must continue throughout one's life."

S

S

?

-37-

4"

---

APPENDIX

2

Program Faculty

As indicated in the proposal, the Program Director, once appointed, will be expected to draw

teaching contributions from faculty across the University. The attached set of C.V.'s is intended L

some sense of the quality of academic guidance for the Program and of the qualifications of some

faculty who may teach within it. Included are C.V.'s for six SFU faculty who have agreed to let

their names stand as potential members of the Program Steering Committee, to be appointed by

the Dean of Arts: R. Barrow, J.L. Berggren, R. Blaser, M. Covell, M. Fellman, A. Paranjpe.

Also included are C.V.'s for four additional faculty who have participated in planning the Program

and/or individual courses: E. Alderson, S. Duguid, P. Dutton, F. Fisher.

.

..

1./b

---

-

47

1llh$III

The

UN

WERSflYof WESTERN ONTARIO

Q

/fu' offlic I)'au • Faculty of Pa'it-Tvrae and Continuing Education

tA

?

S

March 15, 1990

Dr. Bruce Clayman

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia

V5A 1S6

Dear Dr. Clayman:

I am pleased to review the proposed Master of Arts (Liberal

Studies) graduate program at Simon Fraser University.

Before commenting on the,. specific proposal, I think I should

mention my overall perspective in regard to programs of this

sort. In my current position and in my earlier role as Assistant

Vice-President (Academic), I have come to recognize that

university programs, both undergraduate and graduate, have tended

to suffer from a lack of creativity attributable to undue

disciplinary rigidity. I say this with great respect, as a

professor of History, for disciplinary rigor and what that offers

to the development of scholarly acuity. But I am long convinced

that inter-disciplinary programming can provide new dimensions to

courses of study without abandoning the rigor that we all want,

especially at the graduate level, in our programs.

Canadian institutions, with a few notable exceptions such as

Simon Fraser, have in my judgment been too tradition (i.e.

discipline) -bound, failing to match the sort of innovativeness

that has occurred at many distinguished institutions in the

United States. I regard the program proposed by Simon Fraser for

a Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) degree as a notable attempt to

begin to rectify that disparity.

Commenting more specifically, I am impressed by the

thoughtfulness, creativeness, and perhaps most important, the

integrated nature of the program. It is a great mistake, in my

judgment, to fashion "Liberal Studies" programs simply by

allowing students to put together established courses in a number

of disciplines. Such programs may be stimulating and broadening

but are more of a patch-work quilt than an enduring tableau. I

am impressed at the degree to which the proposed program will

entail a carefully worked out set of seminars including two core

Slivitsii-Lawson Building • 1ondon, Ontario • Canada • N61\ fR

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(19) 61-6a; • Telex: 064-71:34 • 'ax: (519) 661-3799

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Dr. Bruce Clayman

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March 15, 1990

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courses and others specially designed for the program. That is a

necessary safeguard against the fragmentation that so often

undermines the effectiveness of Liberal Studies programs.

As to the adequacy of the Faculty and other resources to the

intended goals, as far as I can tell there should be no

difficulty. That an endowment of substantial dimensions has been

obtained for the program is extremely encouraging, given the

budgetary difficulties that might otherwise impede the

introduction of such a new program. I am familiar with several

of the faculty members who will be participating, and have a very

high regard for their capacity, energy, and appropriateness for

such a program. I have consulted with colleagues about one or

two members of the proposed instructional staff with whom I was

not personally familiar, and received positive assessments on

them as well. The group serving under the Dean of Arts as a

steering committee for the program, as I need not tell you, is a

very talented and academically "respectable group whose

oversight of the program will ensure its consonance with the

academic values of the institution.

I believe that, once launched, the Master of Arts (Liberal

Studies) program will attract very gifted students from the

Vancouver area and elsewhere. The first year or two may pose

recruitment problems, as with any non-traditional program, but I

have no doubt that these can be overcome by the kind of

attractive promotional and informational materials at which Simon

Fraser excels. I support the assumption that there is a

constituency of mature students seeking to broaden their

education through this sort of imaginative post-graduate program.

It is an important feature of the program that it will be

designed to accommodate study on a part-time basis, since most

candidates will probably want to enroll on that basis.

The final assessment criterion--the demand for graduates of the

proposed program--is probably the most difficult to comment upon.

Obviously one does not see a large number of advertisements in

which a suggested credential is a Master of Arts in Liberal

Studies, given that no such credential currently exists. But one

does see an increasing number of positions in which breadth of

education, awareness of social change, sensitivity to the

community, and intellectual creativity are in demand. I suspect

that this will be even truer in the future and that a variety of

employers will welcome this sort of credential as a supplement to

other professional credentials or on its own. Recently in this

•

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Faculty we had a position opening for which someone with the M.A.

(Liberal Studies) would have been hands down

?

the most

desirable candidate, other things being equal. We see all too

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Dr. Bruce Clayman

March 15, 1990

Page 3

many candidates for positions these days with educational

qualifications whose nature, we rightly suspect, is likely to be

too narrow for the broad and dynamic dimensions of their

responsibilities. It would be a pleasure to see some candidates

with the sort of education and capacity to be derived from the

proposed program.

In short, I am most enthusiastic about this proposal. Its

execution will require the commitment of those involved and the

talents of a gifted director, but I think both are obtainable.

very much hope the program-is approved, and I look forward to

hearing more about its implementation.

Sincerely yours,-

Thomas N. Guinsburg

Dean ?

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Columbia University

in the City of New York

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Neu' York, N. Y 10027

SCHOOL OF GENERAL STUDIES

Master of Arts in

Liberal Studies Programs

fL

%March 1990

Dean B.P. Clayman

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia,

Canada V5A 1S6

Dear Dean Clayman:

Your New Proposal for a Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) looks very good to me

You seem to have thought of everything.

Academic merit and structural integrity: Although it could he argued that a

lecture for 600 students can accomplish more efficiently the same education

that a seminar for twenty can, your curriculum of organized seminars with

small student enrollments will produce superior results for the student

constituency you will attract. Students who have been away from a university

for a time need a way of re-entering the academic environment. Seminars are

the perfect way to do it The students intellectual interests are also better

served in the smaller group, for the undertaking of interdisciplinary study is

more complicated than people think and the interchange that the seminar

allows is just what's needed. The student constituency for this kind of program

is also less interested in the passive learning that is characteristic in the large

lecture course. These motivated people want to find out what the great ideas

are and to talk about them.

Beginning with an introductory short course is an excellent way to begin.

Students need, for example, to be re-introduced to the conventions of writing

academic papers. In this connection, your admissions requirement of a sample

of written work and an interview is very practical. People can be taught bow

to write an academic paper if they have some writing skills to begin with.

The adequacy of the Facult

y,c..: Judging from the curriculums vitae and the

course descriptions, your Faculty is adequate to the instructional task Your

arrangement for secondments is sensible and when it works, it will work very

well But attracting faculty to do the job is sometimes difficult whatever

advantages you have to offer. Sometimes they do not wish to abandon their

regular courses for new ones. Attracting as many Simon Fraser faculty

members as you can is, of course, the best thing to do. You are right, however.

to be prepared to hire visiting faculty Although the criticism usually is that

they are visiting and therefore less interested in the students and less

available to them than the regular members, the truth is that often they are

very much interested and have more time to spend with the students than

regular faculty members have

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The demand for the program: There is a feeling among the adult population

that there is more to be learned, that they probably missed something when

they were college students, that life in the world of business or medicine or

libraries is not altogether satisfying, so, yes, there will be a demand, probably

a steady one. Since your program is the first in Canada, you should expect a

large response.

The demand for graduates: Since our program has been in operation for only

three years. I haven't much to go on. Graduates have been more likely to

improve their job security (a museum curator, an editor in a publishing

house) rather than find new jobs. Indeed, we have made the point that since

this degree is not a professional degree, that a new career is not something to

look for. All the same, students have gone on to PhD programs, thus

progressing towards a professional degree. Others have improved their

preparation for teaching in secondary schools or have undertaken to become

secondary school teachers.

Your proposal is a good one, carefully thought out and intelligently drawing

on the experience of others. Wishing you luck with it is hardly necessary

since! don't see how it can fail.

Yours sincerely,

/

Jcseph Kissane

Director

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UNIVERSITY OF TORON1O

ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE

81 ST. MARY STREET • TORONTO, ONT. • M5S 1J4

Pill P )SOPP I I V

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1 March 1990

Professor B.P. Clayman

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, B.C.

V5A 1S6

Dear Dean Clayman:

Enclosed is my review of the proposed M.A. program in Liberal Studies.

In it I have tried to address, as clearly and directly as possible, the

points you mentioned in your letter to me of 9 February 1990. I was

unable to say much about some of them, e.g., the demand for the program

among prospective students and for graduates of the program, since I

simply lack the relevant knowledge. On other matters, for example, those

relating to the faculty, content, and goals of the program, I have said

more. I hope that my review will be helpful to you and the Assessment

Committee for New Graduate Programs in reaching a decision about whether

to offer the program. If you should decide to do so, I wish you and

all those who will be involved in the program success.

Regards,

ci> QL

J.C. Morrison

Professor of Philosophy

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Reviewo f the ?

Os

ed Master of Arts in Liberal Studies

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is

t roduc tory Comments

I should make clear at the outset that I am generally

sympathetic to interdisciplinary programs, although I have had no

direct personal involvement in them at the graduate level.

Judging from what I have learned indirectly (for example,

?

from my

experience as a member of an Appraisals Committee of the Ontario

Council of Graduate Studies) ,

?

these programs, ?

whether graduate

or undergraduate, often appear good 'in theory' but do not always

succeed

?

'in practice.' One of the reasons for this lies not so

much in the defects of the program but in the defects of the

standard undergraduate curriculum, namely,

?

excessive

specialization and the somewhat arbitrary demarcation of

disciplines. Other reasons lie in the fact that the programs are

either poorly defined or overly ambitious. These problems may be

particularly acute in the case of Liberal Studies programs like

the present one, which are intended to correct and supplement

some of the more common and glaring defects of current

undergraduate studies. Students are supposed to get a general

education but instead receive vocational training. An attempt to

remedy these defects should be applauded. At the same time,

however, ?

it should be recognized that no particular program --

which inevitably is specialized in its own way -- can adequately

make up for all the defects of a bad undergraduate education. We

canot educate our students properly by first training them and

then give them another specialized course or set of courses on

general education. This being said, however,

?

it does not follow

that one ought to do nothing. The best thing would be, of

course,

?

to reform radically undergraduate studies. But since

this

is

either very difficult or impossible, given the values and

goals of our society and governments, the next best thing is to

undertake programs which provide partial reforms within the

present structure. ?

Such ?

programs can,

?

I believe, serve a very

useful function if they

are

properly conceived and executed.

As I understand it,

?

the proposed M.A. ?

in Liberal Studies is

primarily designed as a part-time,

?

terminal degree for 'mature'

students, ?

that is, people who have been out of university for

several years, had experience in the 'real world' of business and

the professions, have recognized serious limitations

in

their

previous undergraduate studies, and would like to expand or

supplement their knowledge. No doubt there are many such people,

although I have no idea how many live and work in the area of

Simon Fraser University and would be ready to make the

substantial commitment of time, effort, and money a master's

program would require. Moreover, I strongly suspect that most of

those who would make such a commitment would regard the program

as as terminal one, not as a

?

'stepping stone'

?

to another graduate

program or degree. In this I think they would be right,

?

for I

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doubt that many

conventional doctoral programs

would consider a

Master's degree in Liberal Studies useful preparation, much less

a requirement, for doctoral studies. In addition, I should

emphasize that I have no knowledge of the future employment

opportunities the

graduates of

the program might have. At the

same time, however, I think that the decision to establish the

program should be made mainly on the

basis

of the academic worth

of the program itself and any evidence there might be of a

sufficient number of potential students with a serious interest

in a program of this kind.

Assuming that there is sufficient interest, one should

frankly and clearly confront the difficulties programs of this

kind face. My own impression is that one of the most common

reasons why interdisciplinary

programs do not always fully

succeed academically is that they lack the coherence which is

usually provided by a single discipline based on a single (even

if rather vaguely defined) subject-matter. Interdisciplinary

programs derive their coherence from the theme or purpose of the

program. This implies that the theme or purpose must be kept

clearly in view in the planning and execution of the program,

otherwise the program will dissolve into a mere collection of

(largely unrelated) courses. Here, I think, the roles of the

Program Director, the Program Committee, and the core courses are

essential. As

well, the intructors in the program must be agreed

. ?

amongst themselves about what the program is and what it is

supposed to accomplish. Only if all the people directly involved

in the program work together with a clear sense of a common

purpose can the program succeed.

Requirements

Core Courses. The idea of having core courses which all

students must take on

entering

the program is, I think, an

excellent one. It focusses and defines the program, serves as a

foundation on which the other courses can build, and provides the

coherence and structure essential to success. Therefore every

effort should be made to make these courses as good as possibe.

The basic theme of the core courses, the 'tension' between reason

and the passions, is indeed a central and recurrent issue of

western civilization, and is therefore a reasonable choice for

the subject-matter of the core courses. (Clearly it is not the

issue, or perhaps the most central one, but perhaps this is

not so important.) It is also a good idea, I think, to have all

the instructors in the program directly involved in teaching the

core courses, for each person's interests and expertise can

complement and supplement that of the others. But again maximal

cooperation among the intructors is essential in order to achieve

the necessary coherence. I am also concerned by the fact that,

although the issue of the core courses has been traditionally

. ?

treated mainly by philosophers, and many of the readings are by

philosophers, none of the intructors or potential members of the

Program Committee is a philoso p

her. In addition, it is not clear

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(at least to me) how the other courses relate to the core

courses. I suppose that the connections between them can be made,

but here again it will be the responsibility of the individual

intructors of these courses to make them. Here again a special

effort must be made to do this, otherwise the students will feel

confused and fail to see the forest for the trees.

Research Con'p_onent. The program prospectus states that

several 'brief essays' will be required for each course, and that

two of these will be 'developed' into 'extended essays.' The

latter are intended to provide the research component of the

degree. But it is not made clear how the extended essays will be

written. Will the work be supervised? And what does'extended'

mean? The prospectus states that the essays will be examined in

acordance with university graduate regulations, but it is not

stated who will be on the examining committee. I strongly

recommend that, instead of the two extended essays, each student

he required to write a Research Essay on a topic selected in

consultation 'with the Program Committee. The Research Essay

could be the equivalent of (say) two courses and be worth 10

credits. A corresponding decrease in the required number of

course credits should be made. The topic of the Research Essay

may be related to course. work, but the actual research should be

done independently of work done in a course. The research essay

should be supervised by someone involved in the program and

examined in accordance with university regulations, one of the

examiners being someone who is not directly involved in the

program. I emphasize this point about a Research Essay because

research is what chiefly distinguishes graduate from

undergraduate programs, and every graduate program, whether at

the master's or doctoral level, ought to have a significant

research component. Extended essays deriving from course work, do

not, I believe, constitute

significant

research. (This is a

point, I might add, which the Appraisals Committees of OCGS

constantly emphasized when evaluating programs.)

Since the success of interdisciplinary programs depends so

much on the committment, efforts, and talents of those involved,

the choice of a good Program Director is crucial. The best

possible person should be found to fill this important position.

(Professors Barrow and Berggren seem to me to be excellent

candidates, judging by their academic achievements and

administrative experience.) Similarly, an effective Program

Committee is essential. Such a committee can prevent drift and

fragmentation and help ensure that decisions are made openly and

in accordance with proper procedures. The Director, Program

Committee, and individual instructors should work together as

closely as possible. I also think it is a good idea to encourage

'team teaching,

'

to invite guest teachers, and to invite other

members of the university faculty to participate

in the program.

Resources and Staff in

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As I understand it, the proposed program will offer two core

courses plus six additional courses to be phased in in successive

years. Eventually there will be 8 courses, 6 of which, including

the two core courses, will be required for the degree. It is

projected that a maximum of 20 students be admitted each year,

and since completion of the requirements for the degree will

take, on the average, about three years, when the program is

fully underway there will be about 60 students enrolled at a

given time. Since six intructors will be teaching the courses,

this means the faculty-student ratio will be about 6:60 (1:10)

This seems to me to be rather high for a graduate program. I

would recommend that the ratio be improved by reducing

substantially the maximum number of students by about 50% to 30,

yielding a faculty-student ration of 6:30 (1:5). This would have

the following advantages: it would allow one to be more selective

in admitting students to the program and reduce the work-load

(esp. the grading of essays) of the instructors. Also, 15-20

students in a seminar is a large number. From my experience,

seminars work best with about 8-10 students, for this allows for

more individual attention and greater participation.

Turning to a consideration of the individual courses and

instructors, in general they seem well-suited to the interests

and expertise of those who will teach them. Three of the six

instructors are professional historians. This is appropriate

. ?

insofar as the courses have a strong historical orientation. But

all the courses treat themes that have traditionally been part of

philosophy and include texts written by major (and minor)

philosophers from diverse periods of the history of philosophy.

The program should, therefore, include at least one philosopher

who would either be involved in instruction or serve on the

Program Committee in an advisory capacity. Also, at least three

courses deal with traditional issues and texts in political

philosophy, yet no one from political science (e.g., a specialist

in political theory) is involved in the program. Professor

Paranjpe seems especially well-qualified to teach the Self and

Society, as is Professor Fisher to teach Science and Human

Values. Similarly, Professor Felirnan's research and publication

is focussed on 19th century U.S. history, particularly the Civil

War and utopian movements, which are the main themes of his

course. The fit between Professors Dutton and Alderson and their

course on Tradition and Authority does not seen to be as close.

Professor Dutton would, I presume, deal with the material from

the ancient world, but who would deal with the (quite diverse)

material relating to Japan, Canada, and contemmorary

universities? Professor Duiguid is a specialist in the Middle

East, U.S. and Latin American history, but his course uses texts

by major modern and recent political philosophers, plus some

recent Russian and American writers. Here, perhaps, a

contribution from a political scientist or political

. ?

philosopher should be required. Since no detailed syllabus for

the course Organizing Social Realities has been provided, I

cannot comment on it, except to say that it seems to fall mainly

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5

within the province of a social scientist. Again, participation

by a political scientist (Professor Covell?) would seem highly

desirable.

The course descriptions are sufficiently detailed to give

one a fairly

g ood idea of what the courses will be about. At the

risk of seeminct presumptuous, I would like to make a few brief

comments and suggestions about the contents of the courses. The

Self and Society focusses one one theme, but includes a large

amount of diverse material from western and eastern sources

covering many centuries. In most cases only one week is devoted

to several readings. This seems to be too ambitious, for within

such a brief time each work and author can be treated only very

superficially and the 'embasarassment of riches' would probably

he confusing to many students. Less scope would allow for greater

depth and clarity, I think. The course on Science and Human

Values is restricted to the 19th 'and 20th centuries, but the main

issue of the course, at least in its current form, goes back at

least to the 17th century. Yet crucial figures like Bacon,

Descartes, Darwin, and Weber are not included. Here, perhaps,

greater historical perspective is needed. Religious and Secular

World Views deals mainly with utopianism, which is only one

aspect of this complex issue, yet Plato, Bacon, and More are

omitted. As well, the course is almost wholly restricted to the

19th and 20th centuries, and includes such minor figures as

Falwell and Reagan.

In general, then, there is a great deal of diversity in all

the courses, which on paper appear to be very ambitious in scope.

There are works from non-western cultures, from ancient to modern

European and American history, scientific, philosophical,

political, sociological, psychological, and religious works. Some

texts are among the enduring classics of our civilization, others

are by relatively unknown or ephemeral writers. Of course, a

program in liberal studies will, by its very nature, require a

fairly large degree of diversity. But it is also obvious that it

is very difficult to combine such heterogeneous material into a

coherent whole so as to have one integrated course and one

integrated program. My own suggestion would be to try to reduce

both the quantity and diversity by focussing less on recent

(i.e., 20th century) works and more on traditional and

'classical' ones. The works selected should also be

representative and seminal, so that, having understood them, one

has implicitly understood those which derive from them. Above all

one should avoid catering to intellectual and social 'fashions,'

for this would, it seems to me, contravene the very spirit of

the program, which is to examine the great issues and tensions

characterizing our whole intellectual tradition.

Library

_and Financing

I assme that the library facilities of the whole university

would be adequate for the research involved in this program,

although one should await the library's own report. As for the

.

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endowment which is being sought to cover 'a very substantial

portion' of the operating costs, I cannot make a judgment as to

whether the projected amount of $101,000. will be sufficient.

(What are 'course secondments'? Are they fees paid to instructors

for teaching courses? If so, one must be certain that such monies

are available before initiating the program.)

Recommendations

I shall conclude by briefly mentioning a few changes whi:h

would, in my opinion, significantly improve the program. All

these points have been made and discussed at more length above.

(1)

The best possible person should be chosen as Program

Director. A Program Cominittte should be set up which works

closely with the director and maintains a constant close working

relationship with the program.

(2)

One or two persons should be added to the program, prefErably

from philosophy and/or political science.

(3)

A Research Essay, properly supervised and examined, should

replace the 'extended essays.'

S

??

(4) The number of students admitted to the program should be

substantially reduced by about 50%.

(5) Reduce the quantity and diversity of texts and authors

treated in individual courses and emphasize traditional and

enduring works. Perhaps works from non-western sources should not

be included.

Jaes C.

Professor of Philosophy

!T iTrsity

cf

Tr'nto

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March 5, 1990

Dr. B.P. Clayman

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.

Dean of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University.............

Dr. Phyllis O'Callaghan

Associate Dean, School fo7Summer and(ontinuing Education

Master of Arts program proposal

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REPORT ON SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

1

The Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) Program proposed for

Simon Fraser University is one of the finest proposals for a

degree program in Liberal Studies I have seen. Having recently

reviewed another program which had to be returned to be

completely revised, it is a pleasure to read this exceptional

proposal.

I have found all the elements necessary for a proposal

provided in detail here. The design of the overall program is

clear, innovative and intellectually challenging. Let me

recapitulate what I have been given in summary form

,

and as it

appears to me to see if this is what the authors of this proposal

intended and in the process comment on how this proposal fits the

pattern of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs in the United

States.

I am asked to consider four elements: the academic merit and

structural integrity of the proposed program; the adequacy of the

Faculty and other resources available to the proposed program for

achieving its intended goals; the demand for the proposal program

among prospective students; the demand for graduates of the

proposed program. From the materials given me I feel completely

qualified to comment on the first two; less so on three and

•

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four. As to academic merit and structural integrity this

proposal receives an A. The description of the design for the

program is preceded by a strong philosophical statement affirming

the difference between this kind of program and other graduate

degrees. It is described as "an alternate educational choice for

those students who wish in their graduate work to develop not

merely expertise within a single field but a deeper intellectual

grounding in the values and traditions which have shaped our

culture as a whole."

Clearly emphasized is the interdisciplinary nature of this

particular proposal, which, as this proposal perceives and

declares, is the differentiating characteristic of Graduate

Liberal Studies degrees. The whole thrust of the proposal is

interdisciplinary from the statement of the three tensions that

will be explored: the dialectic of reason and passion in human

affairs; the relation of self to society; the struggle between

traditions and modernity, to the actual course offerings which

implement these tensions, in the context of both the common

cultural tradition and an awareness of contemporary issues. What

interdisciplinary will mean in this program is indicated by the

explanation that courses will seek the underlying ties among

disciplines, their intrinsic relationship, which will provide a

coherent basis for intellectual growth.

The proposal is both modern and traditional itself in the

. ?

subject matter of the courses; in the texts that are used in each

course; in the philosophy provided several times that this

program and these courses will revolve around major issues

1

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2

emanating from the past and affecting the present and future: the

traditional and the modern.

The first tension seems to be possibly the broadest and the

most commanding of the three and the source of the two core

courses. The program wisely starts off with two core courses

reflecting the first of the three tensions "the central tension

in our intellectual lives" as it is described : the dialectic of

human passion and reason.

From these two five hour core courses (required) the thirty

hour degree program then moves to additional 5 hour courses

reflecting all three of the tensions in a highly imaginative

way. Each course spans the traditional and the modern in

whatever genereal area it operates. These courses are created

for the program and this is a fairly unusual, but highly

desirable feature of the Simon Fraser University proposal. All

the courses are created for the program in three universities:

Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Southern Methodist

University, Dallas, Texas and Moorhead State University in

Minnesota. Otherwise schools frequently use core courses created

for the program and then allow students to select certain

Graduate courses from the course offerings of the various

departments. (The frame of reference here is the 80 or so

colleges and universities which are members of The Association of

Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, which association endeavors to

require and support quality in Graduate Liberal Studies Programs,

to provide direction, assistance and support for new programs.)

By allowing only one graduate course outside the program and

creating sufficient courses exclusively for the Liberal Studies

Program, Simon Fraser University proposes a design that will be

more integrated and interdisciplinary (not contradictions) at the

same time. It is worth noting that students sometimes have

difficulty adjusting to classes in which the other students are

all majors and they are MALS students majoring in an

interdisiciplinary subject. Students also have a more difficult

time deciding which courses to take when discipline based courses

from various departments are offered and few, if any, courses

created for Liberal Studies students (other than core courses)

are provided.

What you have chosen to do is more costly, but

infinitely preferable for the integrity of the program and the

education of the students.

Another unique feature of the Simon Fraser proposal is the

disposition of the "closure" piece. Whether to have a thesis or

not, whether to have orals or not and how to handle these is a

difficult question for most colleges and universities proposing

Graduate Liberal Studies. Many require essays or a creative

work. A few require authentic theses; very few, comprehensives.

What you have come up with is different: the expansion of two

essays already completed in the program in various courses; then

an oral presentation of the same evidently following a format for

the oral already in operation at the University.

Thus this degree program as proposed offers a strong,

precise, well defined,clear].y organized, academically viable,

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3

intellectually challenging degree program. You propose

flexibility with coherence, satisfying an unstated but valuable

component of any Liberal Studies Program. Comparing this to the

more than 80 programs offered by Colleges and Universities in the

United States which belong to the Association of Graduate Liberal

Studies Programs (for which I was President) I find this an

outstanding program and proposal. Schools may have conceived

grand ideas for programs, but be unable to explicate these ideas

in the proposal and vice versa. Sometimes the proposal's

ineptness and weakness is a direct reflection on the

idea and the proposal. Here the sitution is the reverse: both

idea and proposal are exemplary.

I miss one element in the design of the program. Early on

you mention that there will be a Preliminary Seminar for

students. This is not described in any more detail, nor do we

know the length of time that will be spent, what kind of

preparation will be offered, whether participation is voluntary

or required. The idea of having such a preliminary session(s) is

intriguing and certainly needed. Some of us operating these

programs have tried to accomplish an introduction to these

programs with orientation sessions or special lectures. New

approaches are valuable.

Obviously more than one mind has worked on this proposal. A

S ?

faculty Committee is mentioned and it appears likely that it is

composed of the professors whose resumes are included. There is

a breadth of knowledge from various disciplines shown in the

course proposals. Serious study of the design of other Graduate

Liberal Studies programs is indicated. A careful choice has been

made of which features to incorporate from other programs and

when and how to make innovations based, evidently on the needs,

interests of Simon Fraser University, its faculty and students.

A comfortable unanimity in the essentials of philosophy about the

program as well as agreement as to its nature and ends are

evident. Faculty participation and even initiation of this kind

of educational programming is essential. This has evidently been

recognized.

Budget and Administration have been provided. There seems

to be considerable support for this new degree program since the

effort has been made to raise money to sustain it--a wise move

because any new program must have time to take hold, to create

its own audience of supporters in the community and in sufficient

numbers to publicize itself. Provision is made for a senior

faculty committee - called a Graduate Program Committee - which

will act as an advisory body and as a Curriculum Review

Committee. The Director reports to the Dean. The person sought

for this position is described as someone who must lead the

program, help its evolution, contact and work with faculty and

possibly be a senior academic. All of that in one person is

S

?

difficult to come by. Both Dartmouth and Washington University

divide up that person into an academic or faculty person and a

separate administrator. The Director must be willing to spend a

great deal of time in administrative work. A senior faculty

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4

person may not choose to do so and particularly in the core of a

new program administrative detail, the willingness to establish

connections throughout the university, to spend a great deal of

time with students, to facilitate intrauniveresity functions for

them (bookstore, payment, registrar, etc.) will be necessary.

The adequacy of the Faculty is attested to by the proposal

and by the extensive resumes provided. These indicate that most

of the faculty have attained the highest degree in their field;

that they have a heavy record of scholarly publications; that

they encompass many academic fields of study. Their interest in

the program is indicated by their joint efforts to create and

implement Graduate Liberal Studies at their University. It is

not clear if the faculty will be inload or overload, will they

have release time from their departments to teach in this program

or will they operate under individual contracts and be paid for

each course? Which way you go affects the cost of the program,

its administration and its academic quality. Will the Program

Director make decisions as to which course is run when and by

whom or will the Director need to make these decisions in light

of the needs and demands of the departments?

Let me commend you on the fact that you do not describe this

Master's degree as

non-traditional

nor do you engage in any of

the discussion sometimes necessarily provided by

colleges/institutions in the United States which feel impelled to

explain how and why this degree is different from "traditional"

i.e. disciplinebased Master's. This is a distinct species of

degree at the graduate level and treated as such in your

proposal, as your proposal says " a graduate degree with a

difference."

In discussion of other resources I would have to include:

Library facilities, which this reviewer can only judge in light

of the number and kinds of graduate programs already existing at

Simon Fraser. The Calendar that was sent provided some of this

information. More detail on the history, philosophy and goals of

the University would have been helpful. It appears that a

doctorate is possible in the Faculty of Arts (there is no more

detail in the Calendar to go by). Thus I would assume that the

library would have sufficient materials for use for this

interdisciplinary, liberal arts Master's program. I have no more

information, however, on which to base a judgment. I note that

you plan to spend as much as $10,000 yearly on library needs.

What exactly is this for? It appears that library facilities are

not available at Harbour Centre. How far away is this Centre

from the campus and how difficult will using the library

become? Must you create one at the Centre and is this what the

money will accomplish?

The admissions policy seems adequate. I would strongly

recommend that you include the interview that is mentioned as

part of the admissions process. At Georgetown it has proven

invaluable as a tool for assessing students' potential.

S

P_J

63

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5

40

??

On the question of the demand for the proposed program among

prospective students and the demands for graduates of the

proposed program I can provide general information only, since I

do not know if any kind of surveys have been conducted in the

geographical area the University services, or if students already

at the University have expressed an interest. I note that there

is an undergraduate division of interdisciplinary studies and a

Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Humanities. Schools that have

recently inaugurated Master's of arts in Liberal Studies have

generally been pleasantly surprised at the immediate number of

applicants. I think of the University of North Carolina at

Asheville (North Carolina) which I have reviewed and visited.

The numbers of applicants exceeded their expectations and meant

that they had to move faster to implement their program than they

had originally intended (a problem they do not mind having).

As the only program like this in Canada and uniquely

different from your own other graduate programs, there is no

danger of duplication. Situated as you are in a large, populous

area you have a natural audience available, including alums of

your own university. Creation of the downtown Vancouver campus

(as revealed in the Calendar and mentioned in the proposal) is

another indication Of a growing student population and interest

in the kind of part-time, professional students this kind of

program usually attracts. I am unable to say if the program at

•

?

Simon Fraser is aimed at this audience or a more general,

graduate audience who choose this alternate to discipline rigid

graduate degrees. If conceived to serve the returning adult

student I believe that demand will be great and the history of

all of the major Graduate Liberal Studies programs in the United

States attests to this optimism.

Page two actually indicates that a wide age range of

students--aged 23-65-- is expected and describes a motivation

that characterizes "adult" students. It appears that you are

avoiding designing and describing the program for this audience

alone, as you note that some recent university graduates who have

not begun their careers and who do not wish to pursue graduate

work in a specialized field may choose this degree program. I am

increasingly finding that kind of student applying at

Georgetown. A question arises relative to this that I have not

as yet found answered: are the courses to be offered at night and

on the weekends; and is it assumed the students will be part or

full time? Generally this makes a difference to adult, part-

time, employed students.

The demand for graduates is really virtually unknown. I

have recently seen several ads in THE CHRONICLE FOR HIGHER

EDUCATION for individuals who could start up and direct Liberal

Studies Programs. Two have appeared in the last three weeks.

Certainly graduates of these programs would be suitable as

.

?

Humanities teachers in High School and possibly in junior

colleges. Beyond that their potential is unlimited. One of the

students in the Georgetown program is in marketing for a major

newspaper. She is pursuing this degree and her employer is

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6

enthusiastic about it; more so than they would be about an MBA.

There seems to be an increasing realization that breadth of

knowledge and the communications skills associated with analysis,

reading, writing, speaking, which are integral parts of this

particular degree, are invaluable in any business/professional

setting. This is a perception based on hundreds of interviews

with these students.

.

.

(05'

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ki Washington

\XASHING7c4 UNIVERSITY IN' ST LOLS

?

1AP'

Graduate School

of Arts and Sciences

?

March 15, '1990

Dr. B.P. Clayman

Dean of Graduate. Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia

Canada V5A 1S6

Dear Dr. Clayman:

I am responding to your request for a review of the proposal for a

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) graduate program at Simon Fraser Uni-

versity. In accord with the suggestion conveyed in your February 9, 1990

letter, this review has been prepared in consultation with Mrs. Anne

Hetlage, Assistant Dean of University College at Washington University

and Coordinator for ten years of our Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) program.

It is clear that a great deal of careful thought has gone into the

preparation of this proposal. The courses seem well conceived and eminent-

ly appropriate for a Liberal Studies program. From the vitae you provided,

it appears that the core faculty are of high quality and offer a good balance

of disciplinary interests. Our overall impression of the proposal is there-

fore favorable. Noted below are some concerns, comments and questions on

various specific points.

Structure

The structure of our MLA program is much looser than that which you

propose. Our students must take 10 three-unit graduate courses, at least

four of which must be MLA core seminars. At least two seminars are offered

per semester. Individual core seminars are normally repeated only after an

interlude of several years. We do not insist that seminars be taken in any

particular order nor do we insist on enrollment in any particular seminar.

Most students find the seminars sufficiently enjoyable that th' elect to

take no more than one or two courses from the remainder of our graduate

offerings. Those who perform well in initial seminars and who have strong

academic backgrounds in a particular discipline are encouraged to enroll in

one or more of our later afternoon courses designed primarily for Ph.D. Stu-

dents.

In contrast, the structure suggested for the Simon Fraser MALS seems

to us quite rigid, particularly the requirement that all students begin

with L.S. 800-5 and L.S. 801-5, courses which evidently will be given exact-

ly

once a year and which will not vary significantly in content from year'to

year. Does this mean that potential matriculants who learn of the program

in October must wait nearly a full year before they may enroll? What will

Washington University

Campus Box 118'

One Brookings Drive

St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899

(314) 889-6880

.

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Dr. Clayman

?

-2-

3/15/90

?

9

be your response if, as is frequently the case for our students, job or

personal constraints do not permit enrollment for two successive semesters?

The syllabi of the two core courses are wide-sweeping. Have you con-

sidered subdividing each proposed course into two or more courses, e.g.

have in the core curriculum several distinct courses in both Human Passion

and Limits of Reason with one in each category to be offered every semester?

The sacrifice of a common background for subsequent courses would not, on

balance, significantly undermine your objectives.

The award of five credit hours for a graduate course is evidently stan-

dard at Simon Fraser and other Canadian

:

-universities. Undoubtedly more is

demanded of students per individual course than tends to be true in the United

States. Yet for evening courses meeting once a week for 13-14 weeks, we

wonder whether the reading load in a five-hour course may become too great

for adults with demanding full-time jobs. Would it be possible to reduce

the MALS courses to three or four credit hours and to simultaneously increase

the degree requirement to eight courses? This approach would also provide

students a greater opportunity to obtain breadth, a hallmark of all inter-

disciplinary master's programs.

Content and Faculty

?

S

As remarked above, the content and quality of proposed courses and

faculty seem fine to us. It may be wise to foster liveliness in the program

by continually bringing in new faculty members. We applaud your resolve to

never limit courses to one disciplinary perspective. Team-taught courses in

which two professors begin a class by presentation of opposing perspectives

almost invariably provoke lively and fruitful discussions. In contrast, the

traditional content-oriented lecture format may be perceived as stifling.

Adequacy of Resources

A program endowment of a million or more dollars is a wonderful asset

for a liberal studies program. We envy you

in

this regard. Our program is

almost entirely supported by tuition, and our tuition rates over the duration

of the program are only slightly higher than yours. As a result, we are

obliged to expend less in each category than what you estimate on

p.

4 of the

proposal. Nonetheless, with an average seminar size of 15 students, we are

able to realize a modest profit. With endowment interest available to cover

a sizable part of your anticipated expenses, your financial position appears

to be very sound.

Student Demand for the Program and Demand for Graduates

Liberal studies programs have worked reasonably well in most of the urban

areas in which they have been launched.

We see

no reason why the Vancouver

?

is

67

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Dr. Clayman ?

-3-

.

?

3/15/90

area should be an exception. There will be a need for vigorous and intensive

marketing of the program to key segments of your society. You will regularly

encounter skepticism or disdain from those familiar only with professional

programs and other tightly focused degree endeavors. Our experience suggests

that it is wise to avoid career-oriented recruitment campaigns. Instead we

rely uncompromisingly on such things as rediscovery of the world of ideas,

intellectual stimulus, personal growth, and new perspectives. We direct to

other programs those who seek postgraduate training largely for the purpose

of obtaining a promotion or a career change. The kind of students we want

are those who will take personal pride in interacting with talented faculty

members on strictly academic turf.

Specific marketing strategies you may wish to consider include:

(1) Cultivation of key business and civic leaders. Try hard to get a

few of them to be among your initial enrollees. Ask others to consider sub-

sidizing the tuition for employees they feel would most benefit from the pro-

gram, e.g. individuals with a technical background who are slated for advance-

ment to upper management.

(ii)

Advertise heavily on classical music radio stations and in symphony

. ?

and theater programs.

(iii)

Try to reach sophisticated high school teachers with ten or more

years of teaching experience. Attempt to develop a rapport with enlightened

school administrators.

(iv)

Give widespread publicity to the program throughout the University

community. Spouses and even technically oriented faculty members may be prime

candidates.

(v)

Successful bankers, lawyers and doctors often have fond memories of

undergraduate studies in the liberal arts; get across the message that your

program offers them the ideal means to satisfy long postponed desires to re-

read and reinterpret classical texts.

I hope some of the above comments may be useful to you. With best wishes

for success,

Sincerely,

Edward N. Wilson

Dean

ENW: ah

0

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

?

MEMORANDUM

Evan Alderson ?

FROM: ?

Sharon Thomas, Head,

ArtsSchool

?

for Contemporary

?

Office

Collections Management

SUBJECT:

?

Master

(Liberal

of

Studies)

Arts

?

DATE:

?

March 28, 1990

The proposed Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) presents a new

set of problems for the Library. It is the first graduate program

designed specifically for Harbour Centre and it is arguably the

most comprehensively interdisciplinary program ever mounted by the

University.

The proposal itself states that the "nature of the program is

such that few highly specialized library resources will be

required" and an examination of the attached new course proposals

supports this contention insofar as it applies simply to the

readings listed in those proposals. We do, in fact, own virtually

all the required readings although they are frequently available

only in single copies and are, in many cases, already heavily used.

In order to avoid the degradation of the existing collection it

will be necessary to duplicate these titles for the Belzberg

Library at Harbour Centre. However, I was pleased to see that

$10,000 in annual funding has been secured and allocated for

Library expenses and if we use this money to purchase about 200

volumes annually during each year of the three year phased

i

mplementation period we will then have a core collection in place

at Harbour Centre adequate for the basic requirements of the new

courses

as they are presently designed.

. . .

2

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Page 2.

Beyond these very basic course requirements the students will

be forced to depend on the resources of the main library or of

other libraries*--

most probably and most frequently UBC. I would

expect these first students to need more material than we could

supply at Belzberg as soon in their first semester as they begin to

work on their first paper-- long before they begin their extended

essays. At what point they, or most of them, would find their

needs outgrowing the combined resources of both the Belzberg and

the Bennett Libraries is impossible to predict but I think we could

say, with some confidence, that the very broad scope of each of

these courses would suggest that this point would come sooner

rather than later in their programs.

I believe we could, with guaranteed annual funding of $10,000

(in 1990 dollars), support the Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) at

this limited level but it is impossible to avoid the conclusion

that a program of this enormously wide scope would be best served

by a research library of equivalent strength and breadth. It seems

to me inevitable that the research needs generated by the faculty

and students of the Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) will, over

time, highlight the weaknesses of the present collection and that

correcting these weaknesses will entail significant expenditures.

It seems equally inevitable to me that the ultimate success of the

Master of Arts (Liberal Studies) will, at least in part, depend on

how well we are able to provide this long-term library support.

Perhaps, at this level, the question is not "how much does it

cost?" but rather, "how well do we wish to do it?"

ST/dab3 52

cc: Bruce Clayman, Dean of Graduate Studies

*-4

^

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